Can a union tradesman survive in Fort Collins? (Denver, Greeley: how much, homes)

[jimboshanz]

After a long weekend in Estes Park, my family ended up staying two nights in Fort Collins. My wife and I instantly fell in love with this town and are considering moving to FC. I am a chicago native, where unions are strong, and a union tradesman can make a nice living for his/her family. Does anyone know what kind of wage an electrician could expect to recieve in that area of CO.......I would also like to ask if the Poudre School DIstrict is as really bad as I have read on other web sites. I have a 4 and 2 year old which will be starting kindergarten and preschool next Fall. ......Any responses would be greatly appreciated and help in our descision to go back for another look.

[karabiner]

Being a 597 fitter, I had the same questions regarding scale differences etc. From what I have seen, the salaries (for the trades) are considerably lower; and the unions are not as common (or strong) as Chicago. Unfortunately, our brothers (and sisters) in Colorado have a similar cost of living as in Chicago, so the pay cut is a major issue to consider.

[jimboshanz]

Thanks for the reply karabiner. What's the job market like now, is it pretty easy to find work?

[StealthRabbit]

As a licensed Commercial or residential electrician, you are not gonna have much trouble getting decent pay and enough work in this fast growing and established industry area. As a Union worker, you might need to commute to keep at peak $$, but... Laramie, (1hr) and Cheyenne (45 min) and Denver (1 hr) are booming, and Greeley, Loveland, Longmont are all very prosperous and diverse (not gonna fall off an 'energy / fad' / cliff) Tho there might be a slight downturn in housing starts, I'd stick with commercial / industrial work, and you should be in good shape, and not competing with 'illegals' / or cost undercutting. Colorado is pretty conservative, and you have much less risk of shoddy / shaddy employers in industry.

For schools... there are some good public schools, but... most of my friends have used the excellent choices of private schools in Ft Collins. (I know more $$... ), but...then you can always homeschool (we did that, it is not ez...) But, generally finding a rural school with good community support will be a plus, and highly available in your area of choice. I might consider living out east towards Ault (farming community) just for that reason. ( I can get you in touch with an elementary teacher in Ft Collins, (native of IL) but she teaches at a private school, likely biased)

[Shafrique]

Originally Posted by jimboshanz

After a long weekend in Estes Park, my family ended up staying two nights in Fort Collins. My wife and I instantly fell in love with this town and are considering moving to FC. I am a chicago native, where unions are strong, and a union tradesman can make a nice living for his/her family. Does anyone know what kind of wage an electrician could expect to recieve in that area of CO.......I would also like to ask if the Poudre School DIstrict is as really bad as I have read on other web sites. I have a 4 and 2 year old which will be starting kindergarten and preschool next Fall. ......Any responses would be greatly appreciated and help in our descision to go back for another look.

As in most communities there are good and bad schools, my family and I are relocating to Fort Collins with 2 High School age children and although each of the HS in Fort Collins received High/Excellent scores on www.greatschools.net one poster on this site suggested we look at the elementary and middle school scores in order to have a better understanding as to the make up of the neighborhoods. This certainly helped in narrowing down the areas that we will look to reside in.

There are elementary schools in Fort Collins that received great marks. Good luck to you and your family!

Sharon in NYC

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Shafrique

... relocating to Fort Collins with 2 High School age children ...

I'm pretty sure in CO there is also the choice of HS kids using a jr college or University for Jr and Sr HSyr., as there is here in WA and also OR. It can be a good choice depending on the kid and their interests. Both of ours were apprehensive, but stayed involved in HS sports, yet completed their AA at same time as HS. Thus 2 yrs edu and $$ (It was free ) ahead of the pack, and more mature to handle college freedoms . They were happy to grad college with only 2 yr expenses (debt).

Do be advised they may need to take a college entrance examine as a HS sophomore (which here they only offer 2x/yr).

Our friends in Ft C, had mentioned that they had that opportunity. (college vs. vs HS)

[jimboshanz]

Thanks for the great replies, It really helped us decide to go back for another look, but this time a little more educated about the area and schools. We are planning a trip out there for the end of february. Thanks again!

[skigirl]

I am not in a trade union, but I recently relocated from Colorado to Chicago. Colorado is a wonderful place to live, and as an electrican you will not have to search long for work, but the wages you'll get in Colorado no matter your vocation will not really compare to Chicago. I was shocked at how much my wages increased when I moved here.

However, the cost of housing can be significantly less if you're willing to live a little further from town and it's just a great place to live. Best of luck to you.

[jimboshanz]

I hope you are enjoying yourself in Chi-town. Thanks for the reply .

[sunsprit]

If you are willing to work, then the Colorado economy is booming right now. The effective unemployment rate is almost 0%. If you don't have a trades job in this economy, you either don't want to work or are otherwise unemployable.

Be advised that this is not a strong union area of the country. You may find that the non-union shops are paying the same wage (esp on Davis-Bacon projects) because that's what it costs to attract and retain a workforce today. In the open market, of course, some non-union shops may have a bidding advantage over the union shops. But there's so much work right now that really isn't an issue. It's a very tight labor market at this time for qualified trades worker.

I believe you could be hired in the front range area within a day or two in this market. Check out the job ads in the Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post. There's also a lot of interest now in building engineer electrician jobs with the latest changeovers in the property management business in Denver, or places like Johnson Controls specialize in the HVAC biz. Don't forget the brewing industry here; AB in Fort Collins is one of the few very strong union shops.

There's also mines, powerplants, water treatment facilities, airports, municipal facilities ... be open minded about where your skills apply and the marketplace broadens a lot.

Best of luck with your relocation. You will take a decrease in pay to come out to Colorado, and the costs of living may actually be higher than Chicago.