Which Option Would You Choose? (hotel, find a job, income)

[cdc1211]

So in a few months, I am planning to leave my job after 10 years because I just cannot take it anymore. I will be moving to a new city of my choice and then plan to find a job. I know it is risky, but I have money saved up and you cannot really secure my type of work from afar.

My situation is different than many, because I am disabled and can only work part time. I have some income from disability which pays the basic bills, but still need to minimum wage work 10-25 hours in a service type job (retail, restaurant, hotel, hospital, etc) I am basically down to two places, both of which have below average unemplyment and similar costs and weather.

Without naming the cities, I will describe the job situation and let me know what you would choose.

Option #1
Smaller city of 25,000 in a metro of 55,000

Above average number of commercial businesses for a city of its size with all the basics, but would seem lacking to some

Compact - 2 miles to anywhere. I walk a lot, as I cannot drive

Unemployment rate of 3.9%


Option #2
Larger city of 100,000 in a metro of 370,000

Many more potential places to work, if they are hiring

Spread out - definitely would require public transit for most jobs, which is decent for a city that size, but since it is not 24 hrs, I would have some restrictions on when I could work

Unemployment rate of 7.2%


So I am torn. In the smaller city with very low unemployment, there would be much fewer people looking for work, and therefore an employer may be more likely to give me a chance because they need someone and don't have a ton of applicants.

In the larger city, I would have a lot more place to apply, but with the higher population and higher unemplyment, I would be competing with a lot more people looking for work.

The workforce of a city is usually about 50% of the total population. Using the metro populations and current unemployment numbers, the number of unemployed in each place would be:

Smaller City: 1,072
Larger City: 13,320

It is hard to judge a city, in my case, based just on unemployment numbers, because a lot of people may not be wanting the part-time, low paying job I would be seeking.

So which would you choose, based solely on the need to find a part-time job. Do not let activities, nightlife, events, or culture impact your decision.

Thanks for your opinions.

[DubbleT]

OK, I'll play.
Since you would be the new PT guy at work chances are pretty good you would get the scut hours, weekends, nights, holidays. The public transit in the 2nd town is likely not adequate to cover the type of schedule you would be working, so I think I'd go with the walkable town.