[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by DTWflyer

I found the job industry in Denver to primarily fall into a few specific areas:

1) Federal Government
2) Defense-related engineering/manufacturing (however almost entirely filled by internal transfers seeking to move to Denver for the lifestyle)
3) Service industry/hospitality/tourism
4) A whole cottage industry of grad students figuring out how to study or stay funded while spending as much time in the mountains as possible

Yep, that's about right. Healthcare is also pretty big out here. There are a lot of hospitals in the city.

[Brian Butterfield]

The job and corresponding housing market is making a strong comeback in Birmingham and SE Michigan. Homes seem to by flying off the market even in this typically slow season in Winter. Rental rates are strong and these properties are leased very fast. So....we seem to be turning the corner on jobs and housing which makes sense since our market was hit early in the recession anyway.

[bigwilly]

We had a similar situation. Moved out to Denver 4 years ago for a job. It was a nice change of pace and a great experience. But when my job ended we decided to pack up and come back to Michigan to be near family. I also work from home and could live anywhere, that's not too expensive at least. Definitely some things I miss about denver but it's easier to get by financially here, denver broke us, way more expensive than I was anticipating. It's great to be around family again. I do miss the sun though, not in the summer however, too hot for me in colorado. I miss the scenery too. This place is more down to earth though, people in denver live in a dream land, everyone thinks they made it to the promised land, I never really felt that way, seemed a bit fake to me. Good luck with your decision.