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Looking at packing up and moving from East Tennessee to Jackson for the summer season and maybe longer. Is there a good likelihood of finding a serving or bartending job that pays good money?
The first bartender job listed, Brick House Tavern & Tap
This position is available at these locations: Akron, OH; Ft Lauderdale, FL; Louisville, KY; Niles, IL; and Omaha, NE. All other locations accepting applications for Girl on the Bar.
the 2nd one
Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel
The hotel is conveniently located at the crossroads of the area's major highways, just 12 miles from Newark Liberty International Airport and two miles from Metropark train station. We have 310 guest rooms including 42 suites. High Speed Internet Access is also available in every guest room and wireless available in lobby. Additional facilities include a fitness center, indoor/outdoor pool, OLIO restaurant and inside/outside lounge. There is also over 20,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space along with business center.
3rd, joe's crab shack,
They don't even have a restaurant in WY.
Jackson is one of the most expensive places in the country to live in. I don't know what kind of tips the bartenders make up there but you would have to bring in some pretty substantial tips to make it there. Keep in mind the average house is over a million dollars. I don't know what the average rent is but you should expect it to be comparable. Sorry to burst your bubble but Jackson is not the place to live on a whim.
I had some friend's sons who decided after a couple of years of ski-bumming in the Colorado resorts (Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs) and New Mexico (Angel Fire, IIRC), that they'd like to do so in Jackson. Experienced ski instructors, lift operators, ski patrollers all, they were hired without any difficulty.
All 4 of them had to work their daytime jobs 7 days/week PLUS work nighttime jobs such as bartending/waiting tables 6-7 days/week in order to be able to survive in a tiny 2-bedroom condo there. Previously, they had been able to take a day or two off each week to take advantage of their ski passes for their own recreation during the ski season and they'd made enough money with their bartending job tips to be able to take off most of the summer days for fishing/hiking/backpacking in the area. And they got to live in 2 bedroom apartments shared by 2-3 people.
Like any other hospitality/resort area economy, Jackson depends upon a lot of worker bees. But from what I've seen with folk who have done so, it's a tougher go than a lot of other resort areas. If this past experience is any indicator, a single bartending job with tips will not be adequate to support you in Jackson.
I realize that two jobs would be needed. It seems that with Jackson having two national parks nearby that provide a good summer season, unlike Aspen and Vail, and the winter season is actually the "off" season (when compared to summer) with relative lower housing rates, the area wouldn't be as tough as 'Ski Resort only' destinations like Aspen and Vail. What say you?
I realize that two jobs would be needed. It seems that with Jackson having two national parks nearby that provide a good summer season, unlike Aspen and Vail, and the winter season is actually the "off" season (when compared to summer) with relative lower housing rates, the area wouldn't be as tough as 'Ski Resort only' destinations like Aspen and Vail. What say you?
That you don't have a clue as to how significant the outdoor recreation tourist levels are at Aspen and Vail, nor have you looked at a map to see just how extensive the state and national park areas are nearby, including wilderness areas of some size.
The summer seasons there have been big draws for decades, with concerts, conferences, fishing, boating (nearby, think Reudi or Dillon Res's, among others in the area), backcountry/wilderness camping & hiking, bicycle races, auto races ... the list of outdoor recreation opportunities in these tourist oriented towns is boundless. Ever heard of the Aspen School of Music? How 'bout the Aspen Institute? How about the concert series in the park in Vail? Or the soccer, baseball, or other leagues and tournaments that are regularly scheduled events each year in these towns? There's also equine activity, Farmer's Markets, trade shows, etc. With so much other regional activity within modest distances, both towns benefit from the ready accessibility to that ... in comparison to Jackson, which is very much an isolated destination resort. Then there's the usual resort activites such as golf courses in these towns, and equine activities, too. For those who need their ice skating in the summer, Vail has a skating rink.
Vail is but a 100 miles from Denver, with good access up the I-70 corridor. It's easier for me to get there from my ranch in Cheyenne than to get to Jackson, which is 350 miles away. Both get airline service, although I fly my own aircraft to all three of these towns ... with Eagle and Aspen both good airstrips for me and as easy to get to in a shorter time frame than Jackson.
The bottom line is that if you think Aspen and Vail are "Ski Resort only" destinations, you have been totally mislead.
Much as I like to downhill ski, the fact is that the summer season activities are a hugely popular attraction for these towns in Colorado and it is "high season" rates time for the summer months, with as much, if not more, activity in these towns than in the winter months.
Overall, I'd suggest to you that Vail and Aspen represent larger summertime activity levels than Jackson, are more easily accessed, and present a larger total set of opportunities for the summer trade. And I've left out of the equation the draw of the Rocky Mountain areas to the Front Range population of Colorado that heads up to the mountains for the cooler temps and recreation during the summer months; ie, at 100 miles from Denver to Vail, it's less than a two-hour drive to a lot of recreation opportunities. In comparison, Jackson is dependent upon being a major destination trip from out of the area, there's no comparable population base with nearby access to the area, so it's not a place where somebody can do a casual trip up for an overnight stay ... unless you're in the "jet set" and can afford to come that far just for an overnight trip ....
All said and done, however, TWO Jobs may still not be sufficient to afford your own place in Jackson. You may still be looking at needing to have roomates in a small place or to not even live in the immediate area, having to commute in from shared living quarters, possibly not even in Wyoming.
Thank you, sunsprit. I've frequented Aspen a few times, once by United out of DIA. Aspen had a 71% summer occupancy rate last summer and it continues to rise. Yes, I've heard about many activities the town of Aspen puts on including a food and wine festival, etc. And I've climbed several 14ers in the state. I have never been to Jackson but I do know some who have spent some time there in hospitality and have fared well. From a bartending perspective, it seems that Jackson would be more prosperous in the summer than Aspen. I appreciate your points of view, it is good to hear and to consider. I have been to Banff, Alberta in winter and the summer there is also the primary season.
WinterStar ... I don't understand how you conclude that Jackson would be "better" in the summer than the Colorado resort areas based upon occupancy rates ...
Because Jackson's summer occupancy rate isn't better than Aspen or Vail, and that leaves out the balance of the Summit and Eagle country resort traffic which is also a huge draw. Summertime tourism activity everywhere from Breckenridge through to Estes Park is a big deal regionally due to the relatively close access to the population base of the Front Range in Colorado.
What's also missing from the lodging statistics is the sizable number of 2nd homes owned by folk from that local population base; ie, people that come up to their own condo's or 2nd homes on weekends aren't counted as tourists. Nor are the sizable user groups of friend's staying at condo's/housing; ie, significant numbers of friends/relatives that stay in owned condo's that don't show up as lodging guest stays. I'd note that before I became a Vail property owner, I stayed in friends' condos either as their weekend guest or having the use of their place when they were weren't going to be using the place ... at many core Vail condos/houses; as well, I had the use of several houses in Aspen for over 25 years and an open invitation to show up anytime, whether the owners were there or not, I had access to the keys. At places like the racquet club in Vail, I got to know a group of people who were just like me, non-owners but with generous friends who were all too happy to allow us the use of their places when they had the space, which was frequently. With Vail's close access and my need to test drive customer vehicles from my business in Denver, I had many nights for decades when I'd leave Denver at 6-7 PM (after any main traffic), be in Vail for an overnight stay with friends, then be back in Denver by 8:30 AM for the next day. Long before Vail was built up to that level, I used to do the same thing with frequent trips to Aspen, especially in the summer months ... and I spent many a late evening at the hot springs in Carbondale during that time frame.
Again, this has no comparable component in Jackson because there is no relatively close population base that utilizes Jackson for a weekend retreat. IMO, it's highly unlikely that a Pinedale resident is going to weekend in Jackson ... and the population of Pinedale is what? there's city blocks in Denver that have a larger population base.
Interesting, too, to note that Jackson has had a consistent decline over the past several years of summertime occupancy along with the huge drop in their wintertime occupancy rates. For example, Nov has dropped into the high teens (17%!), and the later winter months see a composite 30% occupancy rate, less than half of the summertime rates. Note, too, that Jackson's June occupancy rates have been in the low 20% range, and declining over recent years. IMO, this is due to the very high costs of travel to Jackson which have been steadily increasing. Fuel costs have risen dramatically in the last several years, and people are aware of the immediate impact that has on the ability to travel against their discretionary recreation dollars.
I'm not trying to run down Jackson in any way, I'm just pointing out the economic realities facing this destination resort town's economy. It makes Jackson all the more an isolated, very exclusive to a documented ever decreasing user base group of folk who are affluent enough to afford the place; even the statistics from the Jackson airport show a huge net decline in passenger activity since 2007's levels ... the last year of the higher numbers (while 2012 is looking better than 2011, it's still a lot lower than 2007). It's really becoming more and more the playground of the ultra-wealthy, the jet set who can indulge themselves in it's exclusivity ... and the divide between the workers and the users is becoming larger over the years; this is why the communities outside of Jackson are where those folk commute into Jackson for work live. The daily derby for workers over the road from Idaho is a well known component of the local activity.
You've apparently got connections to the hospitality industry in Jackson, and you report that friends did "OK". So be it, by whatever measure that information fits into your vision of a good life in Jackson ... it may prove to be a good opportunity for you. At best, it could be a wonderful experience ... at worst, you'll need to move on in the near term. So be it, you won't know until you try it out. But take Jackson for what it is as opposed to trying to convince yourself that it's a better opportunity than the regional powerhouse mountain resort area of Colorado; Jackson is a highly concentrated small site of economic exclusivity compared to a region of much larger total economic activity, people counts, traffic counts, lodging room counts, accessibility, etc ... and the difference between the seasonal activity in Jackson doesn't come close to the year around activity levels in the Colorado resort areas. That short few months of the top of the season is where you'll need to make enough income in Jackson to survive the balance of the year for many more months than the spring mud season slow down in Colorado or the time from Labor Day Weekend until Thanksgiving start of ski season.
Last edited by sunsprit; 11-29-2012 at 04:49 AM..
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