I’ve lived in Florida for the past 20 years minus 4 in the Air Force. Stationed in Colorado.
I really miss Colorado. I would love to move back there some day. I’m getting older (40’s) so my window of opportunity is waning to just pick up and move, so I would need to do this in the next year or so.
Given the state of the Economy, do any of you think that this would be a good time to find a job in Colorado and get the heck out of Florida?
I’m a .net developer specializing in web apps, so employment has never been an issue. All companies need programming staff all the time.
I own a house here, but the way things are looking, it’s never going to regain its lost value to where I could actually use it as an investment vehicle again.
I have few friends and hardly any family to speak of here.
What would be some steps some of you could offer up to make this happen assuming finding a job in Colorado is a given?
I can only give you my thoughts about your house. I am seriouly thinking of re-locating from FL also, not to Colorado tho.
You house will not sell for what you want, but neither will the one you will be buying next. You will probably maintain a status quo if you sell and then buy in a relatively short time.
I’m in Tampa and this area has been slowly-but-surely turning into a “Little Miami” regarding attitudes of a majority of the residents.
I’ve heard the job market in Orlando has been bad for years.
I know for a fact that my house, because of the crash is now worth about 30K less than what I refinanced it for three years ago. I realize that I might have to do a short sale to get out of it, but so many people are doing this now (along with pure foreclosures) that this might be a moot point on my credit report for future home loans.
Colorado’s economy, while down, is not in the terrible shape that many places are. The housing crunch didn’t hit very hard here other than in a few areas that got overbuilt during the bubble. Most neighborhoods that have been around since the 90’s and before are doing OK. Maybe a little drop in value, but less than 5%.
You shouldn’t have trouble finding work, but I’d certainly try to have something lined up before moving. The listings on dice.com for .net developers look promising.
I live in Tampa and not entirely (or perhaps even vaguely) aware of what that means. Which part of Tampa are you in? I’m in Westchase. Our house is now worth about what the mortgage is, most likely, although hard to say for sure. Even if we did sell we’d have to pay for a realtor, moving van, etc.
But if you really want to get out of here I’d say go for it. Some parts of Colorado seem very nice, depending on your personal interests.
Lived in both Denver and Orlando. I’d take Denver in a heartbeat; there’s too many reasons to explain why, but I just found it to be a more well-rounded city that is clean, fairly safe, easy on the eyes, and filled with decent neighborhoods. Recreational opportunities are excellent in the Denver area; most winter sports, along with the usual hiking, camping, mountain climbing and so on. In Florida, I was a lot more sedentary thanks to the humidity.
I did a cross-country run to Austin a few weeks ago. Had to do it; I was unemployed for what was going on six months, and I landed a job here.
Man, this is depressing reading for me. I’m finishing school next semester, and was thinking about moving near my sister just north of Jacksonville. Florida is down? (I’m in SE pennsylvania, btw, north of Philly.)
I was born in Easton and raised in Montgomery County. Be prepared for a culture shock if you move down here.
There’s still a retirement contingent here that makes life a bit more exasperating, and nothing will prepare you for the summer heat and humidity. After 20 years, it’s still freakin’ hot all of the way through October.
It would also be wise to brush up on your Spanish.
:dubious: Where are you? I guess I can understand if you live in Durango or something, but Denver is a pretty normal, reasonably well-rounded city, with some very good (although not spectacular) restaurants, a decent food scene, and lots of arts and entertainment. While the ski industry is important to Colorado as a whole, many people I know, myself included, don’t ski/snowboard. There are plenty of other things to do.
Yeah, Denver is much more cosmopolitan. I’m in Colorado Springs. Once or twice a month we pick a restaurant out of the “best of” section of the local rag and I’m always impressed by how bland everything is. I go to a Chinese place, order something off the spicy section, order it “extra spicy” and it tastes like they added paprika so it looks spicy. The chain restaurants with a more or less standard menu across the nation have okay food, but the “local” food isn’t very inspired or daring. I call it “safe cooking for old people.”
You know, I noticed the exact same thing when I liven in CS. I’m a pizza snob, and was mildly upset that I couldn’t get a decent neopolitan in all of Colorado Springs.
Don’t get me started on the whole cheesesteak issue. Can you tell I’m from Philly?
Cleveland. I was laid off from my job (urban planner, a very specialized profession), and there were no jobs in my field anywhere in the Cleveland area. None.
i’m also thinking of migration. aside from a bit of family, i don’t have much holding me in philly. i am considering going further north. i’d like new england but it is out of my price range. i’m now thinking great lakes region.
