Where should I move after school?

BenFrost

BenFrost

Member
I know this thread has probably been made before, but I haven't found any recent ones and had a few specific questions. I'm going to be graduating soon and have decided I want to move away from the East Coast where I have spent most of my life. I want to move to a somewhat big city where I can start a career and ski a few days a week, I don't want to move just to bum it at a local ski town. The main places I've been looking are Seattle, SLC, Denver, Reno, and Bozeman. Seattle and SLC have great job options from what I've seen but I'm not sure if I would enjoy everything else that comes with living in Salt Lake City as I have heard mixed reviews. Denver would be great, but I don't know if the commute would be too much to be a weekend warrior. I love the Tahoe area but I am unsure of career options and just living in Reno in general. And Bozeman is dope but I'm a little worried about the size of the city and job options here.

Any recommendations or experiences people have had would be appreciated. I'm also a dual citizen so Canada is an option but I haven't really looked into work options anywhere up there yet.
 
Seattle would be rad, you're pretty close to BC and you get all the PNW outdoor benefits... and I mean I cant speak for much cuz im not a local there but you don't hear very much about Seattle getting too crowded, for example, Denver has been getting crazy based on what my family and friends who live on the front range say
 
Reno is small ish but it's fun. Housing prices went up a bunch but still really cheap compared to much else near skiing. Lots of mountains in the Tahoe area though. Plenty of good outdoor stuff around. Also lots of dry skateparks year round. Like 4 good ones and a couple other in reno that you can skate year round.

Denver is a cool city but the commute on 70 on the weekends is shot. Also summit is kind of west denver.

SLC seems pretty cool. I've spent some time around there and a bunch of friends live there. Good skiing and outdor stuff around but traffic is also becoming a big issue.

Just went to bozeman for the first time. Place seems like it's growing fast but still small and close to good outdoor stuff without the crazy traffic. But friends said it was significantly more busy at the mtns but I'm guessing that still beats the hell out of some other places.

Never been to seattle but Im moving near there ti work at crystal. 2 hours away from seattle. Not sure what else is around and the setup as I'm not there yet.

Maybe narrow it down to a few and see what jobs you can find and then snag the best job.
 
Seattle and Vancouver are really similar honestly so if you have the option I would say go two hours north and grab some free healthcare.

**This post was edited on Oct 28th 2020 at 3:02:50pm
 
Bozeman Job and housing market is pretty fucked. There's not many entry level career jobs unless you're an engineer. The median house price is 710,000 currently rising 3-5% every year over the last 15 years. Bay area and Denver rich folks keep buying up the small town homes as "Escape" housing at wayy over valued prices. It is a rad place, but check out spokane washington for week day skiing and great career options. Small city with a hill about 45 minutes away that has night skiing.
 
Weird suggestion but id say calgary, housing is pretty cheap, job market isnt bad rn and the skiing is great - cop is a world class park in the city and your about 90 mins from norquay lake louose and sunshine. And dont forget kicking horse fernie and revelstoke all arent too far either
 
So, I lived in Reno for 7 years.

It's growing super quick but is a lot cheaper than Truckee/Tahoe. It's pretty easy to access the mountains and lake, river is in town with pretty solid fishing if you're into that. Great biking. Because it's growing there are some jobs to be found but my brother says lots are factory or manufacturing gig right now. Housing is getting tight I hear.

I've lived in Bozeman for 7 years now.

Job market sucks, good luck if you're not an engineer or in construction. The housing is awful, super expensive, and very hard to come by. We're getting traffic now, the city is expanding but there really isn't a job market to support it. Close to skiing and trails but it is expensive to live here.
 
14189642:BasedSkier said:
Weird suggestion but id say calgary, housing is pretty cheap, job market isnt bad rn and the skiing is great - cop is a world class park in the city and your about 90 mins from norquay lake louose and sunshine. And dont forget kicking horse fernie and revelstoke all arent too far either
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Also forgot to add to this - calg is filled with dank urban crews and there is almost always snow in the city between october and march, also calgary is probably better than quebec for spots
 
If you choose Seattle, you have Stevens (2 hrs away), Snoqualmie (1 hr away), and Crystal (2 hrs away) in different directions. Baker is 3 hrs away and Whistler is a 4-5 hr drive.
 
14189685:DilldoesDurango said:
Don't move to Denver if you want to ski. You'll spend half your season in traffic.
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Downtown Denver is also now a 3rd world country shithole with tents everywhere, graffiti and drugged out homeless people wandering around.
 
14189642:BasedSkier said:
Weird suggestion but id say calgary, housing is pretty cheap, job market isnt bad rn and the skiing is great - cop is a world class park in the city and your about 90 mins from norquay lake louose and sunshine. And dont forget kicking horse fernie and revelstoke all arent too far either
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Was gonna say this.. I am from Canmore area near Calgary, housing market in Alberta is so low right now compared to places like Van. Plus youre coming from the US so your dollar will get you a ton. I ski Louise and Sunshine
 
Culturally, Seattle is...kind of a mess. There’s definitely lots of jobs in the tech industry there, and if you live somewhere terrible like Bellevue (don’t move to Bellevue...) you’ll be between the city proper and the mountains, easy access to highways north and east. Companies like Amazon have absolutely boned rent and house prices in the area though.
 
Thanks everyone for you’re input. Calgary Seattle and Reno all sound dope. Anyone have anything to say about SLC? I know the skiing is great and convenient but is there any kind of social scene?
 
14189696:SuspiciousFish said:
Downtown Denver is also now a 3rd world country shithole with tents everywhere, graffiti and drugged out homeless people wandering around.
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the politicians in this state actually prefer it if homeless people smoke meth publicly rather than in a port-a-potty
 
14189775:jacksonrisucci said:
the politicians in this state actually prefer it if homeless people smoke meth publicly rather than in a port-a-potty
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are u speaking from personal experience?
 
14189746:BenFrost said:
Thanks everyone for you’re input. Calgary Seattle and Reno all sound dope. Anyone have anything to say about SLC? I know the skiing is great and convenient but is there any kind of social scene?
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I lived in Lehi and worked in Salt Lake for a few years. Its a cool city if you are in to outdoor activities like hiking, biking skiing etc. The social scene can be kind of rough but if you find a good group of friends you are good. I noticed people kind of have a standoff-ish attitude there. The LDS Church really does run the state and there presence is always there. It kind of makes people have this chip on their shoulder but maybe thats just the people we met.

Its also very overcrowded so unless you are willing to live South of SLC or out in West Valley its pretty expensive. The inversion is really bad there too and sometimes the air is so disgusting you can only see 2 blocks from the pollution. That being said, the mountains are literally right in your backyard and its only 30 min or so to some world class skiing. Zion, Moab and Bryce etc are not too far and make for some cool camping trips. The one thing I didnt like about living there is the isolation. If you look at google maps SLC is about 8 hrs from Denver to the East and nothing but desert to the West. That means you really cant get away from the valley aside from hanging out in Park City which has a pretty cool vibe.

Anyway, its worth living there for a few years if your young but I dont think i could ever settle down out there.
 
I just visited Seattle and Denver last year and they’re both pretty rad. If you’re a Canadian citizen though you should move to Vancouver.
 
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