I have a favor to ask of all of you.

[Jason]

I need to relocate. Sadly, in my 20 years on this earth, I've only twice traveled outside of the northeastern United States. I went to Florida as a kid, and I've been in Tennessee briefly. So then... my problem is I'm not at all familiar with other areas of my country. I have no idea where to relocate to, what to expect of certain areas.

I would absolutely LOVE it if you guys from the states could tell me a little bit about your area. I'm mostly concerned with job opportunities and cost of living, stuff along those lines. General info is good too though.

My plan is to relocate, start at an entry level job (in other words, scrape along for awhile) and then get back in school when I have my feet back under me.

Okay, so please hit me with the info about your places of residence!

Big time thanks in advance to everyone who helps me out here.

[bloodzombie]

That's pretty general, I think you really need to decide what type of area you want to live in first... If you don't mind being really poor, check out san francisco, it was my first choice of a place to move to, but it would be really damn hard to buy a house near there.

I ended up in seattle, so I'll tell you about that... it's fucking beautiful. the whole northwest is, really. Hard as hell to get a job though. Cost of living isn't too bad, it was worse when I lived in chicago, but it depends a lot on neighborhood. You'd probably want to move to capitol hill or the university district for most fun and cheaper living. Mountains are kinda far away, but makes for a great day trip for hiking/snowboarding and they make for great scenery every time the skies are clear. Of course you've heard that it rains a lot, but that's blown way out of proportion... The skies are cloudy most of the winter, but the summers are just about perfect. It rarely rains hard, it's just drizzly all winter, and I'll take that over snow any day. The first year I was here I heard that it snowed a couple times, but I must've missed it and it didn't stick to the ground. last winter we had a big snowstorm, but I was out of town and it was all melted by the time i got back a week later. The real downside is the job market. If you're just looking for something to scrape by, you can always hit up Adecco and get a temp job in an office or some light industrial crap job, or you can work at one of a bazillion coffee shops. If you want to get started on a career, it's tough out here since we have such a high percentage of college graduates out here and the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the country.. but it seems to bet getting better.

If the northwest appeals to you, make sure you check out portland.. real cool town and you can drive to cannon beach, which is pretty sweet.


Also, I hear conc's looking for a roomy

[PaulOakenfold]

Don't move to Connecticut unless your career choice promisses a good $45k+ a year, unless of course you don't mind living in a one room house on 1/6 of an acre. Plus this isn't a fun state to live in, it's more of a "raise your family here because the public schooling is great, and the people who live here are pretty well off, but not totaly assholish" kind of place... at least that's how I find it's been.
I went to High School in Ct, went to college in PA (Lehigh), and grew up most of my younger years in New York (and born in South London, England). Only places I can say I really remember is the Lehigh valley of Pa and Long Island. The Lehigh valley reminds me a lot of Ct, but I just found myself uncomfortable with the locals, thus I tried to stay as far away from them as possible. I grew up in Syoset LI, which I can say is well... very Long Islandish, you probably know what I'm talking about... pretty much, the LI people don't change much wherever you go, as much as they protest that.
I'd say, if you're not looking to settle down just yet, take a nice long vacation, take a tour d'amerique I guess.

[Jerome Scuggs]

Louisiana sucks. We all want to move. Unless you want to start a new business. Then I'd buy your shit

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

Also, I hear conc's looking for a roomy

No, but Divine Rides said he'd put up anybody who want to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time. Leave a message for him in the game.

[dchao]

I live in Pennsylvania but my parents say good jobs are hard to find and taxes are high in our area.

[Jason]

That joke isn't going to work on me twice, you fuckers.

beez, my plan is to find a cheap apartment, start out entry level (hopefully something in desktop support or at least something in the general computing field) and work toward a few certifications, and then after or maybe alongside the certs take a few classes. All the while I'll be trying to keep moving up the corporate ladder.

[Richard Creager]

Also, I hear conc's looking for a roomy

The joke is even better the second time around.

[Saturn V]

I live in the FW part of DFW in Texas. I came here after I got laid off from my IT job in Austin. I was never able to find another IT job once I got here (but I then got an IT job up in Amarillo, TX which I left after a few months to come back to Fort Worth). I couldn't tell you how the job market is here lately as I haven't looked. But there are a lot of big companies up here (TI is over in Plano).

Cost of living varies. Over near the TCU area it's about $800 for a 1 bedroom apartment. 15 minutes north we're paying under $700 for a 2 bedroom. Although we try to stay in nicer areas.

There are a shitload of schools around here: UTA, UNT, TWU, TCU, TCC, and SMU just to name a few.

FW also has some good museums (so does Dallas). Here in FW is The Modern, Amon Carter, and the Kimball Art Museum (all right next to each other). Also the Modern in Dallas. Both cities have some sort of a science and history museum.

Dallas is about 30 to 45 minutes away connected with little small cities all the way over. Plenty to do. And there is a Six Flags and water park over in Arlington. Grapevine has a killer mall, a decent skate park, and a movie theater that has seats like couches. I don't go out much because of school, but I I'm sure more stuff is out there.

Traffic sucks. So does the weather (usually). Hardcore pollution (both air pollution and light pollution). I have to drive about an hour north to be able to do any astronomy-like stuff outside moon observing and constellation hunting.

If I could live anywhere in Texas it would probably be Austin. Edit: Actually after thinking about it, no. Austin summers suck and the humidity is awful. Maybe avoid Texas?

[Sleepy Weasel]

Finding a job in Pittsburgh is tough. I don't recommend trying there.

[Fit of Rage]

I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. If you're a cold weather boy this isn't the place for you. However, you could probably find a job relatively easily, there's never a time I don't see a help wanted ad somewhere or another, and not just for janitor/cashier jobs either. Cost of living is a little bit high, but not nearly as much as some cities. Pensacola/Navarre/Destin/Fort Walton Beach strip is where it's at. Beautiful beaches only about 20 minutes away, if that, and besides a hurricane every decade, gorgeous weather 70-80.

[DaiShiva]

Tucson, AZ: The only natural disasters we have are droughts, so we get to watch everyone else have snow, rain, tornadoes and floods. The mountains are nice and green (usually) so if you are an outdoorsy person, thers plenty of that to go around.

[Heatha]

Tucson, AZ: The only natural disasters we have are droughts, so we get to watch everyone else have snow, rain, tornadoes and floods. The mountains are nice and green (usually) so if you are an outdoorsy person, thers plenty of that to go around.

You forgot to mention the wonderful summers here. Nice dry heat of 107 F, you can't beat that.

Job wise, it's pretty easy to find a job. One of AOL's compounds are located here in Tucson. It's pretty simple to get hired there and work your way up the ladder.

Tucson, entertainment wise, is pretty dull though... you always have to travel to Phoniex to enjoy concerts and the better end clubs.

[Cylor]

Colorado is pretty great. I really love Denver and Boulder is pretty sweet too. Cost of living isn't too bad if you live Downtown but near the Tech Center it can get pretty costly. The weather is sporadic and there's always skiing in the Winter. I wouldn't recommend it as your first choice, but definitely consider it.

[Sufficient]

NJ is nice. Nice weather etc. ... but costs of living are pretty high I think. Lots of big companies tho (AT&T, Lucent, Avaya in tech ... and Johnson & Johnson, Merck, other bio/pharm companies). Cheap schooling too at Rutgers or the several community colleges around the state which are actually not too bad either (cheap).