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Leaving Los Angeles

Stifle Tower

Stifle Tower

Punch Bowl Re-Filler
So after 17 years in the belly of the beast, I've decided (with 99% certainty) it's time to get out of Tinseltown. No weird dreams in the night; we're not taking our tents and fleeing into the wilderness. Although since we don't have any gold, silver or very many precious things, that wouldn't be hard to do. It's a combination of many things: bad economy, high cost of living, concern over the school system (see problems in the middle and high schools my daughter would eventually be attending), etc.

We haven't settled on a specific area yet...so this is where I'm asking for any of you to input your observations/experiences. And I ask all of you to be considerate and stay on topic here. I know we often joke around - and I do it as much as others - but this is a serious, life-altering decision. We're hoping to stay in the western U.S. - obviously some of that will depend on me securing employment. BTW, I work as a Financial Analyst (on the corporate level - budgeting, reporting, variance and strategic analysis). So pretty much limited to major metropolitan areas that have mid to large companies with enough significant mass to need analysts. Unfortunately, I don't have the working capital to start up my own business or buy a franchise...wish I did.

Anyway, I would welcome input from any of you who live or have lived/worked in the Seattle, Portland or Denver areas. And obviously, Salt Lake down through Utah county and southern Utah. I'm pretty sure we'll stay away from Arizona and Nevada. I'd include Boise/Idaho Falls from a desirability standpoint but I don't think there are large enough companies HQ'd there. Any input on great, family-friendly neighborhoods/exurbs of those cities is welcome, as well as which areas to stay away from. Not really concerned with the night life/clubs in cities; my free time is usually spent at soccer, basketball, drama activities for my daughter. Also just starting my networking into some of those cities, so if any of you have experiences to share about great companies to work for (or conversely, ones to avoid) - and especially if you know CEO's, CFO's or Controllers (those are the people I would normally be under depending on the company structure), I'd be grateful for any leads. Some of you may even have good bad experience with employment agencies/recruiters - or contacts at agencies - so that would also be valuable info for me.

Rep forthcoming to those who contribute via this thread or PM. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to buy one of you a drink sometime if a suggestion or lead pans out.

Thanks in advance!
 
Go to seattle if you don't mind the rain.... Good economy, lots of beauty, plenty to do..... Great place to live, but I could not get past the rain myself.

I know its homerish, but I love salt lake city
 
Other than my mission, I've lived the greater SLC area my whole life. Definitely has it's pros and cons (I freaking HATE the heat). I have extended family who live in the Portland area and they absolutely LOVE it up there. Some were born and raised there, and some weren't, but they all love it up there.
 
Even though I want to move to the Pac NW, Denver is a great city. Most cities in Jefferson County are safe (Lakewood, parts of Littleton, Arvada, Wheat Ridge), and the southeast suburbs near the tech center are also about the same (Centennial, Greenwood Village). Both Aurora and Denver tend to get less crappy the further south you go in them. Avoid the north areas of both cities, though in all honestly even the ghettos in Denver are nothing compared to Oakland or LA. I've walked around Montbello at night (which supposedly has a bad reputation, but I think it's more a racist/prejudiced thing myself) and haven't felt unsafe. For kids I'd avoid Denver in general just because the schools aren't great, even though the areas near the University have fantastic old houses that I love (and are extremely expensive).

Can't give you any employment advice/leads since I'm just a peon.
 
I have several good friends who live/have lived and raised families in the Denver/Boulder area and loved it. Especially great if you're an outdoors type.

Also, while it might be too far north and not far enough west for you, the Minneaplois/St. Paul area IS in the Western Conference and it's also an area that gets rave reviews.

Where are you (and your wife) from? Native Californians or relocated from elsewhere?

I've never lived any significant part of my adult life outside of the Chicago area. Let me know if Chicago and its suburbs are in the picture...
 
moevillini said:
I have several good friends who live/have lived and raised families in the Denver/Boulder area and loved it. Especially great if you're an outdoors type.

Also, while it might be too far north and not far enough west for you, the Minneaplois/St. Paul area IS in the Western Conference and it's also an area that gets rave reviews.

Where are you (and your wife) from? Native Californians or relocated from elsewhere?

I've never lived any significant part of my adult life outside of the Chicago area. Let me know if Chicago and its suburbs are in the picture...
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We're both from No. CA but the cost of living is even worse in the SF Bay area and down into Silicon Valley - unless you're a top exec bringing in well into the 6 figures. Hey, a "6" for the other thread;-)
I've visited Minneapolis/St. Paul on business and found it much too cold. Chicago is out; that's the murder and corruption capital of the US (well, outside of D.C.).

Thanks for the input on Denver.
 
I loved the small towns outside Seattle. Beautiful smaller towns. Nice atmosphere, beautiful scenery and the greater Seattle area is right there.

Some really cool places in Colorado as well. Perhaps outside Colorado Springs?
 
Look into Woodinville, Kenmore, Kingsgate and south thru Kirkland, Bellevue and New Castle. That is east/northeast of Seattle. Seattle is on the west side of Washington Lake and all those towns are on the east side.
 
Stoked said:
Look into Woodinville, Kenmore, Kingsgate and south thru Kirkland, Bellevue and New Castle. That is east/northeast of Seattle. Seattle is on the west side of Washington Lake and all those towns are on the east side.
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Also issaquah
 
Seattle is good.
Portland is smaller but good.
I would also endorse Chicago, New York (Long Island is a great place to raise a family), Twin Cities, Atlanta.
But I'd recommend Raleigh/Durham as my top choice.
 
Surprised PKM hasn't come up with a 10 page thesis for you on this... he's very well travelled and is usually pretty opinionated about these things...
 
All good choices on your list. I would just aim for whatever one has the highest average salary in your field to living expenses ratio if you can find a job there. I've never been to a place on the entire planet where there were extreme cost premiums that I thought were acceptable given what the place offers. And you live by Magic Mountain right? So I assume you probably commuted into L.A. when you were working? It would probably be nice to cut that kind of stuff down.
 
Duck Rodgers said:
And you live by Magic Mountain right? So I assume you probably commuted into L.A. when you were working? It would probably be nice to cut that kind of stuff down.
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That's a big part of the equation. The LA commute is a killer and it's only gotten worse with the freeway destruction going on. I was lucky enough for a while to have a flexible schedule, leaving home at 5:00 am, getting to work by 6:00, then leaving work at 4:00 and generally getting home by 5:30. That gave me some time w/ family in the evenings but left me short on sleep. I just can't do the bedtime at 10-11 and be up at 4 am anymore. Alternately, the typical 8-5 in LA means leaving at 6 am and not getting home until 7 (or later) in the typical LA traffic. And public transportation isn't much better by the time you transfer from bus to train to bus.
 
PKM said:
Are you LDS?
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Yes, but that's not really a consideration in terms of where to move or work. I've worked with people of all types and persuasions. The only time I really drew the line was when a few work colleagues went to a gay night club in Amsterdam on a business trip. I didn't join them (and they knew I wouldn't). But we'd all go out to dinner as a group. No big deal with then drinking alcohol and me with my Diet Coke - yes, I do have "vices" ;-). In terms of where to live, there will be LDS meeting houses in any community. The main thing for us is to be in a family-oriented community. We live in Santa Clarita and there's a major Christian University (The Master's College) on the other side of town. So I'd say the city is fairly conservative as a result. And unlike the East and Bible belt, I've rarely run into any prejudice or major misconceptions about LDS people. Most, even if they strongly disagree with LDS beliefs, at least understand we're Christians. Not to turn this into a religious discussion, but I've always been more concerned with a person's ethics than religious affiliation.
 
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