Where Should I Move?

Hello monkeys. As a couple of you may know, my job is literally killing me. I can hear my brain cells screaming as the slowly, but surely, kill themselves off. I am forced to stare at a computer screen all day, and literally do nothing. I mean nothing. I'm in the back office of a service provider, basically doing help support (which is not what they said I'd be doing at all). Why do I stay? I've been trying to give the company the benefit of the doubt, but 6 months have passed and things have not gotten any better.

So now I am starting my job search, but I think I'm going to go all out and move the heck out of Chicago while I'm at it. Chicago has its advantages...okay...really I just hate the midwest. The winters are cold with minimal snow and nothing to do except for snow mobiling (I refuse to go snowboarding on these hills). The summers are humid and the water is disgusting, and it seems like the people who enjoy being outside are the exception rather than the rule. That being said, my family is here, so I will wait until after the holidays to really start looking for work.

I've narrowed my search down to a few areas and would love to get some opinions on these areas (I'd rather live in a suburb within a half hour of one of these areas than actually downtown).

  1. Salt Lake City, UT
  2. Denver, CO
  3. Fort Worth, TX
  4. Phoenix, AZ
  5. Houston, TX

What I'm looking for:

  1. Lots of things to do outside (I don't mind the winter as long as there is something to do in it. i.e. mountains for snowboarding)
  2. Decent finance opportunities (I'm looking for a low-level HF, AM, PWM, or IB in that order.)
  3. Lower cost of living than Chicago

Note: My side-business can be done anywhere, so that should not be a factor.

So have it at monkeys. Tell me what you think of these areas and their related suburbs. Are there other areas that I should consider?

 
West Coast rainmaker:
Are you Mormon? If not, I would really reconsider Salt Lake. Yeah, it is getting more diverse - Huntsman passed legislation allowing public bars in 2009 - but I still would think twice about it.
Haha I'm not Mormon. Salt Lake City was in the running because a read a few months ago that some jobs were starting to move from NYC to Salt Lake, and have heard that it is starting to grow as a financial hub. Combine that with my love for staying active outdoors (mountain biking, snowboarding, dirtbiking, etc.), and it seemed like a decent option. I'm open to all criticsms and suggestions though! I've only met 2 Mormon's in my life and they seemed nice enough, although it does make me think of the Mormon episode of South Park.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/104253/joseph-smith-part-1

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley
 

The state of Texas has no state income tax for individuals.

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 
BTbanker:
Never heard of anyone in finance who wants to leave a major financial hub, let alone an awesome city like Chicago.
I know that it's definitely against the flow. Nothing against those who like it here, but Chicago is just not my kind of town. A lot of times it feels like the only things there are to do are watch sports and drink (especially during the winter).

It may just be the fact that I've spent my whole life here.

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley
 
Nefarious-:
The state of Texas has no state income tax for individuals.
I definitely like that about Texas. I personally haven't been there, but my Aunt and Uncle just moved to Fort Worth from here and they love it. My biggest concern with Texas is the kind of people. I've heard in places like Houston is one of the fattest cities in the US because all they do is eat, and I am a little concerned about living with far far right conservatives. I lean right myself (consider myself to be a Libertarian actually), but the far right drives me nuts (then again, the far left drives me nuts too which is one reason why I ruled out California)
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley
 
Best Response
TripWest:
Nefarious-:
The state of Texas has no state income tax for individuals.
I definitely like that about Texas. I personally haven't been there, but my Aunt and Uncle just moved to Fort Worth from here and they love it. My biggest concern with Texas is the kind of people. I've heard in places like Houston is one of the fattest cities in the US because all they do is eat, and I am a little concerned about living with far far right conservatives. I lean right myself (consider myself to be a Libertarian actually), but the far right drives me nuts (then again, the far left drives me nuts too which is one reason why I ruled out California)

If I were going to move to Texas, I would only look at Austin or Dallas. Possibly Houston 3rd if I had to pick a 3rd.

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 

For Salt Lake City, if your incentive is the prospective jobs there, I would go on Goldman's website and apply for some if you're interested and then it would be worth it if you could line up a job out there.

My suggestion for those preferences is Denver. I love Denver and have a goal of being there myself. Great activities but it's also possible to find all the jobs you mentioned.

Going to school in Arizona I will tell you I hated the heat in the summer. People there thought I was crazy being okay with snow but I think they are crazy being okay with 120 degrees.

Blue horseshoe loves Anacott Steel
 

Phoenix sounds the worst out of those cities.

Dallas/Fort Worth/Houston/big cities in Texas all seem like a pretty good place to live with great opportunities.

Denver is a really cool city but has limited finance options, as in not really a financial hub. The skiing is great, good sports teams, good golfing, starting to develop into a bigger city, and some killer apartments for cheap. But I would say don't move there without a job lined up. You may be looking for a while, and have to settle again.

I've been to Salt Lake a number of times. The mormon influence there isn't al that noticable, AND you could live in Park City and commute (like a 30 minute drive.) Park City is the shit. Great skiing, better nightlife than SLC, and much less mormons. SLC probably has better career opportunities than say Denver, if you were going to move and then start looking for a job, just because a lot of bschool/finance people don't find SLC appealing. And it is also cheaper than a lot of places.

 
Jamess1:
For Salt Lake City, if your incentive is the prospective jobs there, I would go on Goldman's website and apply for some if you're interested and then it would be worth it if you could line up a job out there.

My suggestion for those preferences is Denver. I love Denver and have a goal of being there myself. Great activities but it's also possible to find all the jobs you mentioned.

Going to school in Arizona I will tell you I hated the heat in the summer. People there thought I was crazy being okay with snow but I think they are crazy being okay with 120 degrees.

I will start checking out their website more, and looking more deeply into it. Thanks

droking7:
Phoenix sounds the worst out of those cities.

Dallas/Fort Worth/Houston/big cities in Texas all seem like a pretty good place to live with great opportunities.

Denver is a really cool city but has limited finance options, as in not really a financial hub. The skiing is great, good sports teams, good golfing, starting to develop into a bigger city, and some killer apartments for cheap. But I would say don't move there without a job lined up. You may be looking for a while, and have to settle again.

I've been to Salt Lake a number of times. The mormon influence there isn't al that noticable, AND you could live in Park City and commute (like a 30 minute drive.) Park City is the shit. Great skiing, better nightlife than SLC, and much less mormons. SLC probably has better career opportunities than say Denver, if you were going to move and then start looking for a job, just because a lot of bschool/finance people don't find SLC appealing. And it is also cheaper than a lot of places.

I will definitely be getting a job lined up before I move.

Thank you for the informative posts! So far it looks like I'll most likely be crossing Phoenix off the list

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley
 

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“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” --Aldous Huxley

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