Colorado vs Montana?

[Bugle 'Em In]

That's a choice only you can make. I used to chase the titles and money right out of college, and it took me away from MT for 5 years. It was a long 5 years figuring out how to get back here and still pay the bills. I live by the motto: "there's more to life than money". Having said that, there is no way I'll volunteer to leave again.
Just returning home from Denver as I type this and that traffic is TERRIBLE!

 

[Nemont]

My only advice is that the older I get the more I wished I had heeded the advice from so many, "Chase the dream, don't chase the money".

Nemont

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Poke 'EM... are you taking an O&G job down here? If so keep in mind how our fickle our industry is... just saw a buddy move down from Missoula to Denver to work for Noble only to get laid off in 6 months, one of the reasons I'm being such a negative Nancy on your thread.

 

[elkduds]

Can you make AND SAVE enough cash working in Colorado for three years to significantly improve your situation when you move back to Montana? Maybe pay off debt? Buy better house or property? Work less once back in Montana due to less debt? Etc...

If the answer is yes to some of these questions I'd move in a heartbeat. Three years goes quickly and it's not like Colorado lacks in outdoor opportunities. If moving away won't net you any gains, stay where you are.

Pros: If you can make strides toward having a better professional life for the rest of your life it may be worth the move. Say you get the promotion, then the next opportunity lets you live better in MT or wherever. You will always have that career progress, no matter where you live, an investment in your future. Probably better career opportunities in most fields in Denver.

Liveable and less expensive housing options on the fringes of Denver Metro, plan on commuting 60-90 min each way. Good pro sports, cheap airfares, city amenities, world class winter resorts, resident hunting licenses are cheap and good hunting is available. Climate.

Cons: Expensive housing, overpopulated: traffic, crowded outdoor sports, crime, hectic pace of life.

I'm a CO native of almost 60 years, it is not what it used to be. Still some hope for the Western Slope.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Still some hope for the Western Slope.

I'm not so sure my home town didn't have a grocery store until I was in middle school now we have a costo and the population has tripled in the last 15 years. I think californiacation has set in hard and will only continue.

 

[Ovis Venator]

As another Sidney guy, I couldn't imagine dealing with that many people and the traffic that goes along with it. I often commute an hour or more to wells and I don't mind it at all, but getting stuck in traffic like that would be just misery.

 

[CasperOutdoorsman719]

Is Denver crowded...Yes. Is it as bad as some make it out to be...No! There is a ton of hunting and fishing within a couple hours from town. Wllm1313 is WAYYY over exaggerating as to what you need to make to live comfortably. I live in a great town, in a nice house (nothing extravagant) and will be able to make it with me, a wife, two kids on 1 salary of less than $100K. I have never lived in, or even visited, Montana but there are worse places on earth than Denver.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Is Denver crowded...Yes. Is it as bad as some make it out to be...No! There is a ton of hunting and fishing within a couple hours from town. Wllm1313 is WAYYY over exaggerating as to what you need to make to live comfortably. I live in a great town, in a nice house (nothing extravagant) and will be able to make it with me, a wife, two kids on 1 salary of less than $100K. I have never lived in, or even visited, Montana but there are worse places on earth than Denver.

I wasn't saying you need to make 120K just that you need to realize your paycheck in Montana goes way further than it will here. I make the same as I did up there and it has been a huge change in standard of living. Also when did you buy your house it's only gotten crazy lasy 2 years and honestly will probably go down in couple more... just saying this is the worst moment to find housing in the metro area. We put offers on 12 places 20k over asking before we got something with houses going under contract in 3 days of being listed. It's nuts... have 2 cousins and 3 coworkers buying right now and nobody has found it to be anything less than a terrible process.

 

[Bambistew]

I grew up in a small town in MT, moved to the east coast after college, lived there for 8 long years. I would go back to MT and make trips to CO to hunt every fall for a week or two. I found myself planning my life around those trips. I managed to find outdoor things to do, but it was no where near what I had in MT.

I've spent a fair amount of time in Denver, not lived there, but used visit often for weeks at a time, and am down there for work occasionally. Its a big city, but also has a lot of open space, and the mountains are only an hour drive from about anywhere. I could think of much worse places to live, and many far better. That said I would never chose to live there, no amount of money, and no amount of coercion would convince me to live in a large metro area again.

That said, after moving to Alaska 9 years ago, the only place on the list other than here was MT and WY, and I don't think I'll ever move back to MT. I've thought long and hard about it the last year or so, but I just can't chose a place that offers me anything better than what I currently have here. I drove through more open space/public land yesterday than there is in half of Montana, just to go fishing.

One thing I learned long ago, if you can find a job, you can find the one you want where you really want to live if you look hard enough.

 

[HighDesertSage]

For me personally, Denver really is that bad. If I were you, I would look at extending your trip down here when you come for the interview and spend a few days there. Look at housing within your budget to see what you can afford, drive the roads during high traffic hours, go to the grocery store and compare prices to back home. Then you can decide if you really want to make the move. If I had done that 4 years ago, I would have never moved there. I got really lucky and got a very good job on the Western Slope. If it wasn't for that I would have never been able to make CO work.

But I'm here now and I love this side of the hill

 

[Poke 'Em]

Can you make AND SAVE enough cash working in Colorado for three years to significantly improve your situation when you move back to Montana? Maybe pay off debt? Buy better house or property? Work less once back in Montana due to less debt? Etc...

If the answer is yes to some of these questions I'd move in a heartbeat. Three years goes quickly and it's not like Colorado lacks in outdoor opportunities. If moving away won't net you any gains, stay where you are.

Here's the whole situation. I'm in line for a new opportunity if I stay here too. Pay would be about equal either way. I have no debt (save the mortgage, which finding housing that's comparable in the Denver area looks like a challenge). The non-career upside to moving would be social life. I'm 34 next week, single, and the dating scene in rural eastern Montana, well... The non-career upside to staying would be lower cost of living here, better alignment with my lifestyle.

Ideally, I want to get to either Bozeman, Missoula, or Boise in the next 3 years. The job in Denver would be area engineering manager - large umbrella, but no direct P&L accountability. The job here would be district operations manager - smaller umbrella, but I'd have direct ownership over a profit center. I'm in oil & gas, so at some point I'm going to have to change industries. It will mean a pay cut when I do, which I'm okay with (to a point). I'm going back and forth on which opportunity makes me more appealing when I attempt to go across industries - broader umbrella, or P&L accountability. It may be a wash either way. I'm currently going back and forth on which way I'm leaning, should I end up with both opportunities at the same time.

What I'm trying to get a gauge on is how much of a lifestyle sacrifice am I going to be making if I make the move to Denver, and if that gets me closer to my goals anyway.

 

[Poke 'Em]

Poke 'EM... are you taking an O&G job down here? If so keep in mind how our fickle our industry is... just saw a buddy move down from Missoula to Denver to work for Noble only to get laid off in 6 months, one of the reasons I'm being such a negative Nancy on your thread.

I'm in O&G. My boss' position made it through the downturn, so I'd expect it to be secure. The role is basically my current job, but at an area level vs a district level.

 

[CasperOutdoorsman719]

I wasn't saying you need to make 120K just that you need to realize your paycheck in Montana goes way further than it will here. I make the same as I did up there and it has been a huge change in standard of living. Also when did you buy your house it's only gotten crazy lasy 2 years and honestly will probably go down in couple more... just saying this is the worst moment to find housing in the metro area. We put offers on 12 places 20k over asking before we got something with houses going under contract in 3 days of being listed. It's nuts... have 2 cousins and 3 coworkers buying right now and nobody has found it to be anything less than a terrible process.

I moved to Denver from Southern Colorado within the last year. I bought my house with it being the only house I put an offer down on and my sister just went under contract in the Metro area as the second house she put an offer on. Yes, cost of living is significantly different than living in Montana but there are trade-offs all the way around. The suggestion of spending a few days learning the area is the best thing that has been said as it is obviously dependent on if the juice is worth the squeeze.

 

[Jwill]

I was going to say the only way you should make the move is if they roll up with a truckload of cash, but given that you're single, embracing the big city for a couple years sounds like the right move. Go down there and have fun for a few years, just know housing is going to be super expensive and traffic is going to really suck until you get used to it.

 

[noharleyyet]

We attended a concert at Red Rocks a couple summers ago and hotel'd in Downtown Denver, so much to do and Dallas like for quantity and quality of attractive young ladies. Use your screen name a lot..then tell em you're an archer.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Given your specifics, I think I might take the Denver job. I came from Bozeman and am married and from talking to friends in Bozeman the dating scene is a tough can't imagine what Sidney is like, I love Montana but I love my wife more and I would move to Detroit and never hunt again for her. ( If you were in a relationship I would do everything in my power to convince you not to leave.

If you do make the plunge, I can recommend an amazing real-estate agent and will gladly offer up all the beta on bow shops, ranges, front range turkey spots, and how the hell to keep your sanity that I have been able to glean.

 

[justdada]

I work in Denver and live in the foothills west of town. Morning commute is 40 minutes, headed home takes an hour. The time spent in the car is really my only complaint about denver.
Lots of recreation can be found around town if you take the time to find it, but it is true that there are lots of people on all the established hiking/biking trails.
What you hope to get out of the experience should guide your decision, certainly a good place to add to the resume while enjoying the dating scene, especially if you are able to save a chunk of cash for when you area ready to move back out of the big city.

 

[Zach]

If you do decide on CO, I'd rather be south of Denver than north.

Highlands Ranch HOA has a couple PLO tags they give out every year for their residents. You could be hunting from there within 1/2 hour.

 

[ErictheRed]

This is simple...it's about the money. If you can make enough to cover a return trip to Montana for hunting and still pocket extra bucks...go for it!

 

[Poke 'Em]

This is simple...it's about the money. If you can make enough to cover a return trip to Montana for hunting and still pocket extra bucks...go for it!

I'm not sure I want to be the kind of guy who takes hunting "trips." I want to be the kind of guy who "hunts."