Choosing a Job/Relocating

Cirira

I post here off and on offering advice where I can, but now I'm asking for opinions on some job offers my wife has regarding relocation. We will most likely be relocating no matter what and we've narrowed her options down to two choices. Both of the locations have roughly the same cost of living, the same airport types and the same types of shopping. I just want to get other opinions. Currently we do not have kids but that will most likely change sometime next year or the year after. Our parents could conceivably move closer to us when that happens as well since they are not tied to their immediate locations. My job may let me telecommute and if it won't then my job prospects look about the same for the two cities.

Location #1. Less salary for her, 2 of her close friends live nearby, 5-6 hour drive from each set of parents. Longer commute/drive times for her job (driving an hour each way 2-3 days a week to an outlying clinic). 1 of 3 partners in her practice. Seasonal weather (hot summers, cold winters) with potential for tornadoes and very high winds in the location. Nearest major city is 3-4 hours away with a medium size city 2-3 hours away.

Location #2. More salary, no friends/family in the immediate area. Plane flight for parents to come visit (driving would take them a day or more to do so is almost out of the question). Almost no drive time to work for her (10-15 minutes depending on where we live). 1 of 9 partners in her practice. Weather would be more on the warm side with not as varying seasons. Medium amount of rain but little snow and less chance of freezing temperatures. Summers are not overly hot. Little risk of any natural disasters. Nearest major city is 3-4 hours away but there are 2 relatively equidistant.

I can share the city names if you like, but I was trying to leave the actual names out to avoid any stigmata one way or another. (No ewwww THAT place, why would anyone live there?)

I'm probably missing something that should factor into the decision which is why I'm asking for advice.

Thank you for your input.

mts

I would say if kids are in the near future you can not stress the importance of having a nearby support system. Sure you can get by without any but it's much easier with one

Radiation

Commute does suck. I say this as someone whose job location moved after I chose my place to live.
That is time you are away from home, and not getting paid for it.
I would...increase the consideration on that, because for me it really does impact how I feel about this area, and the job.

Support system with family is nice, but as someone who has lived on the other side of the world, you get to start reaching out and making solid friendships. Also both the wife and I are glad to be away from family drama, and the longer we are away, the more nauseating it is while exposed to it.

Just my random observations.

LostNinja

That long commute half the week for job number 1 is going to be rough, I've known someone that had similar commute (only difference being that they did it daily) that it became a non starter once she had kids just because it was a lot of time she lost with them and the distance made it rough if there were an emergency or anything.

That being said, this is more of a personal decision for you two based on your priorities. Which is more important to you, more money and warmer weather or having good friends nearby?

Everything else appears to be fairly even, with the exception being possibly more room for advancement in Job 1 with less partners, but it's hard to say without really knowing the full situation there. Either way it seems that your families wouldn't be terribly close (5-6 hr drive versus a plane flight are both trips that would require advanced planning IMO), and I assume that you both would be able to make new friends in location 2.

noir_blood

Yeah, to me option 2 sounds like the real winner.

Then again, I'm not a big social person, so the no friends/family thing isn't a bit deal to me at all. Even if I was, I still would probably choose 2. You're not going to be seeing your friends and family three times a week, but if you pick #1, you definitely will be doing that commute.

Jam Warrior

2 sounds like the winner to me. Moe money. Less commute (which will make the salary cut of job 1 even more pronounced as commuting costs cash as well as time).

Friends are nice and all, but you can make new friends.

The only downside I see with option 2 is moving so far from your folks. Which definitely sucks but to my mind not enough to outweigh the other factors.

Be honest with yourself as to how likely you really think it is that your parents would move to be closer to the grandkids? If it really seems like a real thing, then 2 wins hands down. If it's a nice thing to say but probably wouldn't really happen any time soon, then 2 still wins in my mind to be honest.

Pure Din

LostNinja wrote: »

Either way it seems that your families wouldn't be terribly close (5-6 hr drive versus a plane flight are both trips that would require advanced planning IMO)

Yeah, I wouldn't count a 5-6 hour drive away as being a good local support system. My parents were older when they had me, and nowadays a 5 hour drive is really more like 6-7 hours of slow-ass highway driving plus stopping for bathroom breaks every 1.5-2 hours. Still cheaper than flying but not really any closer. And it can only get worse as they get older.

Also "seasonal" winters plus the commute sounds particularly difficult, unless she has the option of staying home during bad weather.

Cirira

We're leaning towards #2 ourselves right now. She discussed it with her Mom last night and her Mom even agreed it sounded like a better fit.

The 2 options are Council Bluffs, IA vs Medford, OR. Everything we could find about cost of living has them roughly the same. She's a doctor so working from home is not possible at all, hence why the commute is a decent factor in the choices.

Everyone here pretty much agreed with the folks around us and even the friends that we'd be moving closer to. Barring some new unforeseen change we'll most likely take the Medford, OR job.

Our parents live near St. Louis, MO and the CO/NE border respectively, so they'd both most likely have to fly to Medford to visit.

Kharnastus

For the record, your assessment of no near major cities for Council Bluffs is inaccurate. Across the river 5 minutes from Council bluffs is Omaha. The surrounding area around Omaha including Council bluffs has somewhere in the neighborhood of ~1 million people. Not that Oregon isn't cooler and generally more appealing place to live.

Semantics aside, I would probably pick Oregon. Mo money and living near the coast?

IrrationalRobot

Once you have kids, you'll make new friends. It just works out that way.

PedroAsani

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/oregon/medford

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/iowa/council_bluffs

103 for Medford, 85 for Council Bluffs. Per Capita Income on those living there is 92 vs 88. So on the money end, Council Bluffs looks slightly cheaper.

But if you look at the Crime sections, it gets pretty bad. Violent Crime is worse in Council Bluffs, and Property Crime is a 10, the worst rating possible.

I'd aim for Medford, but you might want to look slightly south at Phoenix, OR. Crime is a 2/4 rather than 5/6, and COL is 102 instead of 103.