matttahoe53
Happy to be here
Hi All, I have been on a 5 year journey to move back to the Carolinas and it seems I am headed on another detour.
A little back story: my wife an I left North Carolina seven years ago and moved back to Ohio (where we are both from) so she could be treated at the Cleveland Clinic. Long story short she got better and after two years back in Ohio I started to look for an opportunity to advance my career and move us back to NC.
I interviewed for a job based in RTP and got the job, but the hiring manager asked if I would be willing to move to Portland, OR. I had never been their before except for the in person interview (I went at the end of August and it was beautiful) and my wife and I discussed the opportunity and decided to take it.
Fast forward another two years and we absolutely hated Oregon (the rain is no joke and the homeless tolerance is ridiculous). Along with the location there were troubling signs within the company I was working for (they closed around a year after I left) and I was not interested in getting laid off in a place where there were so few opportunities within my line of work. Since Oregon was not going to be a long term place for us to settle down I started to look for the next opportunity in my career and one that would take us back to the Carolinas.
In the end I accepted job in the Denver, CO area (had never been to Denver before) as it was another great opportunity for advancement. We have now been here three years and really do like the area. My current job is not bad, but there is not the room for growth that I had hoped for. I have learned a lot and have brought real value to the organization but that has not translated into compensation or growth within the company. My wife and I are currently renting as the housing in the area is a quite expensive and the benchmark for us to buy was for me to get promoted and to make a bit more for us to comfortable buy. That really is our ultimate goal is to buy a place and settle down and put down roots somewhere. Since there was no clear path forward within the company I currently work for to make this happen I started to look for something new again preferably in the Carolinas.
Well that hasn’t happened. I was one of the final candidate for for three jobs and got two no’s and an offer but we couldn’t come to a salary agreement and I turned it down.
That brings us to today. I have accepted a job with a company in Houston, TX (been to TX a couple times but never Houston) It will be remote for the foreseeable future and my wife and I will stay in Colorado until we need to move but eventually we will have to relocate. I am excited about the position as it will also me the ability to build something from scratch with a fair amount of discretion.
Sorry for the long story as I thought it helped to bring a little context to show that moving to a new unfamiliar area. So, have any of you ever lived in the area? Any advice will be appreciated? We are actually going to have plenty of time with this move rather than the past two giving us plenty of time to figure out where we want to settle. We plan on buying our first house and hope to put down some roots.
A little back story: my wife an I left North Carolina seven years ago and moved back to Ohio (where we are both from) so she could be treated at the Cleveland Clinic. Long story short she got better and after two years back in Ohio I started to look for an opportunity to advance my career and move us back to NC.
I interviewed for a job based in RTP and got the job, but the hiring manager asked if I would be willing to move to Portland, OR. I had never been their before except for the in person interview (I went at the end of August and it was beautiful) and my wife and I discussed the opportunity and decided to take it.
Fast forward another two years and we absolutely hated Oregon (the rain is no joke and the homeless tolerance is ridiculous). Along with the location there were troubling signs within the company I was working for (they closed around a year after I left) and I was not interested in getting laid off in a place where there were so few opportunities within my line of work. Since Oregon was not going to be a long term place for us to settle down I started to look for the next opportunity in my career and one that would take us back to the Carolinas.
In the end I accepted job in the Denver, CO area (had never been to Denver before) as it was another great opportunity for advancement. We have now been here three years and really do like the area. My current job is not bad, but there is not the room for growth that I had hoped for. I have learned a lot and have brought real value to the organization but that has not translated into compensation or growth within the company. My wife and I are currently renting as the housing in the area is a quite expensive and the benchmark for us to buy was for me to get promoted and to make a bit more for us to comfortable buy. That really is our ultimate goal is to buy a place and settle down and put down roots somewhere. Since there was no clear path forward within the company I currently work for to make this happen I started to look for something new again preferably in the Carolinas.
Well that hasn’t happened. I was one of the final candidate for for three jobs and got two no’s and an offer but we couldn’t come to a salary agreement and I turned it down.
That brings us to today. I have accepted a job with a company in Houston, TX (been to TX a couple times but never Houston) It will be remote for the foreseeable future and my wife and I will stay in Colorado until we need to move but eventually we will have to relocate. I am excited about the position as it will also me the ability to build something from scratch with a fair amount of discretion.
Sorry for the long story as I thought it helped to bring a little context to show that moving to a new unfamiliar area. So, have any of you ever lived in the area? Any advice will be appreciated? We are actually going to have plenty of time with this move rather than the past two giving us plenty of time to figure out where we want to settle. We plan on buying our first house and hope to put down some roots.