Boater friendly towns/jobs

[A Savage spanke]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted on here (suprising if you've watched the board for very long). Anyways, I'm graduating college this semester and I'm trying to find a job. Unless it's in Northwest Arkansas I want to relocate to a party of the country that has rain or snow. I've been applying for jobs in Boise, Missoula, Spokane and Telluride so far. If anyone has any towns they would like to reccomend please let me know. Also if anybody has any good mechanical engineering connections around places I can boat I would really appreciate it if you put me in touch with them. I'm just looking for an entry level job some place I can kayak on weekends, after work, and maybe during my lunch break (in town play spot). Since Arkansas boaters have to travel so much, I know some of you guys know people who can help me out. Thanks for the response I hope that come,

Ryan Spanke

[mgood]

Gunnison area?

West Virginia?

Asheville, NC?

Chattanooga? (i think it's the wettest section of the southeast)

Any of these options are are you strictly going out west?

[jaxjack]

mine recently reopened in leadville,co
buena vista and canon city have large prisons.
parks and wildlife has in-house engineering staff.
boulder is a choice.
generally, boating towns are short on jobs. front range has jobs, but short on water.
good luck!
jack danielson

[Eric Esche]

I'd really recommend looking around Clayton Georgia (Rabun County). We lived there (and in Rabun Gap) for 15 years and loved it. Supposedly 3rd wettest region in the US. Besides being 7 miles from the Chattooga, it is close to many creeks and other rivers.

I literally put on my resume that I preferred to be located within 125 miles of Clayton as I had been commuting there on weekends for 7 years while at Georgia Tech getting my BS and MS in Textiles. Found my job in Rabun Gap and it was wonderful there.

If you crave large cities, Asheville is less than an hour away, Atlanta 2.5 hours away.

Eric Esche

[paddledog]

If I didn't live in NWA I would
live in Asheville NC.

[tomOzarkVideo]

If I didn't live in NWA I would
live in Asheville NC.

+1..

You may also look in Knoxville.

Chevron Phillips Chemical has a Performance Pipe plant there.

[A Savage spanke]

Good responses guys. I need to apply for jobs in West Virginia and some of the areas of Colorado you guys mentioned. Definitely won't be doing Asheville or Canon City. I've lived in one and visited the other enough to know that it's where I want to live. Knoxville is definietely on the list.

Jax- Do you have a good way of getting in touch with that engineering department? That's something I'd be way interested in. I'll give it a google for sure.

Other things I'm looking for in a town is that I would like a snow season. I've never had a chance to ski or snowboard and it looks like a lot of fun. Another plus would be some place with big wildlife. I think it'd be pretty sweet to shoot a moose

[mgood]

Shoot for anything in the San Juan mountains. Delta and Gunnison are within 45 of the Black Canyon of the Gunny.

Grand Junction, Salida, Buena Vista. Bolder would be pretty sweet.

And that's just Colorado...

[Shep]

Not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but it's perfect for me... Burlington VT. There is world-class whitewater never more than 3 hours away year round, and within 30 minutes during spring run-off. I believe there is a Rockport-esque play-wave east of downtown.

The mountain biking is wonderful, the skiing and riding is great, and you don't spend all day at work complaining about tourists like you do in really small towns. And, I know you'll like this Spanke: it's nicknamed Girlington for the sightseeing opportunities. If you've spent much time in mountain towns, you will know how truly rare that quality is.


Shep

[Half Ton]

I hate to admit it, but you're obviously smarter than me when I was your age. I like your strategy!

Congrats on being an almost graduate. And now for the hardest part. Don't do anything too stupid between now and then.

Paul's advice does sound good (Not liking admitting that either)

Colorado or Washington

[RomanLA]

Seattle! There's whitewater year round and you're sitting in the middle of Oregon, Idaho, and BC.

[knu2xs]

Anything Pacific Northwest...end of story.

Colorado has about a month and a half of good paddling in a good year. I currently live in the Southewast. It is good, but the Pacific Northwest trumps the Southeast any day.

[bmartin]

Clemson SC or more broadly the Greeneville-Spartanburg area of SC might be worth looking at. Good economy, reasonable cost of living and near many quality runs.

Northwest is great year round but better get a really high paying job to live anywhere near Seattle.

[ARzach]

Anything Pacific Northwest...end of story.

Colorado has about a month and a half of good paddling in a good year. I currently live in the Southewast. It is good, but the Pacific Northwest trumps the Southeast any day.

Solid advice right there!

The VT tip is OK, definitely great WW opportunities when it runs (snow sucks compared to western skiing, most years, but better than none)... But the PAC NW is just f-ing schweeet. All the "benefits" of CO, but fewer hairy-scarey chicks, better whitewater, and fantastic access to Canada.

You could follow in the footsteps of the Hanshaw revolution and check out NV...

Whatever you do, you should consider somewhere other than AR. I hear there used to be whitewater there, but I also hear you are just as likely to shake hands with BigFoot as you are to go kayaking in AR. Plus, those folks are afraid of a lady by the name of Mary Jane, not so in WA.

--Z

[jaxjack]

i dont have direct contact for colorado parks and wildlife engineering. my contacts are in hatcheries and arkansas river park. best bet is to google their web sites. they may still be separate sites. some jobs required colorado residency. dont know if that is still the case.
jack danielson