Where should I go?

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Putnam Weekley

putnam
As everyone in the history of the entire universe knows, Detroit is a bit of an economic basket case. I've lived here for most of my 40 years and spent most of the last 12 as a schnook. (In fact, as much as it shames me to admit this, I feel a degree of peer sympathy for Cherryl.) With the opening of the waterfront, an epic hinterland wilderness, bargain housing stock, and the oldest/largest farmers' market in the country, Detroit clearly has a sterling future, but I'm tired of waiting for it.

I'm thinking of hitting the road. Where should I go?

Is the wine business booming anywhere? I don't mean "this week" -- what with the financial meltdown and all -- but where are the prospects good? Las Vegas? Knoxville? Baton Rouge? Missoula? Asheville?

I'm willing to move to another country, but I lack a sponsor in the ones I might want to live in.

Alternatively, I'm willing to look at a completely different industry, such as teaching, waiting tables, house painting, or oyster shucking.
 
Sorry to hear that Detroit isn't coming along as quickly as should be. I haven't been in many years, but Dressner always speaks highly of it.

I can't recommend NYC this month, it's looking economically dodgy. San Jose probably needs the gospel brought to them, and is close enough to SF to have positive cultural influences and LDM availability.

Paul can report from Austin.
 
on the Southeast and the Research Triangle in particular.

In my area we have 3 major R1 universities (Duke, UNC, NC State) and two of them have major teaching hospitals that draw researchers from around the world.

In turn, the Research Triangle Park is home to many biotech, pharmaceutical, and other related businesses.

These two sectors, higher education and medical related industries, are the only ones adding jobs at the moment. In addition, many large international companies have a significant presence in the park, primarily due to the abundant intellectual capital.

The Triangle has the highest ratio of PhDs besides the Bay Area.

We are also home to the world's most important dance and documentary film festivals.

It is relatively cheap and easy to obtain a beer and wine permit and off and on premise are the same license. So, starting your own thing is fairly easy if you have the capital. The down side is that this is a COD state, but given the credit markets, life might be COD for a while.

You are 2.5 hours from FlaJim in the mountains and 2.5 hours from the coast.

The best rivalry in all of sports (UNC-Duke basketball).

We even have hockey, which might appeal more to you than me.

Now, given a chance, I'd gladly move back to Laguna Beach. But I think the wine market is pretty saturated out there and more likely to contract than expand.
 
Thanks SFJoe. And I have family in Saratoga, right by San Jose. Maybe I can crash there until I get my own shelter. How's the public transportation there? "Existing" would be an improvement.
 
CA, in general, is not known for its public transportation.

Anyway, I'm bullish on NYC: it's a big enough town that you can succeed (or fail) without needing to be "in step" with all of the 8,000,000 or so other inhabitants.
 
I'd mention Portland, but you're probably not interested in great local food, varied topography (1 hour from the coast, 1 hour from Mt. Hood), being 30 minutes from wine country, lots of trees, etc.

And, here you can watch basketball on TV!
 
originally posted by Marshall Manning:
I'd mention Portland, but you're probably not interested in great local food, varied topography (1 hour from the coast, 1 hour from Mt. Hood), being 30 minutes from wine country, lots of trees, etc.

And, here you can watch basketball on TV!
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Portland is awesome, but for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be have a real engine of economic growth. I'd love to live in Portland, and looked into it a couple of times, but there was nothing going on there for me, job-wise. Which is the only part of the country where I've looked that I can say that about.

I'm surprised that there aren't more things going on there in terms of research centers (all the OHSU research seems to be in Beaverton).

The labor market seems to be a bit inflexible due to local minimum wages.

If you can get a job in Portland that can support you, I think it's a great city.

The Blazers are going to be awesome!
 
I think we need more information before we chart the next chapter in your life for you. Your preferences in terms of lifestyle, employment, aptitude, flexibility, resources, etc. If you're a natural night owl you'd probably do best to skip the oyster shucking and lean towards waiting tables or another career that doesn't require early rising. If you're a city mouse at heart you're probably not going to like being stuck in Hicksville, NC. If you're unusually intelligent and hard-working you probably have a few more options, and so on and so forth.

So, tell us a little about yourself....
 
Portland sounds great, but I don't know a soul there. Not that that is a deal breaker. (I checked craigslist: two winery internships -- including Torii Mor -- and one wine shop beginner gig.) I can always drive through and see. I do have ties in western North Carolina though. This looks like it's settling into a choice of east vs. west or something. Hmm.

Thanks for all the ideas ... you ... disordinals? (cardinals?). Keep 'em coming.
 
originally posted by VLM:

Portland is awesome, but for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be have a real engine of economic growth. I'd love to live in Portland, and looked into it a couple of times, but there was nothing going on there for me, job-wise. Which is the only part of the country where I've looked that I can say that about.

I'm surprised that there aren't more things going on there in terms of research centers (all the OHSU research seems to be in Beaverton).

The labor market seems to be a bit inflexible due to local minimum wages.

If you can get a job in Portland that can support you, I think it's a great city.
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VLM -
OHSU is a snakepit. DNPIM. PM me if you actually want the sordid details. I've got a rich uncle on the board of OHSU (as well as Willamette and prolly a few other places) and a friend and colleague who's an OHSU refugee. I agree about Portland, though: lovely place, decent if damp weather and culturally interesting. What they lack (from my perspective) is a genuine R1 University and the attendant high tech industry that arises around it. Sure, they've got Nike, Tektronix and now Intel, but they are mostly interested in engineers. Need I say more?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:

OHSU is a snakepit. DNPIM.
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Yeah, I've never heard good things, but this is the closest to a research institute as I could find.

No job listings for statisticians, need I say more?

I agree about Portland, though: lovely place, decent if damp weather and culturally interesting. What they lack (from my perspective) is a genuine R1 University and the attendant high tech industry that arises around it.
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Yeah, Exactly the problem for me. No R1 or industry where I could work.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
[I agree about Portland, though: lovely place, decent if damp weather and culturally interesting. What they lack (from my perspective) is a genuine R1 University and the attendant high tech industry that arises around it. Sure, they've got Nike, Tektronix and now Intel, but they are mostly interested in engineers. Need I say more?

Mark Lipton
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He said he wanted something in the wine industry, not a real job.

Actually, I love working in the wine industry. Yeah, I'll never get rich (but I probably wouldn't have anyway), but it's a lot less stressful, it doesn't require long hours, and it's a product I care about.

And, any time the biggest weather worry you have is gray skies and damp weather, that's pretty good, IMO. No muggy summers, tornadoes, hurricanes, huge earthquakes, etc.
 
originally posted by Marshall Manning:
originally posted by MLipton:
[I agree about Portland, though: lovely place, decent if damp weather and culturally interesting. What they lack (from my perspective) is a genuine R1 University and the attendant high tech industry that arises around it. Sure, they've got Nike, Tektronix and now Intel, but they are mostly interested in engineers. Need I say more?

Mark Lipton
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He said he wanted something in the wine industry, not a real job.
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Sorry, I was being unclear. What I think that the lack of R1 universities and a growth engine reflect is that there is not the same room for growth in the wine industry as there is other places with growing economies.

However, there are opportunities in the supply side that don't exist anywhere besides the west coast.
 
I'd take a real job. If only I was qualified for one!

originally posted by Chris Coad:
I think we need more information before we chart the next chapter in your life for you. Your preferences in terms of lifestyle, employment, aptitude, flexibility, resources, etc. If you're a natural night owl you'd probably do best to skip the oyster shucking and lean towards waiting tables or another career that doesn't require early rising. If you're a city mouse at heart you're probably not going to like being stuck in Hicksville, NC. If you're unusually intelligent and hard-working you probably have a few more options, and so on and so forth.

So, tell us a little about yourself....
Click to expand...

I'm flexible. I can rise early or stay up late (but not both). I've lived and felt comfortable in rural areas (Tzintzunzan, Auburn and Huntsville AL, Dixon MT, 1970s Avon Township) and cities (Munich, Detroit).

Intelligent and hard-working? I am (er, was?) fluent in German and aced four levels of calculus beginning in the 9th grade. But honestly I think I'm a lot dumber now. As for hard-working, I once worked six consecutive 80-hour weeks during a Whole Foods opening, emptying trash cans and picking up expectorated cheese samples from the floor. (In retrospect we should not have put out samples of "challenging" cheeses like Locatelli and Fontina Val d'Aosta, at least not in West Bloomfield.) I did not enjoy the experience and am not interested in repeating it. But if there's a point to it all, I wouldn't say never.

I will simply have to test my adaptability.

One thing I can say for sure is that I don't really like to join groups of like-thinking people. I like a good argument. That's why I lurk on this forum.

Since this is turning into a bit of a spam-ish job-seeking classified ad, I will also mention that I have an interest and practice in visual communication: graphic design, photography, etc. Words rarely fail me either.

When I started selling wine it was a hasty escape from graduate school (comparative literature, full scholarship, Wayne State). Wine flogging seemed like a far less cynical way to earn pay. Bright-eyed and impressionable, I liked all wine, and I was determined it could be accessible for regular people like me. (Naive projection dangerously crossed with alcoholism.) Over the years I learned to discriminate more and more. Now my interest is quite narrow. I can only really enjoy the wines of LDM, various German estate wines, Domaine Weinbach, most dry sherry and Evesham Wood Pinot Noir. I like many other producers (Paolo Bea, Huet, Knoll, Abel Mendoza, Domaine Tempier, Jacques Selosse) but as a rule the prices are out of my reach. Maybe it's a touch of OCD, but this makes it difficult for me to suggest that a client should buy them.

I think this steady narrowing of interest may be a function of inertia though. That's why I want to move. Maybe then I can happily toast the weekends I have left like a normal person, with whatever is handy, Pinot Grigio or Garnacha, maybe with a little sparkling water mixed in. Or maybe nothing but vitamin water and a radio.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll let you know what I decide.
 
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