Would you leave a decent paying sales job in Tampa Florida to relocate to a bigger city, like Chicago, Illionis? If so, why, If not why?

Your costs of living in other cities will be higher than in Tampa. But you will have more of cultural interest in most cities, too. (Besides the Dali museum Tampa seems a bit of a backwater).
Sounds like it will be harder for you wife to find a job as a sociologist, so your choice of city might be determined by her prospects, then you can take the best sales job you can find in the same place.

Depending on what city you chose you may be a lot less likely to be underwater as the oceans inevitably rise over the next few centuries. Your progeny may thank you for getting out of Florida.

Picking up and moving in hopes of finding a job is risky. It’s always easier to find a job when you’re employed. I would suggest doing a little job searching from Tampa even if it requires traveling to an interview.

You need to consider that you are choosing different life styles AND climates. I’ve lived in Chicago and the Seattle area and only visited Florida. Chicago has very hot summers and very cold winters with snow. In Seattle, it rains at least a fine mist every day. In the summer it only rains half a day and that is so certain that if you plan a picnic for an afternoon and it doesn’t rain in the morning, you cancel the picnic.
Florida has the most relaxed atmosphere. Chicago is enormous and you are more anonymous. It has tons of cultural events, but you mostly have to come into the city if you live in the suburbs. It takes an hour or more to get from one end of the city to another, Seattle has many cultural opportunities as well. And it offers more outdoor activities in the area. Mt. Rainier, when it is “out” is a gorgeous ski area.
Both Chicago and Seattle are beautiful.
You should visit each and talk to a real estate person to learn more about the realities.If I am corrected by jellies who live or lived there more recently than I, they will be more up-to-date with information.

Do not move anywhere until or unless you already have a job lined up.

Personally, I think anyone who would leave Florida for Chicago or Seattle is nuts.

Coincidentally, I lived in Tampa for most of my life and moved to Chicago when I was 28.

I think it comes down to the type of person you are. City life is a lot different than life in Tampa. Everything you’d ever want is usually within walking distance or a few minutes on public transit and there is always something to do. So If you guys are active, outgoing, enjoy meeting new people, and going to new places, then you will love Chicago. Everything I like about Chicago is what I didn’t like about Tampa.

My gf and i used to think that ‘the sprawl” is where we would want to raise a family, but we are considering staying in the city. There are actually some nice nieghborhoods for families here, like bucktown, Lincoln park, etc. And relocating can be good for anyone’s career.

Plus if you both have money aside to cover living expenses until you get a gig, take the plunge! I did and would do it again!

Welcome to Fluther! You don’t say where you and your wife have lived throughout your lives. If you like the climate in Tampa, you may find a move to Seattle very tough. It is grey and overcast for long stretches of the winter. When we first moved there, my husband got clinically depressed until we learned to take a week or a long weekend in sunny climes in mid-winter to reset things. That said, Seattle is an absolutely lovely place to live (I lived there 18 years).

Chicago has colder winters and hotter summers than Seattle (not as hot and humid as Tampa though). It has a neighborhoody feel that neither of the other places have. It has all the cultural advantages of a really big city like New York or Washington DC. It has some fabulous regional food.

It just depends on you guys, I would think that if you see the writing on the wall where your job is going, and your wife is unhappy with her employment situation that a move might be in order. Check the employment prospects of wherever you are thinking of going first. I am not sure Seattle is much better than Tampa in that regard.

Good luck.

Well, as a Chicagoan, I can say without bias, “COME ON UP!!” Best city ON EARTH!!

OK, I may be biased.

Obviously, coming from Florida, you have to be ready for cold and snow. I love snow, myself.

This is a great city. We are one of the most important cities on Earth. No kidding. No exaggeration. Top 10 in many lists.

The opportunities are endless. Boeing moved here in recent years. Google is expanding its offices here.

And it’s still reasonable. We don’t have Manhattan’s pint-sized grimy apartments You can work downtown, have a 20-minute commute, AND a back yard with a garden.

I’m sure I would love Seattle, too. But I could write all day about my favorite city.

Personally, I would sell a kidney (possibly even one of my own!) to leave FL regardless, but that’s just me.

I came out to Seattle from New England. I had a fairly decent job, but not decent enough to keep me in NH. Besides, Seattle offered many more opportunities in my field than I could find in NH; there is a lot of manufacturing (especially aerospace) here.

Despite the rumors, it doesn’t rain as much in Seattle as people think; I haven’t seen a drop in a few weeks. However, our winters tend to have rain (or at least a falling mist) for weeks on end.

The city has a whole bunch of neighborhoods, and many have quite the great culture and plenty of diversity. Whether it’s naked people strolling in the Solstice Parade in Ballard, the youthful energy of the U-District, the Bohemian charm of Greenwood, weekly markets in many places, or just plain Capitol Hill, there is plenty of interesting stuff to do regardless of what you consider “culture”.

@jaytkay We already have Google, and Boeing has been here for decades. When are you getting Microsoft? :p

One vote for Austin, Tx.

@snowberry The problem with Austin is that it’s surrounded by Texas. Now, if we could relocate Austin and nuke the rest of the state….

@jerv LOL, I like it. I could say the same for any number of other areas. Life is what you make it.

I think this is all a matter of what’s important to you and what you want out of your life. What do you do outside of work? When it comes to work, what field would you like to be in? It sounds like if your wife can get a job, your income would be increased anyway.

Both Seattle and Chicago have a lot to offer in terms of an academic setting – which would be great for your wife. The climates are quite different however. I’ve lived in Seattle for almost 20 years and I think it’s amazing. The stories about the rain are mostly in the winter (I think we’ve had 2 days of light rain here since the beginning of June) and the summers are glorious. In place of snow and harsh weather in the winter, we get the drizzle. It can be a bit much but trips to CA or Oregon are only an hour or two by plane or car and make all the difference.

Seattle also offers mountains, ocean, lakes and the Sound all within an hour of the city. During the gray times, we have tons of arts, culture and interesting things going on around town, unlike anything I’ve seen in other cities.

If I had this to do again at a young age, I would in a second. First, I wouldn’t jump to either city without a job first. I know you have savings, but why not have more security knowing there’s a reason to go? I’d also highly recommend staying in both places for a week. Rent a house and get a real feel for the place.

Good luck. The other thing to think through is whether or not your old job would take you back if the gamble didn’t work out. That may help, too.

I’m going to vote for Portland Oregon. A hell of a lot cheaper than Seattle, better weather and the same vibe and culture. And no sales tax.

Thanks everyone for your contributions.. gave me a lot to think about, I really like what @Silence04 had to say about just taking the plunge.. Also @jerv @jaytkay @marinelife ..

but @figbash and @YARNLADY both brought up a point that I’m concerned about, moving before finding employment at the city we decide to move to…

Of course seeking and gaining employment would be the preferred situation, but if I’m unable to land an interview or gain employment before moving, is that a sign I should stay where I’m at?

I’m looking to grow as a person and I’m not afraid at starting back at the bottom (although I do get sick to my stomach thinking about how things were before I became successful in my current position)

But life is shaped by our experiences right? I just want to make sure I’m not going crazy because I mean I will be doing the opposite of what society has taught me most of my life.. Which is once you land a stable job, keep it.. but like I’ve mentioned in my earlier post, I can see how the culture in my company has started to shift to being focused only on profits.

I have a strong desire to connect to the community in which I live, be active, make new friends, continue my education, educate myself on different types of art and be surrounded by more people like me… I’m hoping that moving to either one of these cities or perhaps one of the cities recommended by other posters (although I too would never move to Texas, might as well stay in Florida.. hahaha)

This is tough, I’m afraid of not making as much money as I am now regardless of where I move too.. but logic would tell you that if I’m doing okay in Tampa, I should be able to do just as good or not better in a bigger city right?

Keep the advice flowing, really appreciate everyone’s contributions. Even thought I don’t know any of you, I feel confident and trusting in your feedback.

Starting now, plan a new budget that is as bare bones as possible. Learn inexpensive recipes, trade out that gas guzzler for a less expensive ride. Instead of going out to dinner and a movie, rent an X Box and cook outside on the grill. You get the idea. Adopt that new lifestyle now, and it will be easier than moving and having to make all those changes at once.

I came to Seattle with nothing lined up except half a 2-bedroom apartment. We brought nothing except 2 carry-ons, two dufflebags, and ~$2500 to tide us over for a couple of months.

Two weeks later, I fell into a job in my field through a friend of a friend of my roommate that paid me about 1½ times what I made in NH,and my wife got something a couple weeks after that.

The apartment complex I live in has many Ethiopians, and they know how to cook!

Stability is good, but too much of it leads to stagnation. My wife and I could’ve stayed in NH with the low pay and harsh winters just like the 30+ that we’d had before, or we could live a little and grow. We know have an appreciation for many types of Asian food that NH never heard of, as well as the diversity you won’t get from a city that is 95.3% White.

It’s rough, money is still tight 4 years later, but my wife and I feel we are better people for it. I’m not saying that it’s going to be safe or easy; what I am saying is that it will be survivable and worthwhile.

The $3 second-run theater is now showing the new Star Trek, and the first car I got here was a $300 Corolla that ran like a champ for almost 4 years, so things aren’t all expensive if you know how/where to look.