Would like to move my family from Texas to Colorado (Denver: job market, bill)

[MrsVegan]

My family and I would would love to move somewhere in Colorado. We like to be out in the country (we have dogs, cats and farm animals) but within 30ish minutes of any given decent size town. We love the 'treed' part of Colorado more than the 'desert' side. Can anyone suggest any such areas? Are jobs better in some areas than others??? Thanks so much for any feed back I know I'm asking alot.

[Mike from back east]

The "Black Forest" area of Colo Spgs, zip 80908. Mostly 5-acre treed lots, with plenty of horses. Also parts of Monument, and Palmer Lakes, for nearness to COLO SPGS and Larkspur, Parker, Castle Rock for proximity to Denver.

There are more to the west of Denver, I'll let the Denver crowd chime in.

[GreenScoutII]

Originally Posted by MrsVegan

My family and I would would love to move somewhere in Colorado. We like to be out in the country (we have dogs, cats and farm animals) but within 30ish minutes of any given decent size town. We love the 'treed' part of Colorado more than the 'desert' side. Can anyone suggest any such areas? Are jobs better in some areas than others??? Thanks so much for any feed back I know I'm asking alot.

Can't blame you for wanting to get out of Texas... I just returned from 14 months in the Houston area. I kind of feel like a prison inmate must feel when he is finally released and allowed to go home!

As far as the treed part of Colorado AND access to decent sized cities WITH the potential for employment, you're kind of limited to the I25 corridor.

Some areas reasonably adjacent to Colorado Springs might be Black Forest, as Mike mentioned, Woodland Park, Divide, or even Green Mountain Falls.

Further south you might look into the areas around Colorado City and Rye. Parts of Canyon City might fit the bill as well.

All of these areas are places where a person can enjoy a semi-rural lifestyle without being too far from town.

We might be able to help you narrow it down a bit if we knew more about what your career field and housing budgets are. Plus, there are areas west of Denver too, but I have little personal experience with these. Perhaps one of the Denver guys will jump in.....

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Of course depending on the kind of work you do, most jobs are going to be in the cities along the I25 corridor, i.e., Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, etc. The treed areas near Denver are going to be in the foothills such as Evergreen, Conifer, Bailey, Nederland. Hopefully you are coming with money, because you are asking for what everyone else wants.

Probably what you need to find out first is whether or not you could find work here. Then you need to know your budget. Is your "30ish minutes of any given decent size town" for commuting or just because you don't want to be TOO rural?

[tfox]

Denver isn't an ideal city for those wanting big acreage but still close to town. Treed acreage is an even harder find, and expensive to boot. Like many other western cities, Denver's suburbs tend to be on small lots, and trees are at a premium anywhere near Denver.

Colorado Springs is the obvious choice for what you want -- Black Forest as was mentioned would be ideal. But I wouldn't recommend attempting to commute from there to Denver, and Colorado Springs job market tends to be a lot more limited focus than is Metro Denver's. If you're not concerned about the local job market and simply want to be near a sizable city, then Black Forest and surrounding Colorado Springs suburbs would be close to the Springs (20 minutes or less) and easily drivable (though not commutable) to Denver (over an hour, but more in bad weather and morning traffic)