Moving to Denver area from Florida (Lakewood, Arvada: car insurance, utilities, quality of life)

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

If you need "city life" then there's one choice: Denver.
If you want a medium sized town, then you'll need Colorado Springs.
If you like small, isolated towns, then anywhere in Colorado.

If you want to live in the Desert:
anywhere east of I-25
cortez
Meeker
Pueblo
Trinidad
anywhere far western colorado

If you want to live near the mountains but not in them:
Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Montrose, Grand Junction

If you want to live IN the mountains (knowing that there's lots of cold and snow in the winter):
anywhere else

A bit oversimplified, but far more thoughtful than any response I could have come up with on this initial request.

Th OP should really poke around on the forum for a while to narrow things down a bit, then post back.

[saharh]

i think this's a good idea

[Moonwalkr]

I wouldn't necessarily say don't worry about driving in snow, because a lot of people just do that. They end up driving the same as it's not snowing when they should allow some extra distance. Then when they slam on the brake they realize their all-weather tires aren't as responsive as on dry land. I would definitely say to be prepared for unexpected changes in weather; always expect the unexpected here in Denver.

[Micktooth]

Originally Posted by cabril2

i hate living in South Florida school sucks and crime is horrible paying 7000.00 in property taxes .I heard Colorado is nice to raise kids and my husband job would relocate him just where in Colorado any input

Honestly it's hard to answer such a general question but.... my family and I moved from New Orleans to Louisville just outside of Boulder 3 years ago. I work in Denver. We just love it here and we wish we would have moved a long time ago. I suggest that you do some research and post more specific questions. Most of us on these boards are very helpful. Have fun and hope to see you in our great State soon!

[Micktooth]

My family and I moved to Louisville just outside of Boulder from New Orleans 3 years ago. We just love the quality of life here. My wife has always lived in the South and I was worried at first about her adjusting to life here. She had no problems at all! The seasons are great and so are the activities. We enjoy living in Louisville, just ranked #1 by Money magazine. It's very family friendly. If you like more urban environs, I would check Denver or Boulder.

[.gif]

Originally Posted by Inmylife

NOTE: I POSTED THIS IN CITY VS CITY BUT WANT DENVER'S OPINIONS TOO*

My wife and I are strongly considering leaving northern Florida and starting over. We have been here for 7 years and are ready to go. Small town southern living does not agree with us. We are in our late 20’s early 30’s. No kids but plan to have two. Due to recommendations by friends and family we are currently considering Denver, Charlotte, and maybe Houston.

I would like to add that we are open to other suggestions as well.

Here are the criteria important to each of us:


Wife:

1. Job opportunities in sales. She currently works for a large company as a sales rep and would like to continue in the field.
2. Affordable living. I know this is all relative to each family but we cannot do a NYC or SF option if that makes sense.
3. Lack of extreme weather. We have lived in the Midwest where winter was so long and dreary and that was not pleasing. We now live in north Florida where it is so hot for so long that it has also become miserable, though not as bad as 5 months of dead trees and ice.
4. Good shopping options. In addition to great malls with Macy’s, Nordstrom, etc she would also like pockets of small, locally owned shops to explore.
5. Farmer’s markets or co-ops. In other words, fresh and locally grown produce.

Me:

1. Running and Biking opportunities. I am a marathoner and bike enthusiast. I am looking for both road and trail options for each activity. I also would like better running weather – too hot too long here in Fla.
2. Pro Sports atmosphere. I love attending games and being around folks who talk sports and live and die by their respective teams.
3. The ability to live in a mature neighborhood with trees and shade and character. Ability to have a yard for gardening. I enjoy landscaping and working the dirt.
4. Educated and open-minded citizens. This will likely be found in pockets of any decent sized city, I know, but some more than others?
5. Cultural opportunities: Museums, Theatre, Zoo, Aquarium, Orchestra, etc.

We would both enjoy an extensive park system for taking walks together and generally just enjoying nature.

I know this is a lot but we have only so much time to visit locations and we want to make a move in the next 12 to 18 months.

I am an attorney and therefore I will need to take the Bar Exam in our new state. The Bar is given in Feb and July and I would really like to get a hop on the Feb exam. We are visiting Denver this month so that should help. I don’t know if we will have time to explore Charlotte or Houston prior to then.

In advance I want to thank anyone who adds his or her two cents.

denver seems to meet most of your criteria. it does have extreme weather occasionally. it's usually short-lived though.

leaves start falling in late september/early october. you will have about "5 months of dead trees" but no ice. if you are looking for a "mature neighborhood with trees and shade and character" you can find one in the denver area. in general, though, tree cover is pretty sparse. the climate doesn't support large tree canopies like those found in florida and the rest of the eastern u.s.

i think houston would also meet most of your criteria. it is just as hot as anywhere in florida, though. climate would be similar to gainesville. this would limit your running and biking opportunities. you would not have extreme weather except for thunderstorms.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by denver_hacker

I don't think San Diego is all that affordable compared to Denver though.

Correct. I had narrowed down my "goto list" to Nashville, Denver, and San Diego. And right now it's only really Nashville and Denver due to that one factor- affordability. For me that makes an otherwise tough 3-way decision a less tough 2-way decision. To me, you get the same "basic lifestyle" in Denver as in San Diego but for much less price tag. The quotes are because beach lifestyle does not equal mountain lifestyle, but they are equivalent on an outdoor enjoyment and scenic basis and the rest (biking, parks, moderate winter/summer weather, etc.) are comparables. The OP says they can't really afford NYC and SF, well SD isn't that far behind.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by Drew303

sandy eggo is definitely NOT a sports town.

Actually it is. It has pro football and baseball, which for somebody like me is really enough. I like that Denver has basketball and hockey on top of it, but it's not as if those two extra pro sports made a difference for me in my analysis of which to pick. But then some people are really big basketball and hockey fans and that would make a difference to them.

[zenkonami]

Oh...and that game that involves kicking a ball into a goal. That one too. San Diego ain't got that. You go, RAPIDS!

[FlyDrive100b]

Originally Posted by Inmylife

NOTE: I POSTED THIS IN CITY VS CITY BUT WANT DENVER'S OPINIONS TOO*

My wife and I are strongly considering leaving northern Florida and starting over. We have been here for 7 years and are ready to go. Small town southern living does not agree with us. We are in our late 20’s early 30’s. No kids but plan to have two. Due to recommendations by friends and family we are currently considering Denver, Charlotte, and maybe Houston.

I would like to add that we are open to other suggestions as well.

Here are the criteria important to each of us:


Wife:

1. Job opportunities in sales. She currently works for a large company as a sales rep and would like to continue in the field.
2. Affordable living. I know this is all relative to each family but we cannot do a NYC or SF option if that makes sense.
3. Lack of extreme weather. We have lived in the Midwest where winter was so long and dreary and that was not pleasing. We now live in north Florida where it is so hot for so long that it has also become miserable, though not as bad as 5 months of dead trees and ice.
4. Good shopping options. In addition to great malls with Macy’s, Nordstrom, etc she would also like pockets of small, locally owned shops to explore.
5. Farmer’s markets or co-ops. In other words, fresh and locally grown produce.

Me:

1. Running and Biking opportunities. I am a marathoner and bike enthusiast. I am looking for both road and trail options for each activity. I also would like better running weather – too hot too long here in Fla.
2. Pro Sports atmosphere. I love attending games and being around folks who talk sports and live and die by their respective teams.
3. The ability to live in a mature neighborhood with trees and shade and character. Ability to have a yard for gardening. I enjoy landscaping and working the dirt.
4. Educated and open-minded citizens. This will likely be found in pockets of any decent sized city, I know, but some more than others?
5. Cultural opportunities: Museums, Theatre, Zoo, Aquarium, Orchestra, etc.

We would both enjoy an extensive park system for taking walks together and generally just enjoying nature.

I know this is a lot but we have only so much time to visit locations and we want to make a move in the next 12 to 18 months.

I am an attorney and therefore I will need to take the Bar Exam in our new state. The Bar is given in Feb and July and I would really like to get a hop on the Feb exam. We are visiting Denver this month so that should help. I don’t know if we will have time to explore Charlotte or Houston prior to then.

In advance I want to thank anyone who adds his or her two cents.

Denver homes are expensive, I don't know if they have come down a lot, of course the metro area is a bit cheaper. You need to tell us your profession and salary, cost of living is relative,tennesee comes to mind but its a bit of need of improvement with management, cultural amentites, transportation,etc (aka nashville) compared to cities such as denver , not planned , there is Pennsylvania , parts of the new york hudson valley, even utah,

Houston has extreme weather, charlotte is not as bad, but charlotte may not be worth you are looking for, the city has its share of problems lately, although its no rust belt city.

Minnesota comes to mind but extreme weather, it does have cultural opportunities .Denver leans a bit on the list but there are other places, again salary, profession is a must, you mentioned law, lawyers make great money although it depends on the firm and their are layoffs, the suburbs of nyc and SF are much cheaper , in nyc even in city limits, again do your searching.

The recommendation of Houston and Charlotte I must say is poor, for what you desire, the former with extreme weather and most flatland although the fall ,winter,and spring is not as bad but short, charlotte well its nothing special so it is a bit poor recommednation as above