What I want in a City? (Denver, Colorado Springs: apartments, low crime, hotels)

[Hikari616]

Hello Everyone,

I'm trying to find a city I can make my home, I've moved a lot in my young life. I'm only 22. I was born in Newport, OR for 5 years but I was raised in Colorado Springs, CO for 10 years then we moved back to Oregon. I like to plan ahead because I think being prepared is very important. So I decided to make a list of what I wanted in a city, but I didn't know where to put it. So I put it in the Denver thread because I thought what I wanted matched up with the city. And I've been to Denver a lot when I lived there, but I haven't seen it since? So is it the same or has it changed? I've been on here enough to see that you have to be informative.

Here is what I want:

~Has to have sports (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA).

~Has to have all four seasons.

~A medium to low crime rate.

~A medium to low unemployment rate.

~Has to have getaway road trips.

~Have to be able to get a job in Event Planning (what I want to do as a career).

~Make a good living in my career field.

~Have nice apartments etc. For a good price.

~Has a good singles scene.

~Has other ways to meet people besides bars (I don't drink).

~Has theme parks (I'm a kid at heart).

~Has a more laid back, easy going vibe to the city.

I hope this was enough information for you guys to help me, thank you.

[Mike from back east]

Denver metro area has what you seek, plus another 15-20 major metro areas since your list is rather generic in nature.

The more east you go the more you get 4 distinct seasons, whereas SOCAL and the desert southwest give the least diverse seasons.

[Hikari616]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Denver metro area has what you seek, plus another 15-20 major metro areas since your list is rather generic in nature.

The more east you go the more you get 4 distinct seasons, whereas SOCAL and the desert southwest give the least diverse seasons.

Thank you, but not the type of answer I was looking for. I was thinking of moving to the East but because of Hurricane Sandy and the clean up that has to be done. That is going to take awhile, and I think it would be stupid to move there while people are trying to get back to normal.

I forgot to add that if you don't think Denver is a fit, could you recommend another city?

[Mike from back east]

I really do think Denver is a great fit for your list, especially in the Intermountain West. But you can find that list of attributes in many places.

What is it about Denver that draws your attention since you didn't list proximity to mountains or any of the year-round mountain sports.

Road trips out of Denver, headed east, are 500 miles of great plains and wheat/corn farms; headed south you get to see the brown looking Front Range and eventually get to Albuquerque, NM; heading west you get to see the Rockies and eventually get to Salt Lake City. There are a lot of good road trips along the Front Range from Cheyenne, WY to Trinidad, plus the mountain road trips but it's a fraction of all the road trips one could have back east.

For example, 500 miles out of Baltimore gets you as far north as Portland, ME / Montreal / Ottawa or as far south as Myrtle Beach or Columbia, SC and as far west as Detroit and all of OH, NY, PA, VA, WV, DEL, NJ, plus much of KY and the Great Smoky Mountains of TN. There's a LIFETIME of road trips from Baltimore and you can hop on an Amtrak train for most of the coastal stuff from Maine to Miami. Look at the map and see what you get by living back there, though there is slightly higher crime and unemployment in some of those cities.

The hurricane was an anomaly, I would not rule out great east coast cities on account of it.

[Hikari616]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

I really do think Denver is a great fit for your list, especially in the Intermountain West. But you can find that list of attributes in many places.

What is it about Denver that draws your attention since you didn't list proximity to mountains or any of the year-round mountain sports.

Road trips out of Denver, headed east, are 500 miles of great plains and wheat/corn farms; headed south you get to see the brown looking Front Range and eventually get to Albuquerque, NM; heading west you get to see the Rockies and eventually get to Salt Lake City. There are a lot of good road trips along the Front Range from Cheyenne, WY to Trinidad, plus the mountain road trips but it's a fraction of all the road trips one could have back east.

For example, 500 miles out of Baltimore gets you as far north as Portland, ME / Montreal / Ottawa or as far south as Myrtle Beach or Columbia, SC and as far west as Detroit and all of OH, NY, PA, VA, WV, DEL, NJ, plus much of KY and the Great Smoky Mountains of TN. There's a LIFETIME of road trips from Baltimore and you can hop on an Amtrak train for most of the coastal stuff from Maine to Miami. Look at the map and see what you get by living back there, though there is slightly higher crime and unemployment in some of those cities.

The hurricane was an anomaly, I would not rule out great east coast cities on account of it.

Well, I don't think anything does really draw me to Denver because I've been there and I've seen some of what they have already. But not in a long time. And I like to go to places I've never been too.

See, that is what I love about the East Coast! And I've posted a lot of questions about cities I like in the East already. The cities I really like are; Washington DC, Boston and maybe Philadelphia. But I've never in my life been to any city on the East Coast. And my career choice makes more in the east as well.

Your right, and thank you

[Mike from back east]

I spent 57 years in the Balto-DC area. You can get all of your list there, but expensive to live in many areas, higher crime in the close in areas, high humidity and more bugs. But a great subway system, tons to do, great for singles, and enough money and hotels to make event planning a good vocation. Millions live in that area, so don't fear going there. Focus on apartment living in Northern Virginia in the Orange Line subway corridor of Arlington and Falls Church, etc.

[Hikari616]

Wow, that's a lot time. That is a lot of good information, thank you. I will look into Northern Virgina.

[hts]

I second the Nova recommendation, as we recently moved from Nova to Phoenix. As a single guy, Nova was the tops (choose to live close-in, like Clarendon or Courthouse, or maybe Pentagon City).

[foo cities]

Originally Posted by Hikari616

Hello Everyone,

I'm trying to find a city I can make my home, I've moved a lot in my young life. I'm only 22. I was born in Newport, OR for 5 years but I was raised in Colorado Springs, CO for 10 years then we moved back to Oregon. I like to plan ahead because I think being prepared is very important. So I decided to make a list of what I wanted in a city, but I didn't know where to put it. So I put it in the Denver thread because I thought what I wanted matched up with the city. And I've been to Denver a lot when I lived there, but I haven't seen it since? So is it the same or has it changed? I've been on here enough to see that you have to be informative.

Here is what I want:

~Has to have sports (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA).

~Has to have all four seasons.

~A medium to low crime rate.

~A medium to low unemployment rate.

~Has to have getaway road trips.

~Have to be able to get a job in Event Planning (what I want to do as a career).

~Make a good living in my career field.

~Have nice apartments etc. For a good price.

~Has a good singles scene.

~Has other ways to meet people besides bars (I don't drink).

~Has theme parks (I'm a kid at heart).

~Has a more laid back, easy going vibe to the city.

I hope this was enough information for you guys to help me, thank you.

San Francisco!

[Hikari616]

Originally Posted by hts

I second the Nova recommendation, as we recently moved from Nova to Phoenix. As a single guy, Nova was the tops (choose to live close-in, like Clarendon or Courthouse, or maybe Pentagon City).

Thank you, HTS! I will look into the area's you recommended.