Relocating a family to Denver - ASAP (Colorado Springs, Pueblo: apartment, rental) - (CO) - City-Data Forum

jiannarene · 08-17-2009, 02:38 PM

Hello all, My husband and I have been planning on relocating our family from Southern California to the Denver area for years. We had actually made plans to move in March however now it seems that our plans need to be expedited as the house we are currently living in is being placed on the market and will no doubt be sold within two to three months. Needless to say, we are not going to have as much money saved up for our move as we had originally planned and I was hoping that we could get some advice from some people who actually live there.

My biggest concern is finding a place to live. We are a family of five but our children are all small so we can easily make do in a two bedroom apartment. We have pretty rotten credit history and have been living with family for the past five years so don’t have a rental history. We do not have jobs lined up (though we are both willing to get ANY job at first just to get some income coming in). Also, we will not have very much money saved as we were planning on using our tax return to beef up our savings.

I only want to find a place to land, so to speak, until we are able to get on our feet. We’ve had to live in some pretty horrible areas in Southern California so I’m not very concerned about how “nice” the neighborhood is (believe me! Probably the worst ghetto in the Denver area is paradise in comparison to the places we’ve had to live). I just want to find something inexpensive and that would be willing to rent to us. Right now I’ve been looking at the Thornton area…

Worst case scenario, we will rent from a cheap motel for a few weeks until we are able to find jobs and get a little income coming in. So any advice on that front is more than welcome as well.

Thank you in advance for all your help. California is just too expensive for my little family and we are desperate to escape.

Cheers,

Jianna

markfromCA · 08-17-2009, 04:56 PM

I love the Denver area as well and have wanted to move for years. my wife has here family there for support as well and with the current job conditions I would take a hard look at what it will take to make it there. Colorado is not Ca, but it is not cheap. The wages there are not as much as you are use to seeing and you just need to know where you stand. I have spoken to many people over the last few years and there has bee plenty that moved back due to lack of work. I am not trying to scare you off, just giving you some of the feed back I have had over the years. check out the Denver post on line, Craig's list and monster, to see if there is any work that fits your skills. I am stuck here for the time being and maybe forever. I am fortunate though I have all I need, just tired of the environment around me. Good luck, do your research on this site and look up old posts on the same or similar questions.

Nea1 · 08-18-2009, 08:14 AM

I too love Denver, as long as you have work. We cant find jobs and are moving out of Denver. It is hard here. Make sure you have a good job first, then you will be able to enjoy it here.

zenkonami · 08-20-2009, 12:00 AM

I have heard the stories over and over again myself. People who go, don't have the job lined up, and eventually have to leave because even the low wage jobs aren't biting.

Believe me. I want more than anything to move there right now, too. Finding work in Denver is *not* easy. I've been looking seriously for about a year now and had very few bites. All this is aggravated by the fact that I actually *do* have a pretty good job where I'm (relatively speaking and for my field), but I have other dreams I want to pursue before I get too much older.

I don't know if Denver is the best move right now, in this economy, while so many people are competing for jobs, in an area that already has a lot of overqualified applicants competing for jobs. Not to get you down, but I don't know how that credit rating is going to fly, either. I personally think it's ridiculous for employers to check credit, but many do.

I don't know what you or your husband specialize in as far as work goes, but it might be worth hanging in there and picking up another place in L.A. for a bit, or maybe checking out some other locales. Jossepie seems to think Pueblo might become the metropolitan region to dominate the west in a few years ;-) (and it certainly seems nice enough.) Or perhaps you may have to look somewhere else entirely.

I hope I'm not coming off too hard here. In fact, I'm probably softpedalling compared to what some other people will say on this forum...not because they are mean, but because they have a real solid understanding of Colorado's history and economy, and they know what it's like right now. It's taken me quite a bit of discipline and a very healthy dose of reality (and research) to heed their advice thus far.

All that said, I wish you the best of luck, and let us know how it turns out, wherever you end up =)

jiannarene · 08-20-2009, 12:58 PM

Wow. Not exactly encouraging, but pretty much what I expected to hear. I know jobs are hard to find no matter where you're living. That's why my husband and I both are working jobs where we're getting paid less than we know we're worth - because it's a job and some work is better than no work.

Is the job issue the fact that there are no jobs period or that there's just not the type of jobs people are expecting/wanting? My husband has 10 plus retail management experience and I have nearly the same with general administrative work though both of us are willing to accept entry-level positions anywhere just to get out foot in Colorado...

vegaspilgrim · 08-20-2009, 01:19 PM

Is there any way either you or your husband can move out to Denver alone (whoever you think will have an easier chance getting a job), get established, and then bring the rest of the family along?

If I had five mouths to feed, and had to move somewhere, where I had the best chances of getting a decent job as fast as possible-- I wouldn't choose Denver. I'd choose a place like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City-- big cities with growing economies (at least right up until last year), low cost of living, and relatively low unemployment rates for cities of that size. Maybe even the Washington DC area-- although very high cost of living there. Compared to those places, Denver is more of a "boutique," "luxury" city, with a perpetual oversupply of overeducated labor pool, all fighting for the same limited number of job openings.

Why do you want to move to Denver?

jiannarene · 08-21-2009, 01:18 PM

Well, we're looking right now to have my husband go out there first for a few weeks and try to get a job, apartment, etc while I continue to work while in California. That way we'll continue to have at least one income coming in and if things don't work out he can always return. We're not picky about the sort of jobs we get. We're both willing to take a McJob just to get some income coming in until we're able to find better jobs.

It's been our dream to move to Colorado since we began dating. We had both fallen in love with the state while vacationing with our families when we were younger. It doesn't have to be necessarily Denver that we move to, though I do have family in Colorado Springs and one of my close friends from high school lives in Parker. We just figured that since Denver is the largest city it would be the best chance for us to find jobs quickly. Plus the housing costs are a lot more affordable than California.

The fact is, with the income my husband and I currently have, we cannot afford a place on our own in Southern California, much less someplace that is in a semi-decent area so our children can attend an okay school.

Katarina Witt · 08-21-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

It doesn't have to be necessarily Denver that we move to, though I do have family in Colorado Springs and one of my close friends from high school lives in Parker.

Parker is more or less suburban Denver and you are correct that as the biggest city in the state, that's where the jobs are. COS may have some jobs, as well, but I'd say Denver is your best bet. I agree with the plan for one of you to come out and look for work before totally uprooting your family. Are any of your kids in school? School has already started in most districts here, that's why I ask.

jiannarene · 08-21-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katiana

Parker is more or less suburban Denver and you are correct that as the biggest city in the state, that's where the jobs are. COS may have some jobs, as well, but I'd say Denver is your best bet. I agree with the plan for one of you to come out and look for work before totally uprooting your family. Are any of your kids in school? School has already started in most districts here, that's why I ask.

My oldest is starting kindergarten here in California on Tuesday. My other two aren't school age yet, though I'll be looking to put them in preschool probably in January or so. I know we'll have to establish residency before we're able to enroll my son in kindergarten in Colorado, which is another reason my husband is going to head out there first.

After doing a lot of research my top two cities I'm looking at are Thornton and Englewood. Both of them seem to have a lot of affordable places to rent (though pretty much everything is affordable in comparison to Southern California!) and are large enough to have places where my husband should be able to find a job fairly quickly. Or at least I really, really hope so...

Katarina Witt · 08-21-2009, 08:25 PM

You do not have to establish any kind of "residency" to attend K-12 schools in CO, other than to have a residence in the state. You will need to present a lease, a utility bill, or something of the kind to show you live where you say you do. There is no requirement to have lived in CO for a certain length of time to attend the K-12 schools.