Engineering in Boulder? And some other questions about moving to Boulder! (Denver: for rent, insurance)

[sahmusaf]

Hi, My husband retired last year after 24 years active duty in the Air Force. He is currently enrolled in an Engineering degree program in Utah. This was our last base and now we are ready to move! We've always considered Colorado, so we are looking for a college with a good engineering program to finish up his last two years. We're also curious about the job outlook for mechanical engineers in the Boulder/Denver area.

Our daughter will be entering second grade when we make this move, so we need to live in a safe neighborhood with a great elementary school, within reasonable commuting distance to whatever college my husband attends.

I know this is a broad question, but we need a starting point. We are open to Boulder, Denver, and Fort Collins areas. Thanks!

[Idlewile]

At the risk of making a sweeping generalization, you are more likely to find MORE good (highly-rated) public schools, closer to a university (CU or CSU), in Boulder or Fort Collins than you will in Denver proper.

Obviously CU is known for engineering but I don't know anything about their program really. We do have friends (active duty Air Force) and he got his undergrad in Mech Engineering there. They've since been stationed in GA and OH and he recently completed his masters at Wright-Patterson. They love and miss the Front Range.

CSU is a good school too and Fort Collins is fun and more affordable than Boulder. (Although, you could live in Superior and have great public schools and still be close to CU in Boulder.)

Really, it depends on how much you plan to spend on housing. Hope this helps a little.

[sahmusaf]

Thanks, this helps a lot

[BoulderPro]

I've been a Boulder County resident for 35 years. I think you will find either CU or CSU to be superior to schools in Denver. There are many smaller towns surrounding Boulder that would definitely be good choices as far as housing and safe communities with good schools for your daughter. For example, Louisville was voted as the number 1 place in the country to live and the best place to raise a family ~ not once ~ but twice by Money Magazine.

Lafayette, Erie, Superior, and Longmont are other possibilities for you and within a short commute of Boulder.

Ft. Collins is also a beautiful place and the elementary schools are good there as well.

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Best of luck to you!

[CAVA1990]

I think the best engineering program in the state would be found at Colorado School of Mines in Golden. A family member chose it over some of the other best engineering schools in the nation and loved it.

[sahmusaf]

Thanks for the tips about neighborhoods to look for near Boulder. I'm definately going to use those places as starting points for research. I hadn't considered Longmont because I was looking between Boulder and Denver, but it looks like easy access to 25 right into Denver so it could be a contender. I just looked on greatschools.org and it looks as though there are several quality elementary schools there as well. Any other thoughts on Longmont?

It looks like cost of living in the Boulder area overall is about 10-20% more expensive than where we are. Some of that is health care, which doesn't concern me too much because our insurance co-pay will be the same no matter where we live. Groceries seem comparable. Utilities and housing concern me. Can anyone give insight as to what utilities might run an average-sized 3 BR house? Right now we budget $200/mo for gas and electric but don't always pay that much. Also wondering if it would be realistic to find a decent home to rent for about $1100 per month for the two years that my husband is still in school.

Thanks again so much for whatever info you can provide. I think people's reality always tends to differ from "statistics" so I really do appreciate your insight!

[Marc Wishner]

Our utility rates are some of the best in the country and a $200 a month average is realistic if not high depending on how large the home is. $1100 for rent is probably low for the area...$1200 to $1700 is probably more realistic for the area ( Boulder proper will be even more for single family) Louisville has nice smaller older homes in your range and Superior has some newer ones that would work. Broomfield is less expensive as is Longmont, however the commute from Longmont can take a bit in traffic. Most folks feel our cost of living is less than the coasts for sure.

[sahmusaf]

Thanks Mark, I sent you a direct message with more questions!

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Southwest Longmont is excellent if you are trying to get to Boulder. More of a pain because of traffic if trying to get to Denver. Taking public transportation is always an option. My husband did that for 6 months last summer.

An example of our last utility bill - I was watering quite a bit and we had the air conditioner on. It was $160. I'm in Longmont - that includes electric, water, trash pick up, recycling. That does not include our gas bill which is separate but was only $22. Obviously that goes up in winter and the other goes down. Longmont has some of the best utility rates - we do not use Xcel for electric like many other areas.

[qfrost]

Originally Posted by jkcoop

An example of our last utility bill - I was watering quite a bit and we had the air conditioner on. It was $160. I'm in Longmont - that includes electric, water, trash pick up, recycling. That does not include our gas bill which is separate but was only $22. Obviously that goes up in winter and the other goes down. Longmont has some of the best utility rates - we do not use Xcel for electric like many other areas.

That just makes me cry. We paid almost triple that for those same services on a tiny 800 sq. ft. house, under similar usage.