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I have been lurking in these forums for about 2 years now. My wife and I have been kicking around the idea of moving to Colorado and we are really close to pulling the trigger. Initially we wanted to move to the Fort Collins area but the job market seemed a bit more bustling in the Boulder/Denver area.
I am about 1 interview away from getting a job in Boulder and I am fairly certain I am going to get it. I am very excited and scared about the move. My wife and I are both 29 and we have a 5mo old baby girl. I will not get into the reasons we are leaving California as they are mostly well documented on this forum and others (the recent firing of 20k teachers in the nations 47th worst school system didn't help). We live very close to my parents and immediate family and it is going to be tough to say goodbye.
So assuming I have a job lined up I think we are going to try and rent in the Louisville/Superior area for a year and try and find a great house sometime next year, and now with all that back story onward with the questions.
1) How bad is the Californian resentment? Honestly I would probably be upset if as many of us fled there in such a short period of time. I have lived in Sacramento most of my life and I blame partially the problems we have here with the influx of people moving from the bay area and L.A. in search of affordable housing.
2) This is a lot less politically charged I guess but it is still one of the only questions I can't find a good answer to by searching here. Where can I play hockey? Now I know some of your jaws dropped. A 29 year old native Californian who plays hockey? Well the answer is yes, but not well at all. I just recently started a class we have here for adults to learn to play and I am having a blast. Do they have something similar to that there? Are there really crummy leagues I can get into and not feel silly(er)?
3) My wife is concerned about not knowing anyone there at all. I hear about all of this hospitality in Louisville and everyone I have talked to in my job interviewing process has been crazy nice to me. Are there Moms clubs out there? She works from home while raising our daughter are the Moms clubs working mom friendly? There is a bit of pretension (go figure) here in California in some of those groups towards mothers who work. She can get through most of it I am just worried if it is heightened there for some reason.
In any case thank you in advance and wish me luck in the last step of the interview process
CA 'resentment' isn't really the issue. The issue is that people from all over are moving to CO and it's quickly becoming another California. You'll find, to a bit lesser degree, traffic jams, sprawling subdivisions, crime, pollution, and cost of living expenses, all of which are approaching SoCal proportions if things keep going the way they are. The housing/economy downturn might slow things a bit, along with our limited water supplies. A great time to buy a house here if you look at it as a long term investment, too.
It's still a great place and I can't knock people for coming here, regardless of where they're from. Just understand that this place is changing, and a lot of it not for the better. You find the most resentment among the longtime residents, generally speaking.
Ice hockey or roller hockey, yes we have it here. Hospitality, too. Sadly, jerks exist everywhere and you'll be seeing the occasional rude gesture...my advice is to get your new license plates ASAP if/when you get here, and remove the dealer bracket if it makes reference to CA
It is a privilege to live and work in CO, moreso in Boulder County. Live within your means, be nice to people...you'll all be fine.
You will love it here. My family and I moved to Louisville about 2 yrs ago from New Orleans. We really didn't know anyone. We have met so many people just in our neighborhood, many have become great friends. I think the people here are some of the nicest I've ever been around. I've lived in NY,TX,MI,and LA. I don't notice any obvious resentment to Californians. There might be some, but I think it's overplayed and not too bad compared to elsewhere in the US. There is a nice hockey rink in Superior,Boulder Valley Ice at Superior (broken link) Check them out, they should be able to help you. We left family as well when we moved, but it's the best move we've ever made. We only wish we had done it sooner. If you have more specific questions PM me and I'll try to help. Welcome!
I have been lurking in these forums for about 2 years now. My wife and I have been kicking around the idea of moving to Colorado and we are really close to pulling the trigger. Initially we wanted to move to the Fort Collins area but the job market seemed a bit more bustling in the Boulder/Denver area.
I am about 1 interview away from getting a job in Boulder and I am fairly certain I am going to get it. I am very excited and scared about the move. My wife and I are both 29 and we have a 5mo old baby girl. I will not get into the reasons we are leaving California as they are mostly well documented on this forum and others (the recent firing of 20k teachers in the nations 47th worst school system didn't help). We live very close to my parents and immediate family and it is going to be tough to say goodbye.
So assuming I have a job lined up I think we are going to try and rent in the Louisville/Superior area for a year and try and find a great house sometime next year, and now with all that back story onward with the questions.
1) How bad is the Californian resentment? Honestly I would probably be upset if as many of us fled there in such a short period of time. I have lived in Sacramento most of my life and I blame partially the problems we have here with the influx of people moving from the bay area and L.A. in search of affordable housing. It varies from person to person. There are some who will advise "don't even mention you are from Cali", don't say "In California we did it this way", blah,blah. I say, don't apologize for being from Cali. There is nothing to apologize for. Saying something good about California isn't saying something bad about Colorado, though some will disagree.
2) This is a lot less politically charged I guess but it is still one of the only questions I can't find a good answer to by searching here. Where can I play hockey? Now I know some of your jaws dropped. A 29 year old native Californian who plays hockey? Well the answer is yes, but not well at all. I just recently started a class we have here for adults to learn to play and I am having a blast. Do they have something similar to that there? Are there really crummy leagues I can get into and not feel silly(er)? The YMCA of Boulder Valley has adult hockey leagues. Also the Apex Center in Arvada (?) [somewhere in western Jefferson Co. anyway].
3) My wife is concerned about not knowing anyone there at all. I hear about all of this hospitality in Louisville and everyone I have talked to in my job interviewing process has been crazy nice to me. Are there Moms clubs out there? There are lots of babysitting co-ops out there. You usually meet someone in a co-op and get invited to join. The one I belonged to some 20 yrs ago had working and stay at home moms both.
She works from home while raising our daughter are the Moms clubs working mom friendly? There is a bit of pretension (go figure) here in California in some of those groups towards mothers who work. She can get through most of it I am just worried if it is heightened there for some reason. The "mommy wars" are alive and well here too. Presumably, she will gravitate to more tolerant people.
In any case thank you in advance and wish me luck in the last step of the interview process
Thanks Katiana and thank you all for the kind words.
I do not intend to apologize for being raised in California as a matter of fact I think the Louisville area is a lot like the area I grew up in used to be. So in a way that is complement to Colorado from me . I loved the way I was raised and I am in search of the same for my child(ren).
I am glad you called them Mommy wars I was afraid to use that term or something similar. It is kind of unique in her situation that she works from home so everyone assumes she is a stay at home mom but then gets sort of angry when she can't do something because of work, I don't pretend to understand what goes on in her head or other moms heads I just know it means lots of drama
Thanks for the advice on the Ice Hockey rinks sorry I didn't specify before.
One thing though everyone talks about it being a walkable town which I love, but where exactly is the epicenter of all that goes on in Louisville? If we were going to walk to a diner, event or bar, or something where would that most likely be located in Louisville?
Depends on where you live. There is a downtown area with restaurants and bars, and near it is the old town. There is another area on the SW side of town with same, mostly chain-type restaurants, that is not as walkable. The rec center is in a residential area, walkable for some. My kids used to ride their bikes there, even though we are a couple miles away. The outdoor pool is on the west side of downtown, in the old residential area. The library is on the east side of downtown. There is a band shell near the library. In the summer there are concerts there and in the winter it is a warming area for the outdoor ice rink. There is a new community park on the south side of downtown, sort of south central, where the 4th of July and Labor Day celebrations are held. There is a small arts center near the outdoor pool where art shows and community plays are held.
A bunch of the guys in my neighborhood (Bradburn Village in Westminster) are in an amateur hocky league that takes place at the Ice Center at the Promenade (Westminster) which is a rockin' facility--they have all said what a blast it is
You may want to take a gander at Bradburn, it's a walkable neighborhood, super social and family friendly with lots of working moms, stay at home moms and work at home moms--everyone's friends (honestly not a wiff of the "mommy wars" here but I know what you mean). Meeting people here (especially other moms) is effortless because everyone's always outside walking, in the parks, eating at our neighborhood restaurants etc.., your wife will meet more moms here in 2 weeks than she probably ever wants to LOL. 30 minute commute to Boulder, with lower house prices than Louisville (although I love Louisville, great town, is a 10 minute drive from Bradburn, go there all the time). If you want more Bradbrn info, feel free to send me a private message.
I will for sure check out Westminster. This is why our plan is to go there and rent for a year. We are going to investigate these areas.
See around here there are only like 2-3 areas that are "good" everything else false into the medium or you might get shot category.
It seems to be harder to choose around there because I really haven't found anything bad as far as numbers go NW of Denver at all. Unfortunately some of the great areas I think get overlooked because of the press (and well deserved) of the other areas.
I knew I wouldn't struggle to find a hockey rink in Colorado but I never thought there would be 3-4 choices within 20 min. Right now I drive 20 min to get to the one I go to and it is the only one within 50 miles. This is great news.
I am not really up on my city-data laws but if you guys have any good local resources to find houses for rent please let me know via DM as to not break any moderation laws here.
The Rockies r rocky, range is farmy, burbs are burby.
Wanted to reply, then I noticed all the wonderful replies already in here, which I mostly agree with. The area is solidly middle-class in outlook and aspirations, and family oriented for the most part.
One thing to keep in mind. Colorado is still a Frontier state. You'll notice things after living there a while. Like people still hate the government, most coloradans would rather keep their tax money and have few government services. People pack guns (you'll never know it until they use it to save your life) (okay, unless it's a gang-member with the gun....) These differences are small but distinct. Also, there's a whole bunch of "simple country folk" and trailer tr**h kind of people all over the place. Sometimes you wish it was a little more sophisticated, literate, and urbane, if I may say so (now pass me the Grey Poupon, please!)
Wanted to reply, then I noticed all the wonderful replies already in here, which I mostly agree with. The area is solidly middle-class in outlook and aspirations, and family oriented for the most part.
One thing to keep in mind. Colorado is still a Frontier state. You'll notice things after living there a while. Like people still hate the government, most coloradans would rather keep their tax money and have few government services. People pack guns (you'll never know it until they use it to save your life) (okay, unless it's a gang-member with the gun....) These differences are small but distinct. Also, there's a whole bunch of "simple country folk" and trailer tr**h kind of people all over the place. Sometimes you wish it was a little more sophisticated, literate, and urbane, if I may say so (now pass me the Grey Poupon, please!)
All this may be true if you go further out on the plains, but we moved to Superior from California almost 1 year ago, and I have no idea what you're talking about.
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Now I know some of your jaws dropped. A 29 year old native Californian who plays hockey? Well the answer is yes, but not well at all. I just recently started a class we have here for adults to learn to play and I am having a blast. Do they have something similar to that there? Are there really crummy leagues I can get into and not feel silly(er)?
The Rockies r rocky, range is farmy, burbs are burby.
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