looking to move out of florida (Denver: apartment complex, hotel, homes)

[illerjenn]

hi, i live in Carbondale, Co ( by Aspen ) and i would say this is a perfect place for kids to gow up, if you dont mind the 85 % Hispanics & hippies....
I am thinking about moving back to FL or GA just b/c i just can not stand all those stuck up people here anymore..... If you dont mind the cold long winters and if you are into any snow/winter sports this is the perfect place to be........

[SheridanL]

Really???????????

You should live where I was on the ocean (atlantic)

12300 Highway A1A, Vero Beach, Florida...... You can HAVE IT!!

I will be scarred for life because of this " Beach Haven!!)

There are no animals ( besides alligators) that bit me!!!

Fire ants...no-seeums...sand fleas..whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously!!!!!!!!! YEWWWWWWWW!!!!

GIVE ME COLORADO AND THE MOUNTAINS!!!!FOOTHILLS.

[JMadison]

Well SheridanL, you basically just picked the wrong spot in Fl. I was born there and wish I could get back. But you really need to be somewhere local to roughly Jupiter Island. Pretty much the further you go in any direction from there and it goes down hill pretty fast.

Go to the south and you end up in West Palm (by way of Riviera Beach no less). I think it was #4 most dangerous place to live in recent surveys. Singer Island got ruined decades ago. Go north and well, you end up going toward Fort Pierce.

The sweet spot is Juno/Jupiter/Tequesta for the most part. (Naturally, Jupiter Island itself is the address to have if you can.)

Granted, if you don't like semi-tropical, you probably wouldn't like those areas either on those grounds. But at least the crime/urban problems are not as evident.

In Vero you are actually somewhat north of the worst of it. And being on the coast, you are probably in a pretty elite place. Problem is, you have to consider what is west of you in that case.

So, as a former local native, I'd say you really just threw your dart a little to far north for the most part. But just my opinion, which doesn't mean much.

[ReeseL]

I hear you, floridaexhaustion!! i have lives in FL most of my life. We are also ready to move to Colorado and researching which part would be best for us. I do love FL in a way because it is my home, but I hate almost everything we have to put up with here. The humidity, the bugs, the critters, the tourists, the schools are the worst, the crime, and for some reason, FL is a popular destination for weirdos. I can't wait to move to Colorado (Denver area). The humidity is so stiffling here, it makes it impossible to have fun ouutside in the summer unless you're in the pool or at the beach. Even our kids complain about the heat after playing outside for more than 30min. The winters here are really great, but certainly does not make up for the rest. Good Luck!!!

[wanttomoveeast]

just stumbled on this thread. Very interesting to me. We want to move to Miami, DH and I. We have quite a while though, probably in another year or year and a half.

I read all of your posts and kept thinking, I'm the opposite as the people wanting to leave FL, so maybe I'll be alright!

Humidity: I love it. My hair loves it. My skin loves it.
Desert: I hate it.

Bugs and things: Well, I grew up in rural southwest Colo, and bugs were pretty rampant, although nothing like the south. More like bees, wasps, snakes, bears, cayotes, foxes, skunks. I hated going outside because I was always running into these things. As such, I've become more urban than ever!

I don't have kids, so could care less about the bad schools except for the fact that this is going to be a huge downfall to the U.S., if it isn't already.

Since I don't have kids, I'm not worried about neighborhood as much, except for I don't want to get hurt! But cities are cities and I love them, good and bad. I don't walk around afraid and checking my back all the time. However, I'm quite aware of my surroundings and don't do stupid things like walk around in strange areas at night. duh.

Tourists? Well, we have tons of 'em!!! Think about it, if all of you guys are dying to come here and visit here and what not, you do realize that everyone else is doing the same thing?!? When I was a kid, the big thing was to hate the Calif., who supposedly took over our beautiful state, and hate the Texans, if anything just because of how they drove. That was my parents' ***** by the way.

So.... what's left? Oh the beach. Love that. I know it'll be omg hot and a little difficult to acclimate to, so one of our priorities is to find an apt. with a pool. Which seemingly every bldg. has anyway. We aren't coming to buy, not just yet anyway, renting will def. be the way to go as I'm sure we'll up and move again in 6 mos. when we figure out where we really wanted to be.

Here's my question posed to you guys: What do you think? What am I missing? Or (IMHO), I should probably just move and try life elsewhere, it's not the end of the world, and if I hate it that bad, I'll just move.

To Sheridan: I am so sick of looking at those stupid foothills, it's lost its prettiness to me. I've been staring at them for 35 yrs. now!! I'll take sand any day. Critters and all. And did I tell you, last year I looked down at my carpet right next to my sliding door and it was black?!? I look closer, and it's black with marching ants!

So just to let you know, I sometimes think that silly cliche about the grass being greener is so true!

p.s. - One thing the OP stated that kind of got under my skin was the mention of "where jungle animals live"??? i'm hoping I took that the wrong way. Could you explain more? Do you actually mean animals? Please tell me. I just checked out on google "jungle and florida", there are tons of jungle parks there! I was thinking of the everglades, but never thought of jungle.

[Spincycle]

Nice thread. Its kind of funny when you ask people in Jersey about their choice of a place to relocate to Florida always tops off the list. They seem to view Florida as the "California of the East Coast." Colorado rarely makes their list. Mention Denver and they think the place is as cold and similar to Minneapolis, or Alaska. Go figure?

[wanttomoveeast]

That is funny. Whenever I tell people where I'm from, it's almost always positive. Depending on who I'm talking to, they often say stuff, like oooh, cold and snowy!

[rockymtngator]

My wife and I moved out here with our then 2 year old son. We are originally from Florida (me -Orlando, my wife from Vero as a matter of fact), but came here out of Tennessee.

The transition for us (we moved to Louisville) has been fantastic. I'm not as harsh a critic as you are about Vero (maybe because growing up in Florida and family tempers my perspective), I do agree that the weather (and crime rates in Orlando) gave me pause. When we decided to move, we never once considered moving back to Florida as I don't understand the Northern perspective on Florida being a wonderland to live.

Here's what I can offer:

1. Weather. This is the most misunderstood thing about Colorado. I think most people back east think Colorado is Antarctica. That we have frigid cold weather all year long. I love it being 89 degrees outside and as long as you're in the shade you can have lunch on your patio. I love the change of seasons here - which Florida has none (dark green trees and less green trees). The snow (at least in this part of Colorado) isn't the harsh mid-western type of snow.

2. People. This is my perspective. You're going to find jerks wherever you go. You'll also find warm, friendly and inviting people you'd have as lifelong friends too. Heck, when were were taking a look at New England as a place to live, we found somebody on this forum in the Boston area who welcomed us into her home, made us dinner and we've kept in touch with them even though we didn't move there! The general demeanor of people here are very nice, however, if I wore a sour face everywhere I went, I think people might treat me differently.

3. Outdoors: This for us, was the linchpin. We love the outdoors, biking, hiking, skiing. In Florida, the window for us to enjoy the outdoors was just too small. It's tough because it actually does get cold there, but you can't enjoy the cold. Unlike Colorado where you can do outdoor activities.

When we were thinking about moving, my wife and I took a number of trips to cities that we thought we might want to move to. We spent a week in Colorado making sure that it was right for us, I'm glad we did and we learned what wasn't for us too.

Good luck!

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Micktooth

We were happy to get out of the south. We researched the Boulder Valley Schools, Cherry Creek Schools,and Douglas County Schools. We are happy with the Boulder Valley Schools. My allergies really aren't too bad at all. The weather is so nice. No humidity! We can actually leave our windows and doors open and nothing flies or crawls inside our house. We really don't get too much snow in the Denver Boulder area. When it does snow, it is usually very light and powdery. If there is a huge water shortage it's news to me. We are always trying to conserve water and not waste it. But it can go year to year. This year there was a lot of snow in the mountains, so there should be ample water to go around. Check out the threads on the Louisville/Superior area. We love it and I'm sure you will too.

I don't think you've been here long enough to experience this Micktooth, but there have been summers with watering restrictions. The summer of 2002 was probably the worst. Otherwise, I agree with your post.

[wanttomoveeast]

I too wonder how long Micktooth has been here. I don't know about everyone else, but if I was to leave my windows and doors open (without screens, even sometimes with the screen!) all kinds of stuff is flying in --- including bugs but also DUST. Living here for me is like living in the desert.

And snow, well.... there are def. mild winters, but we usually get at least one dumping and then it sits around forever, so not so light and powdery.

Water? um, that's been a huge issue forever too. Lots of water restrictions. This year alone we are 5 inches short on water. There really isn't ample water to go around.

To RockyMtn: Reading your post about what you like about Colo. (skiing, hiking, etc.) makes me think I'll love Florida. I've lived here my whole life and while I'm sure I take Colo. for granted, I am so ready to do something else. I've always hated skiing, I hate the cold and hiking, well, I'm lame but I find it totally boring. I'd much rather be swimming in the sea, boating, or just listening and smelling the sea.