Hoosier to Boulder? How much do I need to make to live happily?

[motheroftwo06]

Hi, Sadhanamoon:

Where in boulder city do you recommend for couples with young kids (age 2 & 3)? Reading from your style of writing and tone, I have a feeling that we may think a lot alike.
My hasband has been working in Boulder since Sept, I am hoping to move there from Shanghai, China by this summer with our two children. I will be visiting him and doing some house hunting early next month during my business trip.

We'd like to stay in Boulder city, but one problem is that it's more likely that I would be able to find a job in Denver over Boulder.

Any suburbs that meet your min. requirement to purchase a home in?

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by motheroftwo06

where in boulder city do you recommend for couples with young kids (age 2 & 3)? Reading from your style of writing and tone, I have a feeling that we may think a lot alike.
My hasband is already working in Boulder, I am hoping to move there from Shanghai, China by this summer with my two children. I will be visiting him and doing some house hunting early next month.
We'd like to stay in Boulder city, but one problem is that I could end up finding a job in Denver and the commute would be awful with 2 young kids to care for. Thoughts?

Boulder is not very large. If you avoid the campus areas, most any other part of town is fine for families. North and East Boulder seem to have the most families right now.

The commute from Boulder to Denver and back would take about one hour each way, give or take a little. If DH is working in Boulder, you might want to look at Broomfield. It's not exactly halfway (it's closer to Boulder than Denver), but it would be a good compromise.

[motheroftwo06]

Thanks for the quick reply, Katiana! Really looking forward to my first visit of Boulder.
It's too bad that the economy doesn't seem to affect Boulder's housing market that much, you get very little for the money. I rather trade big house with better quality of life. But if the premium is so high, I guess having some money saved / left to do thing you like makes more sense. Right now I just want to make sure that my kids can get into the best public schools, that alone can save a ton.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by motheroftwo06

Thanks for the quick reply, Katiana! Really looking forward to my first visit of Boulder.
It's too bad that the economy doesn't seem to affect Boulder's housing market that much, you get very little for the money. I rather trade big house with better quality of life. But if the premium is so high, I guess having some money saved / left to do thing you like makes more sense. Right now I just want to make sure that my kids can get into the best public schools, that alone can save a ton.

Boulder's housing prices are in line with the rest of the metro area. Part of the issue is location, location, location. If you want to live in the Chautauqua area, you'll pay. But you can find moderately priced houses in Boulder. Don't worry too much about schools. Most of the schools in the north metro area are good, and your kids are young. It's possible you'll move again before they start school.

[TrickiWoo]

Originally Posted by sadhanamoon

If you're anything like my husband and I (originally from the East coast)- there is NO where to live in Colorado but BOULDER (Denver is okay too). We fought tooth and nail to get here and are not leaving anytime soon! Boulder isn't a myth- it lives up to every great thing you may hear and then some. A small number of people in the area dislike it (natives) for reasons of it being too liberal, or too much of a 'city' (it's all relative!). Longmont is probably one of the most awful places I have ever lived- not for the obvious reasons...it has a lot of lovely quaint streets in the historic district (but that's it)...but for other reasons too long to list here. So, yes, you can go outside of Boulder for a home and find it reasonably priced, but there are reasons why!

See, it all depends what you're looking for. We're also from the East Coast and we rented in Boulder for about a year but when it came time to buy a house we were not happy with what you get for your money in Boulder. The homes were small and on small lots and by that time the newness of the city had worn off for us. We're not interested in a night-life because we have small kids, we don't eat out often, and i found most of the stores in Boulder to be overpriced and impractical. We ended up in SW Longmont and we couldn't be happier. We live in a nice neighborhood with nice neighbors, have a large yard for the kids to play and got it for half of what we would have paid in Boulder. It pays to rent and get to know the area before buying. Yes, it's a hassle to move twice, but it will really give you time to find what you're looking for. Everyone's opinions and experiences on areas is going to be different according to what sort of lifestyle they prefer to live.