Need some "Moving to Boulder" advice (Denver, Colorado Springs: for sale, apartments)

[KSchafer]

I'm an finally putting my house in Northern Virginia up for sale in a couple of months and making that long contemplated move to Colorado. I have thought about other areas and read many of the postings but think Boulder is where I'm going to try. I eventually want to buy a condo but until I get a feel for things am going to need an apt. Can anyone recommendation a good apt for someone in their early 40's (so not around the college kids) that I could get for less time than a year's lease? Any rough estimate of what I'll need to plan on spending? Just a 1 bedroom is fine. Any good condo area recommendations would also be appreciated. Ideally I'd like a place I can walk to grocery, gym, coffee shop, 1 or 2 bedrooms, fireplace and view of the mnts. Remember, I said ideally...I know I may not get everything I'm looking for. I currently work in mngt/HR and am planning on moving first, then looking for a job, in the hopes that my generalist HR/mngt skills will land me something decent. Any suggestions, sharing of similar experiences would be appreciated. Oh, and I also have a cat, so I need a place that takes pets. Thanks in advance.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by KSchafer

I'm an finally putting my house in Northern Virginia up for sale in a couple of months and making that long contemplated move to Colorado. I have thought about other areas and read many of the postings but think Boulder is where I'm going to try. I eventually want to buy a condo but until I get a feel for things am going to need an apt. Can anyone recommendation a good apt for someone in their early 40's (so not around the college kids) that I could get for less time than a year's lease? Any rough estimate of what I'll need to plan on spending? Just a 1 bedroom is fine. Any good condo area recommendations would also be appreciated. Ideally I'd like a place I can walk to grocery, gym, coffee shop, 1 or 2 bedrooms, fireplace and view of the mnts. Remember, I said ideally...I know I may not get everything I'm looking for. I currently work in mngt/HR and am planning on moving first, then looking for a job, in the hopes that my generalist HR/mngt skills will land me something decent. Any suggestions, sharing of similar experiences would be appreciated. Oh, and I also have a cat, so I need a place that takes pets. Thanks in advance.

Advice:
1. Find the job first unless you have a lot of savings. Be prepared to make less money.

2. Leave the cat with a friend until you have found a place that will take pets.

3. Forget the fireplace, if you are considering burning wood. You can only burn wood when the Air Pollution people decide you can. You have to call them up first. You will be fined if you burn on a no-burn day.

4. Almost every area of town has students living there; the farther from campus the fewer there are.

[Micktooth]

You will love the Boulder area. Do you need to stay within the city limits? We live in Louisville about 10min south and love it. We have easy access to Boulder whenever we want without the college crowd. When we first moved to the area we rented an apartment in Superior just across the highway from Louisville. We signed a 6 mos lease. Many people had pets there. The complex was called The Horizons of Rock Creek. There is a good fitness center within the complex but just across the street is a great one called Lakeshore Fitness. There is also a Safeway grocery store right there. There are coffee shops everywhere as well as a nice view of the mountains. We are also in our early 40s and we love the Louisville-Superior area. BTW, I commute to Denver everyday about a 35-40min drive. I hope this helps.

[KSchafer]

Thanks for sguggestions! I will look at the L'ville area (I've read and heard good things about it as well) and the apt complex you suggested. I know the safest and traditonal approach to moving is to get the job first but I feel this will work for me. I will make good $$ off the sale of my home and will be able to afford a bit of time off work looking for new job I believe. Did anyone move cross country and if so did they use a traditional mover or something like the pods or "u-pack" and ship it approach? Because I don't know anyone in CO I need to figure out how I'll get my things unpacked so thought I have to look at something like a traditional moving company, but I am perfectly willing to pack my own things if there's a shipper that hauls and delivers that anyone would recommend. (Mike From Back East, what did you guys do?) Thanks.

[Micktooth]

We moved from New Orleans. We used North American Van Lines and we had them pack and load and unload us. That way if there was a problem it would be their fault. However, the move went fine and the local guys here were very nice.

[Mike from back east]

K: Here are some posts that will help answer your questions about how we did it. If you need more, let us know.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/other...house-tip.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/other...urniture.html?

http://www.city-data.com/forum/denve...gestions.html?

You're gonna love Colorado.

s/Mike

[Minz]

Originally Posted by KSchafer

Thanks for sguggestions! I will look at the L'ville area (I've read and heard good things about it as well) and the apt complex you suggested. I know the safest and traditonal approach to moving is to get the job first but I feel this will work for me. I will make good $$ off the sale of my home and will be able to afford a bit of time off work looking for new job I believe. Did anyone move cross country and if so did they use a traditional mover or something like the pods or "u-pack" and ship it approach? Because I don't know anyone in CO I need to figure out how I'll get my things unpacked so thought I have to look at something like a traditional moving company, but I am perfectly willing to pack my own things if there's a shipper that hauls and delivers that anyone would recommend. (Mike From Back East, what did you guys do?) Thanks.

Hi!

I just made a move from San Antonio, TX to Colorado Springs w/ my cats. (totally love it here!) I ended up doing a professional move for less than 2k. I thought it was definitely worth it because it saved me a lot of stress/hassle. I took the suggestion of folks on this website and got rid of a lot of stuff I really no longer needed/wanted...I took tons of stuff to goodwill before I left...it was refreshing and enlightening to clean out plus this made my move less expensive. There is a great furniture store here in CO that Mike from back East suggested to me...they have great prices/quality/customer service etc...so I got rid of some of my furniture that I was not so attached to before I left...and ended up buying a few new furniture items here...I think getting rid of those items definitely lowered the cost of my movers. I really only brought furniture that was meaningful to me or that was great quality and in great shape that I did not want to part with...also a suggestion from this website. I also made a 14 hour drive up here w/ my four cats, so if you would like my experience/suggestion on this I would be more than happy to help....or check out the post about moving with cats under this same Colorado section. Best of luck!! I was originally going to move to Boulder...but moved to the Springs because I had a job waiting here...I enjoy Boulder and The Springs both equally...they are very different cities but both very cool in their own ways!!

[KSchafer]

Thanks to all for the replies and sharing of info! It's great. yes, I'd like to hear more about the 14 hr drive w/the four cats. Even tho I only have 1, he's 17, very talkative, and very spoiled. Can you also share the name of the furniture store? I think I will end up going w/professional movers also to lessen the stress. However, I'm thinking of keeping my stuff in storage for a few months while I live in temp housing and try to find a place to buy so I don't have to move and unpack, then do it all over again soon. Again, many thanks!

[41Willys]

Boulder is a college town! Hard to get away from the kids! Its not bad though. You mite wanna look into nieghboring towns like Superior or Louisville.
Boulder is very, very expensive! Beautiful place though! Apartments are affordable but houses are expensive!

[Minz]

Originally Posted by KSchafer

Thanks to all for the replies and sharing of info! It's great. yes, I'd like to hear more about the 14 hr drive w/the four cats. Even tho I only have 1, he's 17, very talkative, and very spoiled. Can you also share the name of the furniture store? I think I will end up going w/professional movers also to lessen the stress. However, I'm thinking of keeping my stuff in storage for a few months while I live in temp housing and try to find a place to buy so I don't have to move and unpack, then do it all over again soon. Again, many thanks!

The furniture store is American Furniture Warehouse. They are only in Colorado and their warehouse is in Denver so I got my couch within 2 days. I think the delivery charge was only $25.

Here's how I did the drive with my four cats. I bought large crates, big enough for a 30 lb dog so they wouldn't feel so cramped. I was able to fit a mini-litter box in the large crate with food and water. I also put in a small blanket from my house so they had a familiar scent to make them comfortable. I consulted my vet about an anti-anxiety pill but she suggested to not do that because some cats may have a reaction to it, and also she thought it could stress the kitties even more because it puts them in a state they are not used to...however you may want to see what your vet recommends since your kitty is a bit older. I drove straight thru because I didn't want to have to deal with unloading them at a hotel. My vet also recommended to carry their shot records in the car with me...I didn't ask why but maybe it was in case I got pulled over?! My cats did great though! I don't think they were happy with the ride but they did not fuss at all...I think having them in a large crate really helped them, and me. I promised them however that I would never take them on a long car ride again.

I'm sure the move will go smoothly! Best of luck!