Concerned about moving to Longmont/Lafayette (Denver, Fort Collins: new house, job market, neighborhoods)

[V1VrV2]

Hi gang! Long-time lurker, first time poster. My wife and I are in the process of deciding where to move and are really agonizing over the decision. We're torn between two locations: Longmont and West Des Moines, IA, but obviously my question in this forum has to do with the former.

We both grew up in states bordering Colorado and actually lived in Denver for a brief period back in 2007, so we're familiar with the area -- though it has been a while. During the year we lived there, we rarely made it to the "north side" of Denver and now that lack of familiarity is coming back to bite us. My wife is in the medical field and I am in IT (specifically, IT project management). While her job offer is confirmed, mine is anything but certain.

So, that's some background about our situation. Here are our questions/concerns:

The IT job market?
Primarily, I have serious concerns about the job market for someone in IT wishing to work in the Boulder/Longmont/N.W. Denver metro area. Perhaps I don't have an informed perspective, but the impression I got was that many of the technology companies that had a strong presence in the area have dramatically scaled back operations. Generally speaking, I'm left with the impression that it would be difficult for me to find a job due to the over-abundance of qualified, unemployed IT workers (experience, desired salary, etc. notwithstanding). Is that true? Does anyone have any insight into the IT job market in the area? This is definitely a show-stopper issue.

Living in Longmont?
I've heard mixed reviews of Longmont itself. Realizing opinions are just that, we are still a bit concerned about crime, gangs, shopping, entertainment, and schools in Longmont. In fact, we're considering living further south near Lafayette in order to 1) be closer to Denver, where I may have to work, and 2) it would seem to fit our preferred lifestyle better. However, during a community tour a few months ago, we were shown the southwest side of town (south of Clover Basin Dr.) and it appeared nicely suburban and rather upscale -- which I'm sure carries its own set of pros and cons. We have an infant son, so schools will eventually play an important role in our decision, too. Thoughts or any specific threads you would recommend for me to read?

Commute from Lafayette to Longmont?
If we did end up living in Lafayette, my wife would have to make the commute to Longmont on a daily basis. Google says it would take anywhere from 20-30 minutes for the drive, which is right in our comfort zone for "desired commute". Anything more would be stretching it. Is this a difficult drive due to traffic/other factors How is the commute in the winter?


Thanks in advance for your responses. We are really having a tough time with this decision and any information the community can offer is *greatly* appreciated!

Best,
T.R.

[jkcoop]

I would recommend you do a search for Longmont in the Boulder section. There have been many threads, and many in which the southwest side and schools is discussed, so I won't rehash. Suffice it to say, I live on the southwest side, a couple of neighborhoods over from Clover Basin.

As far as IT....we have several friends who have been laid off and have searched for jobs for a long, long time.

My husband was laid off in July, although the company he worked for was based out of New York - he was a virtual worker here at home. He has been in the field for 20+ years. He put out a lot of resumes - any interviews he got were all south Denver in the Tech Center area, and I will tell you, I think the fact that he was so far north was a big deterrent. One company was concerned because they were afraid the long, long commute would have him looking for something else and he wouldn't stick around.

He is now in partnership with some guys he's known and have been in the field for a long time. They work on getting contracts and placing IT consultants in those contracts. Many companies are going that direction it seems. I will say that it seems very much so in IT that they hire locally. The interview process, as you may already know, is a long one which usually drags on for at least a month with at least 3 separate interviewing times with different people.

My suggestion would be to make sure you have plenty of money saved in case it takes you a while to get a job. I would say that your assessment of an abundance of highly skilled IT guys looking right now is dead on. We personally have never known so many friends who have gotten laid off.

[Katiana]

The commute from Lafayette to Longmont is not difficult. It would be no worse in the winter than any other commute in the metro area.

[sumukru]

Hello! I live in Lafayette and love it. We have two young children that attend the public neighborhood elementary school and have zero complaints about it. There is a lot of diversity within the Lafayette borders - from multi family housing to million dollar estates. I personally find this to be a huge plus for my family, and we fit somewhere in the middle.

The commute to Longmont is pretty easy. I'm supposing you would just shoot up 287 for a 20 minute drive. The winter driving conditions here are not bad at all. There has only been one day I was tooling around in the snow thinking I should've postponed my errands. And then a few hours later, you would have never known the driving conditions weren't ideal. The benefits of living in the valley!

If you do opt to search in Longmont, keep in mind there are some residual mindsets about the St. Vrain school district. This is not something I have first hand experience with, so I cannot comment one way or the other. I do find that if you are in a school with good parent base (volunteering/PTA/general involvement) that makes a school great.

Good luck with your decisions.

[sumukru]

P.S. JKCOOP is right about IT jobs. A lot of people have been laid off in recent times.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by sumukru

. . .

The commute to Longmont is pretty easy. I'm supposing you would just shoot up 287 for a 20 minute drive. . .
Good luck with your decisions.

There's a choice of taking either 287 or 95th St., depending on whether you're going to the west side of Longmont, or to the central area or east. (95th St. in Lafayette becomes Hover in Longmont). It's an easy commute either way..

[PunkGuy]

We moved from the south to Lafayette a year ago and love it here.
Unfortunately I was laid off from my IT Job (was telecommuting back to TN) and haven't found anything since (6 months now)
My wife works up in Longmont and it's about a 20 minutes commute. Not bad at all

[V1VrV2]

Thanks all for the feedback -- definitely appreciate the first-hand knowledge. It's kind of a let-down about the job situation, but, as I mentioned, I had that impression so it's just confirming my suspicions/fears. Of course there's no guarantee that I'd be able to find employment in any of the locations either, so it might just be that we have to take the leap.

We're realizing that in the end, we need to pick a place where we'll enjoy living and raising our family. Colorado definitely leads the pack in that department, so we'll see what happens.

Thanks again!

[Lupulin]

A little late in replying, but don't discount other towns, like Erie, Firestone, and Frederick. They're similarly located to some aforementioned places, yet they're much cheaper (more bang for the buck), and they're closer to I-25/Denver.

Longmont does have its problems like any city, but it's really not that bad at all. Go eat and drink at the Pumphouse Brewery or Oskar Blues' Home Made Liquids and Solids. Drive through Prospect New Town. And then just keep driving all over town. Then drive to RMNP, just an hour away. Or Brainard Lake (not open to vehicles right now) ... or the Peak to Peak Highway. Boulder's just 15 away and Fort Collins is just 30 away. It's a great place to live, and a great place to raise a family. Way better than Iowa, IMO.

[9042]

What can you tell me about Erie and the towns around it? I have two kids, one in HS and one in MS. Seems like there are a lot of great deals on new houses. What are the property taxes like?