Future C.S. Resident and regular forum lurker

[lurtsman]

@ Ryan. That sounds great. We expect to purchase a membership at Costco upon arriving so that won't be a problem. 5 miles to a Walmart doesn't sound too bad. I prefer to get more of my groceries at sams/costco when possible because I find I get better deals on frozen / meat / fruit / veggie items.

@mrsjabob. We haven't been out there, but I'm so glad my post could help you. We are planning to visit once before moving out. Hopefully in late winter / early spring. I've done at least 10 if not 20 times more research on this move than any before it. I've even seen the first 15 pages of google results on moving :P. The reasons I see for people criticizing the city are the things I think are wonderful. The anti tax presence, the availability of urban housing, the wide roads with a focus on car transportation, the theory that within a year you'll buy a dog, a bike, and a wagon/suv. We are ready for the snow having lived in Iowa, and are excited to witness it melting

I've even researched costs for ISPs. Expect high speed internet to run you 30-40 bucks a month if you go with no cable tv / land line. Most people assume purchasing cable TV, but it was not relevant to my decision so I didn't compare those prices.

We've found several houses we want to see, and are looking for ways to move our date up by a couple of months. Seeing if we could get out there in May instead of July, though it may pose a few challenges. We're really not sure how long we will rent. We can buy something much nicer w/ 20% down and have the payment (on a 30 year) + taxes + insurance come out much cheaper than having a 2 bed/2bath w/ a dog and 2 garage stalls. That was a bit of a surprise for me, so we may accelerate our buying to get those prices locked in at rates we know we can afford and enjoy the monthly decrease in expenditures. We don't consider apartments that do not have washer/dryer in them because it's not even remotely comparable to having a house. 1200 square feet vs 3000, and the 3k is cheaper w/ prices locked in for 30 years... go figure.

[Sterling4212]

this is all of colorado but you can see el paso county in there with some different elevations.
Did you move yet?

Colorado Physical Map and Colorado Topographic Map

[dmccright]

I, personally, think you are going to be pleasantly pleased with the weather in CO. (that's a lot of "P"s). Anyway, I grew up in Cedar Rapids and can tell you with absolute certainy that CO winters are NOTHING like IA's. I remember never being able to wash your car all winter long in IA and that didn't occur to me until I moved to CO where I can wash my car. We do get those "big dumps" now and then but those are fun and exciting to anticipate and any signs of which are usually gone within a couple of days, unlike IA, were you drive on crunchy streets for months at a time.
As far as finding a place to live...I would definitley consider renting for a couple of months just to get the lay of the land, so to speak.

[lurtsman]

Updates. I'm planning to rent for the first year or so, maybe a little longer. I've already mapped out the top 5-6 options. My wife and I are visiting in May for Job interviews / checking apartments. We'll be arriving in town to stay around August 2nd. I've been accepted to the MBA program and will start this Fall. We've gone through USAA's program to get a realtor. We were considering purchasing right away but decided to delay. Where we buy will be a factor of where my wife works. Due to safety concerns I'd rather she work at memorial north. If she works there we'll get one of the cheapest houses in the area spanning briargate to glen eagle. Planning to buy up a few investment properties over the year, and the first house we have will probably become one of those after 5 years or so.

We had a surprisingly warm winter in Iowa this year and it was the perfect note to end on. We're pretty excited, 112 days til we leave our apartment. We actually have the countdown on our calendar . I'm trying to sell of my business as fast as I can, and we've both gone through our closets and donated several bags to good will, and several more to good dumpster.

Other things we don't want to move are now populating craigslist and Ebay. I've applied to three jobs so far, and my wife has applied to two. If anyone has a connection to get the inside track for working in a cardiac unit at either hospital, my wife would really prefer cardiac. She spent the last year working cardiac at a level 1 trauma center.

Decided to wait on getting the dog and do without garage stalls for now.