Hello Colorado! Hope to join you in the future! (Denver: ski resorts, to rent)

[NorthCarolinaaa]

Hey everyone. This is my first post on this particular msg board. I am a 27/yo male and I currently live in Central North Carolina. I have lived on the East Coast my entire life and am now VERY interested in relocating to Colorado. I have spoken to many people from there or that have lived there, but I'm really looking to get the ins and outs of everything from people that are there now.. (Hence why I am on this board)... I have a while before I plan to move (aug 2012) but I am beginning the process now. I'm not sure where exactly would be the best fit for me so I have some basic questions. Am I in the right place?

Basic Info About me:
-College graduate (although, I might look to go back to school once I'm there)
-I have a job which I can transfer to a variety of places in Colorado (Littleton, Lakewood, Boulder, Highlands Ranch, Westminster, Aurora, Thornton, Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Pueblo)
-I love the snow/cold
-Not married
-No kids
-Looking to rent @ first
-Don't want to live smack in the middle of the city
-Not looking for a "cheap" place, but I don't want to live in an ultra expensive area that is a struggle just to live in
-looking for a simple and quiet place/lifestyle

Hope this info can help some of you give me some advice... thank you!

[Josseppie]

Those cities are vastly different. What kind of city do you want to live in?

[NorthCarolinaaa]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Those cities are vastly different. What kind of city do you want to live in?

Thanks for the reply.

I figured there was going to be some diversity between them. I want to live in a place where skiing/snowboarding is within an hour or two. Also would love to hike and do things outdoors. Don't want to live in the middle of nowhere, but would like to be close to the wilderness and the mountains. Not looking for a big social/nightlife scene. Not looking for overcrowding either. I have lived in Philadelphia and other big cities in the North East US and am just tired of living on top of people and having people live on top of me. I live in a suburb of Raleigh, NC right now and prefer that over downtown/city life. I don't plan on having children in the next 10 years so not worried about a place good for kids or anything. Hope this info is not too vague.

[Mike from back east]

There is almost no skiing or snowboarding less than 90 minutes from the Front Range cities you listed. You hit a few minor spots within an hour of Boulder or Golden, etc, but generally the big ones are 90-180 minutes from Denver, if traffic is NOT heavy or roads are slick.

You can do lots of year-round hiking, biking, running, etc in all those cities, and I'd suggest Boulder, Golden, Colorado Springs (right at the base of Pikes Peak) and Denver for access to jobs AND these activities.

Search for a job in any of those areas, then rent at first to learn the area and move to your preferred location. Bear in mind that COLO has twice the square miles of NC, a huge area to explore and find your place....

[Josseppie]

If you don't want to live in a big metro that takes out Littleton, Lakewood, Highlands Ranch, Westminster, Aurora, Thornton, and Denver.

So that leaves Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Personally, I do not like Colorado Springs as I think its nothing but a over crowded military town. Fort Collins is nice but anymore its a ex suburb of Denver/ college town while Pueblo is more of a blue collar city with a unique south west culture and its about 2 hours to Monarch to ski from Pueblo. I would go with Pueblo but I am biased.

[Katarina Witt]

Littleton, Lakewood, Highlands Ranch, Westminster, Aurora, and Thornton are all suburbs of Denver. Lakewood, Aurora, and a tiny portion of Littleton have borders with Denver. Boulder is both an independent city and a suburb, if that makes sense.

Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Pueblo are independent cities. Unlike Joseppie, I like COS. Ft. Collins is a college town near the Wyoming border, and probably the farthest from a ski area.

[CosmicWizard]

Put the horse before the cart, and concentrate on getting a firm job offer IN WRITING. AFTER you've taken care of that, THEN find a place to rent as close as possible to the job location. Without a job in hand, you will be another out-of-town newbie competing with long time local residents who have already been unemployed for two years or longer.

[sunsprit]

I'll 2nd CosmicWizard on the "get a job offer first" approach.

I'll also mention that almost all of the SW Denver suburb areas are approx 60 mins away ... on an average day ... from Loveland, which offers some excellent skiing although minimal other attractions. With the C-470 to I-70 corridor, it's pretty easy from as far East as Littleton ... and Highlands Ranch is essentially adjacent to C-470. From my old house in the KenCaryl Ranch, it was only 50 minutes to the parking lot at Loveland ... and I could leave late, behind most of the uphill AM ski traffic trying to get to the bigger Summit/Eagle County ski resorts. On most weekdays, it was a no-issue to get to Loveland inside of an hour.

While many of the SW Denver areas are suburbs ... there are numerous pockets of undeveloped lands, open spaces, and some still retain more of a rural character; you certainly won't feel like you're living in a city at these places. The price points of these places are quite wide ranging ... some are simply older areas where development hasn't happened, or some of them are quite pricey with more recent large homes on sizable lots. For the OP's purposes of living without a huge overhead expense, some of these older areas may be suitable.

I, too, like CSprings as a place to live. There again is a lot of variation on the areas and developments around the place ... and there are some reasonable open spaces around it and good access to the mountains nearby. Fort Collins, too, has similar residential areas, although it doesn't have the city "downtown" of CSprings ... even though it's a bit further away for skiing, FtCollins ranks high on my places to live along the Front Range.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

Put the horse before the cart, and concentrate on getting a firm job offer IN WRITING. AFTER you've taken care of that, THEN find a place to rent as close as possible to the job location. Without a job in hand, you will be another out-of-town newbie competing with long time local residents who have already been unemployed for two years or longer.

As Cosmic Wizard said, get a job in hand first, otherwise you'll just become another statistic. Colorado is not someplace that you can just move to and expect to find a job easily.

SoButCounty

[NorthCarolinaaa]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

Put the horse before the cart, and concentrate on getting a firm job offer IN WRITING. AFTER you've taken care of that, THEN find a place to rent as close as possible to the job location. Without a job in hand, you will be another out-of-town newbie competing with long time local residents who have already been unemployed for two years or longer.

I have a job... The places I named are those I am able to transfer to given I keep my standing within the company. Those named (and surrounding areas) are my options and the information given thus far has been very helpful.