Ever leave Colorado and then regret it? (Denver, Longmont: transplants, for sale)

[GreenScoutII]

Thanks everyone for your responses...

I guess the last couple of years have been kind of rough economically for my family. It seemed that in the latter half of 2010 we were getting back on track. My wife received a decent promotion with her job and the local economy had picked up enough where I was working much more steadily than I had been in a while.

Our mortgage payment on our house in Pueblo county is pretty small and manageable, most of both our families are in Colorado Springs, Denver, and Pueblo, we had our twins enrolled in an excellent and affordable pre-K program at a local Catholic school, money was still tight, but we were on the upswing......

When my wife's employer started making noise about wanting her (us) to relocate to Houston I guess I saw it as an opportunity to advance us further in the right direction financially as well as being able to give the family an opportunity to experience a different environment....

From the research I did before leaving, I had come to believe that finding employment for myself would be fairly easy, the lack of a state income tax would put more money in our pocket every month, and the big city would provide better educational opportunities for our kids....

Before we left I had a couple of job interviews lined up and a list of schools to check out, life was gonna be great right?

Warm weather and the ocean near by, who doesn't like sunshine and the beach right?

Let me tell you how it really went down.......

First, when one begins to explore living in Houston, the first thing a person is told is how low the cost of living is. No state income tax and affordable priced real estate. Sounds good...

Unfortunately, what we discovered is that to RENT a house is unbelievably costly. Sure, there are cheaper properties available, but in a huge city like this a person really wants to be fairly close to work because of traffic. Secondly, the high property taxes here make buying a house an unappealing prospect for me anyway.

To be fair, some things are less expensive. Groceries are noticeably cheaper as is high speed internet service. The water bill is about the same, but the other utilities are more costly, particularly electric. Auto registration is less money, but auto insurance is more (slightly)....

We discovered that any decent pre-K program is, conservatively, in the neighborhood of $200 per week, per child. We have three small kids. Ugh...

The job situation here really isn't much better than anywhere else for plumbers. There are a lot of shops who take the high-pressure, used car sales approach to service work. Plus, contrary to my initial findings, obtaining a Texas journeyman's license is no simple thing even if a guy already has an equivalent license from another state.

I ended up taking a job outside my field that will allow me to work evenings and weekends so we can avoid paying for pre-K/pre-school. It pays about half of what I make as a plumber.

Plus, it seems like we've had every kind of problem one could imagine develop since we've been here, money is tighter than it's ever been, and I've just had enough.....

I'm not blaming our problems on Texas. It isn't a bad place. The warm weather and humidity are nice (for me anyway). In fact, one area where I've seen an unbelievable improvement is in the management of my psoriasis. The humidity seems to really help.

All I know though is that when the one year commitment we made to my wife's employer is up, I'm out....... I'm gonna tuck tail and head on back home......

[wanneroo]

Colorado was kinda of my home state growing up due to half my family being from there. I spent plenty of time visiting as a kid, several times a year sometimes.

So after getting stuck in the deep south it was important to finally have a chance to live in CO and I took that up and moved.

While it lasted it was good, I went for a winter, stayed for 7 years. By the end I was climbing the walls and was ready to leave. I think life had just moved on for me and I was moving into a new career and Colorado didn't have anything left for me.

There have been a couple of times I have missed friends that I could not see as frequently and do miss the work environment that I had which was non hassle and little politics. Pretty much the same managers are still there 12 years from when I started.

But I have visited, so I can still sample things I once enjoyed.

The funny thing is that my sister moved out to where I lived and she is still there today and got married and everything. And then her friend moved out and she met a guy and got married. So it's amusing that because I chose to move to Colorado for this job I had originally only planned to stay at for a winter, how it set off a chain reaction of events that affected other people.

[knsueo8]

I'm a native Houstonian who moved to Colorado. Houston is more affordable, you just have to know the city very well, to benefit.

Just wait the summer is coming you will find out what real heat is! When people say it is hot in Colorado it amuses me, even when it is 100 plus in Pueblo it doesn't bother me. Of course the heat in Houston didn't bother me either.

If you live in the suburbs of Houston it can be nice and affordable. If you want to live close to downtown and live in a decent area, you are going to have to pay some money,

Inner city Houston is way tougher than anywhere in Houston. There are some really bad areas. However; if you know the city then you can avoid those areas.

The water in Galveston is brown almost all the time. The land is flat. However; the mexican food can be very good, the restaurant in general are good to great.

If you like to fish and know where to go you can have some good success.

The hill country is nice to go to. Float down the rivers, around San Marcos, check out the riverwalk in San Antonio. Houston is very green compared to Colorado. IMHO Texas has nothing on Colorado when it comes to scenery and I've been to just about every nook and cranny of Texas. All the way down to Big Bend , Presidio, El Paso, Davis Mountains, Guadalupe Mountains, South Padre, Corpus, Galveston, Austin, San Antonio. Bandera, Kerrville, San Angelo, Big Lake, Abilene, Odess, Lubbock. Amarillo, Dallas, East Texas, little towns, big towns, almost everywhere.

[Terri722]

[quote=knsueo8;18990166] Texas has nothing on Colorado when it comes to scenery quote]

AMEN!!!!

[shootertoo]

I was raised on a ranch in North Texas but lived in Woodland Park, Colorado a couple of years after I got out of high school. I worked on a ranch and loved it...in the summer. I hated the cold snowy winters. I had spent a few months working on a relative's ranch in Montana before that but left there in November so it wasn't as bad.
Quite honestly this is your problem. You're in Houston. That's the armpit of Texas. That whole area is. I lived in Houston in the late 70s and hated it but like you, my job took me there. I also lived in Galveston and that wasn't so bad.
I encourage you to do this. Take some time and see Texas. San Antonio, Austin, Big Bend, the Rio Grande Valley, the Hill Country. See what Texas is really like. Don't judge Texas by Houston.
Best Wishes.

[SouthXSW]

Lived in several cities and Denver is my favorite. I live in Tulsa now which is a great city too but I prefer larger cities. I do love the forests, lakes and hills in the nearby Ozarks and it's much prettier than the two places I lived before: Oklahoma City and Dallas.

Job prospects are so dismal in Colorado though that I won't be returning anytime soon. If I find something that pays well I would probably go back, but then the cost of living is so much higher. The house I bought for 160K and renovated and would likely sell for 200K in a nice, older neighborhood of Tulsa would be twice as much in Denver!

[livinslv]

Give it some time. There are some great things about Houston; you're close to the Gulf and there are some really nice things about the city. There's lots to do and see in Houston.

Yes there are pretty parts of both Colorado and Texas.

Things will smooth out and you'll be back to plumbing work in no time.

[DallastoCO]

I left as a teenager when my father was transferred. We went back for a lot of summers and I've always missed it. FINALLY - after college, getting married and living on the east coast and now in Dallas, my company is transferring me to Boulder, and my husband has found a job in Denver; we are SO happy! The whole state of Texas is like a whole 'nother planet. I like the easy winters and don't mind the heat, but I miss the mountains. And have more than had enough of Texans!

[GreenScoutII]

Originally Posted by DallastoCO

I left as a teenager when my father was transferred. We went back for a lot of summers and I've always missed it. FINALLY - after college, getting married and living on the east coast and now in Dallas, my company is transferring me to Boulder, and my husband has found a job in Denver; we are SO happy! The whole state of Texas is like a whole 'nother planet. I like the easy winters and don't mind the heat, but I miss the mountains. And have more than had enough of Texans!

Yeah, Texas is different. Not better, not worse, just different.

I wanna go home.......

[Timmyy]

I moved to Colorado 12 years from San Diego and I am never leaving. I still love San Diego but Colorado is my home now. Coming from California I found the cost of living here a lot less and I was getting paid more.