Is the cost of living in CO as expensive as CA? (Denver: crime, hotel)

[leavingcali]

Hi there,

My hubby and I want to move out of CA (sacramento area) next summer when I finish my MA because the cost of living and housing here is absurd. We want to be somewhere picturesque. CO (we've looked into, but haven't visted yet) looks beautiful, but is it as expensive there as it is here? So far we're interested in Denver and Boulder-- we don't want to be too far from the action and I will need a junior college or private school to teach at and hubby needs a hospital (he's an Ultrasound Sonographer). What's your opinion/advice? Should we consider other areas in CO, or do you have other states to suggest?

All feedback much appreciated!

[Bigfamilyof6]

Prices are not as high as California but they are climbing. I lived in Colorado most of my life and it is beautiful but it is a great place to live. I lived in Littleton, Lakewood,Colorado Springs and Denver. My best friend lives in Castlerock and really loves it. It depends on which part of Denver you are looking at. If you can be more descriptive I can help you a little bit better.

Jennifer

[JLC]

I am also checking the difference in housing and general cost of living difference between Colorado and So Cal - I presently live in San Diego.

I am considering high elevation places in AZ and NM, as well as CO, but for now my first choice is Colorado Springs. Internet searches all come back with the same kind of results - I could lower my income by around 40% and still have the kind of standard of living in Colorado Springs than I presently have in San Diego, and housing is rougly 55% cheaper in colorado Springs than San Diego. As a (soon to be) retired person, Colorado also has the advantage of not taxing the first $20,000 of my pension.

For a decent cost of living (and housing) calculator, look here:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp

You can easily compare costs between cities in various states there. I noticed than cost of living calculators are invariably limited to the number of cities you can compare.

JLC

[leavingcali]

Thanks to both of you! I will check out Colorado Springs.

As far as being more descriptive...hmmm. I am not really sure what I want. I would like to live somewhere that is so pretty I want to be outside all the time, and when I look out my window, I smile. I need to be near or in a larger place with an active downtown, lots of great restaurants, etc. My dream would be to have a house on hill in which I can view mountains and the town. I also want a sunny place that isn't too close to tornado alley. And, of course, I need to be able to afford to buy a house. I like friendly people, and fresh air. I prefer somewhere that doesn't exceed 90 degrees in the summer. Some snow is fine in the winter. Does that help? {I want it all, don't I}

Thanks again!

[norris08]

Cali transplant here.

For the midwest, cost of living is high.....compared to Cali....not even close.

Most of the "culture" is near the denver metro, so if you want a reasonably full list of things to do, try and keep near there. Southern suburbs are the nicest (Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Parker, Lone Tree and Centennial), but the "downtowns" are nowhere near what you prolly would like them to be.

If you want to be near an 'active downtown', I would look mid/east denver (east of colorado blvd, between oh Alameda and 10th or so). The only problem there is not much of a view.

Once you get here, you will find there are a lot of things CO has to offer other than downtown life. You could spend years taking little daytrips on the weekends and never experience all that CO has to offer.

For example: Movie Manor......a hotel built around a drive-in theatre. The guy who built the place, designed it so that you can sit in your hotel room and watch drive-in movies (sound piped into the rooms). It is about 4 or so hours from denver, worth the drive and nothing but views the whole way.

From there, go find some ghost towns, trails, rivers/lakes, unqiue shopping (i.e. the antique "mall" on the way to estes park.....estes park, btw, home to the Stanley Hotel which spawned the Shining....(http://spankallama.com/spankme/images/stanley01.jpg (broken link)) the previous URL is a pic I took from one of my recent day trips and here is a panorama of Estes Park (warning: huge pic, takes awhile to load: http://spankallama.com/spankme/images/panoram01.jpg) (broken link).

So.....long story short. I would say stick to the southern section of denver (and get the views), have fun playing around denver.....and then explore all that there is to offer here, you won't get bored.

[rebagirl]

I have family in Aurora, and would like to move nearby. I know there are some crime issues in Aurora, so was wondering about Centennial. Is it too close to Aurora? I've also looked into Littleton, Parker, Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock. I have young children, consider myself somewhat conservative, but not overly. (Meaning: I try to instill good moral values, we are church-goers--not Bible-thumping evangelicals, though--and we are very tolerant of gays) Just looking for a nice community to raise our family. One that isn't crime-ridden or ghetto-like, but on the other hand, not full of affluent, holier than thou snobs. Sorry, I didn't mean to get off-topic (cost of living)--jsut got caught up in the last post. Hope you can help. Thanks!

[2bindenver]

For crime information call and check with the source of the informtion. Aurora police. Centennial and Aurora and Littleton (the city) are in Arapahoe County, call the Sherrif's office and Lone Tree, Parker and Highlands Ranch are in Douglas County.

Douglas County is affluent, (higher personal and household income) except most of Castle Rock. So are parts of Centennial, Englewood, Greenwood Village and the southern part of Aurora.

I think Arapahoe & Douglas Counties are very nice place to raise children, good schools, family friendly activities...

[BabyBoomers2]

We have lived in Colorado for 4 1/2 years now (2 years in Englewood and now in Parker).
If you are looking at moving here, remember that we can get some fairly nasty thunderstorms, lots of lightning, hail and in the winter......snow, not a lot of it, but enough. We have video/photos of t-storms, lightning, hail, heavy snow falling, wind/blizzard conditions. The weather here isn't nearly as great as some people in Colorado will lead anyone to believe. We moved here from So. Calif, but my wife is from Michigan and I'm from northern Indiana......the weather didn't really bother us. Actually, it was a great change from the "dull" weather in So. Calif.
Good Luck

[parker]

Hi - just moved 5 months ago from Ventura County - here are my costs in Parker, CO versus Ventura County

Ventura Parker
Pedi/Mani 28 50
Housekeeper 65 140
gardener 60 a month 70 a week
1 gallon plant 5 10-15
health insur 1000 530
gas 2.99 2.65
groceries a week 200 210

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by leavingcali

. I prefer somewhere that doesn't exceed 90 degrees in the summer. Some snow is fine in the winter.

I don't think it's possible to find a place that does not get above 90 in the summer unless you live up in the mountains where you get *more* than "some snow" in the winter (and spring--and fall: Vail Pass got several inches of snow last week). In 2005, Denver's first snow of the season fell on Oct 10.

Summers in Colorado can be like living in a furnace. Records were set this past summer. Forest fires can happen.

But except for a few weeks in July and August, summer nights are usually comfortably cool. And often the daytime heat is relieved by afternoon thunderstorms.

I agree with Loveboating--Colorado's climate can be extreme. For gardeners and farmers it can sometimes be heartbreaking.
But many find it invigorating. And along with the cold there is plenty of sunshine.