Why are so many people moving to Colorado? (Denver, Highlands Ranch: living, prices)

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by motoracer51

Unfortunately, most bring their voting habits with them.

Getting a lot of Orange County types? Perhaps they balance out the more liberal Easterners moving in too. I'm guessing most of your CA immigrants are coming from the more conservative areas like the Inland Empire, OC and San Diego, many ex-military. People in the Bay Area are likely happier where they are and stay put.

[Osito]

Originally Posted by Cupcake77

20 years ago people would have never conidered moving to Colorado, now it seems like they are beating down the doors to get in. What changed? It's not cheap, there is not many jobs.

You're right. There have been an influx of people from more expensive parts of the country (California, New York, Florida) and less expensive parts of the country (Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois).

The mid-90s economy was what really exacerbated the population increase because there were jobs then. My mother was an office manager and for years if they needed help, she was lucky to get one resume. Before she left in '08 she was getting tons of resumes for one job. All the jobs people moved here for are gone, but people from other places often have a better outlook on Colorado because, compared to places people are still moving from, the economy may still be better than theirs, so they come here with hope. Bad, bad idea, folks, unless you get the job ahead of time.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Osito

. All the jobs people moved here for are gone, but people from other places often have a better outlook on Colorado because, compared to places people are still moving from, the economy may still be better than theirs, so they come here with hope. Bad, bad idea, folks, unless you get the job ahead of time.

Send them to Northern Virginia. We have lots of jobs but people are apparently scared away because of our higher than average real estate costs. You could actually come here without a job and find one pretty quickly.

[formercalifornian]

Really? As I understand it, there was tremendous residential growth in the southwestern 'burbs beginning in the '80s. Ken-Caryl dates from that time, and there was an explosion of growth in Castle Rock and Parker in the '90s. Surely all those houses weren't built for relocating natives.

[Osito]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Really? As I understand it, there was an explosion of residential growth in the southwestern 'burbs beginning in the '80s. Surely they weren't all relocating natives.

I lived here in the '80s. It was pretty empty then.

[Osito]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Send them to Northern Virginia. We have lots of jobs but people are apparently scared away because of our higher than average real estate costs. You could actually come here without a job and find one pretty quickly.

Interesting, I'll keep that in mind.

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Which post are you responding to?

I was responding to Cupcake's post stating that twenty years ago, nobody would have considered moving to Colorado. That would date to 1991. When I was house-hunting a few years ago, I looked at at many neighborhoods from that period. Furthermore, my in-laws came to Colorado in the mid-'80s and settled in Ken-Caryl, which was just getting started. Most of their neighbors came from elsewhere in the country. As I recall, there were quite a few from the Ohio Valley.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Really? As I understand it, there was tremendous residential growth in the southwestern 'burbs beginning in the '80s. Ken-Caryl dates from that time, and there was an explosion of growth in Castle Rock and Parker in the '90s. Surely all those houses weren't built for relocating natives.

This is true. When we moved to CO in 1980, Superior was a little town of a few hundred people. In the mid 80s, it started booming, now has ~ 11,000 people. Louisville, where we bought our first house, had 5000 people in 1980, now has ~20,000. The building really took off in the 80s, and continued until about 2000. Anyone can look up these statistics; it just isn't true that people weren't thinking of moving to CO 20 years ago.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Multiple choice:
a. You're here, and they want to be near you!
b. They want to tick off the "don't move here" curmudgeons.
c. They know "nice" when they see it.
d. The nation has found a new "in" place where they can get away from the coasts.

HEY! Watch the "curmudgeons" talk. We're a rare breed, and sensitive!

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by Katiana

This is true. When we moved to CO in 1980, Superior was a little town of a few hundred people. In the mid 80s, it started booming, now has ~ 11,000 people. Louisville, where we bought our first house, had 5000 people in 1980, now has ~20,000. The building really took off in the 80s, and continued until about 2000. Anyone can look up these statistics; it just isn't true that people weren't thinking of moving to CO 20 years ago.

Let us not forget Highlands Ranch.