I'm looking to relocate, employment not an issue. (Denver, Colorado Springs: relocating, real estate)

[dang133]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, but I've been browsing here for quite some time. My fiancee and I are looking into relocating to CO. Both of us own online businesses, so employment isn't an issue for us. I'm looking for ideas on where to relocate to in CO.

What we're looking for:

1. Reasonably bike friendly (I love to ride and hate to drive)
2. Somewhat dense (ie: not generic urban sprawl)
3. "Liberal" tolerant (I'm not looking for Boulder though...)
4. An area with character (older homes strongly preferred)
5. Must be within an 1.5 hours of a major airport (I travel often for work).
6. Something near a college would be nice (I'd like to have interns do a lot of the work for my business).

The price range I'm looking at for homes is under 200k. I'm not opposed to buying something TOTALLY screwed and fixing it up, provided the area is generally safe.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[brightdoglover]

Offhand, if you need that major airport, I'd say that a 1.5 radius around Denver is your only choice, unless you're willing to live near a feeder line to Denver. And under $200K sounds pretty tough to fulfill.
I don't live in that area, but follow this board and real estate stuff in Colorado for years now, thinking of some kind of plan for the future, when I am not relying on employment. Good luck.

[dang133]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

Offhand, if you need that major airport, I'd say that a 1.5 radius around Denver is your only choice, unless you're willing to live near a feeder line to Denver. And under $200K sounds pretty tough to fulfill.
I don't live in that area, but follow this board and real estate stuff in Colorado for years now, thinking of some kind of plan for the future, when I am not relying on employment. Good luck.

I think the Colorado Springs airport would work as well. Does that change the equation much? Pueblo is only 40 minutes from Colorado Springs. Does Pueblo fit the bill?

[jazzlover]

Aside from the "liberal tolerant" aspect (most people in Colorado are not so intolerant as to make life total hell for someone who does not share their political beliefs, no matter what they are), there are several smaller towns that come to mind. Most I mention here have older home neighborhoods with quiet streets suitable for biking, and low crime--and don't have housing that costs a fortune.

There are several towns on the eastern plains relatively close to Denver that might fit your needs--Fort Morgan, Brush, Sterling, Limon come to mind. Sterling (about a little less than 2 hrs. from DIA) would be my pick of these. Sterling has Northeastern Junior College. Hotter and muggier there than areas closer to the mountains--tornadoes a possiblilty, though not especially common.

Another town to consider is Cheyenne, Wyoming. It has some very nice older homes near downtown, though most will break the $200K price range right now. You could literally ride a bicycle to the regional airport from downtown Cheyenne--Denver International is about and hour and 45 minutes away. There is a community college in Cheyenne. As Wyoming's capital, there is a nice political mix there, but certainly not liberal. There is that wind thing--pretty bad from about mid-October to late April. Summers are mountainlike there--few days over 90, frequent afternoon thundershowers (though some will go severe) and cool nights. Air conditioning really isn't needed. Did I mention no state income tax in Wyoming?

Canon City might be another choice. Great town, lots of neat older houses there. About an hour from the Colorado Springs airport. Hardly liberal, though. It is home to many of Colorado's prisons. There is a branch of Pikes Peak Community College there. It would be the most scenic of those listed, but can get pretty darned hot in the summer.

[dj32]

based on what you want, I would recommend Denver, maybe Golden or Morrison which has a great deal of character. Budget may be tough, specifically for SFH.

[sunsprit]

Northwest and North Suburbs of Denver might work ... Thornton, Sherrelwood, Westminster at your home price point. Good access to DIA.
Also, look up along the NE corridor heading out Northward from Commerce City.
Possibly Englewood, in some of the older housing sections.

[ColoWeb]

I would check out zip-code 80222. Nice area, in Denver, Close to I-25, 15/20 minutes to I-225 (to take a connection to the air port). Can ride the bike around the hood and also to Colorado Blvd. where it is very lively. Homes in that are are $170K .

Here are some: 80222 Homes, Real Estate, Condominiums & More - REALTOR.com

[dang133]

Is 80222 safe? Thats pretty close to bad parts of town. I don't really need a liberal part of town, simply a part of town thats liberal tolerant. I'm quite conservative, its just my better half thats a liberal :P. I've been to Cheyenne, thanks but no thanks. Canon City is worth looking into as well.

Also, would the "Old Colorado City" part of Colorado Springs work?

[ColoWeb]

I did not hear anything bad about it to be honest. It is a nice area; I have worked there and got to meet many people from that area. Overall, good people, mostly older neighborhood. It is close to the main streets that would connect you to almost anyplace you want to go/

Many places/shops on Colo. Blvd. (Safeway, Circuit City, Target north on Colo Blvd., and many others).

The prices do have a wide manage as some homes are 400K+ homes too. While it may be true that the 156K may not be as great, I did see a few very good houses in the 190K -230K range.

The best advice is to make a list of top areas and visit them when you are here to see it for yourself.


Another off-topic tip:
You mentioned you have a business and like older homes. If you need DSL, make sure that DSL is wired to that area as there are many older areas where Qwest does not have a DSL line (though Comcast cable should be available in almost any area as far as I know).

Good luck in your search. Let us know how everything turns out when you move/visit us.

[tfox]

The problem with the Denver area is that the price range is likely to be much higher than 200k for an older area with character. Really, anything under 200k is likely to need either massive work, be in a bad neighborhood, or be in the suburbs (not that there's anything wrong with suburbs, but I know you're not looking for that). Plus, Denver doesn't really have a large, public, research oriented university (that would be in Boulder).

So, why not Fort Collins? It's Cheaper than the Denver area to live. Unlike any other town north of Boulder, it does have an older core of 19th century homes with a spruced up downtown (Fort Collins). And, it also has a large university (CSU) with undergrads and graduate students who are eager for internships in town.

It's also only about an hour away from the airport.

It's fairly liberal tolerant, especially around the CSU campus, but it's not Boulder, either. There's a wide variety of points of view around town, and no one is likely to notice or care much about yours.

The big knock on Fort Collins (on this board anyway) is that it's too full of overeducated and underemployed people competing for jobs. But in your case, this might actually be a good thing for your business.