I'm not sure if I like living in Colorado (heating)

[Bo_Lorem]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Better camping in Colorado in my opinion. I go almost every weekend and don't need to bathe in DEET.

I'll have to check it out.

Eating garlic laden meals help. Of course that keeps the girls away too lol

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Wheatridger

That's good news. Colorado Springs is unique among Colorado's bigger cites for its hilliness, and it's well-treed, too, making pockets of it look closer to VA. Unless you're in the new homes east of Academy Blvd, You're not smack out on the prairie.

My first impression of Denver was negative, but I'd just driven in from the Rockies. "Gateway to the Plains" would have been an appropriate slogan. After a job brought me here, I loved it for the hiking, the skiing, the rivers. My satisfaction peaked around 1993, then the baseball team came, through the 2008 Democratic convention. Since then, getting older and even less athletic, I'm losing the good feeling, and thinking I want a place that's lower, wetter and greener.

Low, wet and green feels like home to me. But for a few years, I've lived on the East coast. I don't know what I'd do without fireflies, thunderstorms, and an ocean that's warm in the summer. Feel free to come back and live with your kith and kin in low places.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Bo_Lorem

OP PA resident here. Yes the Appalachia is nice, but the people generally stink. The personalities are as cold and stiff as the weather in winter. Everyone lives in their own little bubble. Philly or Pittsburgh is plenty crowded, and the economy is in the toilet. Plenty of retirees and dying neighborhoods. The Opioid epidemic is alive and well.

It takes time to adjust to a particular area.

Philly is doing OK and has been improving. It's become my favorite US city, though New York is a close second. My nephew lived in Pittsburgh for a few years and loved it.

If you don't live in opioid abuse land, it's meth. I'll take the drowsy, thank you.

I'm a PA native and I don't stink. I taught my son how to not stink. He's a mechanic and has a lot of tools in his truck. He stops and gives roadside assistance. If he didn't, I'd smack him upside the head. He also has a huge first aid kit. It's got everything. He's been a first responder a couple of times. Breathing, pulse, pupils. Don't move.

There are good and bad people everywhere. Most people live in their own little bubble. They have family, co-workers, neighbors, friends. They don't need you or me.

[hooverphonics]

Just another (north)eastern chiming in to agree with you -- been here almost 2 years and I cant wait to move home to the east even if it is the south (my hub doesn't like the cold). It is so landlocked here (we moved from Socal which I didn't like either, I guess I don't like the west much, but it did have the pacific) and as you said relentlessly sunny & dry & brown, permanently drought-ridden, without greenery or water. Plus I for one though in good shape have been unable to acclimate to the altitude, I get winded just going up a few stairs.

Plus, the lack of charm, history, culture, and architecture and all the California-style track homes getting slapped up overnight, it is becoming CA but without the water and the flowers. Outside of the Denver/Boulder belt it feels very Midwestern, extraordinarily white (American) and conservative and bland. That said, the people are more down to earth here than in CA which I appreciate and pretty easygoing overall.

But even in the 18 months we have been here it feels like it gets more and more crowded everyday and hiking in the mountains means confronting a grand central amount of other people leaving trash or trying to mow you down with their fancy bikes. And let me say all the crunchy-ness gets a bit tiring after a while. Everyone is just so butch! Plus, it is EXPENSIVE and the pay overall is low. Overcrowding no doubt is a problem of humanity but this post of just for those easterners debating on whether to move here. Think again, my friends, think again, especially if you are used to living near water...

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Gerania

Philly is doing OK and has been improving. It's become my favorite US city, though New York is a close second. My nephew lived in Pittsburgh for a few years and loved it.

If you don't live in opioid abuse land, it's meth. I'll take the drowsy, thank you.

I'm a PA native and I don't stink. I taught my son how to not stink. He's a mechanic and has a lot of tools in his truck. He stops and gives roadside assistance. If he didn't, I'd smack him upside the head. He also has a huge first aid kit. It's got everything. He's been a first responder a couple of times. Breathing, pulse, pupils. Don't move.

There are good and bad people everywhere. Most people live in their own little bubble. They have family, co-workers, neighbors, friends. They don't need you or me.

Native Pittsburgher here. I'd be very wary of recommending Philly as a place to live. It's one of those places where the phrase "it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" applies. The state may take over Philly's schools for the second time, due to under-performance. To say it's corrupt is an understatement. I agree with your last paragraph.
http://www.phillymag.com/citified/20...ver-district/; https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j...ity-in-america

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by hooverphonics

Just another (north)eastern chiming in to agree with you -- been here almost 2 years and I cant wait to move home to the east even if it is the south (my hub doesn't like the cold). It is so landlocked here (we moved from Socal which I didn't like either, I guess I don't like the west much, but it did have the pacific) and as you said relentlessly sunny & dry & brown, permanently drought-ridden, without greenery or water. Plus I for one though in good shape have been unable to acclimate to the altitude, I get winded just going up a few stairs.

Plus, the lack of charm, history, culture, and architecture and all the California-style track homes getting slapped up overnight, it is becoming CA but without the water and the flowers. Outside of the Denver/Boulder belt it feels very Midwestern, extraordinarily white (American) and conservative and bland. That said, the people are more down to earth here than in CA which I appreciate and pretty easygoing overall.

But even in the 18 months we have been here it feels like it gets more and more crowded everyday and hiking in the mountains means confronting a grand central amount of other people leaving trash or trying to mow you down with their fancy bikes. And let me say all the crunchy-ness gets a bit tiring after a while. Everyone is just so butch! Plus, it is EXPENSIVE and the pay overall is low. Overcrowding no doubt is a problem of humanity but this post of just for those easterners debating on whether to move here. Think again, my friends, think again, especially if you are used to living near water...

You know, I'm all for personal preference, but where does the bold come from? Charm of course is in the eye of the beholder, but many people find downtown Golden, Littleton, Arvada and Lousiville to be quite charming. Lack of history? Every place has history, and the history of some Colorado towns and cities is fascinating. I'm guessing you never took time to actually research CO history. No culture? Is that why we pay a tax for scientific and cultural facilities? Is that why Denver has a tax supported center for the performing arts, an art museum, a museum of nature and science, not to mention the Colorado history museum, which fits in the history category as well? Heck, even little Louisville and Lafayette, old coal mining towns (an interesting history IMO) have historical museums and community theater that does some darn good shows. Architecture? What are you looking for? I guess there's no Frank Lloyd Wright buildings here, but the architecture of Denver seems to be contemporaneous to the era in which the buildings were built.

Extraordinarily white American outside the cities? Have you been to the rural area of any state? That pretty much describes what I've seen in rural Pennsylvania, upstate NY outside of the cities there, rural Illinois all of which I've lived in; also rural MN and Nebraska where I have visited frequently.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by hooverphonics

Just another (north)eastern chiming in to agree with you -- been here almost 2 years and I cant wait to move home to the east even if it is the south (my hub doesn't like the cold). It is so landlocked here (we moved from Socal which I didn't like either, I guess I don't like the west much, but it did have the pacific) and as you said relentlessly sunny & dry & brown, permanently drought-ridden, without greenery or water. Plus I for one though in good shape have been unable to acclimate to the altitude, I get winded just going up a few stairs.

Plus, the lack of charm, history, culture, and architecture and all the California-style track homes getting slapped up overnight, it is becoming CA but without the water and the flowers. Outside of the Denver/Boulder belt it feels very Midwestern, extraordinarily white (American) and conservative and bland. That said, the people are more down to earth here than in CA which I appreciate and pretty easygoing overall.

But even in the 18 months we have been here it feels like it gets more and more crowded everyday and hiking in the mountains means confronting a grand central amount of other people leaving trash or trying to mow you down with their fancy bikes. And let me say all the crunchy-ness gets a bit tiring after a while. Everyone is just so butch! Plus, it is EXPENSIVE and the pay overall is low. Overcrowding no doubt is a problem of humanity but this post of just for those easterners debating on whether to move here. Think again, my friends, think again, especially if you are used to living near water...

Guess you missed her update.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Guess you missed her update.

That would be posting #147 in this rather long thread, she's feeling much better about being in COLO.

[sashaf10]

I've lived in CO for 7 years and the crowds and the heat only seem to intensify! So, my fiance and I are moving back east to Maine in a few weeks. Ultimately, we just want the lifestyle where we can BREATHE again. CO, well, Denver specifically, has become a zoo - without the working wages to support the insane CoL. Having money and a good job here is great, but if you spend your life waiting to do one thing, then the next, and frustrated by poor quality of life...well, it wasn't worth it for us anymore.

Good luck on your transition, and follow you heart when it comes to making the right moves for you an dyour fam!

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Bo_Lorem

OP PA resident here. Yes the Appalachia is nice, but the people generally stink. The personalities are as cold and stiff as the weather in winter. Everyone lives in their own little bubble. Philly or Pittsburgh is plenty crowded, and the economy is in the toilet. Plenty of retirees and dying neighborhoods. The Opioid epidemic is alive and well.

It takes time to adjust to a particular area.

Ummm, no.

I wonder what makes someone leave an area, then badmouth it like they would a cheating ex.