I'm not sure if I like living in Colorado (Denver: appointed, cost of living)
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I haven't lived in Oklahoma, but I have lived in Texas. The cost of living is lower, but quite frankly you get what you pay for. I spent 12 years in Dallas and I wouldn't go back if you doubled my current salary. Too hot, too humid, and way too flat.
Personally, I hate Dallas. I never plan to move back there. I loathe the Summers and humidity as well. Dallas is more affordable than Denver by a long shot though. I love beautiful homes and you have to spend an arm and a leg to get something that I consider very nice in Denver. Salaries are very similar but housing is ridiculous in Denver. I wanted to live in CO, I'm glad that I did what I wanted to do. I have no regrets; I'm glad it's out of my system now. On to the next!
We had some friends who moved from Orange County, CA to Denver about 7 years ago. At first, they loved it, the lower cost of living, the mountains, the seasons. However, over time, the luster of the place began to fade. The long cold winters, compared to the paradise of coastal CA began to wear on them.
They had a huge house in CO compared to CA, but they found they could not enjoy the outdoors like you can in coastal CA.
300 days of sun... but what they don't tell you is that many of those days are windy, cold, and bone dry.
Coastal SoCal has 300 days of usable, very comfortable sunshine, with a perfect blend of humidity and temperature. Like no other place on Earth.
Colorado is great, but I've found it to be a bit overrated. Nice to be sure, but there is more to life than a giant house set out on a freezing plain.
I've been here 15 months and it's overrated to me. I miss seeing big pretty trees and green grass. I like the low humidity and the mountains are nice, I suppose, but the it's all to bland, barren and dry for my taste. Heading back to TX or OK in the very near future.
You must have only ever been to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Head to the western portions of both of these states and it's just like Colorado but without mountains. It's dry, brown, arid, and has very few trees! But even eastern Oklahoma and Texas are still flat and bland, there's just a lot more trees.
Denver and the Front Range may be arid and brown half the year, but you can drive 20 minutes and be in dense forest and surrounded by huge mountains, rivers, and an outdoor paradise. It seems like you never took advantage of this if you think Colorado is more bland than Oklahoma or Texas. I'll never understand why people act like the mountains are so far away from Denver. It takes me 25 minutes to get from Lakewood to the base of the highest mountains of the Front Range, and just 5 minutes to get to the foothills, which are still mountains but everyone seems to think they are no different than the plains for some reason.
In regards to the OP, the east coast is incredibly flat. Yes it's very green but very few places are hilly, especially the cities that the OP listed they lived in. I like Long Island but it has to be one of the flattest places in the entire country. The only major city that's really hilly on the east coast is Boston and even that city is only hilly in a few spots. Washington DC has hills along the Potomac but that's about it. Denver has hilly areas just west of the city too, but no one would say it's a hilly city. Broomfield has just as many rolling hills as any major city on the east coast and in fact is quite hilly on the south western side of the city, and the foothills of the Rockies are just a few miles away! Even Denver has the Highland neighborhood one mile to the northwest that sits on a 300 foot rise. Denver isn't hilly sure, but the east coast sure isn't either. Not trying to be rude, just trying to help and point out that trees do not equal hills.
I've lived in all three states too, so I know what I'm talking about.
You must have only ever been to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. Head to the western portions of both of these states and it's just like Colorado but without mountains. It's dry, brown, arid, and has very few trees! But even eastern Oklahoma and Texas are still flat and bland, there's just a lot more trees.
Denver and the Front Range may be arid and brown half the year, but you can drive 20 minutes and be in dense forest and surrounded by huge mountains, rivers, and an outdoor paradise. It seems like you never took advantage of this if you think Colorado is more bland than Oklahoma or Texas. I'll never understand why people act like the mountains are so far away from Denver. It takes me 25 minutes to get from Lakewood to the base of the highest mountains of the Front Range, and just 5 minutes to get to the foothills, which are still mountains but everyone seems to think they are no different than the plains for some reason.
In regards to the OP, the east coast is incredibly flat. Yes it's very green but very few places are hilly, especially the cities that the OP listed they lived in. I like Long Island but it has to be one of the flattest places in the entire country. The only major city that's really hilly on the east coast is Boston and even that city is only hilly in a few spots. Washington DC has hills along the Potomac but that's about it. Denver has hilly areas just west of the city too, but no one would say it's a hilly city. Broomfield has just as many rolling hills as any major city on the east coast and in fact is quite hilly on the south western side of the city, and the foothills of the Rockies are just a few miles away! Even Denver has the Highland neighborhood one mile to the northwest that sits on a 300 foot rise. Denver isn't hilly sure, but the east coast sure isn't either. Not trying to be rude, just trying to help and point out that trees do not equal hills.
I've lived in all three states too, so I know what I'm talking about.
I grew up in Pittsburgh PA. Its hilly and pretty, but half the year the trees are dead and its gray overcast. So gray vs brown? Fall is really nice there. But it can get nasty humid in the summers.
I've driven through Pittsburgh in the winter and I know what you mean about the gray leafless tree scenery. But there's a cozy, fireplace smokiness in the air that mixes with the rivers and the hills and the historic old steel bridges that gives the place its own allure.
Now, take that same scene and compare it to Portland and the PNW in the Spring winter or Fall.
Even going to eastern Kansas or ... not jokingly ... Las Vegas in the winter, you see what Colorado doesn't have, can't have, due to its altitude. Plants. Plants, bushes, shrubs, flowers, etc.
Within Colorado, at varying altitudes, you have different types of tundra, plant life, that's unique as well. Some folks from the East Coast seem to notice it when they go hiking in Colorado. You certainly don't notice it when you're landing at a Front Range airport.
I think for many that envision their future life in Colorado they see themselves spinning around in circles with arms outstretched Sound of Music style in some green mountain meadow, with a Swiss Alps type scene and burbling brook in the background. Or perhaps today they might imagine themselves doing so, but with a bong hanging out of their mouth or holding their panhandling pan, but I digress.
Yes there is some of that land to be found but most of it is owned by the government and since prime real estate is limited with such scenery what remains is priced into the stratosphere. In addition, most of it is racked by what most people would consider "winter" for 9-10 months of the year. Statistically the number of people in Colorado that live in such a place above 8000 feet is very few.
The reality that most people in Colorado live down in what is really an irrigated desert as phony as what you might find in Las Vegas or Southern California. It's dry, windy, dusty with cookie cutter suburbs, big box stores and neighborhoods. Yes at times you might have a view of the mountains, but you do not live in them and I think that is what confuses and confounds many that move to Colorado. Yes if you are a single hipster you can putter your Toodlemobile up into the mountains whenever, but anyone with families knows that to get 2-3 kids anywhere it becomes an expedition. People that live down on the Front Range almost always end up spending less time in the mountains than they envisioned when they moved there. I remember a study done back when I was working in Vail and the average Colorado resident that declares themselves a "skier" only skis a few days a year.
Now if you are independently wealthy, "work from home" or are willing to work in the seasonal tourism industry, then nice looking mountain towns like Vail are available to you to live in. But for most people grinding away in most industries out there, for a job it's going to be places like Denver or CO Springs and you'll be living on the prairie.
Denver is not Colorado it just happens to be in Colorado.Most of us in SW Co don't even consider Denver in our state as it's on the wrong side of the mountains.But that's where the big employers are so that's where everyone moves and are surprised they are out on a prarie far away from the postcard dream they expected. Hard to make a living in a small mountain town unless you are self employed or work for the gov. My daughter raised in Mancos moved to Denver for a job guess she didn't want to be a Carpenter like her dad.Like they say you can't eat scenery so you struggle and find a way or take easy street a job in Denver and yippie. I have the advantage of already being here when a nice house could be had for under 50,000 I could never afford to move here today but do work for those who can. so unless you got a lotta money good luck.
I've driven through Pittsburgh in the winter and I know what you mean about the gray leafless tree scenery. But there's a cozy, fireplace smokiness in the air that mixes with the rivers and the hills and the historic old steel bridges that gives the place its own allure.
Now, take that same scene and compare it to Portland and the PNW in the Spring winter or Fall.
Even going to eastern Kansas or ... not jokingly ... Las Vegas in the winter, you see what Colorado doesn't have, can't have, due to its altitude. Plants. Plants, bushes, shrubs, flowers, etc.
Within Colorado, at varying altitudes, you have different types of tundra, plant life, that's unique as well. Some folks from the East Coast seem to notice it when they go hiking in Colorado. You certainly don't notice it when you're landing at a Front Range airport.
Yeah that warm cosines wears out after a while when you haven't seen the sun in over a month. Watch the movie "The Road" filmed around Pittsburgh and WV in the fall/winter. Just dreary. As a city I think Pittsburgh is great though, has a uniqueness most don't have. Denver is kinda bland and living that far east would get old. There are far worse places to live and I am lucky to have a good job here. I wouldn't want to live here and not have a solid financial foundation.
You're calling Colorado bland and you want to move to Texas or Oklahoma? Have fun with that.
I thought the same thing when I read that post.
I can understand why some people might like TX better than CO, but OK? Holy cow!
On a funny note, my grandfather grew up in OK. He told me that when WWII broke out the recruiters came to his small town and set up a table in the town square. He immediately got in line to join even though he was only 16 at the time. When he got to the front of the line he told them he wanted to join the Navy and be a cook. The recruiters told him to sign on the bottom line and then the next thing he knew... he was in the Army fighting in the Pacific! He eventually ended up fighting in the Philippines. Now here's the twist... My wife is from Japan and her grandfather fought in the Philippines on the Japanese side. We joke with each other about whether or not our grandfathers ever thought - "We might be shooting at each other today, but I bet someday our grandkids will marry!"
And the lessons are:
1. ALWAYS read the contract.
2. It's a small world.
3. The WWII Pacific theater was more attractive than living in OK.
Denver is not Colorado it just happens to be in Colorado.Most of us in SW Co don't even consider Denver in our state as it's on the wrong side of the mountains.But that's where the big employers are so that's where everyone moves and are surprised they are out on a prarie far away from the postcard dream they expected. Hard to make a living in a small mountain town unless you are self employed or work for the gov. My daughter raised in Mancos moved to Denver for a job guess she didn't want to be a Carpenter like her dad.Like they say you can't eat scenery so you struggle and find a way or take easy street a job in Denver and yippie. I have the advantage of already being here when a nice house could be had for under 50,000 I could never afford to move here today but do work for those who can. so unless you got a lotta money good luck.
Heh. And rural people like to call city dwellers elitist snobs.
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