We’re Having 2nd thoughts About Moving from SoCal (Denver: home, buy)

[Printed Page]

I lived in Colorado for 14 years (a SoCal, Orange County transplant) and I AGREE with just about everything that lady said about Colorado. It's very stuck-up and the employers know "it's a privilege to live here" and the pay is handed out accordingly. (Low salaries)

Before I get blasted for this posting, let me say that I am considered very upbeat and positive most of the time. This person was telling her the honest-to-god truth—it's heartwrenching to read all the hype about Colorado.

Orange County is a LOT nicer!

[esya]

I think there is a grain of truth in everything that was said, and I have lived here since 1971. Especially the traffic problems in Parker, the rest is more subjective. However you should not depend entirely on this website, as many of the people who report positively have business interests in doing so, and some negative reports are removed or discounted from time to time.

[chilaili]

Here's my 10 cents' worth:

Originally Posted by mrlucero2002

Weather: How cold it gets there, that your bones ache, your lips turn purple, and that winter is basically from August to late April. There are terrible ice storms and lightning storms. During the holiday season we’d be lucky to be able to fly out of the airport due to bad weather and flight cancelations. And we wouldn’t be able to drive home because all of the roads would be closed.

I think the lady was confusing Colorado with Minnesota or Wyoming! Winter starts in August?! What is she smoking and where can I get some? Winter 2005/06 was horrendous but that was a once-in-20-years storm.

Traffic: The traffic is brutal and road construction is continuous. It can take as much as 5 hrs to get home from work when it snows (est. 20 miles). If the snow fall is bad enough we’d have to pull over to the side of the road and wait it out. And that is dangerous because the snow can completely cover our cars and we can get stuck or hit by other cars.

Bull@#*$

Cost of Living: Homes are cheaper but energy costs eliminate any savings. Auto Insurance, Food, and Utilities are much more expensive, yet gas and rent can be a bit cheaper. It’s a little difficult to find a good paying job, especially if you’re from out of state.

Salaries are lower here, that I have noticed. But that doesn't mean you can't live on them nor that good-paying jobs don't exist.

Loneliness: Not having any family over there will make us very lonely. Our friends and family would come to visit maybe once but then they not come back too often after and will decide to use their vacation to go everywhere else but Colorado. Any family members with heart conditions arthritis cannot come to visit due to the altitude. Everyone tells us that we are going to have a hard time without our family nearby, especially when we start to have children. How hard is it to make good friends?

Well, the first comment about people not coming back to Colorado to visit is hardly Colorado's fault! If friends & family choose to go elsewhere that's their issue. Yes you may need a couple of days for your lungs to adjust to the altitude but I think unless you have emphysema you should be fine.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Originally Posted by Printed Page

I lived in Colorado for 14 years (a SoCal, Orange County transplant) and I AGREE with just about everything that lady said about Colorado. It's very stuck-up and the employers know "it's a privilege to live here" and the pay is handed out accordingly. (Low salaries)

Before I get blasted for this posting, let me say that I am considered very upbeat and positive most of the time. This person was telling her the honest-to-god truth—it's heartwrenching to read all the hype about Colorado.

Orange County is a LOT nicer!

Agreed that I'm sure Colorado is not for everyone - just as California, or anywhere else isn't either. But for people who truly love living here and haven't had the issues you seemed to have (salaries here are higher than where we came from), it isn't hype. You went back to California it looks like, so that was the right choice for you. If that's how you perceived living here, then it's good you left, but those of us who love it aren't blowing smoke either.

[tfox]

I certainly give everyone the right to complain -- no place is for everyone.

However, I think it's a little unfair to categorize all of the Denver area based on one person's experience in Parker.

For starters, no one forced them to put themselves in a situation where they had to commute 20 miles one way. That's 40 miles round trip! If you don't like long commutes, all you have to do is live close to your work, and the problem is solved. Parker's traffic is particularly troublesome on its free roads, since E-470 is tolled, but that's a situation pretty much unique to Parker. In any case, I'll bet that a 40 mile round trip commute in SoCal isn't much fun either.

As for the winters, surely you knew even before that we had them, right? Even so, it's simply a fact that Douglas County gets more snow in the late spring and early fall, due to its higher elevation (it is this same elevation that gives Douglas County those beautiful pondeBullBoxer31). There's plenty of places in the metro area at lower elevations that will be receiving rain in late spring and early fall while Parker is getting snow. FYI, in Denver, where I live, we had no noticeable snowfall in August or September in 2007 -- our earliest was in October, and our first snowfall of any consequence right before Thanksgiving. Today, it's mid-March and 61 degrees, nothing to complain about there.

However, your friends' advice to rent for a year is a good one. You never know -- you just might go back. Or you just might love it, so renting doesn't hurt, and our rents here in the Denver Metro area are a bargain compared to most places, so it's a pretty good deal to do so.

[MaggieZ]

IMO, you have to go back to Colorado and not let anyone tell you how to feel or what's right for you both. Even if you read all these posts, you'll find negative ones in between the positive ones. Everyone has their own valid experiences but that doesn't mean you'll have the same ones. I think your wife has cold feet because it's normal and someone emphasised that feeling. Just like wedding jitters...

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Printed Page

I lived in Colorado for 14 years (a SoCal, Orange County transplant) and I AGREE with just about everything that lady said about Colorado. It's very stuck-up and the employers know "it's a privilege to live here" and the pay is handed out accordingly. (Low salaries)

Before I get blasted for this posting, let me say that I am considered very upbeat and positive most of the time. This person was telling her the honest-to-god truth—it's heartwrenching to read all the hype about Colorado.

Orange County is a LOT nicer!

It must be all in the experience because my experience has been quite different. I live in Denver and it's the best place I've ever lived and have the frienliest, kindest neighbors I've ever had. You couldn't pay me to move back to Orange County with all the nutty people, traffic, materialism, drugs, etc.

[Kibbiekat]

The OP should read the post titled "give me 10 reasons not to move to CO". I think it is on the Denver board.

[WestCoDude]

Originally Posted by Printed Page

I lived in Colorado for 14 years (a SoCal, Orange County transplant) and I AGREE with just about everything that lady said about Colorado. It's very stuck-up and the employers know "it's a privilege to live here" and the pay is handed out accordingly. (Low salaries)

Before I get blasted for this posting, let me say that I am considered very upbeat and positive most of the time. This person was telling her the honest-to-god truth—it's heartwrenching to read all the hype about Colorado.

Orange County is a LOT nicer!

lol. I wouldn't live in Orange County, either. If it's the stuck-up-ness of Colorado that you've got a problem with (and, I agree, Colorado IS stuck up and snotty)...then Orange County would be the LAST place you want to move......

[rgb123]

I think the California sterotype is just that....the nicest and coolest (laid back) people I ever knew were in California....not at all snotty. some well maybe a little out of touch with the rest of the world, and a bit of surfer talk....but not rude, mean or snotty.