How are the CA transplants doing? (Denver, Littleton: homes, neighborhood, organic)

[BlueWillowPlate]

[quote=pittnurse70;389358]

Originally Posted by cil

Remember, you're a mile high in Denver. You can definitely feel the sun.
Spring Snow Information[/b]

Date of Last Measurable Snow Last 8 Years: May 10, 2006
May 2, 2005
April 30, 2004
May 10, 2003
May 24, 2002
April 21, 2001
April 16, 2000
April 23, 1999[/QUOTE

I believe these dates are from the National Weather Service station in Denver. Local conditions can be a bit different. It snowed in Boulder on my daughter's high school graduation day, June 4, 2005.

Yikes! Thanks for the info.
My mom had said that she experienced snow in Denver in June, but while I remember some cold rains, I do not recall snow. However, my stats did indeed come from the National Weather Service, and it is certainly true that conditions can be different from one locale to the next.

[formercalifornian]

My family relocated from Northern California (Sonoma County) to the Denver Metro area after a brief stay in Maryland. We are currently in Castle Rock.

So, how are we doing? Well, that depends on the day.

On the positive side, housing prices are almost absurdly affordable after living on the coasts, and, contrary to others' experience, my spouse's tech industry paycheck increased by about 15%. He loves his job, and this is a nice change of pace after 18 months of employment hell working for a government contractor in Baltimore. Financially, we are doing very well (when we buy later this summer, we will own our house outright, and we have absolutely no debt...it's a nice feeling). Public schools are much better than CA, although not nearly as good as what we had in MD. Charter schools appear to be widely available for those who want alternatives.

On the negative side, we are waaaayyyyyy too liberal for Douglas County, and I don't find it as friendly as I'd hoped. It is not particularly diverse. Most of my neighbors are white, young (early to mid-thirties) professionals with children. The churches tend toward Evangelical Christian or Mormon (this surprised me for some reason). Nice people, but wary of outsiders. I'm struggling to establish friendships. Foreclosures are taking a toll on brand-new neighborhoods, where the transplants tend to congregate, adding to the frigid social scene. I hate to sound like a coastal snob, but I don't find Coloradans to be particularly intellectual or worldly, although that may be the result of our location.

The weather doesn't bother me at all; however, I do agree with a previous poster that the high desert climate can be a little rough for those who love the lushness of the California countryside. And, there is very little good produce to be found in the local grocery stores. I miss that terribly. I also miss the ocean. The mountains are stunning (there's a reason that America the Beautiful was written on Pike's Peak), but I prefer to be near the water.

Hmmmm....I'm sounding a little glum. Generally, I like it here, but I want to be completely honest. It can be a difficult transition.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by midwest456

<[What about gardening? Tomato growing was mentioned. I am an avid gardener.
I would like to grow tomatoes and veggies in the warm period of the year. That is feasible right? Greenhouse gardening also? >


http://www.coloradogardening.com/

You can garden here. Some years you will get a great yield, some years, not so much. Investing in a greenhouse makes for some awfully expensive tomatoes, IMO.

[BigCheeze]

Been out here for almost 3 yrs now. Here's what I miss about Cali

1) Fresh Seafood (It's gotta be shipped/flown in here. So while we get plenty of frozen, very limited fresh stuff)

2) Lake Tahoe - Just love that place

3) Family

4) Fry's - Always had a love/hate relationship with them anyways.

That's about it. I was leery about the move out here, but now. I love it! Not about to look back to Cali. Even if my salary doubled!

[ColoradoOmar]

if there are any transplanted californians out there who have moved to colorado, it may be nice to get together sometime. what does anyone think?

[Rawlings]

Originally Posted by ColoradoOmar

if there are any transplanted californians out there who have moved to colorado, it may be nice to get together sometime. what does anyone think?

I don't think y'all can fit inside the Pepsi Center--let alone having a meeting.

[Thunderbird]

Originally Posted by ColoradoOmar

if there are any transplanted californians out there who have moved to colorado, it may be nice to get together sometime. what does anyone think?

Sounds like a good idea to me. Especially since we would probably be the only ones that want to hear about California.

[LisaCACO]

just moved here this week. I'm missing:

1. trader joe's. gosh I loved this place.

2. Ikea. I loved this place too. I need cheap stuff now that I've moved and I can't find it anywhere, like cheap garbage cans and inexpensive oriental carpets not made by child labor. since we're not walmart shoppers, we're stuck til the ikea in draper Utah opens and we get out that way.

3. the ease of recycling. we're used to nearly filling a 96 gal bin each week. now we have three tiny tins that they pick up every other week. we put ours out this week and we're the only ones on the street that recycle apparently .

4. ethnic and racial diversity

5. nifty restaurants, not the chains of the suburbs. I know they're in denver proper, but we're in the 'burbs. I don't blame colorado, just complaining about our location. dd however is in love with the olive garden. our 2 year old realized that they gave out black olives with their salads and they have bought her love forever. while waiting for our movers, she made us eat there twice and still talks about it. *sigh*

6. the ease of finding organic and non-gmo foods. here, it seems whole foods has a monopoly.

7. trader joe's. i've saved the receipt from my last purchase. I love them so much i had to mention them twice.

[I_LUVNM]

Lisa, I have heard rumors that Ikea has been wanting to locate in Denver. They are about to open an Ikea in Draper, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, so Denver cant be too far off. I would think Ikea in Denver would do very well, even more so than Salt Lake. Trader Joes needs to come to Colorado. Any reason why they arent here? We have Trader Joes in Albuquerque.

[MOD NOTE: Search on Trader's or Joes for the discussion of why TJ's isn't here - our antiquated liquor laws!)

[canyontiger2]

Originally Posted by LisaCACO

just moved here this week. I'm missing:

1. trader joe's. gosh I loved this place.

2. Ikea. I loved this place too. I need cheap stuff now that I've moved and I can't find it anywhere, like cheap garbage cans and inexpensive oriental carpets not made by child labor. since we're not walmart shoppers, we're stuck til the ikea in draper Utah opens and we get out that way.

3. the ease of recycling. we're used to nearly filling a 96 gal bin each week. now we have three tiny tins that they pick up every other week. we put ours out this week and we're the only ones on the street that recycle apparently .

4. ethnic and racial diversity

5. nifty restaurants, not the chains of the suburbs. I know they're in denver proper, but we're in the 'burbs. I don't blame colorado, just complaining about our location. dd however is in love with the olive garden. our 2 year old realized that they gave out black olives with their salads and they have bought her love forever. while waiting for our movers, she made us eat there twice and still talks about it. *sigh*

6. the ease of finding organic and non-gmo foods. here, it seems whole foods has a monopoly.

7. trader joe's. i've saved the receipt from my last purchase. I love them so much i had to mention them twice.

Give yourself and us some time. Too early to judge. Then if you still feel we don't measure up. Leave.