Moving to Denver area from Florida (Lakewood, Boulder: movers, day care, find a job)

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Inmylife

NOTE: I POSTED THIS IN CITY VS CITY BUT WANT DENVER'S OPINIONS TOO*

Wife:

2. Affordable living. I know this is all relative to each family but we cannot do a NYC or SF option if that makes sense.

I read last year that Denver is one of the most affordable downtown areas in the country

3. Lack of extreme weather.

Denver fits this, to a point. Winters are from about October to April. They're more mild than the East or mid-West and reasonably tolerable because it's sunny most of the time.

Better weather is found in the Santa Barbara/Carpinteria area of California and of course San Diego.

4. Good shopping options. In addition to great malls with Macy’s, Nordstrom, etc she would also like pockets of small, locally owned shops to explore.
5. Farmer’s markets or co-ops. In other words, fresh and locally grown produce.

Denver has both of these.

1. Running and Biking opportunities. I am a marathoner and bike enthusiast. I am looking for both road and trail options for each activity. I also would like better running weather – too hot too long here in Fla.

Of course Denver has this.

3. The ability to live in a mature neighborhood with trees and shade and character. Ability to have a yard for gardening. I enjoy landscaping and working the dirt.

Lots of neigborhoods in Denver like this.

4. Educated and open-minded citizens. This will likely be found in pockets of any decent sized city, I know, but some more than others?

Denver is diverse. There's not any particular group that stands out any more than others.

5. Cultural opportunities: Museums, Theatre, Zoo, Aquarium, Orchestra, etc.

Denver has restaurants from all over the world, museums, theme parks, etc.

We would both enjoy an extensive park system for taking walks together and generally just enjoying nature.

Denver fairs okay in this regard. Not as extensive as D.C./Northern-Virginia, but it's okay. There's a nice bike path down by the river that runs through the center of town.

I know this is a lot but we have only so much time to visit locations and we want to make a move in the next 12 to 18 months.

In my opinion, Denver is one of the best places to live in the United States. Another good one is San Diego.

[BabyBoomers2]

Have to agree with this posting! Lived in Denver metro (Englewood & Parker) for a total of 5 1/2 years. Even though wife and I were raised in the "snowbelt" of Indiana/Michigan, we had never seen inches of snow covering outside Halloween decor or have snow on Mothers Day weekend! Very surprising, but that can be Denver weather during those months! Heck, one April, a snowstorm happened on a Monday and by the weekend the temps were in the mid-80's and boats out on reserviors! We were there for 2 major snow blizzards that all but shut down the entire area! Denver metro can also get mighty cold at times during the winter. One afternoon at 3:30PM, I got off of work downtown and the temp outside was -5 degrees brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! But, due to my hip replacement and rotator cuff surgery (completely torn shoulder tendon due to fall in ice/snow), we quit our jobs and moved south. Now live in Jax, FL. If it wasn't the snowy/cold winters there, we'd still be living there......YES, we did like living there!! Even with the heat/humidity here, we do like living here, but then again, we are really big into boating/fishing which is REALLY big here!! By the way, wife is 61 and I'm 60 and at that age, we are extremely glad that we got rid of the snow shovel and snowblower!
One thing for sure, the State of Colorado sure is one BEAUTY!!

Originally Posted by rkb0305

Depends on what you mean by "extreme weather." Haven't been there, but the other 2 cities have "extreme" heat and humidity, right? Denver has pretty extreme changes in the weather. It can be 80 one day and snowing the next, and that is not an exaggeration. We get frequent thunderstorms and, this year, tornadoes. A storm can dump a foot or more of snow, especially in the spring. Personally, I don't mind the weather here at all. It beats where I came from, and I would never live in the humid midwest or the south. But that's just me.

[devlinder77]

Hello All,

I just found this forum and I am hoping some of you are willing to give me some guidance.

My husband and I have lived in Tampa, FL our whole lives and are ready to get out. The heat is just unbearable and we really want a change of scenery!

We have the opportunity to move to Colorado for his work which is in Thornton. I am a homemaker and we have two children, a 12 year old boy and 1 & 1/2 year old girl. We are 32 & 33.

What I want to know is where I should look for a place to live. We would like to rent a 3+ bedroom house, close enough to his work (no more than 30 minute commute) but kind of out of the city, if possible. We would like a family-oriented area with good schools and things to do with the kids nearby (walking distance if possible).

I've been looking on craigslist and have found some promising rentals, but I really have NO idea what is where in relation to his work, or what might be a bad area, etc.

Any advice? Thank you! We are hoping to move within a year but I want to start my research now...I'm excited!

[2bindenver]

You want to rent a house outside of what city?

Here are the family unfriendly areas to cross off your list:

1.

[2bindenver]

oh wait I forgot one.

nope. no I didn't.

I would think NYC or LA could be family unfriendly. But metro Denver? no.

[devlinder77]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

You want to rent a house outside of what city?

Here are the family unfriendly areas to cross off your list:

1.

By out of the city I guess I mean I want a more country feel (even if it's in the suburbs)...I just don't want to live right by "all the action", I prefer a little seclusion.

I'm not sure where Thornton is, and want to find out all of the areas we can choose from that will keep his commute short.

LOL I am a total newbie at this, like I said I have lived in Tampa my whole life; forgive my ignorance :P

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by devlinder77

By out of the city I guess I mean I want a more country feel (even if it's in the suburbs)...I just don't want to live right by "all the action", I prefer a little seclusion.

I'm not sure where Thornton is, and want to find out all of the areas we can choose from that will keep his commute short.

LOL I am a total newbie at this, like I said I have lived in Tampa my whole life; forgive my ignorance :P

OK, one way to become more informed is to get out a map and look at it. Thornton is a fairly large area, so you will need your husband's work address, too, to get you in the right place.

As for areas in the metro with "bad" schools, here's your list:

1.

There are good and bad schools scattered throughout the metro area, and the vast, vast majority of the schools are what most people consider "good".

[devlinder77]

Originally Posted by Katiana

OK, one way to become more informed is to get out a map and look at it. Thornton is a fairly large area, so you will need your husband's work address, too, to get you in the right place.

As for areas in the metro with "bad" schools, here's your list:

1.

There are good and bad schools scattered throughout the metro area, and the vast, vast majority of the schools are what most people consider "good".

It looks like it is right by Thornton Town Center Mall.

Well, I suppose that even Denver's "worst" school is better than ours down here! Florida has a bad rep for our schools (rightfully so!)

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by Katiana

OK, one way to become more informed is to get out a map and look at it. Thornton is a fairly large area, so you will need your husband's work address, too, to get you in the right place.

As for areas in the metro with "bad" schools, here's your list:

1.

There are good and bad schools scattered throughout the metro area, and the vast, vast majority of the schools are what most people consider "good".

I'm sure we could list a couple of areas of town with poorer-performing schools that we would not recommend as being family-friendly and for the poster to move there..

Anyways, thinking about your requirements a few areas that pop to mind are areas around Brighton (Todd Creek Farm, etc) and maybe north Broomfield and Erie. Mustang Acres has also managed to keep from getting swallowed by Thornton and Westminster. Just a few thoughs offhand.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by chilicheesefries

I'm sure we could list a couple of areas of town with poorer-performing schools that we would not recommend as being family-friendly and for the poster to move there..

Anyways, thinking about your requirements a few areas that pop to mind are areas around Brighton (Todd Creek Farm, etc) and maybe north Broomfield and Erie. Mustang Acres has also managed to keep from getting swallowed by Thornton and Westminster. Just a few thoughs offhand.

Well, yeah, there are places I wouldn't want to live, but "family-friendly with good schools" is hardly specific. I said there are good and bad schools all over, more good than bad. I don't like naming specific schools. The minute one does that, its defenders pop out of the woodwork. People have bad experiences in "good" schools as well as the supposedly bad ones.

I think the best place for the OP to start looking is right in Thornton. There are lots of different housing types there, of all ages. Some parts are more "open" than others.