Former SoCal residents: What brought you to Colorado? (Denver, Aurora: real estate, condo)

[bugsy714]

Originally Posted by motoracer51

Just don't move to Colorado and make it East California.

Ouch!

I have noticed a lot of Coloradans with this same "view", why? I would never say that to someone coming from Colorado to California. Not everybody from California takes on the stereotypes that you might have heard. =)

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by bugsy714

Ouch!

I have noticed a lot of Coloradans with this same "view", why? I would never say that to someone coming from Colorado to California. Not everybody from California takes on the stereotypes that you might have heard. =)

Simple math: If everyone in Colorado moved to California, most Californians probably wouldn't even notice the influx. On the other hand, if 10% of the California population moved to Colorado, it would double the population of the state. I get branded regularly as being a "California-hater." I'm not. What gets old-line Coloradans riled up is the simple massive numbers of in-migrants, not surprisingly a large percentage coming from California. Too much of anything usually causes trouble--and that's true in this case, too.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by bugsy714

Thanks for the warm welcome and will definitely read your post! It is nice to hear there are other people out there in the same boat... big boat!=)

For the last 2 years, I have been researching and pretty much soaking up any information I can about Colorado. We went to CO about 10 years ago, but definitely overdue for a new visit. We are planning a trip in about 4-6 weeks hitting up Fort Collins, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, and everything in between.

Cool. I've been doing the same for about a year and a half now. We made our first trip to Denver and Colorado Springs in May 07, followed by trips in July 07, February 08, and are going again next month. We've done lots of driving around, getting the lay of the land, and checking out potential cities and neighborhoods. At this time, we're leaning toward the south Denver metro area but nothing's set in stone. The biggest factor is where my wife can get a job. If she gets a good enough paying job, I can work just about anywhere. (I'm self employed and would be restarting my business in Colorado.)

What part of SoCal do you live in now?

[bugsy714]

very much agree=)

You guys just seem to be the "just right" porridge for me. California "too hot", Texas "too cold", Colorado just right!!!! Just stick me in the corner somewhere...I promise I won't tell anybody.

[bugsy714]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

What part of SoCal do you live in now?

Orange County...15 minutes away from Disney Land, close to the stadium, and the 57 freeway.

We are leaning towards Castle Rock as of now, we like Fort Collins college vibe but it might be a little north. Castle Rock seems to be right in the middle of 2 major cities. We really need to go and evaluate each town and then, like you, go back 3 or 4 times.=)

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by bugsy714

Orange County...15 minutes away from Disney Land, close to the stadium, and the 57 freeway.

We are leaning towards Castle Rock as of now, we like Fort Collins college vibe but it might be a little north. Castle Rock seems to be right in the middle of 2 major cities. We really need to go and evaluate each town and then, like you, go back 3 or 4 times.=)

We're in Costa Mesa, right by South Coast Plaza. I like what I've seen of Castle Rock too and you definitely get more house for the dollar down there, but I'm a bit afraid of it being too far from jobs, especially in the era of $4.50/gallon gas. Also, getting to either the Denver Tech Center or Colorado Springs in the winter can be an issue. Now if we could get work down there and not have to commute on I25 every day, it would probably be at the top of our list. Fort Collins has a reputation as being too much of a college town in that there's always lots of students and recent grads keeping the wages low. I don't know if its true or not but its something to keep and eye on.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Also, getting to either the Denver Tech Center or Colorado Springs in the winter can be an issue. Now if we could get work down there and not have to commute on I25 every day, it would probably be at the top of our list.

I don't travel this route but what I've heard is that it isn't really that bad very often for weather. I am not really that familiar with traffic but maybe ten to 15 times I have driven it on the way to DEN airport maybe around 830AM (sort of after rush hour) and it really was never slow at all between Castle Rock and the Tech Center.

For some reason, the only place I have ever been in any traffic in Denver is on the 225 near Colfax - usually heading south coming back from DEN airport. Usually only a mile or two. That's it.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Charles

I don't travel this route but what I've heard is that it isn't really that bad very often for weather. I am not really that familiar with traffic but maybe ten to 15 times I have driven it on the way to DEN airport maybe around 830AM (sort of after rush hour) and it really was never slow at all between Castle Rock and the Tech Center.

For some reason, the only place I have ever been in any traffic in Denver is on the 225 near Colfax - usually heading south coming back from DEN airport. Usually only a mile or two. That's it.

Yeah I've noticed that too. Nearly bumper to bumper at 2pm for a couple of miles.

And its so weird the think of 8:30am as sort of after rush hour but I know its true in Denver while SoCal's morning "rush hour" still has another 60-90 minutes to go. Well, at least in the areas that get any relief at all before the evening rush hour kicks in.

[Charles]

Another thing about the 225 between 25 and the 70, it is 55 MPH which just seems too slow for the road. You just get the feeling that the speed should be higher there. Doesn't seem any different from any other stretch of freeway that is posted as 65. I always see lots of cops writing tickets there too.

[albinoazian]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

What gets old-line Coloradans riled up is the simple massive numbers of in-migrants, not surprisingly a large percentage coming from California. Too much of anything usually causes trouble--and that's true in this case, too.

But how many of those "Californians" are not actually from CA? We are like the United Nations. So many people from every state and countless countries move to CA. We have a huge influx of people. How many of these Californians moving to CO lived somewhere else before? If so, are they really Californians. It just seems thee is always o much talk about people from California, when we have a lot of people from somewhere else. Sometimes it has hard to find anybody who has been here more than one generation, if that.