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I'm currently living in San Jose, Ca. I've been here about 2 years now and I'm planning on moving out within the next year or so because it's too expensive to live here. I'm a social worker and to give you an idea I'm paying $1800 a month for a one bedroom apartment, and after all my bills are paid I'm not left with much.
My question is - what would you say average 1 bedroom apartments go for? My boyfriend and I would be looking to spend about $900 a month since we would probably have a pay cut moving there. We don't have to be in the city either, but would like the commute to be reasonable.
We definitely want to leave California. We have been debating whether Colorado or Oregon would be more affordable and which has the higher quality of living. Thoughts?
padmapper.com for rentals, most likely very little at $900/month.
I view Denver and Portland as fairly equal on quality of life, unless your guy is a sports freak, in which case Denver has 5 pro sports teams.
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Denver:
no bugs - sit on your outdoor patio at night
no mildew - 'cause we don't have rain
Cost of Living in Denver is average with the USA with 2 major exceptions:
1. House prices and rental rates. We are way above average. Not San Francisco or NYC outrageous, but high. Colorado Division of Housing: Analysis: Single-family and condo rental vacancies remain rare
2. Car registration. $100s per year. "Denver County Motor Vehicle cannot quote fees online or over the phone due to the complicated formula used in calculating fees. Fees are based on the vehicle's age, weight, taxable value, and month of registration."
Electricity is way less than CA. About 11¢/kWh average total cost.
Natural gas is cheap.
Water is less and available.
Petrol is way less. GasBuddy.com - Find Low Gas Prices in the USA and Canada
Sales tax is less. 7-8.5% on average. We have an amazing number of taxation districts.
Income tax is way less. 4.63% flat rate.
My friends in PDX have lower cost of living than we do here... but we live in an a semi-expensive part of town.
I grew up in Portland and I would say QOL is much higher there. Couple of reasons. Better mass transit (light rail in all directions/districts). Traffic can bottleneck on the hwys into Portland but it is NOTHING compared to the traffic here - so it's a lot easier to get from one side of town to another etc and travel around.
If you are used to bay area traffic you'll be fine, though.
Well above all else, make sure you move where you can get a job!
However if you know you can get work in either Colorado or Oregon, here is my take on the subject.
Denver is much cheaper than San Jose and any California city other than Bakersfield or Fresno, just about everywhere is cheaper than California of course.
The COL in Portland is higher than in Denver, though still less than San Jose. Apartments are about 20% more expensive and the cost of homes is also considerably more. Sure if you live in a more expensive area of Denver though it may be more than a middle-class area of Portland but when comparing the same things, Portland is quite a bit more expensive than Denver.
A one bedroom apartment for $900 a month is easy to find in Denver, most areas in the metro area have one bedrooms available for $850. However the rent costs are climbing and you may be paying $950 or more for a one bedroom in another year or so. If you want to live in an area with easy access to public transportation and not too far from Downtown Denver than the Denver tech center area is a good choice. Also the western suburbs of Lakewood and Arvada are good choices. Definitely do some research on the Denver area and find the apartments and areas you think you'd like. Any apartment searching site, and website on the Denver area will have everything you need. Just Google it!
FYI, Colorado Springs has a lower cost of living than in Denver, and is beautiful with Pikes Peak smack dab west of the city. It's smaller than both Denver or Portland but has everything a person needs to live a good life, shopping, good food, urban areas, outdoor activities, etc. It's also just an hour south of Denver, so when you need pro sports or upscale shopping it's not far away. Also traffic and commuting is never a problem in Colorado Springs except for maybe 30 minutes on weekday mornings and evenings.
I disagree with ktqtp that Denver traffic is worse than Portland, both cities have large metro areas and traffic can be bad in both. Maybe ktqtp had a lot of luck in Portland, or hasn't lived there for a while but when I was there the last four times in 2011/12 traffic was pretty bad. Yes Portland has a more extensive light rail system, but Denver's is catching up quickly. Denver light rail covers the south, southeast, and western metro area and more north and east lines are opening in the next year and a half. In fact it will be the most extensive light rail system in the USA when it's done by 2016/17. Also the bus system is excellent too, and can get you anywhere.
In my opinion QOL is excellent in Denver, it's great in Portland too and I've spent a lot of time there. However I'd still pick Denver for better QOL mainly due to the weather. Denver has lots of Sunshine and Portland does not! (This is not an exaggeration, the PNW really is very cloudy and drizzling rain 6 to 9 months of the year). People think Denver weather is cold and brutal in the winter but the truth is it is not at all except for brief periods of time maybe 10 to 15 days a year. Portland only gets "snow" twice a year at the most but the cloudy weather and humidity of Portland make the winters there feel colder overall in my opinion than they do in Denver. Summer in both cities though are incredible!!
Now in response to the previous posters final comments .....
Denver has the front range as a backdrop, nearly 100 miles of peaks rising 7,000 to 9,500 feet above the area! Denver is arid with few trees and mostly flat and rolling plains in the city proper, but there are many hilly areas scattered throughout the metro area and there are scattered forests to the south if you want your green fix without heading into the mountains. Also it's sunny most of the time!
Mount hood in Portland rises 11,700 feet, but it's all by itself and about 20 miles further from the city than the high peaks near Denver are with no other large mountains around it other than Mount Jefferson to the south and St. Helens to the north with all three spaced far apart. Portland of course is heavily forested and very hilly though with the ocean a short drive away. Portland is cloudy and drizzly most of the time, but a lot of people prefer that.
I like both cities for different reasons, but in my opinion Denver is the better choice overall.
Whatever you do, live outside of Denver city limits - there are extra taxes in Denver, and the cops don't investigate crimes against property. I moved to Lakewood - Golden recently. The cost of living is better, as is the safety/crime factor.
One cost that people always complain about here is vehicle registration. I'm not too up-to-date on this, except to report that acquaintances have been know to register their vehicles out-of-state.
Also, don't drive after midnight on the weekends here in the Denver metro area.
Umm, I work part-time in a law office, and the guy with his name on the door charges like 10 to 40K for his services.
He lives in a palace, I swear - and he's not even a good lawyer.
The thing is, everyone gets a DUI here. even people who don't drink or use drugs. If you get pulled over and the trooper/officer sees that you're sober, they put down that you refused a test. It's like a huge scam, there is a ton of corruption here, and my point is (finally!) a heads-up on a potential budget-breaker no one talks about here.
P.S. You're pretty much safe if you don't drive after midnight, especially on weekends, or during grant-enforcement periods. This goes for everyone on the road, even people who don't drink or use drugs. Seriously, it's a big scam here, judges here aren't like judges are supposed to be.
I'm currently living in San Jose, Ca. I've been here about 2 years now and I'm planning on moving out within the next year or so because it's too expensive to live here. I'm a social worker and to give you an idea I'm paying $1800 a month for a one bedroom apartment, and after all my bills are paid I'm not left with much.
My question is - what would you say average 1 bedroom apartments go for? My boyfriend and I would be looking to spend about $900 a month since we would probably have a pay cut moving there. We don't have to be in the city either, but would like the commute to be reasonable.
We definitely want to leave California. We have been debating whether Colorado or Oregon would be more affordable and which has the higher quality of living. Thoughts?
Thanks!
Rent Per Month
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre $1,166.15 (Denver) $1,026.21 (Portland) -12.00 %
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre $808.33 (Denver) $767.59 (Portland) -5.04 %
Cost of Living Comparison Between Denver, CO and Portland, OR
You would need around $3,773.31 in Portland, OR to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $4,100.00 in Denver, CO (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.
Indices Difference
Consumer Prices in Portland, OR are 7.34% lower than in Denver, CO
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Portland, OR are 7.97% lower than in Denver, CO
Rent Prices in Portland, OR are 9.15% lower than in Denver, CO
Restaurant Prices in Portland, OR are 3.26% lower than in Denver, CO
Groceries Prices in Portland, OR are 15.79% lower than in Denver, CO
Local Purchasing Power in Portland, OR is 12.64% lower than in Denver, CO
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Eh, Portland traffic worse than Denver? Laugh... Denver has a population of what, 2.something million? Portland is much more of a "small city" and I have never seen traffic in PDX like I have here (I-25 comes to mind). I also used to work in the transportation business, scheduling point to point courier service all across the nation. Denver was known as a bad traffic area - Portland? Nah... it's just a mini city. But for what it is, you can get a lot.
Also, I don't think Portland's winters feel colder than here. The PNW is a temperate rainforest. It is wet & cloudy because of that. If you have SAD, the PNW will be your kryptonite. However, colder than here? No freaking way... not with the wind chills here and extreme temps.
As for the prices, I don't see how Portland is more expensive than even the cheapest parts of Denver. A friend of mine rents a 1bed apt in NoPo for $540/m. I haven't seen prices like that anywhere here.
Then again, comparing PDX to Denver isn't really a good idea. They are two vastly different cities.
I just returned to Denver from a four year stint in Texas, and I graduated HS about a hundred years ago from Evergreen HS in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland.
For weather, I like Denver much more. My last year in Vancouver it rained or snowed or both for 91 straight days early in the year (1964, I think), but Denver has around 300 days a year when the sunshine will smile on you at least part of the day.
COL? Neither city is good, but both may be an improvement from most populated areas of California. Denver is certainly far more expensive than Dallas from which we are returning, but the terrific thing is that you are rarely more than 25 minutes away from getting out of the city and into the mountains. The first time we tried to get away from Dallas it was 52 miles and 90 minutes of driving before we were out of traffic and city.
My son has a sister-in-law who is a realtor and who says 40,000 new apartment units are being built or are scheduled to be built in the Denver metro. That may alleviate some of the housing shortage as they come on line, but I agree with davebarnes, water is a major issue and is getting worse almost daily. My best friend is a retired Denver Water Company engineer who told me some time ago that either Colorado gets to keep more of the water coming out of the mountains or water will end up being priced like wind turbine electricity. It is a conundrum politically as other states rely on our water, too.
Despite cost, Denver is more appealing to me than Portland ever was and we will remain here for as long as the old 401K money holds out.
Good luck.
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I like Denver
