What's Colorado really like? (Denver, Westminster: transplants, real estate, 2014)

[Colorado^]

Originally Posted by shark6286

Can you tell more about water rights?

Well it basically boils down to this. You don't have any.

If you're on any sort of well, you can't use ANY water outside. That means no washing your car, or watering plants on the deck. Not even a bowl of water for the dog.

IIRC if you're over 35 acres you may have some outside water rights for horses etc.

You can always get water trucked in, but that gets problematic in our climate.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

I am surprised to read that Denver doesn't get fresh food. Here on the Western Slope, almost every town has a farmer's market featuring fresh, locally grown fruit and veggies. You can also buy locally grown beef, pork, and lamb - even goat.

And if you drive up to Collbran, you can buy elk and deer meat. Actually you can buy fresh, unpasteurized milk up there, too.

[Aussiegemma]

Originally Posted by Colorado^

Us Aussies aren't used to deciduous trees. The Australian bush can get a bit dry looking, especially during drought, but we always have leaves on the trees and the grass doesn't go dormant (maybe Melbourne is different then QLD?).

Victoria is much drier than Queensland. In Northern Victoria, it can be brown all summer so we are not used to things being green all the time. Agree that there are always leaves on the trees in all seasons apart from Autumn (Fall).

[Aussiegemma]

Originally Posted by skins_fan82

What's Colorado really like?

it's friggin' beautiful. 300 days of sunshine. Mountain views from pretty much everywhere in the metro area. A busy, clean, safe downtown. quiet, safe, growing suburbs.

Great sports town, great beer town, great food town, great outdoor activities town, and overall friendly and genuine people

Also a pretty big transplant city. I think I've mentioned this before in other posts, but the current office I work in downtown has 23 people. only 8 of them are from colorado, the rest of us are from somewhere else...everywhere from New York, Chicago, DC, Seattle, and Texas.

Thanks for your reply, it sounds like the perfect place to live!

[Aussiegemma]

Originally Posted by Colorado^

Looks like you've got a really nice place there. Reminds me of that song 'Home Among The Gum Trees' by John Williamson. Yes it's really like the song where we live.

The wildlife here is a lot different. You see a lot of elk and deer, some bears and moose and if you're lucky a mountain lion. Snakes aren't too much of a problem, but there are venomous rattlers. Then there's marmots, mountain goats and big horn sheep, but they are usually only seen way up in the mountains. We love the Australian wildlife but are looking forward to seeing more of the wildlife in the US. We also love squirrels. It will be good not having to constantly be on guard for venomous snakes, Australia have some of the most venomous in the world and we've had them right outside our door.

The biggest thing you can do to combat the dry air in winter is look for a home without forced air. Radiant heating will not dry the air half as much. Thanks for the tip.

You also mention RVing. There is probably no place on earth that demands more of your tow vehicle than Colorado. Any non-turbo engine is going to be down on power 30-40% in the mountains. The grades are steep and insanely long. You're either going up or down the whole time up I-70. Good to know. We're not planning on buying an RV if we are based on CO, but will start travelling around the country at some stage.

I've meet a lot of Aussie over here and they all agree than America is a wonderful place to live and the COL is a dream come true (compared to Oz). Only the one's that couldn't get green cards moved back. I've come across people here that ask why we would possibly want to move to America and they have never been and only gauge their opinion from TV.

You mentioned Golden and Morrison and Evergreen. Don't forget Conifer - cheaper, less traffic but not much in the way of a community/shopping and dinning out. Thanks, I did check out Conifer and I'm starting to look at other suburbs too.

The rocks here are radioactive, so if you're buying make sure you get a radon test. Look into your water rights also. Great advice didn't know that.

Golden is really nice but the Coors brewery is right there and stinks up the place. The trails near golden are some of my favorite in CO to mountain bike. Hmmm I hate beer so that's something to think about, again thanks for the tip.

[Edit] Go for a southern exposure if you can. Make all the difference in the world for mountain living. Thanks hadn't read that either.

And while Denver doesn't get that much snow, if you actually want to be able to get out to the mountains over winter, you will want snow tires. FWD will do, but AWD or 4x4 is nice to have. Yes hubby wants a truck, we bought a Chevy Silverado 2500 6.6 Duramax to pull our fifth wheel.

Thanks so much for the advice!

[Aussiegemma]

Originally Posted by dude1984

Here is a quiz on what state you belong in based on personality:
America's Mood Map: Find Which State Matches Your Personality

I don't like the 300 days of sunshine line...I prefer 3100 hours or even better yet 69% of possible sunshine. It is really hard to explain what it is like here. Personally, there is a vibe here that fits who I am. It is pretty much a mix of Midwest and West traits.
America Has Three Psychological Regions - Business Insider

As for the negatives...
-The lack of humidity makes the heat and cold more manageable. Humid heat and damp cold are awful. Agree, thanks.
-Training at this elevation is awesome. You will really notice a difference when you head to lower elevations. That's more of a positive which is great.
-Not sure about the schools...don't have kids and not aware of how they are, so no comment.
-Water restrictions aren't that big of a deal. It just means living green. There are a lot of people living there and they cope, we should be fine.
-Since your options seem to be more narrow based on industry and experience, once you are set on a place try to network through LinkedIn and or joining professional groups... Have started that already and have some contacts in large companies in Denver so will try that first. Will look at more professional groups, thanks.
-It isn't cheap at an absolute level, but compared to the Northeast, Miami, Chicago, or the Pacific Coast it isn't bad. Good point.

Thanks for the mood map, did it but the results didn't come through so will try again. Thanks very much for your advice, it really has helped.

[Aussiegemma]

Originally Posted by Lost Roses

OP, your photo of the colorful King Parrot reminded me of an Aussie transplant I met many years ago while we were both members of a babysitting co-op. She said the thing she missed most was seeing all the colorful birds in Australia, and that all the ones in Colorado were brown!

Not quite true but since there are no multicolored parrots, lorikeets, and quetzals here I guess she had a point.

Haha, I'm sure Colorado has some beautiful birds. The cheeky King Parrots at our place cheep at certain times of the day to ask for seed. They also follow us from the carport to the house when we get home. We can actually hand feed them which is nice for the kids. They really are beautiful birds and we get lots of rosellas, currawongs, sulfur-crested cockatoos, gang gang and black cockatoos too.

[Aussiegemma]

Originally Posted by expataussie

I'm from Melbourne - do you live on the Mornington Peninsula? Do you work from home, or will you get jobs once you arrive? That may factor in to where you decide to relocate.

We are in the Dandenongs, I work in a Corporate job so will have to get a job when we arrive. Hubby will probably stay home with the kids like he does now. How long have you been in the USA?

[Aussiegemma]

Thanks again for all of your advice. Interesting about the water rights and the fresh food, didn't mean to start a debate but it was helpful.

So I've made a decision. After 12 months of research, I've decided we will settle in Colorado. Before this thread, I was still researching Texas, Missouri, Kentucky and North Carolina. Based on my original list of requirements on somewhere to live, ie outside Tornado Alley, not humid or a high population (I know the States above don't match), Colorado does sound most suitable. Hubby has not been taking me seriously as I've been all over the place on where to live but he's happy with Colorado.

Of course a lot will depend on the job situation and things can change. Really, we can live anywhere. I've now started some research on towns such as Parker and other places commuting distance to Denver.

Thanks again for all of your input, it has been greatly appreciated.

[Nicholas88]

Your list is good, except i have to correct you on the lack of jobs in fact, the job market in Denver right now is great, the city is in a state of economic incline. Good luck to you!