how true is this about evergreen colorado (Woodland Park, Manitou Springs: crime, good schools)

[Cali4nia925]

Thanks for that. One thing that attracted us to colorado were the schools. They are rated really high, atleast that's what I'm seeing. Maybe I should stay looking into the boise area. I'm so confused, this is really exhausting and a tough decision. Can anyone speak on the boise area. Or maybe I should try the forum in that area

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Cali4nia925

Thanks for that. One thing that attracted us to colorado were the schools. They are rated really high, atleast that's what I'm seeing. Maybe I should stay looking into the boise area. I'm so confused, this is really exhausting and a tough decision. Can anyone speak on the boise area. Or maybe I should try the forum in that area

You need to get on an airplane and visit these places before you kill yourself doing research.

[NW Crow]

Averages aren't a great way to talk about housing, but it is an easy way to start. Houses in Boise proper are on average about 20% cheaper than Denver proper. Boise metro about 40% cheaper than Denver metro. If you had chance to make same money in both places that is a noteworthy difference. Average housing price in Evergreen? 60% higher than Denver metro average according to the government data based source I used.

If the research is causing pressure, take a few days or a week off then come back and look at your options, already under consideration or new. Decide on 3-5 things that are most important and focus on those things.

[alliern]

I totally agree with your post, Sunspirit. My bad in that I didn't specifically say the lack of shade I was referring to was in the suburban sprawl in metro Denver where there are tons of newer subdivisions without any mature landscaping just basking in the sun...hence my sisters' house in Littleton that was built in 2010. There are definitely established neighborhoods like Wash Park that have very mature trees, but as a whole (IMO), the metro Denver suburban sprawl does not have mature landscaping and every new build either comes with air conditioning or Buyer's wind up having it installed after living through one summer.

July 2012 was Denver's hottest summer on record. There were 7 or 8 days of 100 degree + temps.

But, it's all about what a person is used to. Coming from Evergreen down into Denver on a summer day feels really hot to me. I sit on my sister's deck and bake. My kids just want to go to a pool when I drag them down the hill in the summer. They are too hot to do much else. Yet, in Evergreen, they never ask to go swimming in the summer. They are happy playing soccer, mountain biking, hiking with their friends and going cray fishing at the lake.

[randomparent]

I have a reasonably successful home garden here in the Front Range in a standard suburban neighborhood using raised beds and drip irrigation. A green-thumbed neighbor of mine could probably feed the whole block out of his garden. My in-laws, who live up in the foothills, couldn't grow a garden if their lives depended on it.

As for a/c, our house is surrounded by mature trees. We run the central air for about two weeks usually starting in late July.

[whoisjongalt]

One of the best things about Evergreen is the summer because the heat isn't as brutal as in Denver. I don't know what planet these people are from who say is isn't hot in the summer. I moved from LA and it's hotter her than there. I remember some summers where it was 100+ every day for almost two weeks. YES it does really cool off at night but that doesn't help the other 14 hours. To the point though, Evergreen is awesome. It's my favorite place close to Denver.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Cali4nia925

I have actually thought about boise but I don't know why I'm so stuck on colorado. But one good thing is that I can direct transfer from my job now to the Denver area. That's makes it easier as I will already have a job setup. When I think of Colorado I think of a more diverse place, I'm scared that In idaho there's more racism and my boys will be looked down on. We are latino. I know these probably aren't facts and plz correct me if I'm wrong

I don't know what to make of everything you say OP. Evergreen is awesome. Beautiful. Not much to dislike. The daily commute downhill might suck.

I'm a Californian. My wife, two of our three kids, my wife's aunt, two of my wife's sisters, and my wife's brother, either live here or lived here at some point.....all Californians. You're making too much out of the cold thing.

Back when we lived in California, if the heater wasn't on at night, my wife would freak out and worry about the kids turning into "ice cubes". Where we lived it got into the 30's at night, if we were lucky. Now, said ice cubes wear shorts if it's in the 40's. When it's truly cold, most of the time you're inside anyway, so what difference does it make? Those short trips to/from the car won't hurt you or your kids, I promise.

TBH, IMO it's all psychological. If you're adventurous, there's a good chance you'll do fine here or anywhere else. If you're subconsciously convinced that these "cold" and "different" things would be impossible hurdles to overcome, there's a good chance you'd be back in CA before you know it.

I'm Latino too, and I find the racial/ethnic "harmony" here to be worse than Southern CA. The supposed "diversity" here does nothing to make it feel more integrated, and it is more segregated (residentially/socially) than you would think.

The fact that there is an above average Latino population here does nothing to add to the quality of my life, you can't put everything under the same umbrella, the folks/culture here are different, and IMO that is a bigger obstacle than trying to avoid racism.

In my experience, more diverse does not equal less racist.....I personally wouldn't worry about Idaho in this regard, despite what the stereotypes or data would tell you. FWIW, Nampa and Caldwell (near Boise) both have large Latino communities; and note that none of the Latino areas in/near Denver are as nice as Evergreen (food for thought ).

P.S. the tree canopy argument. I live on a hill mostly unobstructed by trees (my house is 55 years old), and the sun beats on my west facing living room for a few hours on most sunny days. It sucks.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by alliern

I totally agree with your post, Sunspirit. My bad in that I didn't specifically say the lack of shade I was referring to was in the suburban sprawl in metro Denver where there are tons of newer subdivisions without any mature landscaping just basking in the sun...hence my sisters' house in Littleton that was built in 2010. There are definitely established neighborhoods like Wash Park that have very mature trees, but as a whole (IMO), the metro Denver suburban sprawl does not have mature landscaping and every new build either comes with air conditioning or Buyer's wind up having it installed after living through one summer.

July 2012 was Denver's hottest summer on record. There were 7 or 8 days of 100 degree + temps.

But, it's all about what a person is used to. Coming from Evergreen down into Denver on a summer day feels really hot to me. I sit on my sister's deck and bake. My kids just want to go to a pool when I drag them down the hill in the summer. They are too hot to do much else. Yet, in Evergreen, they never ask to go swimming in the summer. They are happy playing soccer, mountain biking, hiking with their friends and going cray fishing at the lake.

You're so right that it's all relative, so everyone's assessment is subjective. And it speaks to how difficult CO's weather is to describe to someone who's never experienced it.

When I moved from Western NC to Denver, I was overwhelmed by the sunshine. Yes, there are definitely some shady spots and even neighborhoods where old trees were planted. And yes, temps can be extreme- I mean it's easy to be hot and cold in the same way- but by and large it's surprisingly pleasant. One may only need A/C for a couple weeks a year, but when they do, they really do!

Overall, though, I don't know how to describe it other than we felt very "exposed." There aren't any hills in town and overall tree cover is fairly minimal, so when combined with a ton of high-altitude sunshine it can be overwhelming, definitely not nestled. That doesn't bother everyone, but while I loved living in Denver, we really, really liked living higher up in elevation and further west in the state.

That "exposed" feeling would probably be a big factor in why we wouldn't move back to the Front Range, but if we did it would have to be in the foothills. Speaking of the foothills, my friends in Evergreen and Conifer gripe every time they head down the mountain into metro Denver (as did we when living on the Western Slope), so I know where you're coming from.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by Cali4nia925

Holy cow. Everything else about this place seems perfect for us. But the cold might be a little to harsh for us. We've never been In weather that cold. Is that something u get used to or is that something u never get used to. Were from caifornia the winters out here are like 70 degrees lol

Someone once described Evergreen to me as having 6 fewer weeks of summer than Denver. Coming from CA, summer in Denver will already seem short. Some people get used to it, some don't.

[Cali4nia925]

For the people that know mountain towns, can someone look up a place near me called pollock pines, Ca. I don't know what to look for in mountain towns so if someone can compare these 2 places and tell me what similarities and major differences are. That would help a lot. We went to visit the town of pollock pines about a month ago and didn't really fall in love with it. These might be 2 different world's but I just don't know If u should be expecting something similar if we were to visit evergreen. Thanks