Relocate from Portland, OR to Denver, CO? (rent, home)

[louie36]

Hi There!

I am a Portland transplant from Pennsylvania and looking at Denver as my next move. Currently, I am not too pleased about Portland and am having a very hard time calling it "home." I visited a handful of times and fell in love with the area, but living here I find myself quickly falling out of love. The traffic, cost of living, homelessness, dreary weather 8 months out of the year..definitely taking its toll.

I really want to get into the airline industry and know Denver is one of the mega stations in the country. I've been doing my research but wanted to get some subjective thoughts about living in Denver. Is it comparable to Portland? I'm looking to live on the outskirts of the city because I get a little overwhelmed with city life, outdoor activities, less rain (haha), safe area to raise a family one day. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

[davebarnes]

Safe - yes
Homeless - yes in a small area near the CBD (there is a large mission downtown and it is not going away)
Weather - not Portland. Only 15 inches of precipitation a year. Brown foliage, not green.
CoL - in line with the USA average except for one very important category: housing (purchase and rent)
Traffic - everyone says it sucks. YMMV.
Hipsters - we have them. They are even breeding now.
Outdoor activities - many move here for those
Breweries - myriad. We loves our beer.
Culture - less anglo white than Portland
Politics - the City & County of Denver is BLUE
Pizza - "it all sucks. Not as good as NYC or Chicago." You may think otherwise.
No bugs. No mildew. You will pick your nose a lot.
You have to pump your own motor fuel.

[dhden2000]

Overall it's a pretty good place to live and the weather really is pretty sunny most of the time. In the spring and summer you must get outside early to do outdoor stuff as it is sunny in the morning but after 12 noon it is hit or miss with the weather. The past couple summers it has been overcast with storms almost every day however who knows what this year will bring. Winters are not too bad, breaks down like this, cold at night, cold if cloudy or snowing, warm if sun is out if even if temp is low it still feels warm as long as you standing in the sun due to our elevation, snow does not melt in the shade so if you buy or rent a home try to be south or west facing otherwise you'll have frozen ice in your driveway till spring that you'll have to chop up and move around.


People are friendly overall however roads are crowded and traffic generally speaking is bad unless you work odd hours. The key is live within a few miles of work if possible and there is plenty of new development close to DIA now so that should be very doable and reasonably affordable being outside the city. I've live here 25 years and moved here from CT. I like it but am seeking warmer climes so my next stop might be Arizona... Good luck with your move to Denver.

[boulder2015]

Traffic- better but not great. Denver has issues but isnt hilly with large rivers like pdx. You could live out past airport on the plains and avoid a lot of traffic. Not sure about schools out there. Living to the west of denver and crossing town to the airport would suck. Bright spot: i think they just completed rail to the airport from downtown? That might be a godsend for you.

Cost of living: worse than portland.

Rain: very little. Brown and dry. Not only will you pick your nose you will get nosebleeds. Worth it if you hate the pnw gloom. Not gloomy at all.

Homeless: more centralized, dont have as much of the "we run this place" political mentaiity you would see in pdx, eugene, seattle, berkeley, sf, etc. But they are around.

Overall davebarnes nails it....

[undergroundboy]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Safe - yes
Homeless - yes in a small area near the CBD (there is a large mission downtown and it is not going away)
Weather - not Portland. Only 15 inches of precipitation a year. Brown foliage, not green.
CoL - in line with the USA average except for one very important category: housing (purchase and rent)
Traffic - everyone says it sucks. YMMV.
Hipsters - we have them. They are even breeding now.
Outdoor activities - many move here for those
Breweries - myriad. We loves our beer.
Culture - less anglo white than Portland
Politics - the City & County of Denver is BLUE
Pizza - "it all sucks. Not as good as NYC or Chicago." You may think otherwise.
No bugs. No mildew. You will pick your nose a lot.
You have to pump your own motor fuel.

In terms of culture how diverse is the Denver area? Looking at the demographics, Denver does not seem to be very diverse but I heard that people are extremely friendly.