Suggestions for scouting trip to Denver (Boulder, Loveland: real estate, homes, transfer)

[nomad1982]

My family lives in California's Silicon Valley and we are considering a move to Denver to get a better cost of living. My wife and I have never been to Denver before, but we are interested in Denver because (on paper) it seems to have the best combination of cost of living, weather, jobs, etc.

We are planning a 4 day trip to Denver to visit the city and see if we actually want to move there. If we like it then we will probably start looking for a job.

We have never evaluated a long distance move like this so we aren't exactly sure what we should spend our time doing on our scouting trip. Does anyone have any suggestion on the kinds of things we should see and check out?

We have 4 young girls her are just starting elementary school so the schools are EXTREMELY important to us. We are also curious if we can handle the cold (we have lived in California all our lives and never had to deal with prolonged cold weather) so if there is anyway for us to get a sense of that while we are there that would be great. One concern with the cold is that we would be home bound and our girls/family would go stir crazy being inside.

Any suggestions for what to do on our scouting trip to Denver?

[alloo66]

You get used to the cold. When it snows slow down and use your brakes sparingly. Buy clothing for the conditions, long sleeves, you know layer. Enclosed are some resources for you to use. Get lost check things out. Good luck!

Denver Colorado Vacations & Conventions | VISIT DENVER

Denver Relocation Guide | Guide to Moving to or Living in Denver

[mic111]

I thought this lady did a great job describing her reactions to her scouting trip. The comments are informative also.

Fantasy vs. Reality- Our First CO Trip- Questions/ Observations

[2bindenver]

Come in March. for the snow. Ever been to Tahoe? Denver is like that except skiing is hours away.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by nomad1982

One concern with the cold is that we would be home bound and our girls/family would go stir crazy being inside.

If you can stand each other for a week, than you can tolerate witer storms here with aplomb. Evenwhen we get raging blizzards, they only last a few days before the snow breaks, the sun comes out, and it starts melting. We may see periods of several weeks at freezing temps (32* +/- 10*), but it does not last months on end.

BTW, its over 60* out today. We had two feet of snow two weeks ago. Streets are clear and golf courses are open.

[goofygrin]

One thing I'd like to point out as a recent transplant. Schools here work different than Texas. Not sure how California works, but here you don't have to (and may not want to) go to your neighborhood school. Within the first week we transfered our son out of the neighborhood school to a gt school as supported by the district. We are waaaay happier here with the gt program than in our very high rated district in the Dallas area.

I personally would drive to Evergreen and Parker and then to the tech center or downtown (respectively). You will be very tempted to move to one of those towns as it doesn't look too bad via Google maps... But once you drive it, you'll realize just how far it could be. I'd love to live in Evergreen though.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by TCHP

If you can stand each other for a week, than you can tolerate witer storms here with aplomb. Evenwhen we get raging blizzards, they only last a few days before the snow breaks, the sun comes out, and it starts melting. We may see periods of several weeks at freezing temps (32* +/- 10*), but it does not last months on end.

BTW, its over 60* out today. We had two feet of snow two weeks ago. Streets are clear and golf courses are open.

There were only three days in January that the high for the day was not above freezing, and those days had highs of 27, 30, and 32. There were no days below zero. The coldest low was 4 degrees on the tenth; all the other lows were in double digits. There were 7 days in the 50s and 1 in the 60s (65 on Jan. 30). Having lived here for 35 years, I would say this Jan. was pretty normal.
January Weather for Denver Centennial, CO | Weather Underground

Feb. has seen 1 day below zero (-1 on 2/3), two days with a low in the single digits, and one day with a low above freezing (33 on Feb. 10). The last 3 days have been in the 60s. This too is "normal" for this time of year here.
February Weather for Denver Centennial, CO | Weather Underground

[brown_dog_us]

Give us a price range and we can give you a few neighborhoods to check out.

If you work in Tech, you probably want to check out Boulder too.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

Come in March. for the snow. Ever been to Tahoe? Denver is like that except skiing is hours away.

I was at Loveland in exactly 1 hour today

[beezle1]

If you are able to narrow down to a general area, look at real estate prices in that area and do drive by's of homes you like, to see if you would like to live there. Maybe even talk to a real estate agent.