Where to Live? Coming from Louisiana (Denver, Colorado Springs: apartments, rental, crime)

[Jake1126]

Greetings. I'm looking for input on where to move to in Colorado. I've lived in Louisiana forever and have always dreamed of moving to CO. I plan to make that a reality in February. It will be me, my wife, and 3 year old son. We will not have jobs lined up but I should have close to a year's worth of rent/expenses saved up so I'm confident I can find a job before that runs out.

We were thinking anywhere 10-30 min or so from Denver as more jobs will obv be in/near Denver. Though I'm open to other suggestions.

Important factors to us:

- Rent prices. We will be renting a 1 bedroom apartment and would ideally like to find the cheapest place (that isn't a slum or unsafe).
- Education. Looking for a decent area for the kid to start pre-k/k. Anywhere compared to LA will look like gold.
- Things to do. We love outdoor activities, yoga, sports, rock climbing, etc. If we're 30 min to an hr from great entertainment, that would be great.
- We love food and love cooking and eat organic. So those should be factors as well.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[SQL]

Originally Posted by Jake1126

Greetings. I'm looking for input on where to move to in Colorado. I've lived in Louisiana forever and have always dreamed of moving to CO. I plan to make that a reality in February. It will be me, my wife, and 3 year old son. We will not have jobs lined up but I should have close to a year's worth of rent/expenses saved up so I'm confident I can find a job before that runs out.

We were thinking anywhere 10-30 min or so from Denver as more jobs will obv be in/near Denver. Though I'm open to other suggestions.

Important factors to us:

- Rent prices. We will be renting a 1 bedroom apartment and would ideally like to find the cheapest place (that isn't a slum or unsafe).
- Education. Looking for a decent area for the kid to start pre-k/k. Anywhere compared to LA will look like gold.
- Things to do. We love outdoor activities, yoga, sports, rock climbing, etc. If we're 30 min to an hr from great entertainment, that would be great.
- We love food and love cooking and eat organic. So those should be factors as well.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

What is your monthly housing budget?

[Jake1126]

Looking for $1000 or less hopefully. 1 bed rent. Doesn't have to be too large. We have somewhat of a minimalist lifestyle and spend most time outdoors.

[SQL]

Originally Posted by Jake1126

Looking for $1000 or less hopefully. 1 bed rent. Doesn't have to be too large. We have somewhat of a minimalist lifestyle and spend most time outdoors.

That's a tough budget. But consider Aurora, south of Alameda Ave. Southern part of Thornton may also be suitable.

Why are you moving here?

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

"We were thinking anywhere 10-30 min or so from Denver as more jobs will obv be in/near Denver."

You are right that there will be more job opportunities in the Denver metro area, but there is no such thing as "ten minutes from Denver", unless you are thinking of downtown. The Denver metro area is very spread out (check a map) and jobs can be located in many different areas.

Your budget of $1,000 is going to be the hard part. Spend some time reading through the many threads here for more information on the area. There are lots of different areas that are safe and have good schools. If you know what kind of jobs you'll be looking for, that might help narrow down what part of town you'd want to be in.

[Jake1126]

Multiple reasons. Always loved the scenery as a kid and dreamed of living there. Education is ranked very high. Crime pretty low. Amazing sights. Marijuana is legal (small plus). Tons of bouldering and backpacking/hiking options. Basically the place for us. I'm 24 and athletic so I would have a blast.

LA has basically the worst education and crime. Absolutely NOTHING to do here but eat. Horrible humid hot weather all year round. Not the place for me. I want to give my kid better opportunities than I had.

[Jake1126]

Im seeing mention of aurora, lakewood, thornton, westminster. So many places

[blondmoray]

At that price point most of your options will be in Aurora, so you may want to start your search there. But, be warned that APS school are horrible (even by Louisiana standards), so you may want to budget in private school and there is a fair amount of crime. It's also high plains: flat, brown and dry -- probably not what you're thinking when you think of Colorado (all of the Denver metro is flat and dry, not the alpine paradise many envision). The upside is that the commute from Aurora to the airport or into Denver or the southern part of the city is fairly easy.

[downtownnola]

Originally Posted by Jake1126

Multiple reasons. Always loved the scenery as a kid and dreamed of living there. Education is ranked very high. Crime pretty low. Amazing sights. Marijuana is legal (small plus). Tons of bouldering and backpacking/hiking options. Basically the place for us. I'm 24 and athletic so I would have a blast.

LA has basically the worst education and crime. Absolutely NOTHING to do here but eat. Horrible humid hot weather all year round. Not the place for me. I want to give my kid better opportunities than I had.

LA hot and humid? Lol.. if you're bored in LA, then you aren't going to enjoy Denver. LA is at the base of the mountains and right on the coast. Denver sounds like a fantasy that will never come true. I don't know what you're expecting to find (Denver is a fantastic city), but I've watched people with these types of fantasies come and go from Denver for years. It's a big city that's near the mountains, but don't expect to be kayaking to work. If you actually want to go experience the mountains and the recreation that comes with it, expect to spend hours in traffic to and from. I love living in Denver, but there's this false perception about this city that elevates it to some kind of fantasy land (not unlike San Diego).

You can find 1br apartments in Denver for $1,000 or under, but it won't be anything to write home about. If you're a minimalist, you will probably be ok with it. What are your career aspirations?

[cowboyxjon]

Have you visited Denver? Just in case you haven't visited, most of Metro Denver is flat and you can see the mountains off in the distance, but the scenery is definitely different from, say, Aspen or Telluride.

Because you are asking about where to move in Colorado, have you considered Colorado Springs? There are likely fewer job opportunities (not sure what field you are looking for work in) as it's a smaller city, but it's situated closer to the mountains and arguably has better mountain views, and there may be more rental options available within your budget.