Moving to Denver on short notice....help! (Boulder, Wheat Ridge: neighborhoods, school)

[RachelAnne]

Hey y'all,

My 82 year-old (and heretofore quite spry) Grandmother's health has taken a noticable decline in the last couple of months so I've just decided to move out to help take care of her. I'll be moving at the end of this month. She lives in Wheat Ridge and while I won't be living with her, I will be spending a lot of time with her. I'll also be attending CU-Boulder (assuming I get in - just applied today) and will need to work part-time.

I'm a 30 yo single woman, no kids, fairly acitve.

My questions go mainly to neighborhoods and employment. Can anyone recommend a neighborhood that is 10-15 min from Wheat Ridge and would have a commute of 45 min or less to Boulder (not sure if that is geographically possible)? I prefer city life over suburbia, too.

As for employment, I'm a server at an upscale restaurant in Charleston, SC and make right around $40k a year. Is it possible to make that kind of money as a server in Denver?

Thanks so much, this is all happening so fast it's got my head spinning!

[kristenfromdenver]

You can definitely make that much in Denver. You'll want to stay near north west denver to make it to Wheat Ridge in 15 and Boulder in 45. A few places to try - Lola, Duo. In LoDo there are tons of places. Gumbos, Jax, McCormick's, 9th Door, Vesta, Sushi Sasa. I'm sure other posters can name more places. You'll love it here.

[Augie Daugie]

To simplify your life, you should also consider applying to CU Denver. You'd be able to work, live and go to school in Denver and would be a short distance from your Grandmother. Of course, the Denver campus doesn't have all of the academic programs you'd find in Boulder...