To Denver from Texas (Boulder, Louisville: transplants, home, public school)

[turnbun]

My husband, two daughters (ages 2 and 4), and I are considering moving to the greater Denver (probably Morrison, Golden, or Evergreen areas). My husband will be working downtown, while at this point, I am a stay at home mom. I have heard that there is no love lost for Texans in Denver. Is this truly the case? Will we have a hard time assimilating into Colorado life being Texans? I definitely have an accent, but it's not very strong. We love the outdoors and are laid back and friendly people. Will we catch "heat" from being Texas transplants???? We will be making the decision within the next few days. ANY insight will be appreciated.
Thanks!

[Micktooth]

My family and I moved to the Denver area from New Orleans last summer. I have never seen a more accepting community in my life. I don't know what you heard, but I've yet to see any intolerance to southerners. I think people in the south are more intolerant to "yankees". You will love Colorado. We live in Louisville between Denver and Boulder.

[TinajaCo]

Well, it is Californians and Texans that are "ruining" our state, right....?!?!

In all seriousness, I think people joke about disliking people from Texas and California more than they actually dislike them. I don't think you'll find anybody that will give you problems for where you are from. Denver is a pretty accepting city, and you shouldn't have any problems.

Besides, the Californians and Texans already control everything here, so....

[gabejen]

I can assure you from personal experience that you will have no problem feeling accepted here. I had the exact same fears when I moved here from Houston, Texas a little over 3 years ago. I asked my realtor, "Is it true they hate Texans here." He told me, "Yep, pretty much." So, I said, "Well, I'm originally from California. I'll just tell people that's where I'm from." He replied, "They hate Californians worse!" I was so scared to move here. I have to say, I've lived in 7 different states..going on 8. I've never been happier than when we moved here. The people are great. I've never had one person mistreat me here. Actually, most of the people I've met here are transplants from somewhere else. However, I've met several Natives and they all have been very nice. You'll find mean people everywhere you go. I encounter them on the roads. They like to use their fingers a lot here! Another thing is I've been told most of the conflicts with Texans and Californians are on the slopes. Can't say I blame them there. We just decided to learn to ski this past winter. I felt so bad for plowing into innocent bystanders on the slopes. My kids picked it up just fine. I've decided to leave the slopes to the people who know how to ski.

[Katiana]

The anti-outsider thing comes and goes. Right now, it seems fairly quiet, though I've heard differently from more recent arrivals. At different times, it has been directed at easterners (especially New Yorkers [whole state] and Bostonians, who are more numerous than say, us Pittsburghers), Texans, and Californians. I have heard public school teachers, who preach diversity, make Texan jokes.

One on one, people are apt to be much nicer. You have small children, so will probably get involved in their activities. Believe me, if you are willing to volunteer your time, they will overlook your Texans accent.

However, if the state starts growing wildly again, the anit-outsider thing will rear its ugly head again.

[turnbun]

Thanks for the comments and insight. I do have a brother and sister in law (with two kids who were born in CO) who have lived in the area for more than 10 years, so at least that counts for something, right???

[newtoco]

I am from Texas, and although Im very proud to say Im a Texan, Im glad I got out of there. Not my thing. Colorado is awesome!

As far as having issues with being an outsider... I never even thought about it. Has never been an issue. Everybody seems to be very nice here.