Moving from Maui to Denver in search of the right neighborhood! (Center: extended stay, apartment)

[SmileyMel]

Hi everyone!

I am new to this, so I hope to get some responses from my post.

My fiance and myself are planning our move to Denver. We just bought our one-way tickets and will be arriving in the city March 1st! We are both very excited, as I've lived in Hawaii my whole life, and my fiance is from Orange County. So living with 4 seasons will be something new for the both of us!

We are both employed at the Ritz-Carlton, and will be transferring either within the company or to a Marriott nearby. We are interested in living very close to the downtown area. Capitol Hill, Cherry Creek, and Uptown are the neighborhoods that we've had in mind. We are looking for a 1 bedroom at between $500-800/month. And I have a cat that will be moving with us, and she's my baby, so we'll definitely need a pet-friendly place. She is an outdoor/indoor cat, so it would be prime to have a place on the bottom level of a building or somewhere safe for her to run around outside. Is that impossible living that close to the city?

Obviously we are looking for as safe as possible of a place to reside, and any advice on potential neighborhoods would be greatly appreciated!

Also, is lining up the place in advance, and moving in the day we arrive likely, or would be have to stay in a hotel for a couple days until we actually find something? Pre-arranging as much as possible would be awesome!

Oh, and I forgot to mention we are both in our mid-20's and have no kiddos; only a cat

Mahalo everyone,
Melani & Jerry

[Brian_M]

My opinion is that you'll need to spend at least 2 nights in a hotel. The apartment we found was empty the day we came to look (and had been for weeks based on what it said online), but we were not allowed to move in the same day. They said that even if the apartment was ready (they had to clean and paint it still... smelled like wet paint for weeks.. whee), that normally it takes a whole day to verify everything to be allowed to move in. It cost us 1 extra night (we arrived in the city late in the day after driving all day for the first night), but that was fine.

You'll want to check out a place in person before signing anything anyway... LOTS of variance in quality and the online reviews are all but worthless.

Brian

[80skeys]

Congratulations, you're going to enjoy Denver a lot, especially as a nice change from Hawaii. Here you'll see snow-topped mountains, four seasons, and all of the beauty of the western U.S. Plus you'll be in a metropolitan area that's much more populated than anything in Hawaii, so you'll get to experience that, as well. I'm happy to see that a young couple such as yourselves is making the effort to get out and explore! You won't have any problem settling in and finding the housing that you need.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

Congratulations, you're going to enjoy Denver a lot, especially as a nice change from Hawaii. Here you'll see snow-topped mountains, four seasons, and all of the beauty of the western U.S. Plus you'll be in a metropolitan area that's much more populated than anything in Hawaii, so you'll get to experience that, as well. I'm happy to see that a young couple such as yourselves is making the effort to get out and explore! You won't have any problem settling in and finding the housing that you need.

So much to see and do here.... they could get lost in Tattered Cover Bookstore and not be seen for weeks....

[SmileyMel]

Thank you for the advice! I am very much looking forward to the move and to getting our new place set up. I have always lived in the same place and never have made a big move, so I don't know what to expect with first arriving!

Thank you for your words! We are both so excited to experience the seasons and the change in pace. I appreciate any advice.

[tfox]

I'd definitely look into one of those extended stay places and plan on staying for several days -- better to spend a few bucks now and make sure you're not stuck in a long-term lease in a place you hate. You'll probably need to stay in the suburbs for your extended stay, but no big deal -- you can always drive in to Central Denver on yoru search. Given your work location, you're probably best off in Capitol Hill, sounds like you're already aware of that. I'd personally look around the Governor's Park area, a bit south and east of the action on Colfax, 14th, 13th, and Broadway. Center yourself around 8th and Pennsylvania. You can also look to the east at Cheesman Park area.

Apartment rents are fairly affordable with good deals, so you should be able to find something.

[SheridanL]

Since you are employed by Ritz Carlton/Marriott..........couldn't you get a "fairly" good deal staying there until you decide where you want to be??JMO