Aurora or Charlottesville (VA)? (Denver, Sterling: renting, new home, job market)

[Bowkr]

Hi all,

So, we live in Rochester, NY. My wife will be pursuing a degree in Charlottesville, VA or Aurora, CO. We will live there for ~5-7 years, have no children until after this (hopefully), and are both recently out of college (not rich). We are having a very difficult time picking between the two.

-The top priority is her research interests. Charlottesville edges out Aurora here.
-The job market is important, but a little less so. I would likely be looking for a job in IT, Information Security, or some other job where I can use a background in analysis (undergrad degree) and/or technology (masters degree in progress). Aurora / Denver seems better for this, unless job competition would keep me out of the market. Only have ~1.5 years job experience at this point.

After this, I am having trouble considering all the factors.

-We plan to buy a house, perhaps after renting and searching for a short while. Housing prices and availability are thus important. Aurora and the surrounding area seems better for this.
-We love tennis. Charlottesville wins hands down.
-I hate spiders and bugs in general (irrational, I know). Aurora wins hands down.
-I like dry, not-hot climates. Aurora wins hands down here.
-Both options will leave us far from family (Upstate NY and Suburbs of Boston) but this is okay, given the temporary (5-6 years) nature of our move.

There are plenty of small factors. Charlottesville might be greener, and Aurora seems like a massive urban sprawl... but has beautiful, beautiful places for weekend trips. Aurora probably has many more choices for shopping. Aurora will have more snow, while Charlottesville will have terrible summers.

So! Anything we aren't considering? I would greatly appreciate any comments or tips from people with experience in either location. Bonus for comparisons between these areas, or with Rochester.

Thanks!

[sterlingj]

I grew up near Aurora and went to grad school in Charlottesville. Charlottesville is a wonderful college town, but the job market is VERY competitive since you have so many student spouses competing for few local professional jobs. And the surrounding area has few such jobs either. The winters in Aurora and C'ville are actually similar in terms of comfort, and Aurora probably has more nicer days- though Aurora would definitely get more snow in a typical year. Also, bugs are simply not an issue in the Denver area, but the same is obviously not true in C'ville. Much of Aurora can be ugly and sprawly as you noted, but there are also nice areas.

[Count David]

^, and there's nothing preventing the OP from living outside of Aurora.

There's something for everybody in this metro area.

OP, just pick the one your leaning towards.

[Moonwalkr]

Like Sterlingj said, C'ville is a nice college town, so you get what goes with that. It's far enough from DC and Richmond that the jobs will be far and in-between, unless you are employed by the University. What field of research? There are many areas of study that the CU system beats out UVa. Like David said, you don't have to live in Aurora if you are in Denver, but you DO have to live in Charlottesville if you are there, simply because there's nothing else around for a hundred miles.

[JenUlasewich]

Looking at the areas where you mentioned that Aurora falls short, I wanted to mention that there's actually a ton of tennis around here.

A few links: Colorado Tennis Association (http://www.coloradotennis.com), great fitness facilities with indoor courts (Colorado Athletic Club | Denver, Colorado), and a large public facility that was awarded the 2008 USTA Outstanding Large Public Facility of the year (http://www.gatestenniscenter.info).

Plus, don't overlook that Southwest at DIA is really expanding their direct flights back east, including Buffalo, Albany and Manchester. They've been running really cheapo rates, and United and Frontier will sometimes match those as well.

If your wife is going to school in Aurora, I'm going to guess she might be at Fitzsimmons. If so, you might want to take a look at Stapleton (Discover Stapleton | A Sustainable Community Near Downtown Denver) or Lowry (New Homes Lowry Denver| Master Planned Sustainable Community) as a starting place.

[tfox]

Seems like you pretty much have all the information you need. I do like Metro Denver (and believe me Aurora is very much part of Metro Denver), but living in a small, postcard college town like Charlottesville would be very nice too.

You really need to consider your ability to get an IT-related position, though. College towns like Charlottesville usually have a lot more opportunities than other towns their size (which is to say there ARE some opportunities), but generally salaries are quite poor due to the fact that you're competing against grad students, recent grads, and alums who will often work for below-market salaries. This is particularly true in college towns like Charlottesville that are not connected to a major metro.

Assuming that you can get a decent job lined up, then I think Charlottesville would be a very fun place to live for a few years. For that matter, so would Metro Denver. Comparing Charlottesville and Metro Denver is completely an apples-to-oranges comparison: small eastern college town versus big western Metro.