NJ vs. Colorado (real estate, apartment, rent)

[Reed9874]

Similarities? Differences? Pros? Cons? Culture shock?

[berryjuice4life]

lived in colorado 5.5 years omg culture shock yes...we were there in the 90's when real estate just started to double and triple in some areas and the salaries stayed the same and those were pretty bad, however when were there, alot of CAlifornia people transfering with their salaries and Northeast people as well going there with thier salaries as well..and the decent areas got crappier..beautiful place to visit, not to live...we came back from colorado and lived in NJ for 10 years..

good luck..do your homework is the best advice I can give...

If you love to ski, and love the winter, then it might be for you...

Me Personally I liked NJ alot better

[brookdaleresident]

My cousin moved to Colorado Springs over 19 years ago from NJ and won't leave. He loves it. Definitely better way of life for him. Housing is much less expensive; his income only slightly lower than NJ. From what I understand, different parts of Colorado are more expensive than others. You might check the CO board if you haven't already.

[Reed9874]

culturally (not financially), what are the differences? @first poster, why do u think NJ is better? Im really after the differences in the way ppl act and such (customs, traditions, taboo behavior etc)

[njkate]

Originally Posted by Reed9874

culturally (not financially), what are the differences? @first poster, why do u think NJ is better? Im really after the differences in the way ppl act and such (customs, traditions, taboo behavior etc)

It varies depending on if the person is a Colorado native or a California transplant.
My brother has lived there up in the mountains since 1979...think he was like 19 when he migrated there. He didn't even have a private telephone back then still "party lines"...you may be to young to know what that was but it's when several people shared the same phone line...

I lived there for 2 years back in 1980 and I'm sure it's changed a lot.....Colorado Springs ..you have people from all over as there are two very large military bases there..Fort Carson for the Army and an Air Force base..can't remember the name.

My kids lost all there allergies there until we moved back...I liked it there a lot but being a Jersey girl I missed the ocean and NYC...Denver all though a nice city does not compare to NYC.

Over all I had a positive experience there..found everyone nice but that was over 25 years ago.

[JerZ]

I haven't lived in Colorado but I can say that the east and the west have COMPLETELY different vibes. I don't think there's any way I can describe it...I know you wanted descriptions but how do you describe a "feel"? Neither is better or worse...just completely different...just apples and oranges. One thing is for sure, you will not feel like you're at home. That can be good for some people and bad for others so, again, not a judgment. Again, some people move specifically for that reason, to get away from the feel of home which to them is negative for a variety of reasons.

I know this doesn't help, but I feel you really do have to live in a place for a little while to know. Just visiting southern CA, I didn't pick up on how the differences would feel full-time. It was great for vacation, lonely and barren for day to day living (to me--many people love it here and it's a prime place to be if one can afford it). I could not have predicted it and neither can you. I generally would discourage a cross-country move unless you have been longing for a long time to be in a specific place. In other words, if say since college you've dreamed of living in Colorado and had visited it many times, etc. then I would be saying, "Go for it, you're meant to be there." But if you're just escaping the negatives you see of home, know that you will only be exchanging one set of good/bad for another set of good/bad. Every place has good and bad and if the positives outweigh the negatives, then you're home. But you have to truly, truly love a place in order for the good to unilaterally outweigh the bad and so I am leery, based on the general tone of your OP, to say to you, "Go for it!"

If you do decide to really consider this, then either A) rent an apartment there with an option to come back home if necessary (I know this is hard to pull off...but it would be ideal) or B) visit many times...not just once or twice. Get out there four, five times. Even more. Yes, this may take years. It's your whole life and future you're talking about so it would be worth it in the end, when you think about it. When you do visit, *don't just look at the beautiful sights and stay in a faboo hotel and get room service*. Drive *during work hours* *each day of your vacation*. Morning and night. You can not know the feel of the everyday unless you do the everyday. Eat out, but don't go to only the best restaurants. Go to Jo Shmo places too. Vacation is just that--vacation. There is no possible way to get a real feel for living somewhere totally different unless you literally do the mundane. Don't make it a week in prison, as I said, do go out to eat, etc. and scout out the area, but think of it as if this is Saturday after a work week and you're doing things you would do on a weekend, or alternately that you have to get out and, say, pick up milk on a weekday. This is the only way (and maybe this isn't even good enough) to get anywhere approximating a realistic feel for a place you might move to.

I relied on the advice of my husband, who lived three decades (since birth) in Southern California, to tell me "what the people are like," "what commuting is like," "what the weather is like," etc. and he gave me his feelings on all this stuff...meaning, of course it all seemed pretty positive to him because this was "home" to him. There was really no more or less that he could have done. It's no more or less than anyone could ever do. That's why you really can't rely on the input of people who live in a certain place to tell you how you would feel about it. I wish it were possible to do so because it would make everything so much easier and I know you're wary. I understand.

I have seen people on CD who are moving to a certain place and are already excited about things *specific to that place* and that's what's going to make all the difference for them. That's the whole of it, actually--they already know, in advance, that they *want* to experience things specific to that place. I didn't get that sense of your post. I see more of a sense of wariness than excitement--you're worried about taboos, etc. and you're worried about the whole general culture and feel. This is what is making the huge difference, to me, in whether or not you're going to love it in a place that has a totally different vibe. Personally, in retrospect of my own situation, and from hearing others' experiences, I would have to say, if you aren't already totally in love with the idea of a place itself...don't hurry to move there. Because you will not have this *overriding sense of optimism and excitement for *the place itself* to sustain you when you discover the negatives, which there will be a few of no matter where you are.

Hope this wasn't too rambly and that it generally made sense.

Good luck with whatever you decide upon, and I hope you find the place that you can truly call home!

[Reed9874]

I've lived in CO my whole life. What bothers me is I feel CO is losing its traditional identity and getting sucked up into CA's culture.

No offense but the whole DUDE weird hair do superficial Surfer fake tan valley girl Denver Metro culture- thats not me. at all. My sister has lived on the east for 5 years (currently in Rye, NY) and whenever I happen to visit her there I really feel at home. No I'm not expecting the east coast to be some nice pretty paradise land where Ill never have another problem, I just know that the West Coast Culture isn't for me. I've known that my whole life.