MD to Colorado (Denver: home, landscaping, safe area)

[Baltimore2COS]

Hi all! My husband and I (and our 1 year old daughter) are considering a move to COS. My sister and her family love it out there, and we are looking for a change. Has anyone else moved from Baltimore to COS? I've heard great things from my sister but I am worried about moving into an unsafe area, or not being able to find work. I have a part-time telecommute job but my husband would need to find something there.

Here, he has a lawn care company and would be looking to start one in COS but I'm not sure how doable that is or the market for it.

Thanks in advance!

[otowi]

If you were here right now he could make a killing doing yard clean-up for people after our last hail storm. There aren't really any unsafe areas but there are some that are better than others and if you get serious about it we can help you with that.

[Baltimore2COS]

Thanks! We are relatively serious, it is just a very big move to do on a whim haha, so that's tripping us up!

[dr.frog]

I think there is always going to be a market for landscaping/gardening services, but lawn care, specifically.... maybe not. Lawns take more water than comes here naturally and people are being urged to xeriscape their yards instead. Your husband will find that the kinds of landscape plants that grow here are quite different than those on the east coast due to the soil as well as the dryness. On top of that, after the Waldo Canyon fire, the city got serious about developing "firescaping" standards for people in foothill areas. I'm sure there would be some learning curve involved in order to tap into that business as well as just cutting grass/leaf raking/etc.

[beezle1]

And if he does lawn care here, he would need to find something else to do in the winter months I think.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by beezle1

And if he does lawn care here, he would need to find something else to do in the winter months I think.

Which to be clear, is October to May here, basically. Some lawn care companies here do snow removal in winter but we do not get enough for that to be anything but an occasional gig at best.

[dr.frog]

Of course there is non-lawn-care landscaping work that can be done October to May. Leaf-raking season is in November and my garden always needs another round of spring clean-up around March-ish. You can put down (or remove!) landscaping rock just about any time the ground isn't frozen solid. Firescaping work like clearing brush or limbing up trees isn't limited to the summer months either. That said, though, it's still going to be primarily a seasonal occupation here.

[Baltimore2COS]

Thank you! I appreciate the insight. MD has a shorter lawn care season too (April-October, sometimes November for fall clean ups or if it's a warmer season), so we're used to him having to do winter work. But I very much appreciate the heads up on lawn care out in Colorado! He's very well researched in different landscaping, grasses, etc etc, but he does generally like focusing on the simplicity of mowing, which it appears will not be as easy in Colorado.

You guys are great! We're also looking into some of the call centers in Colorado - maybe United Healthcare/Tricare, any first hand knowledge? Thanks in advance!

[buckaroo17]

Having done the opposite move (not COS specifically), I would mention a few things -- keep in mind that I would much rather be in Colorado than pretty much anywhere -- and you may have discussed some of these things with your family, but here goes:

-- the biggest change I can imagine is the dryness. I prefer that, but I'm sure it would be a huge change for you moving from the Chesapeake to the Front Range. Not nearly as green or overgrown as MD. That which they call rivers in CO are creeks/streams/runs in MD.

-- Snowmaggedons in MD stay around for weeks if not months. Major dumps in CO could be gone in a week or less.

-- also a change in the political climate. I don't think Colorado is as reactionary as sometimes is presented in the news media, but it certainly is to the right of MD.

-- there is not an Old Bay tin in every kitchen. Don't know how dependent you are on fresh seafood, but obviously it is not accessible in CO. You can find it, just not as much or often.

-- better mountains in CO.

-- Travel. Everything is farther away in CO. Three hours from MD and you can be in NYC or NC. Denver is about 90 minutes from COS, and other northern Front Range cities a little farther, but beyond that, it is the Great Wide Open.

-- much more open space (don't remember ever seeing a rowhouse in CO), endless vistas, fewer trees, no oceans in CO.

Good luck on your plans, whatever way you go.

[Mike from back east]

Buckaroo gave good advice.

I spent my first 26 years in Baltimore and another 31 in northern VA, just an hour's drive south of Charm City.

Spent the past 11 years in COLO SPGS and enjoyed it a lot, but left recently for AZ with its smooth roads and better government than El Paso County and COLO SPGS.

I only go back east for funerals and crab cakes.

If I win the lottery I'll go back for a nice home on the water in the Chesapeake region, otherwise I refer to my hometown as a "good place to be FROM."