Looking to move to CO from NYC (Denver, Colorado Springs: appointed, rent)

[L0ftyKeith]

Originally Posted by dude_reino

The problem is that in Colorado--like most states--the only way to earn a decent living is in a city. If you have a $70k job in NYC, then you can get the same job in Denver for $50k and also a cheaper cost of living, but you're still living the city life. But if you move to a mountain town outside of the Front Range, expect no more than a $30k job, which can be hard to swallow by someone from NYC.

But I don't want to scare you, Denver definitely has a lot more freedom than NYC. You can actually own a car (or many cars) and be able to park them easily. And you can also buy a single-family home within a few miles of downtown.

Haha sounds good to me! I am curious to know if you guys are Colorado natives or have moved to CO from East?

[dude_reino]

Originally Posted by L0ftyKeith

Haha sounds good to me! I am curious to know if you guys are Colorado natives or have moved to CO from East?

I moved from Chicago. I too was sick of sitting on congested, smelly El trains (among other things). Colorado was a breath of fresh air, but that was 8 years ago. Things have changed and Denver is rapidly catching up to the top U.S. cities for reasons people don't want to live in big U.S. cities

[alliern]

My husband, three boys and I picked up our life in Staten Island, NY and left everything we have ever known to move to CO in Nov. 2008. I spent 11 years as a pediatric RN in a NYC hospital and my husband is in business for himself and travels back to NY, amongst other places, quite often. We wanted to escape everything that you mentioned. Left our families and friends behind. Didn't know a soul out here.

We will never return to the east coast. We live in the foothills about 35 minutes west of downtown Denver on the way to the ski resorts. Denver is so accessible by car for me. I go "down the hill" quite often for concerts, shopping, restaurants, and sporting events. We have all of the everyday essentials in our town that I only go into the city when I want to. I never circle blocks of Denver for parking like I did in Manhattan.

The cost of living is less for certain things. Homeowners and car insurance are less expensive. Utilities (natural gas and electric) are much less. I have way more house and land for my money. On the other hand, food, gas, clothing, mani/pedi, haircuts, etc... All cost the same.

It's great out here. We have season passes for skiing and run out Hwy 285 to Breckenridge almost every weekend and never hit traffic like on I-70. It's felt like a 4.5 year vacation.

[L0ftyKeith]

Originally Posted by alliern

My husband, three boys and I picked up our life in Staten Island, NY and left everything we have ever known to move to CO in Nov. 2008. I spent 11 years as a pediatric RN in a NYC hospital and my husband is in business for himself and travels back to NY, amongst other places, quite often. We wanted to escape everything that you mentioned. Left our families and friends behind. Didn't know a soul out here.

We will never return to the east coast. We live in the foothills about 35 minutes west of downtown Denver on the way to the ski resorts. Denver is so accessible by car for me. I go "down the hill" quite often for concerts, shopping, restaurants, and sporting events. We have all of the everyday essentials in our town that I only go into the city when I want to. I never circle blocks of Denver for parking like I did in Manhattan.

The cost of living is less for certain things. Homeowners and car insurance are less expensive. Utilities (natural gas and electric) are much less. I have way more house and land for my money. On the other hand, food, gas, clothing, mani/pedi, haircuts, etc... All cost the same.

It's great out here. We have season passes for skiing and run out Hwy 285 to Breckenridge almost every weekend and never hit traffic like on I-70. It's felt like a 4.5 year vacation.

I'm glad everything worked quite well for you and your family. Hearing such a great story really gives me hope. The only thing I'm concerned about is the job market. A nursing forum I came across says that Colorado has been saturated with new RN graduates, and most hospitals are on a hiring freeze. However, that forum was posted between 2011-2012. I'm not sure how accurate it is now. I'm sure RN's in NYC have just as much competition, and so does the whole job market in general. Do you think having a college degree and work experience from a big city like New York would have any advantage towards competing for jobs in CO?

Thanks for the great input and for sharing such a wonderful story.

[L0ftyKeith]

Originally Posted by alliern

It's great out here. We have season passes for skiing and run out Hwy 285 to Breckenridge almost every weekend and never hit traffic like on I-70. It's felt like a 4.5 year vacation.

Also, I heard wonderful things about Breck.. Some of my fellow pro-snowboarder buddies go there quite often. Breck and Vail are some of the resorts I've always dreamt about visiting .

[alliern]

My sister and BIL live in Littleton, CO. They followed me out here a year after I moved. They are both RN's and had both worked in NY prior to their move. My sister works at Swedish Medical Center in a same day GYN surgical unit. She has years of experience in both adult oncology and cardiac ICU. She makes $31.50/hr for PT days. She has a BSN from Villanova. She's been an RN for 14 years.

My BIL works at Littleton Adventist hospital in the ICU as permanent weekends plus one other shift each week. He makes $40/hr with only 5 years experience. Most of those with an Associate Degree. He just finished his bachelor's degree. But he gives up every weekend so he gets higher pay.

They both got jobs immediately when applying. They moved here in Dec. 2009. The pay is definitely a trade off over NYC nursing pay. But quality of life is worth more to some.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by dude_reino

I moved from Chicago. I too was sick of sitting on congested, smelly El trains (among other things). Colorado was a breath of fresh air, but that was 8 years ago. Things have changed and Denver is rapidly catching up to the top U.S. cities for reasons people don't want to live in big U.S. cities

It's not what it was when I was a kid in the 1980's when it had more of a small town/small city atmosphere. Since then it has lost a lot of it's uniqueness as a city and is just ordinary urban/suburbia now. It's a bit more roomy than back east, but it's still big city.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Areas along I-25 with colleges, in a relative order of size, are: Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Golden and Pueblo. This is based on my assumption that most of your work is at the higher cost major colleges and universities, not local community colleges and those smallish for-profit outfits.

I am going to re-order your list with some numbers:

1. Denver/Golden: 85,000+ students

• CU-Denver/Anschutz Medical Center - 27,000 students
• Metropolitan State University - 24,000 students
• Regis University - 14,000 students
• University of Denver - 11,000 students
• Colorado School of Mines - 5,000
• Colorado Christian University - 4,000 students
• Johnson and Wales University - 1,000 students (est.)
• Also: Arapahoe CC, Aurora CC, Denver CC, Red Rocks CC, Front Range CC

2. Fort Collins/Greeley/Loveland: 40,000+ (I added Greeley to Ft. Collins because many people work at UNC and live in Ft. Collins and Loveland)

• Colorado State University - 27,000 students
• University of Northern Colorado - 12,000 students
• Also: Aims CC (2 campuses)

3. Boulder: 34,000 students

• CU-Boulder - 33,000 students
• Naropa University - 1,000 students

4. Colorado Springs: 12,000+ students

• CU-Colorado Springs - 10,000 students
• Colorado College - 2,000 students
• Also: Pike's Peak CC
• I did not include the Air Force Academy because those students do not need financial aid.

5. Pueblo: 5,000 students

• CSU-Pueblo - 5,000 students

[L0ftyKeith]

Wow Davidv, thanks for these statistics!

[CosmicWizard]

L0ftyKeith wrote: Do you think having a college degree and work experience from a big city like New York would have any advantage towards competing for jobs in CO?

I don't think it matters much one way or the other. What matters most, is being in the right place at the right time. If you are able to land an interview for an opening, and you make a really good impression you stand a better chance of getting hired than someone who makes a lesser impression regardless of experience, regardless of their current location. For better or worse, most companies hiring are more apt to grant interviews to someone already living in the local area. Some, but not all Colorado companies will see NYC as your current address and immediately file your resume in the closest trashcan, because they probably have several hundred resumes from equally qualified candidates who live right in town. In this tight economy, an out-of-towner is at a great disadvantage. BUT...your resume just might catch the eye of the person who reads them, at a time when that person is in a really good mood, and something on your resume could influence that person to give you a call and set up a phone interview. Anything is possible. Good sh*t happens all the time. Where there is a will....there is a way.