Scouting trip for move- Any advice? (Denver, Colorado Springs: apartment complexes, rental, hotels)

[Shellybug]

Hi everyone!

I have posted here before regarding a possible move to CO during the summer.

We have booked a flight to Denver on 1/15 to scout areas to try to narrow our focus. We are interested in Denver and surrounding areas, Colorado Springs, and possibly Fort Collins. Boulder is lovely, but way out of our price range.

We are looking for advice on the best way to handle this scouting trip. We are going in fairly blind, so-to-speak, about where to look. I've spent a lot of time reading threads here and looking at the numbers in theory (rent, COL, salaries, etc.). We know we would like to see Denver and surrounding areas and CoS. Can you all please suggest an itinerary? Unfortunately, we don't have time for leisure; we have just enough time to drive around and scope out neighborhoods.

Our schedule is as follows:

Saturday 1/15: Flight lands at Denver airport 6:00 p.m.
Sunday and Monday 1/16 and 1/17: Both days open to explore CoS to Denver to Fort Collins
Monday 1/18: Flight departs at 8:00 a.m.

We haven't booked hotels yet, so we could stay all three nights in Denver and use it as a base or stay a night in each area. We have no idea about how weather will affect travel/driving, etc. We are complete newbies to your part of the country !

I've posted before, but here is a little background on us in case some of the posters have suggestions:

I'm a teacher, my husband is a plumber by trade (currently an estimator). We are looking for comparable jobs. I guess we would be considered middle class here in Florida. COL is a little higher there. We are looking to rent. A 2 bed/1 bath is fine for us, but we do have two dogs and a macaw. This is a new adventure for us as our daughter is graduating college and heading off into the world and we are ready to start our own adventure. We have no other children. We are in our very late 30s (hanging on to that last year before 40!). We are open to urban or suburban environments, but don't really want to live in a rural area. We want access to hiking and nature, but also access to city amenities. We currently drive up to two hours for entertainment as our town is pretty sleepy in that regard, so we don't require living in super close proximity to the city or hiking, but close enough to be able enjoy either within a decent driving distance. Proximity to outdoor activities is probably more of a priority that proximity to city amenities. It seems the winter weather may extend travel times there, however. It's pretty easy to get around a good distance on short travel times in Florida due to our weather.

Thank you so much for any help you can provide! We are VERY excited to visit in a few weeks. We have never been to CO, so I don't know what to expect other than speaking to others and Internet research. I'm tired of stalking this forum, Facebook, and Instagram for CO info and pics. We are ready to see it for ourselves!

[Mike from back east]

Given the two days that you have, I'd skip Fort Collins.

Set your price range and use padmapper.com to see what's out there.

Denver is getting pricey for rents and nice places go very quickly.

Most of the areas are fine.

[Shellybug]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Given the two days that you have, I'd skip Fort Collins.

Set your price range and use padmapper.com to see what's out there.

Denver is getting pricey for rents and nice places go very quickly.

Most of the areas are fine.

Thanks Mike! Any suggestions on how to tackle the two days?

My thoughts are to drive into Denver from the airport on Saturday evening and get a hotel and try to explore a bit. Wake up on Sunday and drive around the surrounding areas of Denver. Drive to CoS that evening and stay there overnight. Wake up and explore CoS on Monday. Drive back toward the airport that evening and get a hotel for the flight out the next morning (Tuesday). I'm not sure what the weather will look like and how it will affect travel between these places.

What if we love Fort Collins (I don't know anything about it, really )? You don't think it's worth a trip or do we absolutely not have time?

[NW Crow]

Your plan sounds fine. If you get up and going early 7-8 am Sunday and do the Denver area neighborhoods to your satisfaction by noonish - 1pm, perhaps you could squeeze FC in, barely, then make a longer drive to CS. If you were going to look at Broomfield, Louisville, Lafayette then maybe go the rest of the way. If you weren't otherwise planning to go north of Wheat Ridge & Arvada then maybe not. If you think you can learn something about FC of value partly by headlight then that could make it more worthwhile.

Driving Sunday and Monday night fairly late may be better than doing so in the traffic right before or in dinnertime window.

Right now the weather forecast for that time period calls for a bit of snow but nothing huge. It may change several times before then.

Try to advance plan your drive between neighborhoods so you move efficiently and spend time looking and taking lots and lots of pics on your phone (for later review) instead of figuring out directions from scratch. Don't try to see them all. A handful a day. Some of your meals might be best to be fast food eaten while driving instead of eat in.

Maybe do a couple virtual tours on Google Maps to help figure out the road flow and which places you really want to focus on live.

Don't be shy about asking strangers quick questions if they appear approachable. Try it and see if it works but don't pump any well too hard.

[Shellybug]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Your plan sounds fine. If you get up and going early 7-8 am Sunday and do the Denver area neighborhoods to your satisfaction by noonish - 1pm, perhaps you could squeeze FC in, barely, then make a longer drive to CS. If you were going to look at Broomfield, Louisville, Lafayette then maybe go the rest of the way. If you weren't otherwise planning to go north of Wheat Ridge & Arvada then maybe not. If you think you can learn something about FC of value partly by headlight then that could make it more worthwhile.

Driving Sunday and Monday night fairly late may be better than doing so in the traffic right before or in dinnertime window.

Right now the weather forecast for that time period calls for a bit of snow but nothing huge. It may change several times before then.

Try to advance plan your drive between neighborhoods so you move efficiently and spend time looking and taking lots and lots of pics on your phone (for later review) instead of figuring out directions from scratch. Don't try to see them all. A handful a day. Some of your meals might be best to be fast food eaten while driving instead of eat in.

Maybe do a couple virtual tours on Google Maps to help figure out the road flow and which places you really want to focus on live.

Don't be shy about asking strangers quick questions if they appear approachable. Try it and see if it works but don't pump any well too hard.

Great tips NW Crow! Thank you so much!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Shellybug

.... Our schedule is as follows:

Saturday 1/15: Flight lands at Denver airport 6:00 p.m.
Sunday and Monday 1/16 and 1/17: Both days open to explore CoS to Denver to Fort Collins
Monday 1/18: Flight departs at 8:00 a.m.

The dates are wrong in your orig post.

It is really this?
Friday 1/15: Flight lands at Denver airport 6:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 1/16 and 1/17: Both days open to explore CoS to Denver to Fort Collins
Monday 1/18: Flight departs at 8:00 a.m.

[Shellybug]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

The dates are wrong in your orig post.

It is really this?
Friday 1/15: Flight lands at Denver airport 6:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 1/16 and 1/17: Both days open to explore CoS to Denver to Fort Collins
Monday 1/18: Flight departs at 8:00 a.m.

Yep! Totally wrong...tired typing I suppose!

We land on Saturday at 6 pm (1/16).
Sunday and Monday open days (1/17 and 1/18).
Return Flight on Tuesday at 8 am (1/19)

Sorry for the confusion!

[NW Crow]

If you are going to use the tollroad for any of your moves north, south, to / from airport maybe take a look at how it works online. Better that than being surprised / confused and getting unexpected letter in mail and perhaps blowing it off. They pursue payment.

[sunsprit]

I think you're planning on exploring way too much territory. Denver Metro areas alone could easily exceed your time if you're really interested in seeing the area ... Ft Collins to C Springs becomes hours of windshield time if you're just cruising I-25 which will not reveal much about the areas you're passing by. You'd need to get off the highway and off of even the major arterials to see the areas in any meaningful sense.

Perhaps some inquiries re prospective employment in advance of your trip could narrow down the areas of real interest to you.

Commute times and access in the metro Denver region are a significant factor in living here, so seeking out a place to live needs to have some focus ... unless you're just planning on moving out here without jobs and will relocate as needed in due course.

As well, you haven't mentioned a budget range for your housing. That, too, will be a huge factor in where you will want to explore for housing choices.

You may find that two dogs will be a sizable hurdle to deal with in finding a rental apartment. IMO, you'd do best to contact rental management companies/property managers in advance of your trip to locate apartment complexes that will rent an apartment to you so that you're not wasting your windshield time driving to see areas/apartments where you will not be able to rent a place.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Perhaps some inquiries re prospective employment in advance of your trip could narrow down the areas of real interest to you.

you'd do best to contact rental management companies/property managers in advance of your trip to locate apartment complexes that will rent an apartment to you so that you're not wasting your windshield time driving to see areas/apartments where you will not be able to rent a place.

This