Moving to Denver area from Florida (Colorado Springs, Arvada: wood floors, middle-class, to rent)

[2bindenver]

Plenty of new homes in Aurora in a good high school (CCSD) - when are you coming?

[rickyguzman]

I would like to move in the summer of 2008

[TSch]

Hi!

I live in SE Aurora, Cherry Creek School District (one of the best in the area IMO). There are MANY new developments in this area (E-470 & Smoky Hill Rd) as well as one of the biggest new outdoor shopping centers in the area: Southlands Mall. It is a great area to be in.

Exactly where in Aurora will you be working?

[rickyguzman]

12250 E Iliff Ave

[TSch]

That would probably be a 30 minute commute from this area, depending on traffic. Not sure how much of a commute you want. If you google the Cherry creek school districts site, they have a district map, which will let you know what areas in Aurora are CC schools. Also which specific schools are for which areas. I (personally) would stay away from Aurora public schools. You can also go to a site to get ratings, and testing info on specific schools, called greatschools.net. They have tons of useful info.

Feel free to send me a private message if you want any more info!

Terri

[natjos]

My husband and I were thinking of relocating from Florida to Colorado. My husband is hispanic (born and raised in Miami) and I am from Russia. We were wondering how diverse is Denver and other areas around Denver. We also are thinking of adopting kids from Russia in 2-3 years. We would like to find out about diversity and how culturally-acceptable are folks in colorado. Any input would be appreciated.
Also can anyone point out any areas with houses and acreage that have some greenery/nature in the $200-300 thousand range.
Is Colorado more or less expensive than S.Florida?
My husband is going to be applying to work in DTR/IT support, are there any places you would recommend? Range in salary? Range in salary for retail pharmacist also?
How about dog-friendly areas? We rescue dogs and find them good homes as much as we can.
Finally can anyone compare Texas to Colorado, were considering which may be better. Thanks in advance.

[tfox]

Colorado in general is not very diverse, although we do have parts of our state which have high proportions of Hispanic/Latino people (mainly in the rural south and in parts of the larger cities like Denver and its suburbs).

I think people are fairly understanding here of other races and cultures, but like most other western states there is unfortunately some occasional anger directed toward Hispanics related to the subject of illegal immigration. I honestly think that even in the ugliest cases the anger is more directed at illegal immigration in general rather than at specific people. However, the illegal immigration debate often quickly takes a racial tone which some people might find vaguely threatening.

As for housing values, I know nothing about Florida but I'm sure that property in general is cheaper here, though not nearly as cheap as Texas, which is among one of the lowest priced places in the country. The average cost of housing in the Denver area is in the middle 200s, which is right around the national average.

As we've talked about in many other threads, large acreage is not the norm here and you will pay dearly for it. Also, if you want to live in a natural forest or the mountains/foothills, you will pay a premium for that as well. So, there is much housing in your price range (200-300k), but there's not going to be much in the foothills or with large lots, at least not close to the Denver area.

As for a comparison with Texas, Texas is a huge state as is Colorado, so they are hard to compare. Obviously the climate is very different in most parts of Texas, though whether it's actually better is a matter of opinion. I'd say that the main attraction to Texas is an extremely low cost of housing and favorable taxation with no state income tax (but unusually high property tax and property insurance rates). If you want to maximize your income versus expenses, that's the place to go. If you move here to Colorado, you're going to have to put something of a premium on the lifestyle here since you're certainly paying something extra for it and I doubt you're going to earn much more money here than in Texas. However, it's very much subjective; I'm sure some people would love it in Texas and hate it here.

[2bindenver]

I heard two russian women talking at TJ Maxx yesterday in HR.

[jackiedevito]

My fiance and I would like to move to CO from FL. We are bringing the whole family with us sisters, brothers, parents...We are going to start a family and would like an area that is close to the city but still in the mountains. Any advice on certain cities to go to and stay away from?

[tao]

Can you be more specific? What are you looking for in a town - conservative, liberal, big, small, quiet, active, rural, urban? What kind of home do you want - what type of neighborhood, house style, size, price range, etc.? What are your interests?

I'm from Florida too (my husband is from England) and we're moving to Broomfield, a town that's about halfway between Boulder and Denver.