Thinking of moving to Denver??? (Colorado Springs, Aurora: apartment, rent, homes)

[Momzilla]

Hi there, my husband is going to school for massage therapy - and we are in Vegas now and SICK of it! He can either go to Salt Lake City or to Denver - Aurora actually.

We are a family of 3 - with a 6 yo old homeschooled son. We are pagan. We don't party or drink or anything, and are more of the outdoorsy type. I work from home, so work won't matter for me... but he will have to find a massage therapy job...

Does anyone have any ideas for me? Can you tell me about Denver and Aurora - or surrounding cities (preferably near Aurora, so he won't have to drive too far to school)

How is the rent and the job market for a massage therapist?

Would you pick Colorado over Utah? Why?

Any other information would be awesome! Thanks!

[tfox]

Originally Posted by Momzilla

Would you pick Colorado over Utah? Why?

I'll leave the other questions to other posters, but this one intrigues me, since I think in many ways Utah compares very favorably to Colorado. For instance, SLC has, if anything, better access to the mountains and world-class skiing than does Denver, and with less traffic to fight. There's at least as many natural wonders in Utah versus Colorado (although many are more of the desert variety). It's also somewhat cheaper (though less so than it used to be), is surprisingly tolerant and open-minded given Utah's reputation (at least inside SLC city limits), has a major hub airport if you need to travel, and has a whole state of things to do with fewer people to share them with. (And Wyoming is right on your doorstep). Wow.. sounds great just talking about it.

However, given the choice, and indeed, it is a tough one, I think I'd take Denver over SLC. Here are my reasons:

First reason is city amenities... SLC (the city) is only about half the size of Colorado Springs, so it's heavily suburbanized (even more so than Denver, if that can be believed). There's just not a lot of room for city amenities and culture there, though for a city of only 170,000 people there is admittedly quite a bit going on.

Climate... SLC's climate is similar to Denver's but tends to be a bit more extreme in all areas... more summer heat, more snow, more winter cold, more pollution -- just MORE of everything. Of course there are some much nicer climates in the southern part of the state, but I'm really comparing Denver to SLC.

Politically, the climate inside the city of SLC is very balanced, very open-minded, but that's a tiny bubble in the state: outside of SLC city limits (park city excepted) you're talking very conservative, very religious, very Republican -- like Colorado Springs on steroids, but spread over an entire state.

But the kicker is the last one... salaries in Utah are notoriously low, particularly for professional jobs. The reason? Well, I hate to stereotype, but LDS tend to be well-educated and hard-working, and they tend to want to stay in Utah, and SLC in particular (the only place with jobs). Too much supply chasing too little demand. So, the job market there is usually tipped heavily in favor of the employers. So are the laws of the state government (ever heard of a labor union in Utah? Me neither.). So, the bottom line is many of us can expect a much higher salary in Denver. This is the main reason why I'm sure I'll never move to SLC, much as I like the place... everything else I think I could overlook, but I'm not going to take a huge pay cut to go there.

[mookiw]

I own a gym in Highlands Ranch/Littleton and always looking for a good massage therapist. There are a lot of massage studios in our highly populated area as well as natural health food stores. Your husband shouldn't have trouble finding work depending upon what he is willing to get paid. My gym, Mountain Fitness Training Center - Highlands Ranch, Colorado | Get To The Next Level, is quite different from a typical facility with lots of "outdoorsy" types. You sound like more of a "Boulder" family rather than "Aurora".
I lived in Park City, Utah for five years and it was also beautiful but quite expensive...like Aspen. I didn't care for Salt Lake because of the winter inversion. The winters were quite gloomy.
Rent prices in our South Denver area start around $900 per month for a two bedroom apartment.

[Katarina Witt]

There should be no problem finding a massage therapy job in the metro area. As mentioned, gyms hire therapists, so do chiropractors, rehab centers, etc. People are very much into getting massages here. My DD gave me a massage for my birthday.