best advice (Denver, Fort Collins, Aspen: rent, find a job, purchase)

[Scubanuba]

My daughter is moving to Colorado. Her boyfriend will be working in Vail and Aspen. She will go to school in Ft. Collins and work in Denver presumably. Where would be a good choice for them to live? They don't have a lot of money. Moving from Chicago

[2bindenver]

She should live in Ft.Collins if that is where she is going to school. He should live as close to work as he can afford.

[Dogmama50]

A few things to address:

Vail and Aspen are a couple hours away from each other in good weather, there is no easy or inexpensive area to live between the two of them which would make it a commutable option. Picking one or the other would be easier.

Ft Collins is a little over an hour from Denver without traffic, hopefully she can find a job in Ft. Collins and not have to waste time driving to Denver.

Ft. Collins to Vail is almost 3 hours, Aspen almost 5 without weather or traffic, both of which are very prevalent in the winter.

There is no real way for her to go to school in Ft. Collins and him to work in Vail or Aspen and for them to live together.

[zenkonami]

I would not recommend schooling in Ft. Collins and then working in Denver. If she lives in between, she's gonna have one heck of a back and forth that's just going to exhaust her. I mean, I presume that sometime between this school and work, she's still going to have to find time for things like...I don't know...homework. And after madness like that she'll surely want to blow off some steam somewhere, preferably nearby, with new found friends...not a lot of "preferably nearbys" between Denver and Ft. Collins that will fit that description.

On top of that, Dogmama50 nailed it. If her boyfriend is in Vail...or further still, Aspen, they are *not* going to see much of each other, and I'm sure that's something she'd like time for as well. We're talking about areas that are VERY far apart, despite being in state. Unpredictable weather will only aggravate circumstances. At some point, one of them will be "stuck" in the mountains for a weekend, or won't be able to visit as a result of an unexpected snow storm. Never mind the fact that weekends are when EVERYONE wants to head up I-70 into the mountains. There are back ways in, for sure, but they are back ways with a reason.

If they're going to make this work, they're going to have to lower their expectations significantly in the short term.

[Cyborgt800]

They might as well live in Denver then work in Utah and Go to school in Wyoming!

That's some serious commuting!

[Mike from back east]

Mapquest says it's 258 miles between Fort Collins and Aspen. Ouch. Even in decent traffic that's a FIVE hour trip. For a date? Maybe once. Maybe twice. But then that romance will be over, so very over.

Think I'm kidding?

Mapquest says it's 225 miles between Washington, DC and NYC. Who in their RIGHT mind would drive that -- for a date.

Mapquest says it's 65 miles between Fort Collins and Denver; most days that's a 90-minute drive. Maybe once a week but NOT as a regular commute. What little money a college kid could make in Denver will be MORE than eaten alive by commuting costs.

The proposed arrangements are just not workable.

The girl needs to attend school, live and work in Fort Collins. Anything else is folly.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Scubanuba

Her boyfriend will be working in Vail and Aspen.

Her soon to be ex-boyfriend will be working in Vail or Aspen.

Originally Posted by Scubanuba

She will go to school in Ft. Collins and work in Denver presumably.

She will be exhausted from the commuting and will soon quit one or the other.

Originally Posted by Scubanuba

Where would be a good choice for them to live?

She in Fort Collins and he in Vail or Aspen.

Originally Posted by Scubanuba

They don't have a lot of money.

They will soon have a lots less. All their money will go to purchase motor fuel. The rest of his income will go to pay insane rent in Vail/Aspen.

[vegaspilgrim]

What the other posters said. If he truly loves her, he'll move to Fort Collins with her and find a job up there. Otherwise this relationship is OVER.

[Sobe Itsavized]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

What the other posters said. If he truly loves her, he'll move to Fort Collins with her and find a job up there. Otherwise this relationship is OVER.

If she truly loves him, she'll be able to deal with it since their love will overcome this new burden and obstacle.

[Cyborgt800]

If he's even halfway decent looking he'll be cougar bait up there as well....just another obstacle for this young love!