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LOL a month?? Just 30 days? C'mon, stick it out. It does not bode well for you in life giving up this easily on anything. There is no way you could form an accurate opinion of any city in a month. People on this board sometimes act as if moving is no big thing, boasting about all of the cities they've lived in, but it IS a big deal.
Moving sets you back financially, it's an emotional strain, and to be quite honest, unless your job is relocating you, you can't accomplish a damn thing in life if you pick up and move every couple of years, other than to say you've lived in some cool places.
So, stay and set some goals. Say you won't leave Denver until you accomplish X, Y and Z. Even if one of those goals is something small, like making a new friend in a part of the country you never thought you'd end up in, it will be worthwile. At least you will grow as a person. Leave and you gain nothing.
It is better that each person is invited to a different place, for if it was not, Colorado would be a much more crowded place. This Land knows only to invite a select few, and not all, to protect the fragility of The Great West.
Some people are already out west--and head east. A lot of people have moved to Colorado--especially from California. (pdf file)(Between 1995 and 2000, 644,000 moved to Colorado, and 111,000 of them were from California.)
When I think of what it used to look like, the Front Range is now almost unrecognizable, and Denver feels a lot more crowded.
Many, many people have had thoughts similar to what the OP says here:
Quote:
So, we were left with Colorado, and not having been there ever, we took a stab at it. Liberal, outdoors, sun, mountains, hiking, biking, snow, skiing - cool. It seemed like a nice place to move for somewhere new.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzco
Over the years, I've had many friends/family of friends/family visit, as those friends/family are exploring whether to move to Colorado.
When they're here and the timing's right (i.e. it's the during the several months the road is open) I drive them to the top of Mt. Evans.
They either fall in love with Colorado - saying, OMG, I'm home, in a way I've never felt before -
or, they're petrified, complain they can't breathe, can't believe there are wild animals on the road and we think that's okay, there are hair-raising turns in the road, etc. - it's turned out to be a pretty good litmus test, in a quite weird way, for those for whom Colorado is a good choice.
You can't get away from the reality that Colorado is extreme - that is, our climate, our landscape. Our cities, our "civilization" our culture, are pretty average, okay, mediocre - nothing special, but perfectly fine, and adequate.
When you just don't feel good here, that's a sign to not move here, unless you have some very good reason (like a great job opportunity etc.). Respect that reality.
Heh--my dad would always take relatives and friends up to the top of Mt Evans. He did it just for the heck of it, and it was interesting to see how some people were enthralled with the mountain goats and clouds, while others turned clammy and pale. I agree with both your description of Colorado's extremes as well as your summing up of the situation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewtoSD?
LOL a month?? Just 30 days? C'mon, stick it out. It does not bode well for you in life giving up this easily on anything. There is no way you could form an accurate opinion of any city in a month. People on this board sometimes act as if moving is no big thing, boasting about all of the cities they've lived in, but it IS a big deal.
Moving sets you back financially, it's an emotional strain, and to be quite honest, unless your job is relocating you, you can't accomplish a damn thing in life if you pick up and move every couple of years, other than to say you've lived in some cool places.
So, stay and set some goals. Say you won't leave Denver until you accomplish X, Y and Z. Even if one of those goals is something small, like making a new friend in a part of the country you never thought you'd end up in, it will be worthwile. At least you will grow as a person. Leave and you gain nothing.
I agree that moving is a huge deal.Yes it is a financial and emotional upheaval.
Moving is also an investment in your life, and I can't imagine staying in a place that, from the get-go, is off-putting and unsatisfying.
Of course it is important to grow as a person, but we don't all gain more character and accomplishment from the experience of living in a part of the country you never thought you'd end up in, one that, according to the OP, has less jobs.
Sometimes such an experience merely makes us miserable, and feels like a colossal waste of time.
Cracking skin, not yet. Most mornings so far have woken about with a sore/dry throat though. And in the middle of the night.
It's nice to have more sun, but it seems like when there is sun (which is about 90% of the time), it's scorching, intense, frying sun, due to elevation and location..rather than moderate, liveable sun. That's my take at least. I feel like I'm going to get skin cancer out here, or turn into a piece of shoe leather!
That's actually interesting that you say that, because a few years ago when I moved to MA from the lower Midwest, I actually thought the sun felt hotter here, somehow. Even lovely, mild days of 65, if the sky is clear, it feels like the sun could burn me quickly. I know it's not actually possible for the sun to be hotter, especially the further north you go! I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with the climate differences? Maybe proximity to the water, reflected sun in the atmosphere? Maybe lack of humidity? Am I making stuff up? I'm used to thick, oppressive, swamp-like humidity and heat from basically late March-late October, and in the months of June-July-August you get a face-melting heat that seems to radiate up from the ground. Here in MA, what it feels like is rather an intense, frying laser beam from above.
The seasons are all different-ish in pace up here, though. And it just seems like the sunshine in summer is extremely bright and extremely hot, but the ground in general stays cool and so it's kind of comfortable. So I can stand the laser beam. When I talk to family back home, I joke that I'm so spoiled by the mild summers up here that I'm losing my ability to deal with the heavy summers back in the Middle US.
The OP has no idea of the type of winters here, where it is mostly sunny with much less snow with the low humidity making the cold less so, and the temperatures can rise to the 50 and 60s in January. It certainly beats weeks and weeks of overcast cold bone chilling days in the east. He really does not realize that the heat of the summer is very much diminished by the same low humidity. I should also mention, less bugs and mosquitoes.
However, everyone finds their own place or as I often have said, the place finds you. It is better that each person is invited to a different place, for if it was not, Colorado would be a much more crowded place. This Land knows only to invite a select few, and not all, to protect the fragility of The Great West.
Livecontent
I've grown to be ok with the bone chilling winters of the east. In MA, bone chilling is usually described as 10F, or -10F, the latter of which rarely happens. Even 10F is sort of unusual, at least on the coast. Usually when it's 20F people complain, as that's somewhat rare too, but generally 20-30F is average, which after being in Maine, feels warm!
In mid or upstate Maine, 10-20F is average, and bone chilling is usually -20F or -40F, which doesn't happen too often. I guess being in Maine put things in perspective for me. So the cold isn't an issue too much. And I like snow, having been in MA where it doesn't come too often, so when it does it's nice. But that's just me. MA seems to have a nice balance of weather, extreme or not.
Less bugs is good of course but not too big an issue to me.
I was thinking of the humidity in the summer thing though - driving around sweltering Denver, and walking around the other day - because a lot of people say what you say as far as the humidity. Maybe I'm just used to it but it feels like MA rarely oppressively humid. And when it does it doesn't bother me. And if it is you go to the beach where it feels great. And, although CO may have less humidity, making it relatively cooler, the intense sunlight offsets any real benefit to me of the low humidity. Although it may be less humid, the sun is so hot and intense due to climate and elevation that it kind of negates what good the low humidity has to offer. That's how I see it at least..
Last edited by hamster21; 05-16-2012 at 09:01 AM..
I suggest moving back to Massachusetts and not giving it a second thought. With as many problems as you having with Colorado, I don't think you will ever like it more than Massachusetts. The longer you stay the more reasons you may have to stay in place you don't really like.
The more I see the less I want to live here though.
Then don't. There's nothing wrong with admitting you made a mistake and need to be somewhere else.
Now, if this continues to be a pattern and no matter what you choose or where you live it always turns out to be a mistake you may have a few other issues to work out, but don't stay in a place that will prevent you from being happy.
I lived in Florida for 25 years or so and completely disagree. I lived in SoFL and the panhandle and it didn't matter. It doesn't matter that every place has A/C when you turn into a sweating mess the second you walk outside. By the end of the day you feel gross from all the sweat/AC cycles. I was miserable in FL. BTW, the A/C only lowers the humidity a little bit. When it's 70% humidity outside and 50% humidity inside it's still gross unless it's 76F or less inside which gets expensive to keep cool. 90F at 11pm at night is no fun either. There's just no break from the gross humidity in the south.
I spent one night in Miami several years ago and the very first thing I did was to crank the AC to try and dry out the air a little. I think it had to get down to about 65 in my room before I felt comfortable with respect to the humidity. Of course, by then I needed an extra blanket on the bed...
Over the years, I've had many friends/family of friends/family visit, as those friends/family are exploring whether to move to Colorado.
When they're here and the timing's right (i.e. it's the during the several months the road is open) I drive them to the top of Mt. Evans.
They either fall in love with Colorado - saying, OMG, I'm home, in a way I've never felt before -
or, they're petrified, complain they can't breathe, can't believe there are wild animals on the road and we think that's okay, there are hair-raising turns in the road, etc. - it's turned out to be a pretty good litmus test, in a quite weird way, for those for whom Colorado is a good choice.
You can't get away from the reality that Colorado is extreme - that is, our climate, our landscape. Our cities, our "civilization" our culture, are pretty average, okay, mediocre - nothing special, but perfectly fine, and adequate.
When you just don't feel good here, that's a sign to not move here, unless you have some very good reason (like a great job opportunity etc.). Respect that reality.
I was out there a couple of years ago for some training and spent an afternoon with my dad taking the trip up Mt. Evans; it had been years since I had been up there, but it reminded me why it was my favorite day-trip and according to your theory proves that I belong back in Colorado!
1) Constant honking for no reason
2) Angry looks for the slightest problem
3) more than a cars distance between your car and the one in front of you, you'll be cut off.
Just some of my observations on the road here in Philly.
My wife and I took our two daughters (then 15 & 4) to Chicago and as soon as we walked out of the terminal they experienced the honking and swerving and general attitude - and this was just while we were getting to our rental car!
The attitude we saw with regards to the drivers is still a family joke, "Welcome to Chicago... hurry up and move or F you!"
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