25 y/o female relocating from NJ to Denver in fall - help! (Arvada: transplants, sales)

[megandonn]

Hi!

I'm a 25 year old female from central New Jersey looking to relocate to the Denver area this September/October.

I am looking for an affordable "young area" within 20 minutes or so of the city. I do not mind noise. I am hoping to bring my car (it's an older car and I'm taking it to the mechanic next week to determine whether or not this is feasible). I wil be looking for somewhere pre-furnished that I can rent monthly. It would be nice to be close to some form of nightlife.

I am moving to experience something different from New Jersey while I am still young and not tied down, and I have always felt drawn to Colorado. I enjoy the outdoors, meeting new people, and being busy.

I currently work for the Recreation Department at a large university. I am a social person, and I absolutely love working in higher education. Ideally, I would love to work in recruiting, either in an admissions office or recruiting college students for an organization. I have been applying for jobs, but I plan to move regardless of whether I find something. I have enough money saved up to make the move and pay rent for a few months before finding a stable job.

Apart from Denver proper, I have narrowed my search to the following areas: Glendale, Englewood, Commerce City, and Wheat Ridge (based on average income, rent, age, and distance from Denver). It seems that if I'm okay with noise and a smaller place (which I am), I may be better off staying in Denver itself - possibly the Washington Park area?

I am looking for any information regarding the following:
- Feedback on the above-mentioned areas
- Living in Denver v. a suburb
- Areas of Denver proper to focus on if I choose to live in the city
- Areas which may be ideal for finding work at a university

I thank you in an advance for any feedback!!!

Also, I am planning to visit in late summer/early fall - any advice on properly planning for my trip? (I have a friend who lives in southern CO.)

Megan

[Mike from back east]

The climate here is very dry, so here's what we tell visitors:
- Drink LOTS of water.
- Our thin air equals dangerously bright sunlight: Bring sunscreen, lip balm, sunglasses, hat with a brim.
- To keep your nasal passages from drying out, cracking open and bleeding, moisten with saline spray (regular or gel type).

Most folks acclimate soon enough, but the altitude change, sunlight and dry air will, at first, do a number on lowlanders.

There are a lot of close-in areas that you didn't mention, but are highly recommended by our Denver posters; Highland and West Highland (not to be confused with Highlands Ranch), Arvada, Berkeley, etc. Look at this map, the heart of downtown is the Auraria, Union Station and CBD area.

Smart transplants will find a location near Denver's growing light rail system.

It is possible to get around Denver w/out a car. Look in the Denver Index of Key Threads, under Transit, for the thread.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by megandonn

I am looking for any information regarding the following:
- Feedback on the above-mentioned areas
- Living in Denver v. a suburb
- Areas of Denver proper to focus on if I choose to live in the city
- Areas which may be ideal for finding work at a university

It might make things easier, if you worry about one thing at a time. First find the job. Then look for a place to live near your job. There are nice places to live all over Metro Denver. Different people will recommend different areas. Ultimately you have to look at the areas and make up your own mind.

[harrison21]

I'm moving soon also- my job is in Commerce City, and I would absolutely NOT recommend looking there. I knew right away that living right near work wouldn't work so I started looking for places that were commutable. It's very trashy looking, just not a nice place at all. It's also full of factories which cause much of the area to smell- you can smell it through the windows when you drive by. Thankfully my work is at least far enough away from the factories that you can't smell it when you're outside- I can on the way there though in the car.

I have heard fabulous things about Englewood- numerous people have told me it's a great place to live. I'd be looking there myself, but with traffic it's too big of a commute to commerce city where I'll be working.

I would be interested to hear what people say about Glendale. It's one of the few neighborhoods I haven't actually seen for myself yet- I ran out of time when I was down there last. They have some apartments that seem much more affordable and are much closer to things to do than some of the suburbs I'm looking at- but all I have to go off of is the walkscore website which tells you what kinds of things are walkable to the apartment. I figure the places must be cheaper there for a reason though...so I'd be interested to hear what people that live there actually think of the neighborhood.

I don't know much about wheat ridge. I did stay in a hotel there once when I was going to a job fair and there didn't seem to be much there- but to be fair, I can't say I really went out of my way to explore the whole area. It could have just been in the part that I was in that looked boring.

[megandonn]

thank you so much for the feedback - i didn't imagine i'd receive responses so quickly! i look forward to reading more :-)

[gmm_24]

You need to visit first, it is far different then NJ and some from the East Coast end up not liking it here. I am from NY and I do not have that problem.

Find a job before moving, if you do not have one then you should have months of savings if you move job-less. Be prepared to take any job you can get if you do move here without one. Waiting tables or whatever you can get but still have savings because it may not pay all your basics.

Busy in what way? Busy here is a slower pace then you are use to. I speak much slower then I use to, figured it out as I would get blank stares, or asked to repeat myself often. They were getting every other word I was saying

If you get a new or newer car also figure that into your budget as the plates can cost upwards of $500 for the year. You have to get the plates changed in the first 30 days you are a resident as well as your license.

[delong1974]

Like another poster already recommended, worry about getting moved here first. Sign a year lease in a decent place and get to know Denver, then worry about finding a place in a "young" area. Also like another poster said, be prepared to be knocked down by altitude sickness for awhile. You'll have headaches and a general "blah" feeling for awhile. Drink lots of water, get plenty of rest, and take advil in the morning. It is also a semi-arid climate, so you should buy moisturizing lotion. My wife uses coco care coco butter cream and it makes her water-loving New England skin happy.

As to young neighborhoods, there are plenty, but many come at a high price. Living in downtown Denver is a choice, but expensive. The Highlands is fairly young, as is Wash Park. Wash Park and Cherry Creek are very young and vibrant, but expensive to live in. The Gaylord area off University is nice, but seems to be mostly very expensive single family homes and few apartments.

You mentioned Englewood. Not so much. South Suburban Denver is nice (I live there), but not exactly hipsterville party town down there. If you want to live where the action is, you have to stay closer to downtown.

By all means, stay away from Commerce City, the Sheridan and Oxford areas off Sante Fe, the Sante Fe "art district", and anywhere near Federal. The area just north of downtown near the ballbark is full of little bars and stuff, but is also pretty shady. There are several homeless shelters in that area and combined with some of the pretty low rent activity around there, despite the attempted gentrification of Ballpark, I would not recommend a young woman to be in that neighborhood at night alone.

[co_native_sweetie]

I agree--stay away from Commerce City. It's too industrial and most probably wouldn't enjoy it very much.

On Glendale, I was born and raised in that area (just south of there) and Glendale is pretty nice, and more affordable than other nearby neighborhoods. It's so close to some other great areas, like Cherry Creek & Wash Park, which are harder to afford so it's nicer to just be in close proximity. Glendale is close to Colorado Blvd which has everything you'd need (from Target to Best Buy to Home Depot to EVERYTHING--you get the idea) so in that way it's nice, BUT Colorado Blvd is horribly congested most hours of the day and a PAIN to drive. Glendale isn't what I'd call a "hip" or trendy or fun neighborhood--but it's definitely a good one to consider.

[DenverBigTime]

Ten years ago I moved to Denver without a job, but with a bunch of savings. Luckily I also had a partner that was on workers comp. I found a job in two weeks. Not sure about now if that would offer me the same luck. I am originally from Long Island NY. The only thing I miss is the ocean. Otherwise, that's about it. I live in Denver itself out near the old airport. I dont live in Stapleton but the neighborhood west of it.

I would never move back home. This is really my home now. As far as people not understanding when I talk...that's never really happened to me.

Now on to your questions. Renting a place in Denver has become more expensive as the rental vacancies have dropped rather drastically. There's plenty of new apartment construction, but finding an affordable place downtown may be hard. Washington Park is a great area and there are some rental units out that way. You'd be very close to downtown and plus one of our most fantastic parks, Old South Pearl, Gaylord Street Shops, etc.

The Ballpark area mentioned above really isn't that bad and it's still in change. Yes there are homeless shelters nearby but if you've ever been to NYC....it's easy to ignore.

There are two Englewoods...the real Englewood which is southwest of Denver is really not a bad place. There are plenty of nice neighborhoods and South Broadway has lots of shops, etc.

Lower Highlands, Highlands, Capitol Hill and Quality Hill are great places for young people. You may be able to find a nice small studio in Capitol Hill that's not too expensive. Parking in that area is a ***** if that concerns you. Highlands and Lower Highland is HOT right now. Lots of new homes being built, new apartments, bars, restaurants, etc.

Oh by the way, Wheat Ridge is a nice little suburb and so is Arvada. Olde Town Arvada has a lot of new apartment construction and is close to a lot of major shopping and dining. It's not downtown Denver but could be a nice place to start your journey.

I lived in Thornton when I first moved here...bad mistake. Thornton kinda sucks. So, does Northglenn. Commerce City isn't all bad. There's a huge neighborhood called Reunion that has lots of newer homes. Even Brighton isn't that bad, but would be a stretch if you were to commute to a job in Denver.

So what will be a shock to you coming from the east coast...hmmm...lots of people mention food. Pizza is not the same here. There are plenty of pizza places and some do remind me of home. Some people complain that there isn't good Chinese food here. I really haven't found that to be true. Hmmm, highways aren't as abundant here as they are back east and we seem to not like to time or synchronize our traffic lights so you may get tired of stopping at every other red light, especially on Colorado Blvd. People are definitely slower here and just the overall way of life is slower. Denver feels like a small town sometimes even though it's a fairly large city. If you like Drake's cakes...sorry, they don't sell them here. We just recently got Stella D'Oro cookies and they don't sell Wise Potato Chips..if any of that is important to you LOL.

Overall, I think you will enjoy Denver. There's a lot to get used to especially how dry it is...but you will LOVE the summers when you can be outside and even though it might be 94 degrees, it doesn't feel like the life is being sucked from your pores. The winters can get cold but again it's dry so not that damp back east feel. And yes, we do get snow. Sometimes, we get a blizzard or two. But, most times the snow melts within 24-48 hours and it's bright and sunny again.

Oh, one more thing, they don't like to plow snow off streets here. Since the snow melts fairly rapidly they will tend to concentrate on main thoroughfares and leave the side streets to Mother nature. If you bring your car, be prepared for sticker shock when registering. I can't remember if Jersey has a personal property tax on cars. But, for my 2011 Cruze I just had to pay about 250 bucks for registration. It goes down of course as the car gets older, but it's still a pain. We have a state income and sales taxes of course. Property taxes are much lower here than they are back east. But it does depend on where you live.

OK, I've rambled. If you have any other questions, please post them. Oh...and good luck!!!!! I've never regretted my move west.

[megandonn]

thank you so much for the detailed responses...do you feel a car is necessary for getting around the city? or that it would be wise to have a car as someone not used to the area?

same for living in glendale - would it be necessary to have a car to get from glendale into the city or would a bike/public transport be sufficient?