How to friends and family react when you say you want to move to Denver? (Boulder: house, school)

[EscapeCalifornia]

We've noticed a big divide in people's reactions based on age and life experience. People about our age (34 and 29) are generally excited for us and the opportunity a city with a more reasonable cost of living can provide. People a generation older say things like "Its cold there." That's all my mom can think of any time the subject comes up. Of course she was born in LA, has never lived anywhere else, has owned the same house since 1974 and is thus insulated from today's outrageous housing costs.

Are people (especially people on the coasts) generally supportive of your plans or do they think you're moving to some middle of nowhere cow town that's buried under 10ft of snow 6 months of the year?

[oberon]

Most people I've met elsewhere that have not been to Denver much think I live in an igloo. Whatever.

[patrickmich]

generally denver illicits a positive response. If you gave people a list of large cities that they would consider moving, denver is one that is quickly chosen. Denver is about in the
same response category as, say, Portland, Oregon. Now if you told people you
were moving to Kansas City, MO, you would most likely receive apprehensive responses.
But not so for Denver.

[missingcol]

Almost all of our Bay Area friends think it makes no sense for us to move to CO. Cold, snow, no IT jobs, no excellent colleges for kids, that is all they can think of. This makes my wife hesitate to quit her job.

[vfrpilot]

When we told people we were moving to CO, the reaction was split. A lot were like your mom and couldn't understand why anyone would want to move outa CA. Most believe that the problems in CA are the same everywhere. That may be true but with 10 times the amount of people those issues get overwhelming. A lot of people were very supportive and wish they were in a position to get out. I heard Paul Harvey quote a poll that found 25% of CA residents desire to move out, but jobs and family kept them from doing so.
There are no guarantees that you'll like it here, but this is America and you can always move back. We lived in AZ, TX, and CA and loved 'em all. For us CO has had the best quality of life.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by oberon

Most people I've met elsewhere that have not been to Denver much think I live in an igloo. Whatever.

My pals back east think much the same. They think all of Colorado is one big ski run at 12,000 feet, under 20 feet of powder snow for 10 months of the year, never seeing the sun, or some nonsense along those lines.

When one of my pals flew out last year to ride the trains out here, he could not believe the prairie that surrounds Denver airport. Most of my pals back east have no idea what lies east of the Front Range for 100-150 miles to the Kansas border. Their impression of Colorado is based on 2 things, nightly newsreel footage of semi-trucks jack-knifed on I-70 at Eisenhower Tunnel, or the excesses of the wealthy types up at Aspen & Vail. Millions hold these same views, having no idea that east of the Front Range we are officially "Alpine Desert" which denotes "high and dry."

The best "high and dry" I know of is a bottle of Beefeater's.

s/Mike

[CareFreeAZ]

Escape Caifornia: keep letting everyone you know think it is always cold in Denver and don't ever tell them about the average 300 days of sunshine. That will keep Denver livable without having everyone want to move there. Just a thought

[Charles]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

We've noticed a big divide in people's reactions based on age and life experience. People about our age (34 and 29) are generally excited for us and the opportunity a city with a more reasonable cost of living can provide. People a generation older say things like "Its cold there." That's all my mom can think of any time the subject comes up. Of course she was born in LA, has never lived anywhere else, has owned the same house since 1974 and is thus insulated from today's outrageous housing costs.

Are people (especially people on the coasts) generally supportive of your plans or do they think you're moving to some middle of nowhere cow town that's buried under 10ft of snow 6 months of the year?

Wow, did this post hit me. This is exactly the experience I had. My parents are from Buffalo, moved to LA in 1958. My mom thought I was making a big mistake to move to Colorado. (Today our five year old had a soccer game in the Springs an it was around 40, but only the parents were cold.) Yes, they are insulated from high housing costs, they can barely drive so they don't worry about traffic. They still think it is 1958 with the orange trees in the foreground and snow capped San Gabriels in the background.... They rarely get over the hill to the scummier parts of LA. People of our (46, 38) generation were envious. But we, my wife's brother, and four other couples our age who we've known since the 80s and 90s have moved out of LA to Columbus, OH, some Chicago suburb, Denver, Nashville (Nissan moved there), and Boulder (professor there).

My parents still live in the world below.

The house I grew up in Canoga Park, early 1960s.

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by missingcol

Almost all of our Bay Area friends think it makes no sense for us to move to CO. Cold, snow, no IT jobs, no excellent colleges for kids, that is all they can think of. This makes my wife hesitate to quit her job.

Not true at all. IT is my spouse's industry, and it's doing reasonably well in the Denver metro area. Corporate Express just did a big lay-off, but IHS and Great West life are known to be hiring. Compared to the number of jobs available in the Bay area (that's where we're from), it may seem like there aren't many IT jobs here, but I think it's an unfair comparison.

Also, Colorado is not a cold, miserable place to live. Yes, we can get a lot of snow, but we also get a lot of sunshine. If you want cold, miserable, snowy winters, try Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, or anywhere in the northern tier. Colorado snow just doesn't hold a candle to the interminable winters of the northeast and northern midwest.

Furthermore, Colorado does have a couple of very good colleges. My daughter wants to attend the Colorado School of Mines, which has a great reputation. Besides, most young adults don't stick close to home when heading off to university, so Stanford is still a possibility for those who want and can afford it.

[MaddieClaire]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

We've noticed a big divide in people's reactions based on age and life experience. People about our age (34 and 29) are generally excited for us and the opportunity a city with a more reasonable cost of living can provide. People a generation older say things like "Its cold there." That's all my mom can think of any time the subject comes up. Of course she was born in LA, has never lived anywhere else, has owned the same house since 1974 and is thus insulated from today's outrageous housing costs.

Are people (especially people on the coasts) generally supportive of your plans or do they think you're moving to some middle of nowhere cow town that's buried under 10ft of snow 6 months of the year?

My family's reaction was the same as your family's reaction!
They think I'm completely NUTS! LOL