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Old 12-10-2013, 11:01 AM
 
16 posts, read 22,062 times
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My husband and I both grew up in the Northeast, and we love it, but it's become such a grind. We want to start a family in a place that is a little slower-moving and is close to nature, and around friendly people. We are socially liberal with a libertarian streak, but we honestly don't pay attention to politics. We like to fly fish, and as we understand Denver is an area where we could get into some action in under an hour's drive. We are going to start a family soon, so we want to be near good schools. We're super social, gregarious, welcoming, and straightforward people with a very low tolerance for BS or pretentiousness. For fun we like to go fishing, hiking, camping, and snowboarding in the winter. I enjoy a good little independent coffeeshop, and I read a lot. We love football. We'll take sports bars over anywhere that serves a martini and requires any kind of "dressing up." I'm vegan, but my husband is an omnivore and he enjoys hunting.

I work in healthcare, he works in business. We will both likely be working in the city, and we will live there (not the suburbs) because we do not like commuting.

We also are considering Portland as well as Seattle, but we hear friends who live there in Seattle say things like "the stereotypes are true, it's a passive aggressive culture" and "not the friendliest place" and "it takes awhile to get to know people." Not our thing.

Do you think we'd like it in Denver? We're spending the winter with friends in Crested Butte and at some point in January we will take a drive up and visit!
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Old 12-10-2013, 11:16 AM
 
5,444 posts, read 6,948,764 times
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From your description, you 'should' like Denver. Having said that, you won't really know until you visit and stay for a bit. If you really plan on moving somewhere, I would recommend visiting the place you want to move to. In your shoes, I would try and visit Denver, Portland, and Seattle and see which suits you the best.
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Old 12-10-2013, 11:25 AM
 
Location: Colorado
2,483 posts, read 4,357,849 times
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I can't speak for what you will like or not, but:
  • Slower moving than the northeast: Yes (I guess, relatively)
  • Close to nature: Yes, relatively, but the mountains are an hour or so drive to the west; the foothills about 30-40 minutes (depending on traffic where you are in the city of course)
  • Friendly people: Yes, sure, why not? Haven't seen anyplace with 0 friendly people though.
  • Liberal politics: Yes (I guess, I usually don't ask)
  • Fly fish: Yes
  • Good schools: Yes (varying per district/school/teacher)
  • BS or pretentiousness: No, not as a trademark (but kind of hard to know what you may perceive as such)
  • Fishing, Hiking, Camping, Snowboarding: Yes, if you're willing to drive a ways
  • Good Independent Coffeeshops: Yes, but not on every corner
  • Football: Yes
  • Sports Bars: Yes
  • Vegan food: Yes (especially if you shop and prepare it yourself)
  • Omnivorous food: Yes
  • Hunting: Yes, but not really in the city

So it sounds like you might like it in Denver, but I sort of just described about 100 other cities too, to a greater or lesser degree. I wouldn't listen to any stereotypes about Seattle or elsewhere… People who spread those things are either wearing rose color glasses for a certain city or hold some kind of grudge against it.

Come visit.
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Old 12-10-2013, 11:27 AM
 
599 posts, read 951,283 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by serenitynurse View Post
We like to fly fish, and as we understand Denver is an area where we could get into some action in under an hour's drive.

We are going to start a family soon, so we want to be near good schools.

We will both likely be working in the city, and we will live there (not the suburbs) because we do not like commuting.
Fly fishing within an hour of Denver is pretty much limited to carp in the Platte downtown. Yes, a lot of people do that. People fly fish for trout in Waterton Canyon, Clear Creek or Boulder Creek, but depending how high up you go, exactly where you are coming from, and traffic, it might take more than an hour to get to those.

Most Denver Public Schools are less than awesome. Just so you know.

I would not assume you both will be working in the city. Denver is not like many east coast cities where most employment is in the city center. Employment is dispersed over a metro area 40 miles long and 30 miles wide.

You should also know that salaries are generally a lot lower than most areas of the east coast, while living expenses are not much lower, especially rent, food, entertainment, insurance, license fees, etc.
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Old 12-10-2013, 11:52 AM
 
Location: 0.83 Atmospheres
11,477 posts, read 11,479,255 times
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There is definitely good fly fishing within an hour or so of Denver. There is world class fly fishing within 2 hours.
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Old 12-10-2013, 11:54 AM
 
26,144 posts, read 48,812,943 times
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The OP needs only to use our Advanced search tool with the word FISHING in the search box and click on THREADS only to find all sorts of fishing info.

Same for many other topics in these forums.
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Old 12-10-2013, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Northwest Suburbs of Denver
434 posts, read 1,115,269 times
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Yes, I think you would like it here. We just moved here 4 months ago from the DC area and while we are looking for different things, I think you'll find what you are looking for.
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Old 12-10-2013, 02:33 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
45 posts, read 75,812 times
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From the info you provided, I think you would love it here!

Here's why:

1) Denver does have a bit of a slower paced lifestyle (compared to back east)

2) Nature is all around us out here. There aren't many other places in the country where you can be in the middle of the city one hour, and then out enjoying the mountains / nature the next hour.

3) For the most part, people here are very accepting of people with differing political views. You'll find a diverse mix from conservatives to liberals and everything in between.

4) Denver has great schools, even if you live close to the city. You can compare different schools around the area by going to GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community (I am not affiliated with that site in any way, but it is a good resource).

5) Your hobbies (hiking, fishing, camping, snowboarding) are the definition of an active Colorado lifestyle, and you'll find a wealth of options for each throughout the year.

6) Since you enjoy independent coffee shops, you'll love of the little "hole in the wall" places we have around town. Sure there seems to be a Starbucks on every other corner, but many of us here love to support our local businesses as well.

7) You love football, and we have the Denver Broncos... How much more perfect could that be?

8) If you'll be working in the city, and don't want to commute, you'll love the neighborhoods near downtown. Depending on your budget, I would recommend looking into the Highlands (not to be confused with Highlands Ranch), Platt Park, Washington Park, Cherry Creek (north and south), and any others around there. Each are very close to downtown, have a ton of great shopping / dining / entertainment, have some great schools, and are family friendly.

Hope that helps!
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Old 12-10-2013, 02:46 PM
 
16 posts, read 22,062 times
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Thanks for all the help! Otterprods and others, I agree that I shouldn't listen to stereotypes or what disgruntled people say about an area. Finding good, unbiased info can be tough. We are planning to also fly to Seattle to visit, but we're starting with evaluating Denver because it's closest to where we'll be in CB.

Also, thank you for the info about job locations. It's true, in other cities it's pretty much assumed that a job "in the city" will be downtown. So I guess we'd have to know where our jobs would be before we start thinking about where we might live. And it could be spread out over a big area it sounds like...
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Old 12-10-2013, 04:23 PM
 
Location: Berkeley Neighborhood, Denver, CO USA
17,683 posts, read 29,635,250 times
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Default True

Quote:
Originally Posted by serenitynurse View Post
I guess we'd have to know where our jobs would be before we start thinking about where we might live.
We (the pundits here) always ask 2 questions of you whenever you ask about where to live:
1. Where are your jobs (address or cross streets as postal codes/cities don't mean much)?
2. What is your budget?
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