Possible move from Atlanta to Denver (Breckenridge: foreclosed, renting, condo)

[dom822]

I am getting married in October but my future wife and I have already agreed that we would like to change things up and make a move elsewhere once we are married. Atlanta has been good to us but we're looking for a place that better fits our lifestyle. The Denver area has always been high up on my list of places of interest. Austin TX is also in play, as we have visited there multiple times and enjoyed it very much. Neither of us have been to Colorado before, but we will be visiting Denver in August, as I have a close friend getting married in Breckenridge and we plan to stay for a few days after that wedding to explore the surrounding areas and towns.

I am mainly asking for some help with guidance on certain areas or towns that may best fit our wants and needs.

Some background on the both of us:

-Both mid-twenties and CPAs, no kids

-We plan to get a dog sometime after we are married.

-We both love trying new and local restaurants and bars. I would say we are certainly more into the laid back bar scenes that would have good drinks/music and not so much the loud and wild bars.

-Being active is part of our everyday life. We both like to run/bike/hike and be outside. I think that is why Austin and Denver have an appeal to us, as both are known for being 'active' cities and having a number of options for outdoor activities. So anywhere with parks and/or trails nearby is definitely a plus.

-Likely housing budget down the road - $275k-350k


If we like what we see when we visit we will likely amp up our search for new jobs or possible transfers with our current employers. I think renting in the short-term is going to be the plan on any new destination in order to feel out certain areas, but buying is certainly in the plans. This is why I certainly would appreciate any helpful suggestions on parts of town that we might enjoy and would be within our budget down the line. Hopefully that will help with any suggestions. As I mentioned, we will be checking out as many areas as possible when we are there in August, but it would be great if I had some sort of way to narrow things down.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[davebarnes]

Austin houses are cheaper.
Denver property taxes are cheaper.
Austin is humid and Denver is dry.
Austin is Texas and Denver is not.

[Texas Ag 93]

Austin is not the same city as it was even 10 years ago (and that is not supposed to be a compliment). Crowded, tons of traffic due to the fact that the infrastructure is so far behind the population boom. All of Texas is in the midst of a major drought and the Austin climate is very, very hot and I would call it dry-ish, not humid (but then again, I am from Houston). I far prefer the climate here in Denver and the fact that there are actual seasons.

Overall housing might be cheaper in Austin as compared to Denver, but Austin prices can be high in desirable urban areas and your property taxes will be much higher there. The good point about Austin is that you won't be paying state income taxes.

The area around both Austin and Denver are beautiful and offer similar activities- hiking, camping etc, but Texas is on a smaller scale, of course.

Can't go wrong with either location. Good choices.

[brown_dog_us]

We moved here from ATL last year. Denver and Atlanta are very similar, but here are a few differences:

1. Denver is a bit more vibrant for the 25-35 crowd. Better bars, but not as many good restaurants.

2. Housing is a lot more expensive in Denver.

3. Denver is more condensed and people tend to live where they work. Atlanta has a sprawl problem.

4. There are better neighborhoods for living in Denver than living in Atlanta. There a re few nice parts of downtown Atlanta, but most of the better places are OTP.

5. Atlanta has better fresh produce.

6. People in Denver drive really slow. Or maybe people in Atlanta drive really fast?

7. Completely my own opinion, but I think the long term employment picture is a better in Denver. Denver today reminds me of Atlanta 20 years ago.

Those are off the top of my head. If you want any specific advice let me know. You might want to search the forum because I remember comparing Atlanta and Denver neighborhoods maybe 6 months ago.

[dom822]

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

Austin is not the same city as it was even 10 years ago (and that is not supposed to be a compliment). Crowded, tons of traffic due to the fact that the infrastructure is so far behind the population boom. All of Texas is in the midst of a major drought and the Austin climate is very, very hot and I would call it dry-ish, not humid (but then again, I am from Houston). I far prefer the climate here in Denver and the fact that there are actual seasons.

Overall housing might be cheaper in Austin as compared to Denver, but Austin prices can be high in desirable urban areas and your property taxes will be much higher there. The good point about Austin is that you won't be paying state income taxes.

The area around both Austin and Denver are beautiful and offer similar activities- hiking, camping etc, but Texas is on a smaller scale, of course.

Can't go wrong with either location. Good choices.

I definitely hear you when speak of Austin. I've visited there 3 or 4 times in the past couple years due to a close friend doing grad school at UT. His big complaint about Austin (and he is a big Austin fan) was the traffic and lack of mass public transit. I have heard from him about the struggle for the city to actually develop an infrastructure to support it's booming population. I could definitely see some of the problems they are likely going to have.

Agree with a lot of what you're saying and appreciate the input.

[dom822]

Originally Posted by brown_dog_us

We moved here from ATL last year. Denver and Atlanta are very similar, but here are a few differences:

1. Denver is a bit more vibrant for the 25-35 crowd. Better bars, but not as many good restaurants.
I like the sound of that. Atlanta has grown to become a really good food city, so a drop off in the amount of quality restaurants in Denver is understandable. Atlanta's food scene is one of the top things I like about the city.

2. Housing is a lot more expensive in Denver.
From preliminary research, the housing definitely seems more competitive in Denver right now than Atlanta even though Atlanta's housing market has seen some major improvements, say, in the last two years. I got into a foreclosed condo in Midtown about then and the price has gone up a ton. But I have read a lot that Denver realtors are claiming houses are going like crazy.

3. Denver is more condensed and people tend to live where they work. Atlanta has a sprawl problem.
Atlanta certainly does have that problem. It is probably one of my biggest gripes with the city and I live very close to a MARTA station. The lack of mass public transit to get people to all the different pockets of town is just ridiculous.

4. There are better neighborhoods for living in Denver than living in Atlanta. There a re few nice parts of downtown Atlanta, but most of the better places are OTP.
How is the downtown area in Denver? Coming from Atlanta you probably know 'downtown' is a complete black hole and an embarrassment.

5. Atlanta has better fresh produce.

6. People in Denver drive really slow. Or maybe people in Atlanta drive really fast?
Haha I definitely am an 'aggressive' driver. Especially with a couple years of Atlanta driving under my belt. Would be an adjustment for sure.

7. Completely my own opinion, but I think the long term employment picture is a better in Denver. Denver today reminds me of Atlanta 20 years ago.
Denver seems to be a really big place for startup companies right now. Austin gets a bunch of attention, but I see a lot of potential in Denver going forward, which is part of the equation for me in terms of where to move. I want a metro area that is growing with a lot of opportunities combined with the ability to have an 'active' lifestyle.

Those are off the top of my head. If you want any specific advice let me know. You might want to search the forum because I remember comparing Atlanta and Denver neighborhoods maybe 6 months ago.

Thanks a lot for the input. I'll do my best to try and dig up some info from when you made the move.

[bluescreen73]

Something else to add to the list of differences between Atlanta (and Austin) and Denver.
Drastically better summertime weather. Leaving your windows open at night is the rule in Denver rather than the exception. Even when it's pushing 100 during the day, it'll drop into the 60s at night. If you happen to have AC in your home you won't run it very often.

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Something else to add to the list of differences between Atlanta (and Austin) and Denver.
Drastically better summertime weather. Leaving your windows open at night is the rule in Denver rather than the exception. Even when it's pushing 100 during the day, it'll drop into the 60s at night. If you happen to have AC in your home you won't run it very often.

This was very odd to us when we moved out here from Florida. The idea of a house not have AC just boggled my mind. After being here a year, we completely see why though.

[dom822]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Something else to add to the list of differences between Atlanta (and Austin) and Denver.
Drastically better summertime weather. Leaving your windows open at night is the rule in Denver rather than the exception. Even when it's pushing 100 during the day, it'll drop into the 60s at night. If you happen to have AC in your home you won't run it very often.

Major plus. That is one thing I am looking forward to. I moved to SW Florida as a kid from PA before high school and have been living in Florida or Georgia since then. So I am extremely used to humidity and 'sticky' summer nights. Can't say that I am a big fan of them and being somewhere with low humidity and comfortable nights is appealing.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by dom822

Major plus. That is one thing I am looking forward to. I moved to SW Florida as a kid from PA before high school and have been living in Florida or Georgia since then. So I am extremely used to humidity and 'sticky' summer nights. Can't say that I am a big fan of them and being somewhere with low humidity and comfortable nights is appealing.

I just built a new house in Denver and we installed A/C and a whole house attic fan that draws outside air in from any open windows. It was 90 here this week. We close the house up during the day and the A/C started to kick on in late afternoon to keep the house in the low 70s. By 8:00pm, we opened up all the windows again and turned the house fan on.