Just got back from a 5 day trip to Denver. (Aurora: transplants, loan) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

portican · 10-30-2006, 02:49 PM

Hi everyone... just wanted to give you my imput about the denver area. My family (including 2 kids..2yrs and 4yrs) just got back from the Denver area.

My husband went to Colorado State and suggested that we go take a look. We are originally from MD and moved to Boston just 6 months ago. We don't feel that the Boston area is our best fit.

During our trip we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Centennial. We absolutely LOVED it. It's great for families. They offer complimentary breakfast cooked to order, and yes it does include belgian waffels and bacon... YUM!! They also offer a complimentary reception from 5 to 7 pm or so with a free open bar and a veggie dip station. Great after a long day of sightseeing.

Our trip was focused on visiting as many neighborhoods as possible, meeting the locals and having fun. We went to Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Aurora, Loan Tree, Westminster, Golden, Evergreen, Fort Collins, Boulder, Castle Rock, Parker and Denver. We put in about 700 miles during 4 days. The first day there was a blizzard that melted away by the next day.

The weather was absoutely wonderful. The car thermometer stated 55 degrees but felt like 70 with the wonderful sunshine that I could not get enough of. We personally preferred to focus south of Denver. My personal achievement was to finally see a Super Target. This is seperate form this subject but something that I would find to be beneficial for our family.

We visited new home constructed in a few cities. Castle Rock that was the most southern from Denver offered the most. $257,000 for a quarter acre lot with a 4 bedroom house and $45,000 allowance to spend on the house. I preferred Parker because although it was pricier at about loww $300,000 for a new house with 4 bedrooms it was closer in and had many more store and areas to visit like parks and a resevoir to be built in 2010.

I found everywhere to be absolutely beautiful. The art influence is everywhere. Even the noise barrier walls along 25 were decorated with different print inbeded on the cement. Everything was clean and well maintained.

The best part of all, is the friendly communities. Everyone was happy to talk to us and give us advice about the areas. They woulg go out of their way to help us.

After our trip we have decided to move there in the next 6 months to a year.

Please feel free to ask any questions, I will answer the best I can based on what we have learned from the visit.

I'll stop rambling on now. I'm just so excited from the visit.

Thanks,
Ana

2bindenver · 10-30-2006, 03:33 PM

We are happy that you had a good time, and discovered what you like about Colorado.

portican · 10-30-2006, 04:26 PM

Thank you. I left out one of the best parts about Colorado. We only managed to see a small part, but found that there are somany activities that can be enjoyed by adults and kids.

We went to the "Boo at the Zoo" where we trick or treated in the zoo and saw all the animals. That was wonderful. We also saw the Hammonds Candy Tour, the Rail Road Museum, also we went to the white fence farm restaurant (the best fried chicken and petting zoo in one). I'm not quite sure if the chicken is from their farm or somewhere else.

We saw so many wonderful parks and areas for our 2 dogs to run freely without leashes.

I read many of the post on this site before going there and I wanted to give back to those that had given advice.

Ana

CAMom · 11-05-2006, 03:34 PM

Dear Ana,

It appears you had the same experience as us. We visited there from California and noticed the weather just like you and how pleasant was. We also liked the Parker area.

Good Luck to you and yours!

BabyBoomers2 · 11-06-2006, 11:08 AM

FYI: Don't let the weather here in the Denver metro area (and south) decieve you!! It is said that our heaviest snow month is in March.....don't think I would totally believe that statement. Just because you may see some people out jogging in shorts when the temp is 40 degrees outside......most likely they have lived here for a long, long time and have gotten use to the weather here. You newcomers to this year, especially Southern California, the winter weather here just may "stun" you. There have been people that moved here from Southern California, been in one of our "harder" winters and......moved right back to "sunny/warmer" Southern California.
We didn't move back, but we are orginally from Indiana/Michigan.

gpraceman · 11-06-2006, 01:31 PM

Also, don't let people try to scare you off. Many people have made the transition from SoCal and would not move back, probably many more times the number of people that got a chill and moved back. There are many SoCal transplants on this forum that would attest to that.

BabyBoomers2 · 11-06-2006, 02:04 PM

Not trying to scare her or anyone else from moving here.....just stating simple truth/fact about the winter weather here. It is NOTHING like living in Costa Mesa, Anahiem, LA, the beach towns or San Diego. However, it is more like living in the mountain towns of Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead or those surrounding areas....snow/cold. When a another big snow storm hits the Parker/Castlerock/Highlands Ranch area again this winter and some of those "freshly" moved Southern California people see it coming down "hot and heavy"......then they will find out that YES we do indeed get snow/cold weather here. We are very certain that there are people that move here from Southern California (born/raised there) that get really shocked at the weather here (summer or winter). They aren't use to it at all.

BabyBoomers2 · 11-06-2006, 02:08 PM

Not trying to scare her or anyone else from moving here.....just stating simple truth/fact about the winter weather here. It is NOTHING like living in Costa Mesa, Anahiem, LA, the beach towns or San Diego. However, it is more like living in the mountain towns of Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead or those surrounding areas....snow/cold. When a another big snow storm hits the Parker/Castlerock/Highlands Ranch area again this winter and some of those "freshly" moved Southern California people see it coming down "hot and heavy"......then they will find out that YES we do indeed get snow/cold weather here. We are very certain that there are people that move here from Southern California (born/raised there) that get really shocked at the weather here (summer or winter). They aren't use to it at all.

WIGooFan · 11-06-2006, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by portican

Our trip was focused on visiting as many neighborhoods as possible, meeting the locals and having fun. We went to Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Aurora, Loan Tree, Westminster, Golden, Evergreen, Fort Collins, Boulder, Castle Rock, Parker and Denver. We put in about 700 miles during 4 days. The first day there was a blizzard that melted away by the next day.

After our trip we have decided to move there in the next 6 months to a year.

Please feel free to ask any questions, I will answer the best I can based on what we have learned from the visit.

Thanks,
Ana

Where do you plan to move? I, too, plan to relocate within the next 6 months or so... I have been checking into Broomfield, Wheat Ridge and Loveland. Did you happen to see any of those places? Do you have any info about them?

cfamily4 · 11-06-2006, 10:51 PM

Hi Ana,

We too are thinking of relocating to Colorado. That is my.......... husband 35, myself 33, our two boys ages 6 and 4 1/2 as well as dogs (2), kitten, guniea pig, gecko, fish, and mini turtle!

I have always felt a draw to Colorado, ever since I was HS and wanted to move there, even though I had never even visited! Over the last several years my husband and I took a few trips out there but it was always to the Buena Vista area, which is such a small town. We pretty much drove an hour and a half in each direction, but that's it. We have never been to Denver, but coming from California, it seems like it might be a good match.
I grew up in Santa Monica, went to college in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, then moved inland to Cameron Park, which is 30 miles east of Sacramento towards Lake Tahoe. We are in the foothills, and it is VERY HOT in the summer. It really is a great place to raise a family, but my husband has a 1 hour commute each way and it is just not worth it. We would like to make a change before our kids get to old.

We really don't want to spend more than 300K. Can you tell me of a good area/schools where we could buy a house for this amount?
We bought our house for 300K 6 years ago, and it has doubled in price, but we have had financial difficulty and taken LOTS of equity out, which means that we cannot afford more than 300K for our next house. I'm a stay at home mom, and would rather my husband be home more than to have him make a lot of money and be gone all the time.

You think you ramble? Look at me go!

Cell