Retiring To Denver/South Area? (Boulder, Greeley: apartment, home owners insurance, how much)

[BabyBoomers2]

Or, should we say......."Coming back to Denver metro/south"!

Wife fully retires in 3 years. I'm retired now. We are in our mid-60's. We lived in both Englewood (apartment) and Parker (bought a house) for 5 1/2 years (mid 2002 thru late 2007). Back then, we were both working full-time jobs. I drove to a job just north of Coors Field and wife worked off of the I-25/Lincoln. If we move back there in 3 years, we won't have to worry about driving in blizzard condition weather to and from work b/c we will be retired. To us, that'll be very nice.

We really can't believe just how much we miss living on the Eastern Slope and all the things we did.......Stock Show & Rodeo, CO State Fair, Greeley 4th of July Celebration/Rodeo, NBA, NFL, MLB, the Elk "rut" in RMNP and boating/fishing on Chatfield and Cherry Creek. And, now Penton is there and not the "snake" or Cutler makes NFL much more interesting. Oh, can't forget Black Hawk for the times we get "gambling fever".

Living in northeastern FL, we do miss the "white stuff" at Christmas and all the décor Denver metro has. Downtown Denver, Parker and Highlands Ranch were beautiful at Christmas!

Believe it or not, we still have our winter parkas and all of our Western clothes (for rodeo times).

Another thing "FOR SURE".......we do know the area (streets/freeways)!

From the above, do you think we could live there again and be happy?

[Lost Roses]

Of course! Though in 3 years Peyton will be happily retired with a Super Bowl ring on his finger. And depending on what the voters say, there may be gambling on the plains as well as in the mountains.

[mic111]

Absolutely!

I few things have changed. The traffic is much more congested. Just a year or two ago I could confidently post on this forum that if you went across town at non-commute hours it was fine. Recently I am finding that is not so. It is congested all the time.

Housing prices have skyrocketed! This might be something that hampers your dream in that it is hard to buy a house for $400K that you wouldn't have paid $300K for when you were here. However because people have equity in the homes they are much more fixed up or flipped. Although you have to be very careful with the flipped because you can't see what they covered up.

Restaurants and shopping is better. With the booming economy and more people more things have opened up. I see this as a positive.

Were trying to decide whether to retire here or some place else. I run through a similar list in my head to yours of why we would miss the area.

[mollygee]

Planning a move back to Denver; live about 100 miles south. Moving back, for the same reasons, you have, and add Boulder and all of the great museums, parks and restaurants in the area. (noticed some huge lakes and reservoirs on my last trip to Denver.)

The traffic is congested; but the mass transportation, that includes light rail, and a light rail from Union Station to the airport is in the works......lovely. Since I may not be able or even want to drive in the future; the mass transportation is a biggie for me!

[Mike from back east]

Welcome back. IIRC you went to NC, and now you're in FL, which we checked into many times but couldn't tolerate the heat, humidity, bugs, hurricanes, crooked builders, outrageous hurricane surcharges on home owners insurance (especially older homes) and tourists.

Before you return I hope you give boating a try on my hometown Chesapeake Bay, it's a great place to boat with all those rivers.

[suzco]

IIRC, you were pretty fed up and frustrated with our winters, making you fear for your health - might be fun to bring up some of your old posts about when you decided to leave Parker, and see where you've changed, and how you think you might react differently now.

[vegaspilgrim]

I do remember reading dozens (without exaggeration) of your posts where you mentioned how you fell on ice on your driveway and had to have shoulder rotator cuff surgery. Also about how you were bored in Denver.

I have a suggestion for you if you do want to move back out west-- Reno, NV, "the biggest little city in the world." I lived there for six months. It's a beautiful place, high desert valley surrounded by mountains on all 4 sides. There's a lot to do there and it's extremely easy to get around town. I would not recommend Reno to young singles or to working professionals in general, because the job market there is pitiful, but for retired couples it could be ideal. Housing is MUCH more affordable than Denver-- as well as newer housing on average. Also, no state income tax. Reno gets only about half the snow Denver gets and is a few degrees warmer year round. Only 45min from Lake Tahoe, 2.5 hours from Sacramento, 4 hrs from San Francisco. Every single outdoor activity you can do in Denver can be done there, except much closer. Where I lived in south Reno was a 25min drive to the nearest ski area (Mt Rose). There are casinos there, and there are rodeos in northern Nevada. College sports at UNR.

[BabyBoomers2]

Don't remember ever stating that we were "bored". While living there, we found numerous things to do..........that's one reason why we are seriously considering moving back. As far as my fall, and RC surgery that followed, I found out that a fall on a shoulder can happen anywhere, including here in FL. I fell last year in our apt. complex parking lot (other shoulder) and will require RC surgery within the next few months. Since I'd be retired, if we come back, I wouldn't be driving from Parker to downtown Denver Monday thru Friday for a job. Wife would be retired as well, so she wouldn't be driving in winter weather either. If anything to worry about during the Denver winter months, it would be how our bodies might get achy from cold weather. But, if we don't have to go out that much into the weather, we think we could handle it. Being retired and living in a "snow belt" area can be nice due to the fact of not having to travel to and from a job each day. Am I right???

A big plus for us is that we know our way around metro Denver, north to south and east to west.

[mic111]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Being retired and living in a "snow belt" area can be nice due to the fact of not having to travel to and from a job each day. Am I right???

Yes you are right. It is nice and easy. They forecast in advance when the big storms are coming in. Everyone runs to the store to stock up on groceries. Then you wait it out at home. If there is prolonged cold or bad weather stores like King Soopers offers delivery service.
https://homeshop.kroger.com/sf/servlet/storefront

You can contract with a service to plow your driveway and shovel your walk. And as you know things melt off pretty quickly and you are back in business.

Also as someone who grew up near lake Erie in the midwest we are about as far from a snow belt as you can get. What we get doesn't even qualify as living in a snowy region.
Snowbelt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia