Relocating from Los Angeles to Denver (Aurora, Fort Collins: new home, neighborhoods, buyers)

[Texas Ag 93]

With regards to the fear of earthquakes that has been mentioned...

I was born in Redondo Beach in 1971. My parents had lived out in L.A. for about 5 years by that point, but both hailed from the Midwest. There was a large quake in the Summer or Fall of '71. After that, my Mom told my Dad she'd had enough and wanted to go back to KC. The earthquakes, and the intangible "not wanting to raise her children in L.A." that you sometimes hear mentioned, were the reasons she cited.

It seems like so many people are trying to leave CA for many of the reasons you mentioned, I'm not surprised at all by your desire to relocate. On the surface, to live so far away from where you work doesn't seem logical, but the work you do is very nontraditional, so why not?

[alliern]

Birdie'sMom ~ yes, for what you want and what you are wanting to pay (based on your direct message to me) your budget is somewhat low for Evergreen. I just sent you a DM, but then read your post above that your inbox is full. I think it's because you are a new poster on here that C-D limits your direct messages? I could be wrong about that, but it does make sense.

[Birdie'sMom]

Ok, I'm learning this 'city-data' world and I must say, it's almost as amusing and odd as I had anticipated. I wish I could inbox people back, but for some reason I'm limited to how many direct messages I can do in a 24 hour period. So I'll clarify some things here on the thread, so that no one else actually wastes even a second of their time doing what others have attempted to do.

1. We are very private. So much so, that we don't have online profiles on social media, there are no photos of our daughter online etc. With that said, my age & my husband's age are 'guesstimates.' He is well into his upper forties, and well, I'm closer to his age, than to 32, I'll just put it that way.

2. My husband is Italian/black, me, myself am biracial. Though neither of those 'races/ethnicities' are 'black.' We are a very diverse couple.

3. Neither he nor myself are from the Bay nor Ohio, though we both have lived there. He is from an area NEAR there, and I am from a state close to Ohio and similar in style.

I'm posting these things b/c I see that for some very odd reason, which I anticipated b/c after all this is the creepy internet, I made sure not to post our actual FACTS on here. Just similar enough to still get measurable advice, without disclosing our personal info, for the very reason that has been demonstrated within 24 hours of me signing up.

[alliern]

That's telling them! Are you sure you're not from NYC? Your bluntness is refreshing

Honestly, this site can be very valuable if you can get past some of the useless, creepy, crap and focus on the real information that many helpful people provide. I found it to be invaluable in 2006-2008 when my family was looking to move 2,000 miles from everything I had ever know up to that point.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by alliern

That's telling them! Are you sure you're not from NYC? Your bluntness is refreshing

Honestly, this site can be very valuable if you can get past some of the useless, creepy, crap and focus on the real information that many helpful people provide. I found it to be invaluable in 2006-2008 when my family was looking to move 2,000 miles from everything I had ever know up to that point.

This site can be very helpful is people follow what the Terms of Service ask them to, i.e., give us a lot of specifics in the first post. We endlessly have to ask people their budget, the work site(s), kids/school needs, etc. If we get this info up front then our regulars on here can be very helpful. Very. This OP gave us a lot of info in her first posting (Yaaaaay!). She will get a lot of help here.

Here's what our TOS asks for: "When asking questions about a location, give as much detail as you can, so we can zero in on the info you need. If house hunting, what is your price level or rental amount. How many BR's, Baths, square feet, lot size, etc, do you need? Pets? SFH, TH, Condo, mobile home? In-town, rural, college town, military town, mountains? Schools for children? Gated community, golf course community, active senior community? Do you need to stable a horse? Is there an RV or boat trailer to consider? The more you tell us, the sooner our regular posters can reply with specificity. Same for any other criteria you have. Please avoid open-ended requests like "I'm moving to your city, tell me EVERYTHING I need to know."

I know these words well. I wrote them ten years ago when this site was an infant.

[Greentea323]

Originally Posted by fiberpills

I've been quietly lurking this forum and don't always agree with what you say, but you have made a very good point. Community comes from the people and not the physical features of a place. The OP can move anywhere she pleases, but it would seem to be an expensive mistake to move halfway across the country only to replicate what was had in the old home and to replicate the problems in the new home.

As someone wise once said, change comes from within.

I agree. Livecontent worded that very well, it was exactly what I was thinking.

OP, have you looked at Evergreen or Genesse? My relative had two homes there when I was a kid, and we often spent the school breaks at them while they were on vacation. It has a much more Mountain-town feel than Parker, is established, and I always found kids to play with. During snow storms there would be people skiing around the neighborhood, snow shoes, sledding, and in the summer in Genesse at least, there was a community pool. The neighbors we met were very friendly, and many of the homes are very nice.

[Greentea323]

Just saw you looked at Evergreen. The homes are older, but from what I remember is that some newer ones were mixed in, in Genesse. There were also old tiny cabins for sale, where I'm guessing new homes were built.

I think everyone is mentioning Evergreen because of the community vibe that you were looking for.

Another cool place to look would be Morrison, Golden, or Boulder. Does it have to be near Denver? What about Aspen? Glenwood Springs? I'm not sure about air travel, but I'm assuming there's small airports nearby. What about Colorado Springs? There's some very nice areas and Pike's Peak is gorgeous!

It sounds like you're really settled on The Pinery, and without knowing exactly what you're looking for in a home, I think many of us are thinking of the places we perceive as nicer. Nicer because of amenities, community, etc. I picture The Pinery as where my grandparent's friends retire to, after cashing in equity on their home they bought for $50k in 1970, because that's what many of them have done there, and in similar areas along the outside of the metro area.

[Birdie'sMom]

thanks. our jobs are very non traditional. right now my husband works between atlanta/nyc. so whether we were in LA or Colorado, it doesn't matter, as neither of them are where he's working. Yes, the earthquakes are not something I take lightly, and I've never experienced a 'big' one, but the ones I have that are moderate are big enough to make me realize that it's not something I want to deal with. lol

[Birdie'sMom]

Hi. Thanks! It's the Timbers at the Pinery. Initially during our search I found quite a few homes that were gorgeous and priced well, but we were dissuaded from venturing out there due to varying opinions from folks we know.

I think we checked online for homes in Golden, didn't find anything we liked in Boulder. I know the inventory is low right now b/c of the winter and holidays and more will probably become available afterward, but we are looking to purchase sooner than later.

How is Golden in general? I need to research the homes there again and see if there was anything that stood out to us.

[Birdie'sMom]

With such an emphasis placed on the high like ability of evergreen, I wish we could actually find something decent there to even go check out. There really isn't much. I mean, I guess I can raise our price point by $200,000 more or so, to see if that opens it up a bit. The way evergreen is described really sounds great, but there literally hasn't been one home we remotely liked even on a moderate level that is available. The inventory there is unbelievably low.