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I moved to Denver in the fall of 2013, from Nashville, TN. It was for my wife's job and was glad for the opportunity to move there. I fell in love with a bigger city and being able to access all of the outdoor lifestyle that the state offers. Skiing out west is like nothing else on the east coast, and the hikes and Rocky Mountain views are incredible. I enjoyed scoping out all of the mountain towns and such when we could. Tried a lot of new foods and got really into craft beer. Pleasantly surprised with the weather. It didn't ever feel too cold in the city and a sunny day in the winter always helped things. Drier air is amazing for the weather (except I don't think my nasal passages every got acclimated even after 4 years.)
Fast forward to the end of 2017 and we relocated back east. Primary reason was for another job offer, but some secondary reasons were how much the city was bursting at the seams and how real estate got insane. We put in 5 or so offers during our time there, all at least 15% above asking, and were outbid time and time again. This got pretty frustrating, I'm sure locals felt this tenfold. The I70 traffic got to be pretty annoying as well whenever I got stuck in it (I'd avoid as best as I could, leaving at 5AM on Saturdays, usually do weekday trips, but it's now tough to avoid with and only will get worse.) We were looking at a more under the radar city and ended up buying a home in a walkable location to a lot of city amenities in the 400k range. That didn't get you much in Denver to stay close to the city in the years we were looking.
It was a great experience and it was really hard to leave. A lot of things are great about Denver and Colorado. Who knows, we may end up back that way, but currently the massive influx of people (yes I'm aware I was one of them) got to be a bit much for us, along real estate which seems too overvalued compared to other booming cities.
First, there is a good possibility that wife and I will be doing a "return to Colorado" in mid 2019. At that time, we will both be in our early 70's and retired, but perhaps look for a part-time job. Currently, living in northeastern FL, but really think we made a mistake moving here and leaving Colorado.
Before meeting my wife, for numerous years, my weekends had been involved with pro-rodeo as a roper. When we met, she absolutely loved what I had been doing, but I had already sold my horse and my roping days had pretty much ended. Good thing was that I was still working for stock contractors at rodeos. Took her to a lot of rodeos and she loved that. When we met, she completely agreed to move to Colorado from So Calif/Orange County. We both knew what winters were like since I was raised on a small farm in northeastern Indiana and she was raised in Lincoln Park, Mich. After we married in 2001, with Roper jeans (hers) and my Wranglers in-hand, along with our Resistol hats and Ariat Lace-Up Roper boots, moved to Colorado. Got a membership in the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame in the Springs for their events, went to numerous rodeos, bought a bowrider boat and hit local reservoirs (Chatfield and CC) for boating/fishing. Bought winter parkas, a snow blower and a house in Parker.
Now, we didn't sell the house and leave Colorado because we didn't like it, we left because I fell in ice/snow, that required a rotator cuff surgery. Never gave it one thought that either of us could fall anywhere we'd move to and sure enough, I fell in the driveway of the apartment complex we live in and that required the same surgery, but other shoulder. And, it was here in Florida during the summer.
For us, Colorado offers us so, so much more than any part of Florida could. IOW, we just don't make good "Southerners" or Florida people.
This time we are looking at northern Colorado, with much less diversity (which is fine to us), lot less population and traffic than here (population here: 931,000 and overall, 1.5 million). Where we are looking at: less than 80,000 and a whole lot less crime.
Colorado isn't made for everyone, just like Florida isn't. But, for us, Colorado and Wyoming is for us. Will be visiting this month for a week and go to CFD in Cheyenne.
Great thread, lots of good intel. I'm in the middle of a move to Denver from Brooklyn. Family of four, middle school-aged kids, just looking for a better quality of life and better schools for the kids. Denver checked more boxes than any other city we considered (Chicago, Austin, Raleigh, LA, NYC-burbs).
After 18 years in NYC, almost any city is an improvement except for food, walkability, and diversity. The premium to live in NYC is just not worth it for us anymore so we are making the move. Denver wins on lifestyle, weather, taxes, schools, cost of living, access to activities, even traffic (rush hour in Denver is tolerable when comparing it to the BQE at rush).
We will be out there full time in August and I know it will be an adjustment but after swimming upstream in NYC for all this time, we are looking forward to the change. Now I would move back to Brooklyn if I won the Powerball but that would be the only reason I would ever return.
Great thread, lots of good intel. I'm in the middle of a move to Denver from Brooklyn. Family of four, middle school-aged kids, just looking for a better quality of life and better schools for the kids. Denver checked more boxes than any other city we considered (Chicago, Austin, Raleigh, LA, NYC-burbs).
After 18 years in NYC, almost any city is an improvement except for food, walkability, and diversity. The premium to live in NYC is just not worth it for us anymore so we are making the move. Denver wins on lifestyle, weather, taxes, schools, cost of living, access to activities, even traffic (rush hour in Denver is tolerable when comparing it to the BQE at rush).
We will be out there full time in August and I know it will be an adjustment but after swimming upstream in NYC for all this time, we are looking forward to the change. Now I would move back to Brooklyn if I won the Powerball but that would be the only reason I would ever return.
Be careful about deciding solely based on checklists, boxes, and matrices of goods and bads. Some things are so heavily weighted—or not quantifiable at all—that you also need to consider the nontangibles. And don’t visit just a couple of times, or only during a nice time of year. Figure on spending some time NOT seeing tourist stuff, but just living as if you had to go to work and run errands etc, during a not so nice season.
Your mention of lifestyle is biased by what you have seen of CO PR materials. You won’t really know until you spend some down time in the area. Most visitors cram so much fun stuff into their itinerary that they do not even see the things that get old or irritating to residents. This is true for any place, not just CO.
Be careful about deciding solely based on checklists, boxes, and matrices of goods and bads. Some things are so heavily weighted—or not quantifiable at all—that you also need to consider the nontangibles. And don’t visit just a couple of times, or only during a nice time of year. Figure on spending some time NOT seeing tourist stuff, but just living as if you had to go to work and run errands etc, during a not so nice season.
Your mention of lifestyle is biased by what you have seen of CO PR materials. You won’t really know until you spend some down time in the area. Most visitors cram so much fun stuff into their itinerary that they do not even see the things that get old or irritating to residents. This is true for any place, not just CO.
Thanks for the tip, we did our best to stay for longer periods in winter and spring a few times before we made the decision. We have been to Denver for both work and play over the years too. We toured all the schools, stayed in the area we are going to live in, checked out the grocery stores, drove in rush hour traffic, tried our best to do what you suggested and get a feel for the real.
Thanks for the tip, we did our best to stay for longer periods in winter and spring a few times before we made the decision. We have been to Denver for both work and play over the years too. We toured all the schools, stayed in the area we are going to live in, checked out the grocery stores, drove in rush hour traffic, tried our best to do what you suggested and get a feel for the real.
I think that's fine. You don't know what it's like to live someplace until you actually live there, and I don't think adding on extras visits really changes that. I'm not saying people should move someplace sight unseen if they don't need to, but realistically speaking, most people aren't in a position to spend extended time in a new place before actually moving there.
I think that's fine. You don't know what it's like to live someplace until you actually live there, and I don't think adding on extras visits really changes that. I'm not saying people should move someplace sight unseen if they don't need to, but realistically speaking, most people aren't in a position to spend extended time in a new place before actually moving there.
Husband and I moved to the west Denver metro area from SoCal in 1986. Got good jobs right away. Loved the scenery, being able to go from the city to heart of the mountains in less than 45 minutes, the MUCH lighter traffic (back then, anyway), the much lower housing costs and . . . well, the list goes on and on.
The only thing we haven't liked are the dry and hot summers, and the lack of snow -- and the fact that the snow doesn't usually stick around for very long -- the winters are LONG and mostly brown, with temps ranging from about 0 degrees (very rare) to about 70, and the higher temps in winter are becoming more and more common.
All in all, although the state has been good to us overall, I think if we had to do it over again, we would have moved to a TRUE four-seasons climate in the Norheast or Midwest. Right now we are thinking about retiring to Door County, WI ("the New England of the Midwest"), but we still have three years to decide, so that might change.
Husband and I moved to the west Denver metro area from SoCal in 1986. Got good jobs right away. Loved the scenery, being able to go from the city to heart of the mountains in less than 45 minutes, the MUCH lighter traffic (back then, anyway), the much lower housing costs and . . . well, the list goes on and on.
The only thing we haven't liked are the dry and hot summers, and the lack of snow -- and the fact that the snow doesn't usually stick around for very long -- the winters are LONG and mostly brown, with temps ranging from about 0 degrees (very rare) to about 70, and the higher temps in winter are becoming more and more common.
All in all, although the state has been good to us overall, I think if we had to do it over again, we would have moved to a TRUE four-seasons climate in the Norheast or Midwest. Right now we are thinking about retiring to Door County, WI ("the New England of the Midwest"), but we still have three years to decide, so that might change.
Coming here from central Illinois, we were used to more snow, and quite frankly, both of us were somewhat disappointed that Colorado doesn't get more. Of course, there have been some winters with lots of snow as well.
I can't find how many zero degree days there are in Denver on average, but this link says 20 days a year at or below 10 degrees F, and 157 (about half the year) below at or below 32 degrees. https://www.currentresults.com/Weath...th-average.php
My 2c about Door County is to not believe all the rah-rah you hear about the place and research it thoroughly. If you've only lived here and in SoCal, you may not be so hep about spending your golden years shoveling snow once a week for 4 months or more.
Funny how I seem to be the only one that has mentioned any Western stuff and that being a big part of the reason we moved to Colorado in the first place and the reason we are serious about moving back. The rodeo action is superb there, as in Greeley, Denver Stock Show/Rodeo, the State Fair and so on. The elk "rut" in RMNP is so cool to see. One Bull and half a dozen Cows. The rainbow trout fishing and general boating. Christmas time outdoor lights all along the Front Range are fantastic.
However, we would never, ever live "in" Denver or the metro area. Closest to Denver we lived was in Englewood, by the old Fiddler's Green Amphitheater and then bought a house in Parker. I did, however, work in downtown Denver, but my wife was luck for those 5 1/2 years and worked by the I-25 at Lincoln. Back then, Parker had the "small town" atmosphere that we loved and very little-to-no crime at all.
Yes, this former rodeo cowboy and his wife really loved Colorado, Wyoming, So. Dakota. The Rocky Mountain and Central Plains States...…...great areas to live in. Look very forward to getting back there.
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