Has anyone relocated or thought of relocating due to COL/traffic/overall crowdedness? (Denver: appointed, hotel)

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by N610DL

I got a 1986 Bianchi Road Bike that I paid $300 bucks for in 2010 that potentially is worth close to 1K now.

I have a 1974 Columbus tubing frame with Campagnolo Nuovo Record components that I bought for $1200.
Would be over $6K to built it today.
So, $5500 for a mountain bike seems reasonable to me. But, am not buying one a my age.

[Left-handed]

Originally Posted by N610DL

I have ADHD - but thanks, I got a 32 on my ACT reading comp back in the day. Excuse me for it being 9:00am and missing such critical details in your posts (not that they matter much anyway.)

Where do you live? It's past 10:30am here. I've been up for four hours already haha.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by N610DL

I have ADHD - but thanks, I got a 32 on my ACT reading comp back in the day. Excuse me for it being 9:00am and missing such critical details in your posts (not that they matter much anyway.)

I guess there was something to that article I read recently which said that standardized test scores were not good indicators of real life performance.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by Left-handed

Where do you live? It's past 10:30am here. I've been up for four hours already haha.

Los Angeles it's 9:40am right now and we have a daily scrum meeting at 9am daily which is a PITA.

[Left-handed]

Originally Posted by N610DL

Los Angeles it's 9:40am right now and we have a daily scrum meeting at 9am daily which is a PITA.

If you're in LA, then what's the deal with your animosity towards Denver? Like congratulations, you moved out of a place you didn't like and found something more suitable to your needs and wants. When I moved out of the Detroit area for better opportunities, I didn't think to go back and critique every little thing I didn't like about living there. As a matter of fact, I cheer them on and hope for continued success and growth. Maybe one day I end up moving back there after they make enough progress, because that's where home is and always will be. And I wouldn't leave Denver looking back and waiving my middle finger. I'd be appreciative of the opportunities it provided me during my stay.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by Left-handed

If you're in LA, then what's the deal with your animosity towards Denver? Like congratulations, you moved out of a place you didn't like and found something more suitable to your needs and wants. When I moved out of the Detroit area for better opportunities, I didn't think to go back and critique every little thing I didn't like about living there. As a matter of fact, I cheer them on and hope for continued success and growth. Maybe one day I end up moving back there after they make enough progress, because that's where home is and always will be. And I wouldn't leave Denver looking back and waiving my middle finger. I'd be appreciative of the opportunities it provided me during my stay.

I suppose that's one way to look at it, but there are people that felt like total idiots for believing all the hype and then leaving because the door essentially hit them in the a** on the way out. Things were positive for career but other things such as damage to my savings account, BS in the workplace, horrible condo association, and just observing many 30 year olds who act like teenagers it just got on my nerves if anything.

[Mike from back east]

It's best that we get back on topic, which is "Has anyone relocated or thought of relocating due to COL/traffic/overall crowdedness?"

Yes. I certainly have. And did. Twice (Left Northern Virginia and left Colorado Springs).

Left Northern Virginia in 2005 for Colorado Springs. Traffic in NoVA is legendarily bad, considered by reputable sources to be in the top 3 worst gridlocked areas in the nation. Housing prices were way too high in 2005 so we found a lot to like in COLO SPGS, especially housing prices in 2005 that were half or less of DC metro area.

Loved COLO SPGS at first, then slowly lost faith as I saw the vow of poverty due to taxes being way too low. The potholed roads, the lack of roads, dangerous obsolete interchanges on I-25, lack of storm water runoff infrastructure, antiquated traffic signals, lack of parks for the kids, weak police force, no restaurant inspectors, and the overall impotent and crippled city government were enough to make me leave in 2016. To add to the woes, the statewide tax situation due to TABOR cripples highway and transit to being far less than it needs to be. We left COLO SPGS in 2016 for Peoria, AZ.

Here in Peoria, AZ, taxes aren't all that high, the road are wide and smooth as silk, the city government is well run and on top of issues, my homeowners insurance is 1/10 of what it was back in Hail Alley ... and every store sells beer and wine and cheaper than Colorado.

Not sure where we may go next, but we're always open to changing.

[Left-handed]

Originally Posted by N610DL

I suppose that's one way to look at it, but there are people that felt like total idiots for believing all the hype and then leaving because the door essentially hit them in the a** on the way out. Things were positive for career but other things such as damage to my savings account, BS in the workplace, horrible condo association, and just observing many 30 year olds who act like teenagers it just got on my nerves if anything.

Most of these things don't sound like anything specific to Denver though. You will find crummy HOAs, crummy workplaces, and crummy people anywhere you go. I bet there are even some in LA.

The COL issue is valid. I think anyone who's moved here in the past 10 years will attest to that. Especially if you weren't already a homeowner. There is little chance I'd have been able to make it now versus 10 years ago when I lived near downtown for $525/mo on ~$30k/yr.

But overall, it sounds like you had a bad experience here that had only a little to do with Denver. The rest could be tied to any other place in the world. It's okay though. At least you gave it your best shot, and it simply was not the right fit for you at the time.

I actually moved back to Michigan a few years back, because I thought I wanted to live closer to my family and I had nothing particularly great going for me here. I thought I had gotten everything I could out of this place after about six years of living here. After a few months in Michigan, I realized that Colorado was probably a superior fit for me overall. Fortunately, I landed a job opportunity that landed me back out in Denver, and I've been here for three additional years. Now that I'm about to be married, we may end up deciding that we want to move elsewhere. Denver has been fairly good to us, but nothing in life is static. More so these days than ever before, with as much moving around and job changes that occur. Something else may end up being a better fit for us down the road.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by Left-handed

Most of these things don't sound like anything specific to Denver though. You will find crummy HOAs, crummy workplaces, and crummy people anywhere you go. I bet there are even some in LA.

The COL issue is valid. I think anyone who's moved here in the past 10 years will attest to that. Especially if you weren't already a homeowner. There is little chance I'd have been able to make it now versus 10 years ago when I lived near downtown for $525/mo on ~$30k/yr.

But overall, it sounds like you had a bad experience here that had only a little to do with Denver. The rest could be tied to any other place in the world. It's okay though. At least you gave it your best shot, and it simply was not the right fit for you at the time.

Thanks I agree. I actually think Denver would have been a great alternative in like 2013 when I was 26 and after living and being burnt out in NYC. Moving from L.A. to Denver when I was 28 I was definitely a much different person by then. I disagree about that - Denver strikes me as a very type B type city that didn't jive with my personality being a consultant. I lost patience easily.

Actually California HOA's are bounded by law and you'll get in a lot of trouble if you get reported. In Denver the HOA didn't empty out our trash for 3 weeks and regularly ignored maintenance calls for rodent problems. In CA they would've been shut down.

[Left-handed]

Originally Posted by N610DL

Thanks I agree. I actually think Denver would have been a great alternative in like 2013 when I was 26 and after living and being burnt out in NYC. Moving from L.A. to Denver when I was 28 I was definitely a much different person by then. I disagree about that - Denver strikes me as a very type B type city that didn't jive with my personality being a consultant. I lost patience easily.

Actually California HOA's are bounded by law and you'll get in a lot of trouble if you get reported. In Denver the HOA didn't empty out our trash for 3 weeks and regularly ignored maintenance calls for rodent problems. In CA they would've been shut down.

I'm pretty certain you could have pursued legal action for that in Denver as well, if you had chosen to.

Anyway, glad you found your zen in LA. FYI, I work for a consulting agency, and know others who are also consultants. Doesn't really seem to be an issue with Denver clients, per se.