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

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

feel like Denver may feel a little bit isolated. Does anyone there feel somewhat isolated living in Denver?

1. I hate driving. A long trip for me is 8.2 miles to the kids' house.
2. Once a year we drive to Buena Vista for vacation.
3. Once a year travel to Europe.

Isolated? Not for me.
Everything I need for 90+% of the year is located within 8.2 miles of my house.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

I would love to be close to the mountains and enjoy the 4 Denver seasons, but I worry about the cost of housing and also feel like Denver may feel a little bit isolated. Does anyone there feel somewhat isolated living in Denver? It isn't really close to much (not sure about the airline routes).

For me personally the idea that we're somehow "isolated" because there aren't 80 million people within a 300 mile radius of Denver is silly. Flights outta DIA are fairly cheap.

Our trails and highways are crowded enough as it is. If I had to deal with that many people I'd cash out and move.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

I would love to be close to the mountains and enjoy the 4 Denver seasons, but I worry about the cost of housing and also feel like Denver may feel a little bit isolated. Does anyone there feel somewhat isolated living in Denver? It isn't really close to much (not sure about the airline routes).

DIA is one of the busiest airports in the country. I’ve never felt isolated here. San Diego, LA, San Francisco, and Chicago are all a 2 hour flight, Vegas is an an hour twenty in the air.

The stuff I want to drive to is all close enough - Vail, Buena Vista, Aspen, A-Basin, Breckenridge, Loveland, Boulder. I wish Telluride was closer, but I also don’t because it wouldn’t be the same.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

DIA is one of the busiest airports in the country. I’ve never felt isolated here. San Diego, LA, San Francisco, and Chicago are all a 2 hour flight, Vegas is an an hour twenty in the air.

The stuff I want to drive to is all close enough - Vail, Buena Vista, Aspen, A-Basin, Breckenridge, Loveland, Boulder. I wish Telluride was closer, but I also don’t because it wouldn’t be the same.

Here’s something I agree with you on. It’s easy to jet out of DIA Vs. Even driving in-state to ski destinations. Telluride is like what 6 hours?

DIA there are 3 hub airlines plus 2 strong stations for other airlines - Delta and American. Tailwind to NYC is under 3 hours, LA can be 1hr 40mins, Dallas is under 1.5 hours, MSP sometimes 1.5 hours as well. The furthest destinations in the Lower 48 are either Boston or to Florida. Miami is routinely over 4 hours.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by N610DL

Here’s something I agree with you on.

[SkyDog77]

An interesting cost of living anecdote to add to the thread.....

Just looking at the website for the Avid4 Adventure camp that we sent my daughter to for a couple weeks this summer, and they offer their program in California as well. One week is $584 in California versus $459 in Denver for the exact same program.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

An interesting cost of living anecdote to add to the thread.....

Just looking at the website for the Avid4 Adventure camp that we sent my daughter to for a couple weeks this summer, and they offer their program in California as well. One week is $584 in California versus $459 in Denver for the exact same program.

But if she would have gone to the one in California she would be "making it".

[daprara]

use caution in re locating into the mountain near Denver.

[RotseCherut]

I got news for people , you will not escape any of the things you are discussing in any desirable city in the USA, anymore! Sorry, but the wealthy people from California/East Coast or wherever expensive place people flee have discovered all those lovely cities. I am living here in Charlotte, NC which is now, I believe, the fastest growing cityin the USA. Well, guess what? It was fairly affordable about 5 years ago, but the prices are skyrocketing so fast, that I have done side-by-side comparisons with that of Denver and it appears to me that Charlotte is actually even more expensive than Denver now. In fact, Nashville, is even more expensive than Charlotte or Denver now and has hardly any job market that can compete. Charlotte is becoming a refugee for East Coast people who don't want Florida but want warmer or sunnier weather. IT is essentially the Southern California of the East Coast world.. Everything is tract homes, mini malls , no city planning and just sprawled and everyone is from somewhere else. I was shocked looking at apartments in nice area to see that many are now going for over $1600/mo for tiny spaces. Traffic in Charlotte is becoming a mess too, although I guess I was blessed living in Seattle for 5 or so years and no city's traffic can compare for me now.

Oh, yes, did I mention Seattle? Many years ago it was considered a paradise, cheap living and for a fraction of the price of your California home you can get a waterfront view or be at the base of beautiful timber mountains. Guess what? Seattle has now surpassed Los Angeles in price and I know people who are moving away from Seattle to Los Angeles and actually getting cheaper property and more sunshine too.. LOL

There just is no place anymore you can escape the influx and hordes of refugees from other expensive cities. IF your place is remotely good, has decent weather, jobs, scenery, etc you can bet it will become expensive ,crowded and the qualify of life will not be what it was when you moved there 10 years ago.

I am from a little town named Ashland, Oregon. Back when I grew up there it was cheap and you could make a living being a dishwasher. Then, the people in San Francisco, the closest big city 5.5 hours to the South discovered my town. It became their Aspen, CO and they bought up all the property in the mountains, many being their 2nd or 3rd homes or summer homes. Now, you can hardly afford Ashland, Oregon unless you are a millionaire and the cool, friendly hippie/logger mountain town with a strong sense of community I hear now has become snobby, pretentious and completely unrecognizable to the cool, hip , friendly remote mountain town I grew up in.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

I got news for people , you will not escape any of the things you are discussing in any desirable city in the USA, anymore! Sorry, but the wealthy people from California/East Coast or wherever expensive place people flee have discovered all those lovely cities. I am living here in Charlotte, NC which is now, I believe, the fastest growing cityin the USA. Well, guess what? It was fairly affordable about 5 years ago, but the prices are skyrocketing so fast, that I have done side-by-side comparisons with that of Denver and it appears to me that Charlotte is actually even more expensive than Denver now. In fact, Nashville, is even more expensive than Charlotte or Denver now and has hardly any job market that can compete. Charlotte is becoming a refugee for East Coast people who don't want Florida but want warmer or sunnier weather. IT is essentially the Southern California of the East Coast world..

Oh, yes, did I mention Seattle? Many years ago it was considered a paradise, cheap living and for a fraction of the price of your California home you can get a waterfront view or be at the base of beautiful timber mountains. Guess what? Seattle has now surpassed Los Angeles in price and I know people who are moving away from Seattle to Los Angeles and actually getting cheaper property and more sunshine too.. LOL

There just is no place anymore you can escape the influx and hordes of refugees from other expensive cities. IF your place is remotely good, has decent weather, jobs, scenery, etc you can bet it will become expensive ,crowded and the qualify of life will not be what it was when you moved there 10 years ago.

I am from a little town named Ashland, Oregon. Back when I grew up there it was cheap and you could make a living being a dishwasher. Then, the people in San Francisco, the closest big city 5.5 hours to the South discovered my town. It became their Aspen, CO and they bought up all the property in the mountains, many being their 2nd or 3rd homes or summer homes. Now, you can hardly afford Ashland, Oregon unless you are a millionaire and the cool, friendly hippie/logger mountain town with a strong sense of community I hear now has become snobby, pretentious and completely unrecognizable to the cool, hip , friendly remote mountain town I grew up in.

These days it seems like any mid-size city that has any kind of mildly neat identity to it gets an obsession by Millennial's for cheap housing and a central Downtown. Right now it's Portland, Nashville, and Denver. What's next, who knows? Baltimore? Detroit? Minneapolis?

All I worry about is some of these obsessions seem like a fad an not actual real long term growth. I would say that it worked out well for Austin, but the verdict is still out for Denver.