Has anyone relocated or thought of relocating due to COL/traffic/overall crowdedness? (Denver: middle-class, transplants)

[AirborneVespa]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

The water in San Diego during the summer can range from 60 to 70 degrees. I don't remember the water ever getting as low as 50 even during the Winter. Right now the average water temp is 67.

I love the May gray and June gloom. It usually kept the surf glassy. Once it started burning off the winds would kick in and blow out what surf there was.

I agree about east of the ocean. My folks lived about 20 miles inland in a rural area and the temps would be about 10 to 15 degrees warmer on most days during the Summer.

There are 4 different micro climates in San Diego which the local news station usually cover. If I remember correctly they are coastal, inland, mountain and desert.

It felt like 50 I see it does get to 55/57 and in the high 60s...still feels very cold at least to me. I don't recall seeing many surfers out there too often without wet suits but I could be selectively remembering.

I do know it never felt like the Atlantic beaches with tems in the high 70s and low 80s....that's some good beach water temperature!

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Ha! I might have missed those buses, but we do go up to Vail nearly every weekend.

As for the lucky part, we bought our first Wash Park house in 2004. It’s a small bungalow that was built around 1900 and hadn’t been updated since the 1960s. It was $360K and needed an immediate $60K of work just to make it livable. We’re currently renting it out for about $3K a month.
.

See that's the thing - I'm an older Millennial and what we complain about is exactly what you got: a cheap house in cool neighborhood. Most cities in the US we never got the opportunity to even have that (graduated during the recession, no jobs, now finally making money but real estate is super expensive.) So we are essentially screwed until another downturn, but even that won't be like 2007.

"Ultimately, I felt isolated out there in Colorado away from my roots back East, and I never got used to the terrain on the front range. I am happy to be in a place with far more flora, and where more of the homes are widely spaced apart and separated by trees and plants. I really love a home nestled back in trees with shade and privacy and that's far more easily found in Dallas. I also felt too geographically isolated in Colorado with it's somewhat remote location as well, and TX now puts me closer to being back East. I actually prefer the humidity in TX which is more agreeable with my skin, and I do think I feel physically better in a lower altitude place as well."

I think you made the right choice. I never got used to the culture either. I'm very "Type A" and that comes off as too aggressive in CO. Dallas I would totally move to if I didn't live in L.A.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by AirborneVespa

It felt like 50 I see it does get to 55/57 and in the high 60s...still feels very cold at least to me. I don't recall seeing many surfers out there too often without wet suits but I could be selectively remembering.

I do know it never felt like the Atlantic beaches with tems in the high 70s and low 80s....that's some good beach water temperature!

I never paddled out without at least a Spring wetsuit on. 60 is still not warm and I hate cold. When I was growing up we had a couple summers where it got up to 75 but it didn't last that long.

[COcheesehead]

Yes, we are moving to the western slope. Not the same Denver anymore.

[downtownnola]

I moved to Denver in 2004 and moved away to Chicago from 2013 to 2015. Chicago was way more crowded and congested than Denver, so I wouldn't necessarily move away for those reasons. I love Colorado and am happy to be back here. The biggest reason for moving away would be COL. The amount of money it takes to buy a home in Denver is ridiculous compared to salaries and I don't believe our economy can support this madness in the long term. I expect a major correction to occur when this bubble pops (my own opinion).

Interesting that so many on this board are considering a Denver > southern California move. I absolutely love southern California. The beaches, the hills, the palm trees. With that said, southern California weather would bore me to tears. I need variety. I love seasons and the occasional blizzard.

Will I stay in Denver long term? That remains to be seen. But if this COL/salary imbalance remains in place, it is unlikely.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by N610DL

See that's the thing - I'm an older Millennial and what we complain about is exactly what you got: a cheap house in cool neighborhood. Most cities in the US we never got the opportunity to even have that (graduated during the recession, no jobs, now finally making money but real estate is super expensive.) So we are essentially screwed until another downturn, but even that won't be like 2007.

I spent $420,000 on a 2 bedroom house in 2004 ($360K for the house and $60K on repairs). I just took a calculated risk. Using the government’s inflation calculator, that’s the same as $564,000 in today’s dollars. Is that a cheap house?

[emm74]

Originally Posted by AirborneVespa

It felt like 50 I see it does get to 55/57 and in the high 60s...still feels very cold at least to me. I don't recall seeing many surfers out there too often without wet suits but I could be selectively remembering.

I do know it never felt like the Atlantic beaches with tems in the high 70s and low 80s....that's some good beach water temperature!

I'm from NY but then lived in New England for almost 25 years. I've gone in the ocean in Maine (and Nova Scotia too). San Diego water would be fine to me, but I like the beach to walk along and look at more than for swimming anyway.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

I spent $420,000 on a 2 bedroom house in 2004 ($360K for the house and $60K on repairs). I just took a calculated risk. Using the government’s inflation calculator, that’s the same as $564,000 in today’s dollars. Is that a cheap house?

It's not - but back then you could find homes in prime neighborhoods for much cheaper than that. The other big factor for our generation is insane amount of student debt. I paid most of mine off, but many are not so lucky and won't be able to afford a house for years.


"Interesting that so many on this board are considering a Denver > southern California move. I absolutely love southern California. The beaches, the hills, the palm trees. With that said, southern California weather would bore me to tears. I need variety. I love seasons and the occasional blizzard."

Typically it is (and I agree with you about boredom) but every spring and summer that I lived in L.A. in the last few years I've lived here on an off has been the except.

2014: Winter and Spring were unbelievably hot - heat waves in April and May hitting close to 100 degrees. Summer was milder than usual. In January it was consistently in the 80s.

2015: El Nino. Very warm late spring followed by a humid summer with occasional Thunderstorms. I felt like I was living in Tampa.

NOW: La Nina (tail end, I believe). We are in our second heat wave for July. That's unheard of for this time of the year.

[Chloe333]

Originally Posted by N610DL

I think you made the right choice. I never got used to the culture either. I'm very "Type A" and that comes off as too aggressive in CO. Dallas I would totally move to if I didn't live in L.A.

Now the culture there is something I've always had a hard time pinning down or describing, but it was different and it did contribute to me feeling out of place there. Mostly though that feeling was coming from feeling too far from my roots and family back East so my perceptions of people could have been skewed. I've read generalizations about people out there, and did notice some patterns like people being more socially reserved or not as straight forward or something compared to other places. I think they were friendly and cordial as a whole, but somehow more reserved at the same time. Others have said people out there can be passive aggressive versus up front (ie like New Yorkers) but I didn't encounter that to any level where I saw it as a regional pattern. I read up on the concept of "Minnesota or Midwestern Nice" and I could see some of that going on with a more reserved, less direct manner of communication.

I found somewhat the opposite to be true of what you said where I was living. I met a lot of type A, competitive parents who were heavily involved in their kids' youth sports activities and very much into sports themselves. That social sphere wasn't a good fit for me, but then again I'm someone who could probably live in a commune and would enjoy mandatory emotional processing sessions throughout the day lol :-). Whereas some thrive on and love competition, I can find it oppressive. I think that kind of thing with parents can exist everywhere though these days so that probably wasn't anything particular to the region. Maybe a little more so in Denver because the population there can be more active and fit than in other places.

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by Chloe333

"Minnesota or Midwestern Nice" and I could see some of that going on with a more reserved-less direct manner of communication.

I found somewhat the opposite to be true of what you said where I was living. I met a lot of type A, competitive parents who were heavily involved in their kids' youth sports activities and very much into sports themselves. That social sphere wasn't a good fit for me, but then again I'm someone who could probably live in a commune and would enjoy mandatory emotional processing sessions throughout the day lol :-). Whereas some thrive on and love competition, I can find it oppressive. I think that kind of thing with parents can exist everywhere though these days so that probably wasn't anything particular to the region. Maybe a little more so in Denver because the population there can be more active and fit than in other places.

Denver definitely can be considered "Minnesota Nice Light" as in it's somewhat passive aggressive but not terribly consistent. Or another way I would put it is people want to hang in groups all the time and it's somewhat hard to fit in at first. Once in you are accepted, but conversations and interactions are very much on the surface. Anything out of the ordinary (especially with sarcasm and humor) can offend people. That's where East Coasters get a bad reputation in CO. Also being direct when at a store or restaurant - I got odd looks when it would take forever to get service and my tone was stern.

Parents I can totally see being that way - But many I've met are Type B career-wise.