Starting to come around... (Denver, Aurora: loan, home, purchase)

[formercalifornian]

Despite my user-name, I moved to Colorado from Maryland, and I think there is great merit in your observations, Cory. For the first couple of years, my family rented a house in Castle Rock, where the landscape is extremely barren. I missed the lushness of the east coast terribly and was completely miserable. (In hindsight, I'm convinced I was depressed.) Once we knew that our stay in Denver would be long-term, we began looking to purchase in a neighborhood with more mature landscaping. We landed in Centennial, and while hardly comparable to our property on the east coast, our yard does have enough trees and shrubs to keep my longings at bay.

[cory81]

Originally Posted by popalnet

The main issue with Denver is that it's in the middle of no where. Nothing is close by a driving distance. Other than Cheyenne Wyoming, Pueblo Co, Amarillo TX, Billings Montana, all nothing interesting if you're into a big city feel.

Who drives for 3 to 4 hours on a regular basis to have fun? I don't. 95% of your life will happen right where you live. 5% of it will be outside your little box. When I lived in DC, I drove to Baltimore and...Baltimore. New York and Philly could have just as easily been 5,000 miles away.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by cory81

Who drives for 3 to 4 hours on a regular basis to have fun? I don't. 95% of your life will happen right where you live. 5% of it will be outside your little box. When I lived in DC, I drove to Baltimore and...Baltimore. New York and Philly could have just as easily been 5,000 miles away.

And with the exception of Las Vegas or San Francisco, when I travel outside of SoCal, I'm usually doing it by plane. At least Denver is with a fairly short flight of anywhere in the country.

[popalnet]

Originally Posted by cory81

Who drives for 3 to 4 hours on a regular basis to have fun? I don't. 95% of your life will happen right where you live. 5% of it will be outside your little box. When I lived in DC, I drove to Baltimore and...Baltimore. New York and Philly could have just as easily been 5,000 miles away.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I'm in NYC about every month or so. Sometimes I'll head to NYC early in the morning, spend the day in NYC, and get back home to DC at night. Maybe Philly once in while. Also I go to Atlantic City pretty often. For relaxation I'll head out to the mountains (hills compared to the rockies) - an hour or so away. Maybe Harpers Ferry or Williamsburg if I'm in another mood. Summer time you have a ton of beaches. And the list goes on and on. That's what I love about the east coast - many different places to see within a days drive.

But if you're not the type that ventures outside of your city - then I see your point. Hope you don't get too bored.

Me and many others appreciate having the option of having many different places to see within a days drive. That's why the I-95 corridor between DC and Boston is the heaviest travelled road in America.

In fact, even if you live in a city with a ton of stuff to do, eventually it will get old and you're going to want to see something different. Of course being in Denver, you'll have to buy a flight. If I have to buy a flight it would be to Europe since that's just an ocean away from the east coast.

[FunkyMonk]

Denver is the place to be right now. The vibe here reminds me of California when I was a little kid. Before California basically got ruined. Back when it really was a paradise.

One day Denver will not be the same, just like California. Every place changes with enough time. But for now it is great. We have people on this forum complaining about the brownness and a little bit of snow. And the funny thing is, it's not really that brown here and there isn't really that much snow.

Or the complaint about drivers here??? The drivers here really are not bad at all. They drive fairly slow, which is a GOOD thing. That is safer. They do tend to drive right through red lights a lot and often do not signal. But try driving in just about any country outside the US and you will encounter much worse driving.

Every complaint i've seen about Denver, i've seen it much worse in other places.

In other US cities they are dealing with impossible costs of living, gangs, crime, much worse weather, etc. I think this is a good place to be for now.

We just need to get some more good jobs here and we're set!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by FunkyMonk

Denver is the place to be right now. The vibe here reminds me of California when I was a little kid. Before California basically got ruined. Back when it really was a paradise.

One day Denver will not be the same, just like California. Every place changes with enough time. But for now it is great.

And just think how bad California will be by the time Denver looks like California 2008.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by popalnet

Top it all off, the mountains get boring after a week or two. The mountains don't compare to the ocean. Being close to the ocean is great.

I 100% disagree with this. The ocean-- actually what you mean is the beach-- assuming you're not a sailor and you confine yourself to strictly the edge of the ocean-- is incredibly boring. Once you've seen one beach, you've seen them all. The ocean is worth seeing once a year or ever few years on vacation. It's the same old same old boringness, same wave over and over again. Yawn. And urban beaches (as opposed to rural coastline) suck. It's a smelly, polluted, fly-infested bum magnet. Mountains provide infinite variety of terrain and landscapes and new undiscovered places and views and trees and rocks and streams to explore.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

I 100% disagree with this. The ocean-- actually what you mean is the beach-- assuming you're not a sailor and you confine yourself to strictly the edge of the ocean-- is incredibly boring. Once you've seen one beach, you've seen them all. The ocean is worth seeing once a year or ever few years on vacation. It's the same old same old boringness, same wave over and over again. Yawn. Mountains provide infinite variety of terrain and landscapes and new undiscovered places and views and trees and rocks and streams to explore.

And in a place like Denver, its not that expensive to get a house with a mountain view because they're so huge. In SoCal, ocean view property is reserved for the wealthy. If you can't afford ocean view housing, you can still see the ocean but that means driving to it. If its the summer time, you've got amazing crowds to deal with. Plus some parts of Denver have nice views of the plains which are at least a good as an ocean view to me.

[Scott5280]

Originally Posted by FunkyMonk

Denver is the place to be right now. The vibe here reminds me of California when I was a little kid. Before California basically got ruined. Back when it really was a paradise.

One day Denver will not be the same, just like California. Every place changes with enough time. But for now it is great. We have people on this forum complaining about the brownness and a little bit of snow. And the funny thing is, it's not really that brown here and there isn't really that much snow.

Or the complaint about drivers here??? The drivers here really are not bad at all. They drive fairly slow, which is a GOOD thing. That is safer. They do tend to drive right through red lights a lot and often do not signal. But try driving in just about any country outside the US and you will encounter much worse driving.

Every complaint i've seen about Denver, i've seen it much worse in other places.

In other US cities they are dealing with impossible costs of living, gangs, crime, much worse weather, etc. I think this is a good place to be for now.

We just need to get some more good jobs here and we're set!

I remember the old California---I have been thinking the same thing
for quite some time---If Colorado does not employ smarter growth and
take some steps to monitor it's infrastucture--we will be the next California---Cali... the once Golden State has been milked dry---every time I go out there it seems to get a little less attractive and has a few more serious problems----I don't want to be an old Colorado native years
from now telling people how great Colorado used to be....

[formercalifornian]

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that you're either an ocean person or a mountain person. I'm a ocean person married to a mountain person. Such is life!