Denver or Seattle? (Boulder: fit in, mover, student loans)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

Denver has Pro Football, Pro Basketbal, Major League Baseball.

Its not So Cal, with warm water. It is nice to look at though.

Colorado Avalanche hockey team too.

So Cal oceans are warm? They might hit 70 in summer, maybe 75 on the south bay beaches. Zuma may get to 70 in late summer.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by s.data

The Seattle Times: Pacific Northwest Magazine : Our Social Disease

or check out this column in the Seattle Weekly. It's a funny column, but it's also true:
Uptight Seattleite - Columns (Seattle Weekly)

Jobs:
You will here about all the big companies with headquarters in Seattle. Many of the companies you will hear about are not in downtown seattle, hell, most of them are not IN Seattle. The jobs in Seattle are often healthcare, university related, city jobs, or banking (Washington Mutual).

(How come s.data's URLs weren't hyperlinks???)

As far as jobs not being located in downtown but instead on the outskirts or in the region, wouldn't that be a good thing? Who wants to commute to/from a downtown of any city? Seems that's where the high density traffic is, bad parking situations. Downtowns are usually older and weren't able to plan for traffic. (Would downtown Denver versus the Denver Tech Center be a good example?)

[sberdrow]

Well I had my visit. I was suprised to find Denver air so poluted. The Bronco colors are or Orange and Blue...I think its for the Oarnge smog against the blue sky. CS Springs was beautiful, but I could not find a good job there. It was a bummer having to look left all the time when I wanted to see mountains, while heading North. You could barely see them during my visit due to the air quality. The Forest were dying due to a pine beetle, so lots of dead trees in the forest. Looks like a terrible fire hazard. Apartment fees were outrageous. Not the rent, which was pretty high, but all the nickle and dimes you had to deal with if you have 1 pet.

Seattle: Very expensive if you want to buy a house, so brings some big equity with you or forget it. Its still booming in that houseing market. I did not find Seattle any different from Denver as far as nice people. Thats about it.

[Nea1]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

Well I had my visit. I was suprised to find Denver air so poluted. The Bronco colors are or Orange and Blue...I think its for the Oarnge smog against the blue sky. CS Springs was beautiful, but I could not find a good job there. It was a bummer having to look left all the time when I wanted to see mountains, while heading North. You could barely see them during my visit due to the air quality. The Forest were dying due to a pine beetle, so lots of dead trees in the forest. Looks like a terrible fire hazard. Apartment fees were outrageous. Not the rent, which was pretty high, but all the nickle and dimes you had to deal with if you have 1 pet.

Seattle: Very expensive if you want to buy a house, so brings some big equity with you or forget it. Its still booming in that houseing market. I did not find Seattle any different from Denver as far as nice people. Thats about it.

Wow if that is all you saw, you missed alot!!!! Denver isnt always like that. Did you go to Boulder,or Westminster or anywhere else. I have lived in AZ, NC OR and nowCo, this place is the cheapest by farand the nicest.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by Nea1

Wow if that is all you saw, you missed alot!!!! Denver isnt always like that. Did you go to Boulder,or Westminster or anywhere else. I have lived in AZ, NC OR and nowCo, this place is the cheapest by farand the nicest.

I was here for a month. Yes your right about it being cheap. As far as nice, yes it was nice. Don't know if I would agree with nicer than Oregon, but your other choices are right on the money, although I only spent a day in NC. No, you are correct about not visiting Boulder, I looked up the prices of houses and decided not to fall in love with a place I can not afford to live. My favorite place in Colorado was Estes Park. I love the Broncos, and I wish that I could be sitting there at Investco field with the rest of you, even with the smog. The Sunsets are absolutely amazing, the colors in the sky, the way the clouds look is something only a talented artist might be able to paint. The elevation kicked my a$$ though. New people, I would hope you would bring lots of water, and lots of asprine. Also brings some sleeping meds. If you can get past that, you'll die happy. Don't look for an apartment, just find a house and buy it. Those Forest that I mentioned were dying, well...im sure they will make a come back, it was the drought. I think they are getting more water now. The smog however....ya have to admit, the City of Denver should work on that a little bit don't you think?

[Nea1]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

I was here for a month. Yes your right about it being cheap. As far as nice, yes it was nice. Don't know if I would agree with nicer than Oregon, but your other choices are right on the money, although I only spent a day in NC. No, you are correct about not visiting Boulder, I looked up the prices of houses and decided not to fall in love with a place I can not afford to live. My favorite place in Colorado was Estes Park. I love the Broncos, and I wish that I could be sitting there at Investco field with the rest of you, even with the smog. The Sunsets are absolutely amazing, the colors in the sky, the way the clouds look is something only a talented artist might be able to paint. The elevation kicked my a$$ though. New people, I would hope you would bring lots of water, and lots of asprine. Also brings some sleeping meds. If you can get past that, you'll die happy. Don't look for an apartment, just find a house and buy it. Those Forest that I mentioned were dying, well...im sure they will make a come back, it was the drought. I think they are getting more water now. The smog however....ya have to admit, the City of Denver should work on that a little bit don't you think?

I lived in Oregon 32 years, I prefer Colorado probably because of the the weather and things to do. Yes during the summer Denver has bad smog (although so does Portland, the only thing that says it is the rain), being in a valley doesnt help. But I have seen falls, winters and springs that cant be beat. I love the weather. I am used to sea level, trust me you will get used to it, right now I am at about 7000 ft so Denver will be a little downgrade lol. Did you go to Westminster or Broomfield area, beautiful and affordable housing. Thats where we are heading now. Broncos rule for sure!!! I am a huge Elway fan.

[pw72]

I'm familiar with both Seattle and Denver, and just read every post in this thread. (OK, I skimmed a few of 'em!)

Let's sum it up:

Climate: Denver has more sunshine, but also has more cold and snow, but can fluctuate greatly in short period.of times. Seattle is cloudy much of the year, the winter temps are not that far from the summer temps, and the sun does come out occasionally, mostly July and August, but not exclusive to those months.

Vibe: Both are "cool" cities, but the the Seattle music scene and progressive population probably gives Seattle the edge. Denver is the furthest east of the "western" towns. Seattle feels like a combo of San Francisco, Vancouver, New York City.

Scenery: Both excell on the "right" days. With no smog, Denver is beautiful. With no clouds, Seattle is even more beautiful with mountains and water all around.

Traffic: Not great in Denver, but atleast they have and are building roads for the future. Terrible in Seattle, with few plans for new roads.

Economics: Denver has been in somewhat of a rut for awhile, but seems to be coming around. Seattle is boom/bust. A few years of great growth, a few years of recession, then rinse and repeat.

Cost of living: Denver still reasonable. Seattle overpriced.

Politics: Seattle very liberal, but suburbs more moderate. Denver, moderate all around.

Bottom line: Choose your poison. Both are great cities, it depends what you are looking for. The good news is both cities have great futures and are models of U.S. cities that are desirable, liveable, and still "work."

[GhostPoet]

Originally Posted by bashleyf

I posted this same question on the Seattle board and want to post it here as well to get the opinions of people living in Denver.
I've reached a standstill in my decision on where to move and need help. The two places I'm considering are the Denver area (within 30 miles or so) and the Seattle area (within 30 miles or so). I'm from Santa Cruz, CA and moved to San Diego two years ago. San Diego is beautiful, but for some reason I just don't like it here. I'm a little bit bored and a lot of the people I meet are not as friendly as I'd like (which makes meeting nice people all that much better). I'll be moving with my Golden Retriever, so I'd like to live in a dog friendly city. One thing I don't like about Southern California is the cost of living and the congestion. I know that Seattle is pretty congested and expensive, but it's so beautiful there, and I like that there are plenty of opportunities to get away (San Juan Islands, Portland, Canada). Is Denver fairly congested as well? As for the weather, I'm not sure if I prefer the snow of Denver or the rain of Seattle. I consider myself fairly liberal and the laid back lifestyle of Seattle appeals to me (not to mention the fresh seafood) but the lower cost of living in Colorado also sounds nice. What do you guys think? What are some of the best and worst qualities of living in Seattle or Denver? What are the people like in each city, and how easy is it to escape from the big city every now and then? Thanks!

Hope this isn't too late. But DON'T MOVE TO SEATTLE...unless you like gloom 80% of the year. I live near Seattle...I'm trying to get out of here!

It's extremely expensive to live in Washington, the traffic is getting worse and worse every year with more people moving here and the winters are just plain ugly....heavy snow and lots and lots of ice.

[pw72]

Originally Posted by GhostPoet

Hope this isn't too late. But DON'T MOVE TO SEATTLE...unless you like gloom 80% of the year. I live near Seattle...I'm trying to get out of here!

It's extremely expensive to live in Washington, the traffic is getting worse and worse every year with more people moving here and the winters are just plain ugly....heavy snow and lots and lots of ice.

I agree with most of your description of Seattle, but "heavy snow and lots and lots of ice". Hmm. I think that was Denver's winter you were talking about, not Seattle's. Unless you live in the far suburbs of Seattle, where icing can be a problem. But Seattle had about 15 inches of snow last winter. What was Denver's total? I'm not sure but would guess about 10X that.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by pw72

I agree with most of your description of Seattle, but "heavy snow and lots and lots of ice". Hmm. I think that was Denver's winter you were talking about, not Seattle's. Unless you live in the far suburbs of Seattle, where icing can be a problem. But Seattle had about 15 inches of snow last winter. What was Denver's total? I'm not sure but would guess about 10X that.

Heavy snow.. maybe the guy is from phoenix AZ. Seattle snow is very mild.