Can I live in Denver on 40,000 a year (Aurora, Frederick: apartments, insurance)

[gazer]

I'm currently living in Baltimore Maryland and I have been offered a job at St Luke Hospital in denver. Before I accept the job, I need to understand what types of expenses I should be budgeting for and whether I can live decently on 40,000 a year as a single person.

Can anyone give some realistic estimates on the following

1. What is the average price for an 1 bedroom apartment?
2.What is the cost of utilities/phone/cable/internet?
3.I heard Denver have bad weather and drivers.Is the Cost of insurance higher?
4.If I decide to buy a house, what price does the average house go for?
My last question I have is, what are the decent neighborhood around St. Luke Hospital.I prefer an apartment within 20 minutes of the hospital.

Thank in advance.

[Katarina Witt]

1. I don't know, but my daughter has a 2 BR for $650/mo in south Denver.

2. I'm really not sure as we have all this auto-pay stuff and I don't really look at it like I should. Satellite TV starts at about $30/mo. Internet depends on DSL v Broadband, etc. Land line, about $40/mo? (Not so sure about that.) Cell phone for 4 people is about $100/mo for us, but of course depends on the type of service selected.

3. Denver's weather is different from Baltimore but certainly no worse. Actually better, IMO. Drivers? Better than what I've seen in the DC area. I don't know if ins. is higher or lower than in Baltimore. I don't know what it costs in Balt.

4. I'm not sure, and it very much depends on the house. Starters are probably $250K or so, but there's a lot of flexibility there.

5. Yes

[livecontent]

There is no more St. Luke Hospital. It was taken down about 10 years ago. Presbyterian and St. Luke were two separate hospitals and were about 2 miles apart. Now they call Presbyterian, Presbyterian/St. Luke Medical Center.

But the old St. Luke property has been renewed, recently, into new condo, apartments and very nice new developments. In fact all the area west, southwest of Presbyterian to Downtown, along Park, 17th and 18th have all sprouted new developments. Also, Children Hospital just west of Presbyterian has moved to Aurora and that site is being redeveloped.

Just North of these St. Joseph and the Kaiser Facility is across from Presbyterian on Franklin, North of these hospitals, the area was not the best, but now it is also attracting new development.

You can easily find nice apartments around the hospital and even more so, toward downtown, Capital Hill and along 17th and 18th. You can also consider living anywhere downtown. All these places will allow you to easily commute by bus, walking, bicycling to Presbyterian. They are nice walkable neighborhoods with good amenities.

In fact you can go farther South into Cheesman Park and Congress Park and still be in nice neighborhoods and have less than a 20 minute commute. You can look east toward City Park and Park Hill and have great areas with a easy commute.

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

Thanks for clarifying that, livecontent. I just put P/SL in my head and wrote out my answer.

[gazer]

Originally Posted by Katiana

1. I don't know, but my daughter has a 2 BR for $650/mo in south Denver.

Is this in a decent neighborhood? Can you recommend what neighborhoods to avoid ?

2. I'm really not sure as we have all this auto-pay stuff and I don't really look at it like I should. Satellite TV starts at about $30/mo. Internet depends on DSL v Broadband, etc. Land line, about $40/mo? (Not so sure about that.) Cell phone for 4 people is about $100/mo for us, but of course depends on the type of service selected.

3. Denver's weather is different from Baltimore but certainly no worse. Actually better, IMO. Drivers? Better than what I've seen in the DC area. I don't know if ins. is higher or lower than in Baltimore. I don't know what it costs in Balt.

How is the weather different from Baltimore? I know that their snow and smog.In Baltimore the weather is usually hot in the summer and cold(rarely snow) in the winter.

4. I'm not sure, and it very much depends on the house. Starters are probably $250K or so, but there's a lot of flexibility there.

5. Yes

Are their any other expenses or taxes that I should be aware of like snow removal tax.

[gazer]

Originally Posted by livecontent

There is no more St. Luke Hospital. It was taken down about 10 years ago. Presbyterian and St. Luke were two separate hospitals and were about 2 miles apart. Now they call Presbyterian, Presbyterian/St. Luke Medical Center.

But the old St. Luke property has been renewed, recently, into new condo, apartments and very nice new developments. In fact all the area west, southwest of Presbyterian to Downtown, along Park, 17th and 18th have all sprouted new developments. Also, Children Hospital just west of Presbyterian has moved to Aurora and that site is being redeveloped.

Just North of these St. Joseph and the Kaiser Facility is across from Presbyterian on Franklin, North of these hospitals, the area was not the best, but now it is also attracting new development.

Thank for the info.
You can easily find nice apartments around the hospital and even more so, toward downtown, Capital Hill and along 17th and 18th. You can also consider living anywhere downtown. All these places will allow you to easily commute by bus, walking, bicycling to Presbyterian. They are nice walkable neighborhoods with good amenities.

In fact you can go farther South into Cheesman Park and Congress Park and still be in nice neighborhoods and have less than a 20 minute commute. You can look east toward City Park and Park Hill and have great areas with a easy commute.

Livecontent

Can you give an average price for apartments in these neighborhood. Also what are the "vibes" of downtown and the different neighborhoods. Since I am single, I prefer not to live in a Family oriented envirnoment.

[Legs1357]

I sure hope you can cause I plan on trying on $37k.
The one thing I can speak to is the cost of insurance...if you live within the city limits of Baltimore there is no way your insurance would be more in Denver with differences in crime rates. And Colorado's drivers are way better than anything in the DC/Baltimore area.
One thing to be aware of is that depending on where in the metro area you end up, water can be extremely expensive.
Denver does get a little bit more snow than the mid-atlantic does but I would say it's not significantly colder or snowier, not like new york winter or anything.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by gazer

Can you give an average price for apartments in these neighborhood. Also what are the "vibes" of downtown and the different neighborhoods. Since I am single, I prefer not to live in a Family oriented envirnoment.

The areas near the hospital, uptown, capital hill are not family oriented. You will be very comfortable; it has many venues for singles.

This is great website that will give you the information about the neighborhoods, amenities, culture, living | Live Downtown Denver | Brought To You By The Downtown Denver Partnership | It will also point you to different apartments.
Uptown is the neighborhood near the hospital http://www.livedowntowndenver.com/ne...oods/index.php click on link to get description http://www.livedowntowndenver.com/ne...hood.php?id=11
Notice the search box on the left for apartment listings and prices

In addition this website will give you an bigger picture of the development happening in Denver
DenverInfill.com - Capitol Hill District

I have no idea about average prices for apartment but I think you will have no problem with 40,000 a year.

Here is a neighborhood map of all of Denver
http://www.denvergov.org/denvermaps/downloads/maps/citywide/Neighborhoods.pdf (broken link)

Having grown up near Buffalo, never heard this---what is a snow removal tax????

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

Yes, my daughter lives in a decent (I assume you mean safe, clean, etc) neighborhood near the University of Denver. I think her 'hood is called "University". It is mostly grad students in her area. You could easily get to P/SL in 20 min. from her place. In fact, any east side neighborhood (E of I-25) would work for that commute time.

Re: weather, I would suggest looking at some weather websites such as AccuWeather.com for monthly averages, etc. There are also many other weather websites to peruse. The snows are not frequent, and the snow is usually gone in a few days. Summers are hot, but not humid like Baltimore. (I once lived in Frederick.) The smog is not that bad. It's there, but there's far more hype than reality about it. There is a ton of information about weather on this forum. Check the index.

[2bindenver]

I grew up in DC. It's a lot nicer here, in general.

There is less water here. No Inner Harbor. Crabs have to be flown here.

Otherwise it's all good.

2 bed condo would run $110k near Colfax & 10th Payments $600-$800 including HOA. $8,000 tax credit if first time home buyer.