Southern Californian worried about relocation

[barefootmeg]

We moved to Fort Collins from San Francisco back in 2001. I've met a lot of ex-Californians during our time here. People stress about the fact that Californians have raised home prices in Colorado, but that's the extent of any bad feelings. Coloradoans are very welcoming people. Expect people to say hi when you pass them on the sidewalk - even downtown. (People are even friendly at the DMV.)

Just so you know, Colorado is a School of Choice state. Which means that you can live anywhere you want and send your kids anywhere you want - as long as the school has space. That said, we've sent our kids to our neighborhood schools (Dunn - Lincoln - Poudre) and have had great experiences with all three. There are also some very nice horse properties up around Lincoln that are close to downtown and yet feel very "out in the country" at the same time. I suspect there are places like this all around the fringes of town.

[JMM64]

No one will care you are from California, most of the people who have made Colorado grow by almost 1,000,000 people in the last 10 years are from California anyways so people in Colorado are very used to and welcoming to CA folks overall. Yes California residents have made real-estate prices go up, but there's nothing anyone can do about it so if someone were to complain to your face about you jacking up housing costs just ignore them. When a state grows, and this growth is influenced more than 50% by one demographic (CA) this will happen. As far as politics changing the state well I won't go into that as it has been covered.

When you hear about Colorado residents being unwelcoming of California residents it usually is from a former California resident who came to Colorado and was very unimpressed with their new home, and as a result complained non stop and criticized people and places and caused Colorado residents to avoid them, yet this person fails to realize it was there fault. I mean come on why would anyone from any state want to be around such a negative and arrogant person? This is where all the California hatred began, and it's not just Colorado either, many states dislike this type of Californian just go to Arizona or Montana and you'll see. By the way this is nothing directed towards the OP it's just an example of the whole " Colorado hates California" stereotype.

Yes there are people in Colorado who have developed a hatred for anything Californian regardless if they've been personally affected. These people are just followers and the best thing you can do is just ignore them, they'll get over it.

As far as jobs, there are many opportunities for your area of work in Colorado, as StealthRabbit mentioned. Production Planning, and Program Management jobs are everywhere in Colorado.

Overall I say you should give Ft. Collins and/or Loveland a try. I think your family will be happy there and if not there are plenty of other places in Colorado and other nearby states that would meet your needs. Best of luck.

[Wisewoman59]

Hi Barefootmeg
I was thinking about moving to Colorado, but we change our mine.
now were going to move to Boise Idaho, very friendly people. and the taxes are cheap.
you should check it out. and the people from Boise don't care if your from California. We are from Southern California it a small city, but very family friendly. a lot of family things to do. well best of luck in finding a state to live in..

[barefootmeg]

My in-laws moved to Boise (Nampa, actually) for exactly the reason you state. Expenses are lower there and they're able to live on only their social security checks. We visited last November and I loved walking around downtown Boise. There are some wonderful buildings there. But I'm quite happy with Fort Collins and we hope to stay here a long time. :-)

[JMM64]

Originally Posted by Wisewoman59

Hi Barefootmeg
I was thinking about moving to Colorado, but we change our mine.
now were going to move to Boise Idaho, very friendly people. and the taxes are cheap.
you should check it out. and the people from Boise don't care if your from California. We are from Southern California it a small city, but very family friendly. a lot of family things to do. well best of luck in finding a state to live in..

Good luck in Boise, although I must say that there are plenty of people in all the western states that hate Californians for reasons already mentioned, in 20 years Idaho may be experiencing the same California influx that Colorado has been, and soon plenty of people in Idaho will also be anti-Californian (there are already plenty of people in Idaho like this already). The only reason I'm saying this is because people seem to think that Colorado hates California for no reason, and no other state has a hatred for California, and Colorado is the only state like this, well this is un-true and obviously it is driven by influence. For example a lot of people in Arizona, Oregon, and Texas are exactly the same as some Colorado residents in hating Californians for exactly the same reasons. While hating Californians as a whole and for no real reason is a stupid and narrow minded mindset, Californians need to realize they play a part in this and are 50% at fault for the stupid anti-California attitude nationwide. California needs to stop blaming other states completely for this stupid issue. Not talking personal situations here, rather as a whole.

Not trying to turn you away from moving or saying you personally are a "Bad Californian", just trying to help you understand what this whole "issue" is about.

There is hatred of certain states in every state, not just towards California either. For example when I lived in Michigan many people hated residents from Illinois in a similar way the Colorado vs California hatred is perceived. I lived near Travis AFB west of Sacramento in the mid 90's and I remember people there hating the Texans and east coasters who either visited or moved there so California is guilty of this as well.

Anyways good luck in Boise, it's a great city and Idaho is a beautiful place.