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Hello and Happy Friday, I'm graduating from college in May and I'm fortunate enough to have multiple job offers for after I graduate. I was wondering if any of you could offer any advice or maybe you know things about these areas that I haven't considered yet. My options are only DC or Denver, so please don't suggest an alternate city that you would think I would really like, because that's not relevant to this topic or my situation.
I'm from the Virginia Beach area of Virginia and have been at school at Virginia Tech for the past 4 years. I spent last summer in Fairfax, so I am familiar with DC/Northern Virginia and I have a few acquaintances in that region. I've never been to Denver. In fact, I've never been west of Nashville, so moving to Denver would be an experience that would expand my horizons.
Some of the things that I like to do in my free time are: I like to play soccer, workout, play video games, cook, go out to eat, go shopping, go out with friends to bars/clubs on weekends. I'm a pretty introverted individual, but I'm still able to put myself out there to meet new people. I like trying new things, and the mountains near Denver give me a lot of new things to go out and do. I'm gay, but I don't expect this to really be much of a problem in either city. However, in the back of my mind, I know that there's probably more date-able guys in the DC area.
The job offer in DC is for more money than the offer in Denver, but after you account for the cost of living, I think that they are competitive with each other.
The office in Denver is actually located in Golden, which is about a 30 minute commute from my preferred neighborhood, capitol hill. I think its important to note that I can afford to live in this neighborhood.
For DC, I would have to spend ~6 months in their Chantilly office for training before moving into a downtown DC office. One thing that concerns me is that this employer couldn't guarantee that I would get into the DC office because it is a brand new office for the company that only has a handful of people. I wouldn't even be considering this position if I had to work in Chantilly long term. I really don't like suburban northern Virginia. I have less buying power in DC/NoVa. I would prefer to live in Rosslyn or near a similar Arlington metro stop, but I can't easily afford these areas. After I move into the DC office, I would like to live in the Logan Circle neighborhood, but this is also a stretch for my budget, I'd have to get lucky and find a bedroom in a group home or something similar.
Both jobs have similar benefits, but in DC they match 50% up to 6% for 401k and Denver only matches 50% up to 4%.
Denver Pros:
Proximity to Mountains (Things to do, and views)
It's a new experience for me (I like changes)
Weather (I think, because I hate humidity)
I've heard that people here are pretty relaxed in general
marijuana
Buying a house is an aspiration of mine and that is more feasible in this area
DC Pros:
Better nightlife
I already know some people
More food options
Many people are transient (I think this would make it easy to find friends)
Public transportation
More things to do in and around the city
Proximity to other cities
More greenery/landscaping
Diversity of people
Access to beaches/water
Denver Cons:
Visiting any family would require a flight
Moving out there would be physically difficult
There's fewer (gay) people
DC Cons:
Commute/Traffic/tolls/parking/parking tickets
No Skyline, no views
cost of living
Many DC residents came off as pretentious or rude when I was there last summer
People are transient (was a pro but could also be a con because it could be hard to have strong long term friendships)
Politics/government presence
Tourism
I'm leaning towards Denver but its hard for me to give justification for it, its mostly a gut feeling. DC has more pros, but also more major negatives.
So what do you guys think? What am I forgetting to consider? Can you add any pros/cons to these lists? Let me know if you have any questions for me.
Here are a few more things to think about with Denver. I personally don't find them to be problematic, but they're a common refrain of people who move here from the giant Petri dish that is the Bos-Wash corridor.
Denver's "isolated." Meaning you can't hop on a train and be in another big metro like NYC or Philly in a couple hours. Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo are all within a couple hours' drive from each other, but that's about it. Albuquerque is 6 hours away, Salt Lake City is 7, Kansas City is 8, Vegas is 11, and St. Louis is 11.5.
Denver's dry. We only get around 14" of liquid precipitation per year and most of that comes as snowfall (~54" per year). Because we get so little precip, the area is not lush and green year-round. It's green from late April/early May til early July and then everything browns up, but the higher mountains tend to be greener for most of the summer.
Denver also doesn't have much in the way of lake recreation. We have a few small reservoirs along the Front Range, but nothing big. They're fed by mountain runoff so they're not exactly warm, either.
Denver's flat. It's on the plains. It's not "in" the mountains, but the western burbs like Golden bump up against the foothills. Denver also doesn't have much of a tree canopy (see "Denver's dry.")
Back to the subject of snow. We get a lot of it, but it doesn't hang around all winter like it does in other parts of the country. It's not bone-chillingly cold all the time either. 50, 60, and even the occasional 70 degree day are common in December, January, and Feburary, but those warm days can easily be followed by 15 degrees and 8" of snow. People complain that "winter lasts 7 months" here, but that's bunk. Snow season can last 7 months (late September- early May), but the snow usually flies from mid-October to late April. Even so, it typically starts to warm up in early April.
If you've never been here may I suggest a scouting trip ASAP so you can see what it's really like this time of year?
Denver - hilly, DC - flat
Denver - dry, DC - humid
Denver - lots of snow, DC - not as much snow,
Denver - heavy on whitey, DC - diverse
Denver - expensive, DC - ?
Denver - landlocked, DC - coastal
Denver - faded colors due to dryness, DC - lush and colorful
I think the climate and mixture of people stand out most as far as differences go. Those two cities are in many ways opposites.
Denver - hilly, DC - flat
Denver - dry, DC - humid
Denver - lots of snow, DC - not as much snow,
Denver - heavy on whitey, DC - diverse
Denver - expensive, DC - ?
Denver - landlocked, DC - coastal
Denver - faded colors due to dryness, DC - lush and colorful
I think the climate and mixture of people stand out most as far as differences go. Those two cities are in many ways opposites.
DC is absurdly expensive, more than Denver.
OP, if I were a recent graduate, I would pick DC. It's fun, you can get from point A to B w/o a vehicle. Just a great party, and obviously there's history.
I am a big Denver fan though. I would want to live in both at some point in my life, but 23 years and gay? DC initially. JMO.
Be bold, be brave and go for something outside your comfort zone. Yes, it is somewhat isolated and can get cold, but Denver has the Rocky's at hand and the city is a wonderful growing trending city right now (and it has a large gay population and neighborhood in the city). Experiment. Go West. If it doesn't work out-- with experience you can always go back to DC or the east coast.
The difference between the lowest and highest point in the city and county of Denver is only about 300 feet.
Agree. As a former Denver resident, I concur with bluescreen's assessment (and he lives there currently, so I would take his word for it), Denver is on the plains and flat. Brown most of the year as well. The mountains are to the West.
Granted I've never been to Denver, but for a young college grad I would have to vote for DC. I visited for a week 2 years ago and the first thing that crossed my mind after spending a week there was, "If I had known how cool it is here, I would have moved here after college instead of going to L.A."
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