Moving to Denver

[4kids4karen]

So, a fresh twist on the normal "moving to Florida" posts... LOL.

My 27 year old old may be moving to Denver. He has lived in Florida for the last 16 years. His SO has been offered a job there although hasn't officially accepted. So, those familiar with this area, tell me the good, the bad, etc.

I have looked on zillow at available apartments but I know nothing about the area. What areas are best?
They would be looking at a studio or one-bedroom apartment near public transportation. An area within walking distance to great restaurants and night life would be ideal. Tourist areas are okay too. They are headed on a road trip next week and plan to make a short stop in Denver (maybe just one night going and one night returning) to see the area.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

Five Points is an area right in the thick of things in Denver. It has good walkability and is close to lots of nightlife and restaurants. I live in Boulder County so admittedly don’t know tons about living in Denver, but it’s an area I feel comfortable frequenting. The cost of living keeps rising, as I’m sure your son knows already, but I consider myself blessed to have Colorado home for over twenty years. Hope he finds a nice place here!

 

[4kids4karen]

She had an apartment in Aurora before. I know she is looking at apartments. I was just looking online out of curiosity since my son will be the one using public transportation.

 

[Etonduf]

Congrats to him on the job offer.

I grew up in a suburb southwest of Denver and have lived out of state for a long time now, so I can't offer any insight on living in Denver itself. But he should look up the light rail system operated by RTD (Denver's public transit system) since that may open up a lot of possibilities

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I love Colorado just a great place. It's a big city there is a lot of traffic, stay as close to his job as he can. we moved almost two years ago. We stayed in extended stay America for 7weeks It was the best thing we did because I got a real feel for the area and what we really wanted. All of our stuff was in a pod (upack) and they deliverd it to our home.

 

[wendow]

I live in Littleton, which is a suburb southwest of Denver. If they are wanting great walkability and access to nightlife, then living in or around downtown is probably best. My dh & I moved here right out of college but we have never been into nightlife so I've never lived in those areas. Someone else mentioned using the light rail. We use it to get in and out of downtown. We've not taken it to the airport but I know that is an option and my neighbor uses that when she travels for work.

Overall, the Denver metro area is very safe but very expensive. We've lived here just over 20 years and the cost of living has done nothing but go up. When a recession hit most of the US really hard 10 years ago, it barely registered here. Weather is great, and even when it is winter, it's a milder winter and many days are sunny. It can be in the 40's and it's warm and people are out jogging.

 

[tiggerluver12]

My DD and her very soon to be DH moved to Denver from Long Beach, CA in January and LOVE it. They live in Aurora close to Cherry Creek State Park (SE side) near a new shopping area with lots of new businesses and apartments. Obviously the cost of living for them has gone way down and the "traffic" is nothing compared to southern LA.

 

[wendow]

My DD and her very soon to be DH moved to Denver from Long Beach, CA in January and LOVE it. They live in Aurora close to Cherry Creek State Park (SE side) near a new shopping area with lots of new businesses and apartments. Obviously the cost of living for them has gone way down and the "traffic" is nothing compared to southern LA.

I laugh when people complain about Denver traffic. It's nothing compared to the major cities I've driven in at rush hour (houston, Atlanta, Dallas).

 

[DharmaLou]

COL in Denver is ridiculous these days, especially if you are coming from Florida.
Natives hate transplants. I've been here for 14 years and the hate is just getting worse. I would prefer to be back in CA, but this is where life brought me.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend Five Points; while it's definitely being gentrified it's still not the area of downtown I'd recommend to people. I'd go with RiNo or Lodo, Cap Hill or North Wash Park first.
Public transit in Denver is absolutely awful. Moving from the Bay Area where you could go anywhere easily on public transit to a place where it can take all day to go across town is depressing.
Honestly, I hate Denver lol.

 

[MillauFr]

Denver is great. Just as fun as some of the cities that cost way more to live in, San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston. It might cost more to live in than Minneapolis but the weather is way better.

 

[wendow]

COL in Denver is ridiculous these days, especially if you are coming from Florida.
Natives hate transplants. I've been here for 14 years and the hate is just getting worse. I would prefer to be back in CA, but this is where life brought me.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend Five Points; while it's definitely being gentrified it's still not the area of downtown I'd recommend to people. I'd go with RiNo or Lodo, Cap Hill or North Wash Park first.
Public transit in Denver is absolutely awful. Moving from the Bay Area where you could go anywhere easily on public transit to a place where it can take all day to go across town is depressing.
Honestly, I hate Denver lol.

I'm sorry you hate Denver so much. I think some aspects of the COL are high - like housing - but other things like groceries, insurance, gas and utilities are less than what my TX family pays (gas is sometimes higher/sometimes lower). Our property taxes are so cheap here that it really evens out the housing some

I hardly ever meet a native. I didn't realize there were enough of them here to hate us transplants so much!

No one likes the increased traffic or rising home prices but it's a wonderful place to live. I cannot begrudge people for wanting to move here too.

 

[AlohaNow]

Denver is the cheapest place I've lived as an adult. Like @wendow said, the property taxes are amazingly low. And I don't find any other aspect of living here expensive. It's all in what you're used to! I'm sorry I can't suggest any downtown neighborhoods for a young couple - I'm old and I live in the suburbs! The transplant dislike is real. I just consider it the small-mindedness that it is and I go on with my day!

 

[DharmaLou]

I'm sorry you hate Denver so much. I think some aspects of the COL are high - like housing - but other things like groceries, insurance, gas and utilities are less than what my TX family pays (gas is sometimes higher/sometimes lower). Our property taxes are so cheap here that it really evens out the housing some

I hardly ever meet a native. I didn't realize there were enough of them here to hate us transplants so much!

No one likes the increased traffic or rising home prices but it's a wonderful place to live. I cannot begrudge people for wanting to move here too.

Ours are ridiculous. Throw in the fact that they want to start fracking near us and I'm about done.
Also keep in mind that Denver has the 9th worst air quality in the country. If he has any lung issues (asthma, etc) it will affect him. It definitely affects me.
I work in health care. 99% of the elderly population I work with are natives and make no secret how much they hate transplants. Read any comment section on a news story about population growth or traffic and you'll see it.
Car insurance prices are horrendous - due to increased traffic on the road and threat of hail

 

[DharmaLou]

As for COL - it is the 5th most expensive metro area to live in in the country, so when people say COL isn't bad, I laugh.

 

[wendow]

Ours are ridiculous. Throw in the fact that they want to start fracking near us and I'm about done.
Also keep in mind that Denver has the 9th worst air quality in the country. If he has any lung issues (asthma, etc) it will affect him. It definitely affects me.
I work in health care. 99% of the elderly population I work with are natives and make no secret how much they hate transplants. Read any comment section on a news story about population growth or traffic and you'll see it.
Car insurance prices are horrendous - due to increased traffic on the road and threat of hail

That's too bad your area has such bad property taxes. USA Today says CO has 3rd lowest property taxes in the nation. Not sure why yours are so high but that is really unfortunate.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...roperty-taxes-all-50-states-and-dc/100314754/

While Denver's air quality has suffered from the economic boom, my ds10 has asthma and does just fine here. We live in the burbs though. I would caution anyone with bad asthma from moving right into Denver central.

Gotta ask you, why in the world do you stay in a place you hate so much!?! I'm just interested cause I've honestly never met anyone here who hated living here. Most people think CO is like heaven on Earth...

 

[DharmaLou]

Because my husband's family is here and he doesn't want to leave, and we can't afford to - we can afford to sell and buy a new house, but there is much more to it than that. So yes, I have lived here for 14 years and hated pretty much every minute of it without being able to do anything about it.

I have asthma and it gets worse every year - the fracking and oil and gas industry is ruining Colorado.

The area we live has extremely high property taxes due to the need for continually expanding infrastructure. https://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Why_are_the_property_taxes_in_Reunion_so_high_If_-185572

This says we're ranked 30/50 http://www.tax-rates.org/colorado/property-tax