I'm a NY native living in West Palm Bch, FL and thinking of moving to Colorado. I have a friend that just moved to Boulder and others that live in Colorado Springs. I would welcome any opinions on the subject, maybe others who made the move. I never minded the cold weather in NY, but I think FL might have spoiled me. It's almost the end of November and it was beautiful out today. Went to the beach. Also worried about not being by the ocean. Is the move worth it?

Hello Natalie:

May I suggest that you visit the U.S. Census Bureau for area statistics, and the Denver Post online for recent information about housing and so forth. I don't know what your price range is, but I can tell you that the average price of a home in the Denver area is $250,000. We're talking your basic three bedroom, two bath, suburban tract house. Pretty steep, but Denver attracts a lot of high tech, white collar types who can well afford it (as well as professional athletes for four major sports teams, their mansions help drive up the average home price). Not much culture in Denver, but plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities and of course, sporting events.

The average home price in Boulder is nearly half a million, don't know about Colorado Springs, but be aware that the Springs is a very conservative area, headquarters to Focus on the Family and other right wing religious groups. They are so active that I've seen a few bumper stickers around town that say "Focus on Your OWN Damn Family" in response to them.

Hope that helps somewhat.

If you want to move to Colorado, you are bound to hear a lot of criticism. Despite the fact the majority of people who live here are from somewhere else, most people complain about the extensive growth that has gone on here in the last 20 years and want to discourage anyone to move here. I just want to say that I think Colorado is one of the best places to live in the US. Despite having the luxury of ocean views, and greenery year round, Coloradoans have a great environment. The mountains are wonderful, and really are still not crowded in many places. The weather here is outstanding. We get a few cold snaps and a few hot snaps a year on the Front Range.Other than that, it is usually beautiful with 300 days of sun.If you depend on the ocean, you will miss it.There is no real substitute. But, the weather is great most of the year. I don't think I would choose to live in Boulder (overpriced, too yuppie) or Colorado Springs (too fundamentalist). Ft Collins, Evergreen, Littleton,Conifer are great.

Natalie, Fort Collins is a nice university town, but it's just as outrageously expensive as the next Colorado town, and experiencing plenty of unwanted growth in the form of new tract homes and traffic. Littleton is just an aging, overdeveloped and overpriced suburb, made even less desirable by the events at Columbine. (Would you subject YOUR kid to that school with all its notoriety now?). Evergreen and Conifer are mountain towns, and if you enjoy commuting on icy, curvy mountain roads during the winter and risking wildfires during the summer, you'll love it. If you're an ocean person rather than a mountain person, you'd probably be happier in Florida or California.

As a Colorado native - I have endured the unbelievable, uncontrolled growth occuring along the front range the past 20 years. I-25 and I-70 are often parking lots. The urban sprawl is consuming our open spaces. And the winter pollution inversion that used to be just over Denver now covers the front-range. . . .

Also - it has reached Zero degrees every day during the past week and last Friday's snow is still icy everywhere . . . . .

So mms, did you vote yes or no on Amendment 24? With a 70/30 defeat ratio, it's pretty clear that big money developers managed to snooker the majority of Colorado voters.

Amend. 24 had a lot of problems.
People who own property need options on how to develop their land.
IMHO I believe we need to develop a fund that can be used to buy property from willing sellers to protect as "open space", just as we have protected many of our beautiful forrests. Hopefully, our wonderful state will find a solution to this problem before it is too, too late.

Oops, I used the words "wonderful" and "beautiful" to describe Colorado. Hopefully, Kristin won't catch on to me . . . . .

OOps - I meant Natalie

Colorado - ok the front range (meaning Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and surrounding nastiness)- is just like West Palm Beach, except for the fact that you have mountains instead of the ocean, much less humidity in CO, and CO is substantially colder in the winter (though still not all that cold because of the sunshine). For the rest its the same strip malls, subdivisions and traffic, and the same "life's better here attitude" (??? maybe if you're from LA...). If I had to choose one or the other, I'd pick the front range over West Palm. But ideally I'd live in neither of them, as they both define over-rated. Sadly I've lived in both South Florida and Denver, so I'm in a good position to compare. Really, give them both a miss. Go to a place that doesn't celebrate PF Changs.

It must be said, the above does not apply to the Rockies (with the exception of the I70 corridor through Eagle). The Rockies are gorgeous and wonderful. If the lifestyle suits, you might investigate Durango.

If you must live in the Front Range, I'd go for Boulder, or Capitol Hill, Congress Park, or Wash Park in center Denver. Unfortunately, since these are some of the few tolerable places to live, many people want to live there an d they are very expensive. But when the alternative is Highlands Ranch....

Well guys, it sounds like I should maybe visit first? Any help with that would also be appreciated. I was trying to come early, middle Dec and the airfares are a little too much for a working girl. Is there ever a cheap time to fly?

I forgot, how is the singles scene for twenty something girls/guys in the area?

I don't know how it is for guys, as I was dating someone, but all my girlfriends' single female friends are in that age group, and think it's pretty awful. Some are even moving out because of it. The problem is that its an inherently isolating area. If you had a good network I think it would be fine, just like anywhere else would be if one has a network.

Charles - How long did you live in Colorado? Where do you live now? What in the heck is PF Changs? I've lived here all my life and have never heard of it. Where is the "sourrounding nastiness"?

I grew up in Boulder. 20 years ago it was a wonderful place to live but now is full of arrogant annoying people with egos the size of the flatirons. I now live close to Boulder and visit often but would never live there.

All in all though I'd have to disagree with you Charles. This is a beautiful state. Of course we strip malls and subdivisions. With the tons of people that move here every year how could that be helped?

Coloradian (shouldn't that be coloradan?) the answers to your questions are, in no particular order.

2 years in Colorado, living in Park Hill (a little) and Congress Park

PF Changs is chain chinese. THere's one in LoDo and I think one at Park Meadows.

Where is the surrounding nastiness? How can you ask this question?? Haven't you driven 36 in the last 5 years? But to answer - Highlands Ranch and surrounding areas, almost all of Jefferson County, almost all the area between Boulder and Denver, Broomfield, et cetera. Drive 6 from I70 to Boulder and look east. See all the strip malls and subdivisions as far as the eye can see?

As far as Colorado being a beautiful state, I agree if we are talking about the Rockies. But the front range is wretched.

I'm currently writing this from Boston. I miss the Rockies in winter, and the Tattered Cover, and that's it.

So are we supposed to say, "If you are not a native, don't come to Colorado? What right do we have to that? Who took the land from the Pauites, Blackfoot, Navajos, etc, who lived here before us. Yes, Colorado has become more crowded,unrestricted growth is a worry, but, the growth has also brought prosperity, low unemployment, big homes, unbelieveable recreational opportunities. No, I don't want to see home prices go up more, nor do I like the traffic jams in a previously easy to navigate city. My husband is a native, and he doesn't complain half as much as the transplants. I've lived here almost 30 years, and I'm still a transplant. Yes, it is much more crowded than before, but this is a beautiful state. Many people are educated, crime isn't that bad for a large metro area, and we need to support our schools more. It isn't perfect, but I'd rather live here than Conshocken.

FYI,

IMHO the secret to avoiding to many more transplants is to tell them Colorado is HORRIBLE. Then people with romantized visions of Colorado can stay put where they are!!! And we can (hopefully) continue to enjoy a Colorado the may remain as unspoiled as possible.

Who said anything about not coming to Colorado unless you are a native????? Sounds like you want to start something. I just mentioned that, of course, we (like every other state) has it's share of bad areas with strip malls, etc. and I said the reason for this is because of all the people coming here. I didn't say not to come. The growth has benefited us and hurt us.

I do think Charles is exaggerating quite a bit when he mentioned such large stretches that he calls "nastiness". He makes it sound like everything is crap except the mountains. Wrong.

Native

Interesting to see a Bostonian complaining about Front Range overdevelopment. I guess its OK to overdevelop the east coast because there's nothing there worth preserving.

Charles - We have 2 of these PF Chang Chinese chain restaurants and that means we celebrate them? I never heard of them either. I really don't think someone who has spent only 2 years here should so harshly criticize our state. If you hadn't of spent so much time in the Tattered Cover and on the main highways you would've found some surprisingly delightful places besides the mountains. Enjoy Boston.

Natalie- Yes I think you should come for a visit first to see if it suits you. Good Luck.

I thought the same thing as Another Coloradan. Why is it ok to build dense cities like Boston or San Francisco which don't have room to sneeze in (and which nearly everyone on these threads gush over)- but not ok to build sub-divisions where kids can actually play on a lawn and tend a sizeable garden of their own. Strip malls are built for people to use and are the seat of many small businesses. Many self-employed are in these businesses and may give back to community much more than their corporate monster brothers. Colorado is just becoming more populated, as have many other desirable and beautiful places. Nastiness is more in the perception, and from what I've viewed- not in the reality. IMHO this area of Colorado seems to have its traffic problems but has many other advantages and would be a great place to settle.