Thinking of moving to Colorado

[azscoob]

OK all, lately I have been hating working all day in the AZ heat, dealing with the dust storms on my way home, etc. I would like a place with some property for my dogs (more than the postage stamp I have now), and I would like room for a garden, and somewhere to grow hops. My wife suggested Ft Collins, I hear the weather there in the winter is a lot more mild than the Chicago **** I grew up with, the temps are almost mild and the snow that falls doesn't stick around long, and the summers have got to be better than the Phoenix area, I need suggestions on locations to look into. I am a mechanic, currently with Kia, so decent Kia/Hyundai dealerships would be a plus, better would be a job at a brewery. (maybe just proximity to good beer for consuming)

Sell me on a city, give me the plus and minus of Colorado living, maybe sell me on a specific city I should look into, my main concern is tolerable weather since I am sick of the summers I have now, and hated the brutal Chicago winters that I moved away from in the first place.

 

[ghart999]

I live in the Denver suburbs and love it. The winters are mild as hell. 5 degrees I can wear a sweatshirt and be OK compared to the humid winters of the North East. Its never cold. Also snowfall is gone in 2 days max as the average temp in the winter is like 45F and sunny. So even with a foot of snow, its gone so fast because of the sun the next day. I love Denver and Colorado Springs. The Springs is beautiful and I would move there in a second if I didn't already have such a good job in Denver. Ft. Collins I know little about other than lots of breweries. But then again the Springs has about 6 and Denver has about 15 too.

The summers are nothing like AZ obviously. We camp a lot in the summers and love it. It can hit 30F in the mornings in the Mtns even in August which is so nice.

I'd say do it.

 

[ghart999]

Further there is so many homebrew clubs out here. I think Denver and the surrounding area has 6.

 

[iahebert]

I actually moved down to Fort Collins about a year ago from Seattle. It took me some gettin used to, but now that I'm hear, I really like it. Denver's about an hour outside of town, as are Boulder and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park.

The weather's pretty decent, especially the mornings. They're sunny, cool, and gorgeous. One thing though, the motto for CO is "it's not normally like this". This past winter, it snowed quite a bit, and then stuck around for a while, but usually it melts within a couple days, which everyone said "it's not normally like this". Towards the end of the winter it'd be about 80 one day, then snow 6 inches the next day, then be gone and dry the next, and climbing back up to the 80's. I had some friends down here and they saw the snow, and sure enough, I said it: "It's not normally like this". The summers are great. Right now we're looking about 99 for a high, but generally it stays in the upper 80's low 90's mark, with overnight lows in the 60's.

Oh yah, they also have a lot of beer here. Like a lot. FoCo has 6 breweries, with a couple more on the way, and Loveland, Longmont, Lyons, and Boulder (all within an hour) have more to add, so there's no shortage of brews. There're also lots of Restaurants in town, and a bunch of fun parks. In the year i've been here, I've found it very easy to stay in town and not feel trapped.

If you're looking for a decent place to be, not have to pay too much in rent, and get decent weather, I'd say the Fort's a good place to start.

 

[olllllo]

How does this work? You leave AZ and we get Soper?
Does TX get a chimp with a Mr Beer?

 

[azscoob]

How does this work? You leave AZ and we get Soper?
Does TX get a chimp with a Mr Beer?

LOL! I am brewing with Soper this weekend! I am still looking into the move, there are a lot of factors that need to be met, I will not move without a job to step into, and the house has to meet with my wifes standards, basically I need the warm fuzzy vibe first. this wont happen real soon, so you get to see my bright cheery face at ASH for a while longer.

 

[triethylborane]

I love Colorado. I am a CO native and I have lived in other states, been to all 50 and I never want to live anywhere but CO. I thought Michigan sucked because it is so damn gray there all the time. I need the sun, which is what you will get here. Winters are mild, as previously stated, and we do get snow. Heavy snowfalls can happen, but most snow is a few inches and melts later on in the afternoon. CO is very dry, but the heat is not as bad as AZ. The winters are dry too, so no nasty humidity all year round.

My wife moved here from Scottsdale and she loves it. She grew up in Paradise Valley, which supposedly was a nice area. She loved the AZ desert, but the mountains are simply amazing.

For Denver, try Wash park, LoDo, University, Bonnie Brae, 6th Ave, Cherry Creek.

For North Denver metro area try Golden, Louisville, Boulder, Broomfield.

South Denver metro area, try Littleton, Centennial, Parker, Lone Tree, Greenwood Village, or Highlands Ranch (cookie cutter dominates).


Fort Collins is very nice, very easy going and has decent housing prices; another upshot is you are damn close to Rocky Mountain NP, and even closer to Routt County, which is just amazingly beautiful.

Colorado Springs has lots of high tech, lots of AF and Army due to AFA and Ft Carson, good housing, beautiful weather all the time.

Avoid: Aurora, West Denver, North Denver, and North East Denver. These all used to be nice places, but avoid. Lakewood is ok, but I think it has pockets of nice places surrounded by mediocre & trashy places. Arvada probably should be on the avoid list. Commerce city should be avoided. 5-points, Montbello, and NE Denver are really ghetto, but nothing like Watts or Compton (not even close). West Denver is heavily Mexican, which you are used to.


As for stuff to do, you have God's playground here. I try to get into the mountains as much as possible (away from crowds/tourists), but it never seems enough.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

How's the job market in Colorado? Are companies hiring? I've been looking into west coast and toying with the idea of CO as the DC job market is still crappy. Looking for major engineering companies to target.

 

[steinsato]

My brother lives in Fairplay, CO (15 miles south of Breckenridge) so it is the high country for sure. Colorado is a beautiful state but damn is it crowded. Check out Northern New Mexico, the climate is about the same with far fewer people. Santa Fe, Albuquerque are both nice. Farmington is ok but the scenery is a bit lacking.

 

[g-nome]

I have lived in Colorado for 19 years.....I suggest getting a job before you move. I have lived in FtC, Denver, Aurora, Highlands Ranch, and a brief spell in in the Springs. If you have work, any of those places are fine.

My favorite for beer but not jobs was FtC....if I found decent work there, I would have never left. Boulder is more liberal, Denver (city proper)is next, FtC is half and half, and Colorado Springs (as Highlands Ranch in Denver Suburbs) is to right wing conservative for my tastes. Good beer in every corner of this state.

i currently live within the city of Denver, and it suits me....but I would choose FTC if employment wasn't an issue....or up in the mountains if employment and housing costs weren't the issue.

 

[Airborneguy]

I was stationed at Ft. Carson for 4 years and have never been able to get Colorado out of my blood. Took my wife there this eyar to visit friends, and she fell in love in 7 days!

We hope to move out there when I retire in 12 years.

Personally, I like Colorado Springs because of the proximity to the heart of the Rockies. I loved being able to jump on US24 and head straight into them for the weekend. I always like being centrally located within the state.

You really can't go wrong in Colorado, seriously.

 

[AnonyBrew]

LOL! I am brewing with Soper this weekend! I am still looking into the move, there are a lot of factors that need to be met, I will not move without a job to step into, and the house has to meet with my wifes standards, basically I need the warm fuzzy vibe first. this wont happen real soon, so you get to see my bright cheery face at ASH for a while longer.

I don't really plan on brewing yet as all my stuff is still stuck in storage. Just bringing beer, hanging out, & lending a hand if you need it.

 

[azscoob]

I assumed thats what was going down, looking forward to the brewday for sure! Also looking forward to some 80 shilling as well!

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I visit family in Ft. Collins every Christmas and even being from Florida I find the weather/cold there to be very tolerable (actually I love it because I get a white christmas, ski a bit, then leave). If I could find a job there I'd move in a heartbeat.

It was #6 on top cities to live in in some fairly recent poll or something. Ah, here it is. They even mention the beer 'scene'.

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

People have covered the front range fairly well so I'll cover the Western Slope.

Grand Junction - hot in the summer, not much winter, lots of mtn biking in the area

Montrose - not quite as hot, a little more winter, just about the right size small town but still having all the stores you may need or want (target, home depot, etc) ....also up to 3 breweries in town now I think.

Durango - We love living here but moving for other reasons...4 breweries in town as well as a really good tap bar w about 30 rotating taps. About 15,000 people....plenty to do, housing is fairly expensive compared to the wages paid....lots of tourist during the summer.....we call it mini Boulder for its extreme left wing leanings!