When I lived in Boulder we got a good foot of snow as late as the beginning of May. Melted quickly, though. College buddy of mine from Ohio once noted that Colorado got 330 days of sun per annum and Ohio got the other 35.
When I lived in Boulder we got a good foot of snow as late as the beginning of May. Melted quickly, though. College buddy of mine from Ohio once noted that Colorado got 330 days of sun per annum and Ohio got the other 35.
Yeah, I live in Chicago but grew up in Denver. People here always seem to think it is cold in Denver.
Compared to Mexico, maybe. But definitely not cold compared to Chicago.
Denver gets lots of snow (and sometimes at really random times - like october or june), but the difference is it all melts away in a day or two even in the middle of winter. Chicago gets snow in early dec and then it stays around until about march.
Check out the Washington Park area. It may be a bit pricey for you at this point, but it's a very nice-- centrally located neighborhood. The area around Denver University is nice as well. Observatory Park is also in that area, and worth looking into.
Highlands ranch is an option-- but it's very suburban, and homogenous. (big box stores, chains, etc) The other neighborhoods I mentioned have more character.
Cherry Creek is also very nice, but may be too much $$. It's a little more urban, but well established and upscale.
Denver is a great place--- I lived there for 7 years. Weather is mild, mountains are close, and there is sunshine about 300 days out of the year. Really the only drawbacks are it's very dry, and the cost of living isn't cheap.
Basil Exposition wrote: When I lived in Boulder we got a good foot of snow as late as the beginning of May. Melted quickly, though. College buddy of mine from Ohio once noted that Colorado got 330 days of sun per annum and Ohio got the other 35.
Were those 35 days occupied by the Denver Cyclone or the DCVZ causing accumulating hail/tornadoes? 
If I lived in Denver and only had to commute three days a week I'd probably post up someplace closer to the mountains or public land. As a mountain biker I'd be looking at Castle Rock or Morrison areas.
Here in Flagstaff our cost of living isn't bad when you make as much as what we do, which is probably twice what most of our friends make. Unfortunately, that also means that our friends are constantly talking about moving someplace cheaper, while my wife wants to settle down here. The most expensive increase is in housing. Our rent went up $400 for half the space we had in Pennsylvania, but to own a home is nearly twice as expensive.
I spent the first 12 years of my life on the shores of lake Erie and then moved across I-80 for most of the rest with time in Chicago and Omaha. Snow isn't a big thing for me as long as you can do something fun in it like sking and snowshoeing. That was the problem I had in Chicago was it was always a hassle and you couldn't do anything fun in it.
Funny thing is we just found out today that 2 more of our close friends are moving to Boulder next month. That makes 5 close friends in the Denver area now.
The good thing is as long as there are 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, That's all we need space wise. With the fact that most of the places have basements, I could do 1200 SQ Ft above grade real easily. We only have 1600 Sq Ft right now and there are 2 rooms we don't even use except for storage and my cat hanging out in.
The snow fun in Denver is in the mountains, and I70 turns into a parking lot on Sunday afternoon as everyone comes back to town. I've always been going the other way, but it looks miserable. Not sure what it looks like on Friday night.
Having also lived in Erie, I'm thankful that I can drive an hour south during the winter and get away from the sloppiness of snow. That hour drive will get me a 20-30 degree increase in temps, as well as being able to ride Sedona. Erie was mud mud mud October-May. An hour drive south was more of the same. Two hours to Pittsburgh didn't improve anything. Here in the high desert we don't get a good snow until late October and by April it was drying out. That'll probably be one advantage to Colorado over other places with snow, is that it'll dry out quickly.
Unlike Flagstaff, the Denver Metro area probably has a pretty good job market. In Flag, when the economy tanked lots of people lost their jobs and moved out of town, or they lost their jobs down in Phoenix and couldn't afford their vacation home here. I don't think you'll experience this in Denver.
Having friends nearby is always a good thing, especially for the wife who's following you for the job.
Being able to be comfortable in less space will save you some as well. Colorado won't be Texas in those regards. Again, be prepared to get a bit depressed about housing costs.
Remember that as soon as you leave the state, you are a cop bait. They see a Colorado plate and think you're packing weed.
Appleseed wrote: Remember that as soon as you leave the state, you are a cop bait. They see a Colorado plate and think you're packing weed.
Kansas especially
Having driven across the country a few times since the law went into effect, I don't agree with this. Colorado has gone from "wow, the mountains are cool!" to "dude, so you can like smoke grass" when it comes to casual conversation which is annoying for those of us who don't use drugs - but I've seen no indication of selective enforcement.
Keith Tanner wrote: Having driven across the country a few times since the law went into effect, I don't agree with this. Colorado has gone from "wow, the mountains are cool!" to "dude, so you can like smoke grass" when it comes to casual conversation which is annoying for those of us who don't use drugs - but I've seen no indication of selective enforcement.
I would assume driving a Targa miata with livery makes you a cop magnet either way...so you may not be the best data point
I went out there with Mrs. DX for a conference. I'd move out there in a heartbeat. Denver reeked of pot everywhere but it was a cool city to walk around. Tons of homeless people as well. The flagship REI store was pretty rad to visit. Out of all the places I visited out there, I really liked Golden. Everybody seemed really nice, town was cool, tons of good cycling there, not far from Denver and Coors lab 
Flynlow wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: Having driven across the country a few times since the law went into effect, I don't agree with this. Colorado has gone from "wow, the mountains are cool!" to "dude, so you can like smoke grass" when it comes to casual conversation which is annoying for those of us who don't use drugs - but I've seen no indication of selective enforcement.I would assume driving a Targa miata with livery makes you a cop magnet either way...so you may not be the best data point
Let me tell you, driving a...noticeable...car with both your company name and your own name on it does make you accountable to your actions!
But this is driving my VW Westfalia, my Big White Dodge with a 28' trailer or the black BMW. The former looks like a hippie bus, the Dodge looks like I'm hauling commercial weed and the BMW looks like I sell it.
The western half of the state is a little more red than the Boulder/Denver area. No dispensaries in my county.
Keith Tanner wrote: Having driven across the country a few times since the law went into effect, I don't agree with this. Colorado has gone from "wow, the mountains are cool!" to "dude, so you can like smoke grass" when it comes to casual conversation which is annoying for those of us who don't use drugs - but I've seen no indication of selective enforcement.
Probably moreso an issue with non-Colorado plates.
I've lived in Denver my whole life and recently purchased a house in your price range. I work in Centennial off of Arapahoe.
From a housing standpoint, I think the University Hills/Wellshire area is the next place that will pop from a price standpoint. People are already doing scrape and rebuilds in the $1MM+ range, but you can still find deals for $350k-400k in there, just don't expect them to be large houses at that price. 800-1500sqft is probably realistic.
I chose to live a bit further east near Bible park. It's a good area and there are plenty of options for houses in the $300-$400k range (mine is about 1850sqft, 4 bed 3 bath, 0.33 acre) with the downside being it's a bit more commercial and there are pockets of apartment complexes that could really use updating. Commute to Centennial is short.
At $400k, it does open you up to a few other neighborhoods nearby, but they all have their warts: Southglenn (suburban), Rosedale (pockets of lower income but developing), University (small houses/college kids), Virginia Vale (bordered by lower income), Parker (far away with nothing around). At that price, Wash Park is going to be impossible unless you're ok with an apartment, and even that might be stretching it. Some parts of Broadway might be accessible, but I'm not a fan. Platt park is great if you can find a place, but it's become priced up like Wash Park. Same with Cory-Merrill and the Hilltop areas.
Honestly, if you're commuting only three days a week and want to be away form the city and near some great outdoor activities, I would strongly consider Castle Rock. Your commute will suck a bit going into work those three days, but the area is beautiful and less crowded. You could look further North or West as well, but the commute tends to get a bit long and tedious IMO. I grew up in the Lakewood area and know the whole west part of town well if you want some info there.
Outside of where to live, Denver has it all. Lots of sun, mild(ish) winters, TONS to do outdoors, good sports teams, good food. It's really a close to perfect "big" city all things considered. Red Rocks tickets aren't hard to get or expensive as long as you buy them early. I've seen four shows there this summer and haven't paid more than $45/ticket for any of them.
We're lucky to have lots of car things to do with Bandimere, High Plains Raceway, PPIR, and Pueblo Motorsports park all nearby. Autocross (SCCA and BMW Club), Rallycross, NASA, and misc time attack events are common, well run, and popular.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions, or if you just want a fellow GRMer to connect with once you're out here.
Thanks for the great Info BTD. I'm definitely planning on continuing corner marshaling at HPR upon arrival. I do all of the COTA event and nascar here. I'm still a few months away from knowing everything for sure. Everyone I've talked to totally loves the place.
After COTA, HPR is going to be quite a shock I think the only permanent structures are the dozen covered pit spots, and they're just a roof on stilts. Fun track though, and very accessible to drive on.
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