Know Anything About CO.?

My sister and her family live in Colorado Springs. They love it there. It is listed as one of the top 10 places to live. I am thinking of moving there myself.

I also grew up in Arizona, but my husband and I moved there for 2 years due to a job offer. We LOVED it there! I hated driving in the snow, but fortunately it's very sunny there and the snow melts quickly. We lived in Littleton (Douglas County), which is about 1 hour South of Denver. It's a lovely city. I didn't have kids at the time, so I couldn't tell you about the schools. Near us was the Highlands Ranch community, which was a very nice neighborhood and I'm sure their schools were nice, but the neighborhood is more expensive. Our neighborhood was called Roxborough Village and pretty affordable. It was kind of nestled up against the mountains which I loved, but it was a little far from things. They have since built a grocery store and the accompanying plaza there so it's better now. Ken Caryl is really up against the mountains and very lovely, but more expensive. And my MIL lives in Parker, which is also terrific and she is extremely impressed and grateful for the wonderful school her child attends there in Parker. I personally loved Littleton and Colorado in general. It's a very outdoorsy state--in fact, last I checked it's the "healthiest" state in the U.S., meaning they have the healthiest people there, due probably to their active lifestyle. I'll have to agree with Laura that Aurora is a major dump!

The only reason we moved back to Arizona is because we were expecting our first child and wanted to raise our children around family. Although I don't regret our decision to move back (my children's cousins are their best friends and I had that growing up and wouldn't trade it for anything) I miss Colorado terribly and really really really hope some day to have a summer home there. I left a little part of my heart there in Colorado. I'm sure part of my nostalgia is the period of my life we were in when we lived there--no more school, two incomes, no kids, lots of relationship time with my husband to really strengthen our marriage.

Hi M.,
I read your request and I couldn't believe it, you sound like me and my situation! My husband and I are both from Arizona. We also have really been wanting to move away. We also picked Colorado. We also have no family or friends there.
I have been researching alot, asking around, etc. I hate flying so I wish there was a city I wanted to live in that was within a decent driving time from Arizona but unfortunetly theres not. All the cities people have suggested and that seem like good choices are like 14+ hours away so I'll have to suck it up and fly when it's time to visit good ol' AZ!
All the other people that responded gave you great information and most of them have lived there so they will have more insight than me. However the research I've done says Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs are all the top places to live. Like they said they are expensive. But I bet if you took some time you could find something that works for you in one of those cities. I would compromise a huge house for a better city with better schools with a smaller house. (That's just me though). Keep me posted on what you do. I am really interested because we are in the same situation. Good Luck!

I moved here from Colorado 7 years ago because my husband lived here. I still miss it and want to move back.

If you live in the area around Denver, it doesn't snow as much as everyone thinks it does. If it does snow, it is typically gone within a day or two. The seasons are beautiful and Denver ranks close to Phoenix for number of sunny days. Western suburbs are more established than the eastern suburbs. So if you are looking for unique neighborhoods with big trees, look to the west. If you are looking for newer homes, look to the east. Littleton and Lakewood are nice. Golden is tucked up against the foothills which is beautiful, but is a bit more expensive. Up north, near Boulder is also beautiful - Arvada and Westminster area. Boulder is kind of a place of its own and is more expensive but very nice as well. Longmont is also growing. In the northern area, you have stunning views of the rockies.

I guess I am a bit biased, but Denver is a great place to live. I lived in Portland for a couple years and loved the green there. To me, Denver is the perfect compromise between Arizona and Oregon. You still have lots of sunny days, but you have four beautiful seasons as well. Let me know if you have any more questions - obviously, I love talking about Colorado! :)

I grew up there and miss it terribly. They have change of season...all but winters are wonderful. It sprinkles in the afternoons, it has change of colors and beautiful mountains everywhere. Can we say fresh air? It takes a little while to get used to the thinner air there. I would 100% suggest Castle Rock or Parker. The schools are awesome. The towns are close enough to the city so you don't miss much but far enough away to stay safe. They are finishing the light rail throughout Denver, so he can ride those into the city to save on gas money. They also have a Six Flags in the middle of Denver right next to Coors Stadium GO ROCKIES(which is the most beautiful stadium) and now Pepsi Stadium GO AVALANCHE!! or GO BRONCOS because they have a new stadium as well.
Also, if you want to live on the northern side of Denver, Boulder or Longmont are great aw well but slightly farther out. Any of these four cities are smaller, clean, great family environments and schools.
Good Lcuk on your decision, I know moving to a new and unknown city is hard.

I grew up in Colorado and moved to AZ for a teaching position. If it were not for meeting my hubby, I would be back in CO. It is wonderful, you have things to do year round and it is a very family friendly community. I went to Littleton Public Schools (some of the best) The schools are MUCH better than those here in AZ. I have taught in three different districts (two which are considered the better districts) and would not send my son to any of them. I also lived in Fort Collins. It is wonderful there. It is the small town feel with the city wants. If you stay in center to western Denver area, you will be about an hour or so from the mountains: Westminster, Arvada, Littleton, Western Englewood, Lakewood, Thorton. Aurora is getting pretty far out East where it takes a while to get to the mountains. Castle Rock is nice also, but I don't know the cost.
You will be able to play outside YEAR ROUND; it is cold but not like the east.

We were transferred from Colorado to Arizona. We really loved Colorado. Arizona, not so much! We have previously lived in Utah and California!
We lived in Arvada Co. and it was really nice. I've heard westminister is next to Arvada and really nice too.
My favorite towns are Longmont and Frederick. frederick is a really small farming community. Great schools, lots of new homes being built. I am LDS and the church there was amazing. We had just built our dream home in Frederick when my husband was tranferred!
Longmont is a bigger town than Frederick. It is really nice! Still small town but fantstic. My favorite yearly tradition there is the christmas parade down mainstreet!
So, check those out. Arvada and Westminister are closer to Denver and larger towns. Frederick and Longmont are further away and smaller towns. Depends on what your family likes! Also, when you go to visit, you might want to take a drive to longmont to see if the drive is OK for your husband or too much.
We prefer to live outside the city so the drive we didn't mind! Stay away from Aurora!!! it is a dump. Much cheaper to live, but crime is huge and the city is a total dive!
Good luck! I am jealous!
Oh~ I have been reading other replys so here's a few more things. Fort collins and colorado springs are way too far to live if you work in denver. Durrango is too.Parker and cherry creek are on the other side of denver from arvada, thornton, and longmont. I really like parker and cherry creek too.
Another nice city I saw here is golden. A little more expensive but nice. Cheapest is longmont, frederick. Arvada, littleton, westminster, parker and cherry creek are next in expense then boulder is probably the most expensive! Very liberal city too.
I don't like Thornton.
if you have any more questions I'd be happy to email you!
Good luck!

I lived in Denver for 2 years when my husband worked for Skywest airlines. I am born and raised in AZ and honestly. I just missed my family the whole time!
I am an outdoors person, so the weather was awesome for that, about 6 months out of the year.
The first snowfall is cool. But trust me. The snow and cold got really old really fast.
My husband would go on trips for like 4 days at a time and I was home alone with a 2 year old and no support system. Let's just say it was a good recipe for depression.
I ended up moving back to AZ May of 07 and am happy to be back.
We still own our home there in the KB homes neighborhood around Pena and 56th. It is a nice area. they're building out that way, so everything is new. and it is about 25 minutes from the airport.
Some really nice areas are a little north of the airport but a tad pricy and you mentioned you didn't want that.
good luck!
C.

Hi,
I grew up in WY just across the CO border. If I were to move back I would go to either Ft. Collins or Loveland. Have you checked them out? I think they're both very nice places to raise a family. Good luck!
J.

My Husband & I are both from Colorado. I lived in a town called Longmont- it is a little north of Denver- very nice. Boulder is real expensive & Fort Collins is probably too far to drive. My Brother is a peditrician in Littleton- so if you move close to there I can give you his info. I did hair in Longmont & can hook you up with that too. Colorado is Great- summers are perfect. good luck

Hi there-
sounds like you have a lot of good input.

I grew up in the Durango area and miss it so much. I met my husband here, and this is where we "landed", but I'd move back in a heartbeat if we didn't have so many ties here.

Sorry I don't know much about the Denver area..I've only been there a few times. I know they don't get as much snow as Durango, so maybe that's a plus for you.

You learn to stay inside during the rough weather, just as we do here during the extreme heat.

I'm jealous you get to go... enjoy it for all of us! We always said that if God didn't live in CO, I bet that's where He spends most of His time! (there's a song with that phrase in it that I love!)

toni

We moved here 3 years ago from Parker Colorado. We LOVED it!!! Parker has a small town feel with lots of new growth. We were told that Cherry Creek and Douglas county schools were the best. Parker is in the Douglas County School District. We had to leave some of our best friends there and plan to go back to visit. Parker holds a special place in my heart.

We had friends in Denver and we research it at one point because we had the opportunity to move there. At the time, I was a teacher and the salaries were much lower than CA. The housing is close to what CA is, but about the same as AZ. There is a lot of research on places if you do a Google search. Denver is a democratic city with a lot of down to earth people and people are into nature and sports. Colorado Springs is a very religious city if you are into that. Boulder is a great city and the standard of living is about the same as Denver. I envy you because that is where I want to be! Good luck.

My dad lived in golden and my sister went to golden HS. It is home of the coors brewery so it still has a cute small town feel. And it's on the far west side, close to the mtns and boulder. It was absolutely beautiful.

We considered moving to Colorado a few years ago. I am a teacher and my good friend is a teacher in the Cherry Creek School District which is just outside of Denver. They consistantly have high test scores and very low class sizes. They currently live in Parker which is a very nice town and convenient to get into the city if needed. Hope this helps. Its worth a look.