BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello all,
My husband and I are planning to move to Colorado from Northern Virginia (we cannot WAIT).

Any suggestions for where to live? We were looking at Golden and Boulder. I've lived in Westminster and went to Northglenn High School, so I'd preferably want to steer clear of the immediate Denver suburbs.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Blessings,
Laura

It kind of depends on how much you want to spend. The closer you are to the mountains the more expensive it will get. Boulder is nice but very expensive. Golden is cheaper but more crowded. You might want to try further north. The Ft. Collins area is very nice and less expensive than Boulder.

I'm not sure when you lived in Westminster but both Boulder and Golden are Denver suburbs now.

I went to college in Fort Collins and its a nice, quiet university town. CSU is an Ag school and its closer to farm country than Boulder and tends to lean a bit more to the right politically. I enjoyed living there and generally felt pretty safe. Its supposed to be both one of the best places to raise children and retire in the US. Also the university does a great job of supporting the bus system so if you are relatively in town you can take public transport pretty easily and efficiently.

Its about an hour's drive from Denver and you're in the foothills which are still tons of fun for camping, hiking and rock climbing. Just moments away from the Poudre canyon which is an outdoor wonderland.

AND, saving the very best for last... Ft. Fun is home to New Belgium Brewery, my favoritist brewery ever. You must try the 1554, I don't think I've heard of anyone who disliked it.

Thanks to you both! I lived in Westminster from 1997 until 2002, however I remember thinking of Boulder and Golden as pretty far away from the Denver area. I guess in retrospect they are around 20 min. from the city, but from my house they seemed farther.

I'll look into Ft. Collins for sure.

Laura

What do people think about Louisville, CO? Also, I've been reading that the job market is tough in Ft. Collins and that it's an expensive place to live. Thoughts?

I'm not sure how the job market is in Ft. Collins but I don't think there is much. There are plenty of companies along US 36 from Denver to boulder so thos areas, Northglenn to Boulder, should be pretty good on the job front.

I'm not sure on Cost of Living but I'm pretty sure Boulder is alot higher than Ft. Collins.

I don't really know anything about Louisville, sorry.

The job market in Fort Collins is tough. The university pumps out graduates and a ton of them want to stay which makes the market squeeze pretty tight. I think it will also really depend on what line of work you are looking for and like Llalewyn (why do you have to have such a difficult name!) says, many people commute all around the front range area for work.

As for cost of living, I thought it was one of the cheapest cities in CO. Definitely cheaper than Boulder by loads and loads. I was able to survive there as a starving college student so it couldn't have been that bad. If I remember correctly rent seemed a little on the higher than expected side, though. Otherwise I think it was inline with any other city of its demographic.

It's been ten years, so I imagine everything has changed, but I liked Superior.

La

We live in Louisville, just moved here last year and absolutely love it.
Lots of open space and just a short ride from Boulder. Jobs are okay,
especially if you're doing tech stuff.

Thanks, on_ancient_road! Unfortunately, my husband and I are of the non-techy variety. I've heard that a lot of jobs now in Colorado are tech-minded...is this true? I hope there is a lot of different openings when we move out there.

What kind of skills do you and your husband have? I was transferred from Alaska to Durango, CO last year and it looks like it is booming here. The oil companies are going to drill 30,000 more natural gas wells here in the next 10 years.

If you are in the electrical, mechanical and instrumentation fields you can get a very good job here. Durango is too pricey to buy but the rents are not bad cuz its a college town. I am paying $1300/mo for a cute old victorian home that is a 2 bed with 850 sf.

If you are financially independent or can work from home...

then...Nederland, Durango, Ouray or Estes Park come to mind .

Good luck!