My wife has been asked to take a work project abroad. We are currently living in Finland. The project would be in Golden (Colorado) and we would move to reasonable range from that for a year (summer 2015 to summer 2016). We have 2 sons that are going to be 10 and 12 years old at that time.
My responsibilities would include taking care of the household and the kids and obviously train and race as much as I can. So a dream come true for me, in other words.
I know, that many of you slowtwitchers live in the area and I would highly appreciate some advice with practical matters. Our boys both play ice hockey and a chance to continue that in competetive level is going play a significant role as well as choosing the right area to live with good public schools. What cities or towns would you recommend in the area and what areas shoud we try to avoid?
Health insurances are a another thing that I would need advice with. We have a public free health care system here in Finland, so I´m quite unaware about these things. What are the costs approx. for four of us. We all are healthy and the hobbies are kid´s ice hockey and my triathlon.
I live in CO, and do business in the (Denver) I try to live there (in Golden) and made it only about 9mo before moving. It’s a nice place and many people love it. But I find it to be a smog filled and just another dirty city. It’s sprawls out for miles and miles. If you don’t like sitting in your car you are in for a treat.
with that said Golden is a nicer area of Denver. There are many cyclist/tri people that live in Golden and the weather is tempered. So that’s nice. There also a very good racing schedule. You can race your bike 3-4 times a week throughout the summer and fall plus a full plate of tri.s and xterra races within 2 hours to make anyone happy.
Schools-good luck!!! They suck…but are good by US standards
Heath care can get costly. I spend about 2100 per mo for Heath Ins…
Is your wife working at the Federal Center in Lakewood? Thats what brought us here a couple months ago. Traffic does seem to be pretty bad esp on the highways. We live down by Columbine and she takes regular streets up. We had a tough time finding a rental online as there wasn’t much on this side of town. We ended up lucking out though. There are a couple schools here that are ranked really high as far as test scores go. There are also some more liberal schools that might match more what the schools in Finland are like. My wife visited Finland years ago so just going off what I kinda remember. Only been here two months so not too much to go on so far. PM me if ya want.
I lived very close to Golden in Arvada (area was once under Golden’s domain, but they didn’t want to develop it, so Arvada annexed it). About 4 miles form the mountains. IMO,it is a great option for the area. You can easily access both Denver and Boulder, the mountains are close for training, etc. My “go to” ride was out my door, up Lookout Mountain, back down alongside I-70 and home. Was about 90 min max and ssome good climbing. I could also extend it up further into the mountains, come down through Morrison and then home. Was only doing bike races then, so can’t speak to swimming opportunities.
Before that, I lived in Aurora. Personally, I would avoid that side of town. Too far from the mountains and lower income, overall.
Enjoy it…CO is an awesome state and Denver is a great town. Lots of good restaurants, training and micro-breweries. And the weather is fantastic. Best climate in the country, IMHO.
I live in Aurora, right next to the Aurorareservoir, it’s not that far from the mountains if that’s your thing. This is a great area for training and racing. I work in Lakewood, next to the Federal Center, traffic isn’t bad, takes me anywhere from 35-50 minutes for typical commute. I’ve topped out at an hour a few times.
Cherry Creek School District is the best. If you’re looking for good schools start here. Pretty much south east of Denver.
I live in the foothills just west of Golden. I have young kids and can tell you that schools are an issue. Our local elementary school is one of the best in the area, but many people make other choices for middle and high school than Bell Middle and Golden HS. Some people use those schools, but many don’t. We live near Evergreen, and their school system is considered good.
Other than the issue with the schools, which is a drawback, IMO, the training options are awesome. We can ride out our door and up to the top of Mt Evans with only 1 stoplight along the way. There isn’t much traffic and the area seems more cyclist-friendly than some of the more congested areas closer to Denver. Pool access is an issue in the winter because we aren’t right in town, but there’s a rec center in Golden with a pool.
Been in Golden for 17 years and we love it. You can check out some of the footage from the Tour of Colorado for an idea about the riding around here
There is an ice hockey rink in Arvada, adjacent to Golden, and one nearby in Superior. I don’t know anything about what levels they host, but there are facilities.
Agree on the feedback regarding the Golden middle and high schools, but the district allows choice enrollment in other schools and there are some very good schools not far.
Also, not sure how familiar you are with the area, but Golden is about 25 minutes straight south of Boulder, which is obviously a great place to train as well. I actually much prefer Golden to live, but it’s nice being able to get up to Boulder for some training.
Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
on the minor hockey front, there are various options in the area depending on your level of commitment and your boys ability.
the CAHA/CCYHL runs B, A & AA programs at all age groups around denver, limited travel, less commitment of time/$$. there are good options depending on where you end up: http://www.caha.co/
beyond that there are AAA/Tier 1 programs. colorado thunderbirds are the premier program but there are also roughriders, rampage, snow kings. they travel to play mostly. as you will discover, denver is kinda far from other major metros. the process to “make” these teams is pretty involved and starts way in advance.
Resurrected this thread because I am moving to the Denver area with my girlfriend in October from NYC. We are heading out there in a little over a week to check out which area we want to live in but we are still un-decided about Boulder, Golden, or Denver proper. I’m curious as to why you say you prefer living in Golden to Boulder. I’m sure price is an issue. As someone who loves to ski, being 25 minutes closer to the big ski areas I think is probably a big plus. What else? What about Wash Park or other areas in Denver like that? I’m sure it is not as good for training, but is it a more convenient place to live otherwise? Thanks!
I prefer Golden because imho, it has more of a family, hometown type feel, with a cute downtown. Boulder is more college town, young hippie/hipster (although there are plenty of old hippies there too
Depending on what you’re looking for, Wash park is nice but yes, more difficult to get to training. Unless you like doing endless loops at the park. It’s close to downtown and the tech center. As you might expect, it’s older, smaller homes with limited garages.
Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions
