Looks like my girlfriend and I will be moving to Colorado from Michigan sometime in 2007. I’ll be a lawyer and she’ll be a veterinarian by then. We are looking for a city that is big enough to support us but is also close to outdoor activites. Cost of living also has to be reasonable. Sorry Vail.
Whatcha got?
If you are looking for the Eastern Foothills then Denver or Boulder will fit - Boulder per se is much more expensive for housing - But Grand Junction on the western slopes is very cool as well - Colorado Springs - 60 miles south of Denver is also really neat -I live on SE of Denver and it takes me 1:30 to get to really neat ski areas and the same for terrific road riding in the mountains.
I have had several friends relocate in the last year (just finished grad school) to various parts of the country. I would suggest renting an apartment for a year to make sure the job/relationship/location works out. It sounds like both of you are in school, and this would ease some of the stress of moving.
Boulder, Golden, Colorado Springs. Search the threads; there are plenty of threads about this on this forum.
Anyways, I work for a law firm in Denver - let me know if you need some help.
Tons of choices … and I agree with the previous poster who suggested to rent an apartment for a while (6 months or so).
We are in West Arvada and really like the area. Previously we lived in Superior (just outside Boulder) and Littleton and loved them also.
With Light Rail now serving the south and southwest suburbs, commuting to downtown is easier than ever.
Good luck.
drn92
If you want a little out of the traffic, take a look at Glenwood Springs. Beautiful town, access to Aspen where you could pull in $$$ from the billionaires.
How large of a population base do you need? Right now, I have Durango and Leadville at the top of my list.
I’ll warn ya,
If you move to Boulder, your girlfriend will have to quit shaving her legs…
having lived in fort collins, denver and boulder, i think living in boulder county is the most conducive to being a triathlete. Also, Fort Collins has one of the best vet schools in the nation, so it may be not be an ideal town for your wife to work as a vet, as the town is already saturated with them. As for the leg shaving comment, not true.
All the towns mentioned are great. However, there aren’t many law jobs outside the Denver metro area ( I am lawyer w/ a small firm in Lakewood and Boulder). That rules out Glenwood, Grand Junction, etc.
I live in Evergreen and highly recommend it. It is fully in the mtns (I live at 8500 ft.), but is still an easy commute to Denver where all the law jobs are. It is gorgeous and there are great roads for riding and thousands of acres of open space parks for running, hiking, and c-x skiing. Also, a close drive to most ski areas and much cheaper housing than either Denver or (especially) Boulder.
I have to agree Glenwood Springs is a nice place. I live halfway between vail and glenwood springs. 45 minutes from Aspen or about and hour to Vail/Beaver Creek so you have skiing options without sitting on traffic to get to. Camping, biking, a nice outdoor lap pool that you can swim in year round (hot springs) all out your back door. Cost of living is high, but not as high as Vail. It depends on wether or not you want a big city like Denver or a smaller city. I personlly don’t miss rush hour traffic and wall to wall people but I am sure it will be here soon enough! Need any other info PM me.
Good luck
Ryan
It’s hard to find a place in CO that’s not close to outdoor activities, but it really depends on where you plan to work. Do you want a metropolitan area with all the amenities and entertainment, etc (with the accompanying traffic, crowds, and crime) like Denver, a smaller but affluent area like Boulder, or a small town? Also, what is a reasonable cost of living? This means one thing to a person from California and something else to a person from Ohio.
My wife and I both work in Boulder, and we chose to buy in Lyons. We are an easy 20min drive north of Boulder along the foothills, about midway between Boulder and EstesPark. Plenty of hiking, climbing, trail running, flyfishing, kayaking, mountain biking, and a variety of road riding (flats, rolling hills, long climbing) right from our front door. We’re less than an hour from DIA or downtown Denver, and 2 hrs to Summit County skiing (Breck, Copper, Keystone). Not a big variety of shopping, restaurants or nightlife but Boulder is only 20min away.
Call me crazy, but you guys should get jobs first and then decide where to live. Don’t limit your job search to the Denver metro area (which includes Fort Collins and Boulder), but it’s likely that’s where you’ll end up because that’s where there are the most jobs. There are lots of lawyers here, so the job market is very competitive. Good luck.
*We are in West Arvada *
I think we might be neighbors… I live in Golden but it might as well be west Arvada.
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I would try to stay as far to the west as possible. I have been in the golden area for a while now and really like it. There is great cycling (road and mountain) and running trails 1/2 mile from my house. From Golden you can get downtown in 20 minutes, or Boulder in 20 minutes, or hop on 470 to get south. The only place that would be crappy to work in from Golden is south east denver. I also agree on the rent for a year option so you can find a place you really like.
I am an attorney who is licensed in CA and CO and we chose to move to Boulder this past year from SoCal. We looked at Fort Collins, where my wife and I went to undergrad and thought it was too small and too collegy to raise a family there. Boulder is ideal but there are not many law jobs. I am luckily still working for the same firm in SoCal so I can live wherever. Boulder is great! You have to be closer to Denver area if you plan on working downtown and having time for your family and training. The majority of law jobs are in Denver. PM me if you have any questions.
Thanks! I do know that we should be making good money with our degrees but I also owe about $120,000 in law school debt and she will have about half that much. I know we will have to go where the jobs are but I was just trying to get an idea what the towns are like more than just the number of people in them that you can look up. So now I know that Fort Collins seems to be something like Lansing/East Lansing area I live in now, being a medium small city based in large part on a university. Thanks for all the help!
I thought I was the only person with that gig. Used to work in DC (big firm), now live in Boulder and work from home for the same firm.
Man, that sounds perfect! Hook me up!
I think everything you have ever read about Boulder is true, good and bad, but I believe it is still one of the best places on Earth to live and train. It’s expensive, but then, you get what you pay for. In many places, people don’t understand triathletes, in Boulder, it’s somewhat cliche (whether that’s good or bad, you make the call). In Boulder, due to the large population of (often extraordinarily attractive) world-class athletes, be prepared to feel slow, old, and fat no matter how young, fast, and fit you are.
Denver has 75% of the benefits of Boulder with 75% of the expense.
Sorry, I was there for 14 years (seven years as a partner) before I dared make this move. Maybe now that tele-commuting is more accepted one could try it earlier in their career. Still, unless you were a Supreme Court clerk or something, they’re probably gonna want to see your smiling face for a few years before letting you play all alone.
In response to some of the other posts, you should know that it is a long way from the Western side of the state to most of the races. Places like Glenwood and Grand Junction have plenty of outdoor things to do, but a runner/cyclist/triathlete would do a lot of driving to races. Liberals in Boulder make fun of Colorado Springs, and I’m sure the reverse is true. Not suggesting which place would better suit you – just pointing out the contrast.