Should be moving Oct-Jan timeframe. Trying to get to one of these locations; Any insight on which one I should shoot for?

My simple answer: I'd rather live in the Springs than anywhere in TX, and I'd much rather live in Denver than the Springs.

CS has much more of a "Texas feel", and has some great scenery/better mountain views. Denver has a ton more to do, and is a really fun city. To me, it's the perfect size: 2.5+ million in the metro area & about 650k in the city. It has everything I need without the congestion or crime of Houston or Dallas. If you have a family, it would not be as big of a difference. But if you're not tied down and looking for fun, Denver is the place to be. The Springs is pretty small and laid back.


*Disclaimer: I'm a huge Denver homer & plan on being here forever.

Just curious about Colo Springs - I've seen that A LOT of conservative christian organizations/church's are located there. How much does it affect the "feel" of the place? i.e. if you live there, are you going to constantly have to put up with someone else's beliefs forced on you? I don't begrudge anyone their faith or beliefs, just don't force it on me.

FL- While that is true, I don't get anything pushed on me AT ALL. Granted, I live up by the Academy, so I'm about 17 miles north of downtown. Beautiful area up here.

Good to hear. I'm trying my best to get out of Florida, aiming for Colorado, and would love a more "small town" feel than what I currently deal with here in Tampa.

springs < denver < mountains

Is the cost of living comparable between the two? I have an opportunity to relocate and the position is travel intensive. They mentioned that the incumbent lived in Colorado Springs, so I, too, am curious about cost living/quality of life.

^ comparable, but CS sucks...Denver is cool

what exactly sucks about Colorado Springs?

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if you live there, are you going to constantly have to put up with someone else's beliefs forced on you?

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I go to CS maybe 4-5 times/year, but my observation is that there is less religious pressure than just about anywhere in TX. Heck, Manitou Springs is a small town connected to CS, and it is known for zombie festivals and other attractions for weirds.

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what exactly sucks about Colorado Springs?

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I agree that it is not nearly as nice as Denver, but it provides a nice quality of life if you're coming from TX. I know the OP is coming from Florida, but I don't know much about FL other than it is hot and the PGA courses on TV look very flat and "meh".

Denver has a ton going on & is a small big city. CS is really small compared to Denver, and there is not a ton to do as far as bars/ fine dining/ trendy neighborhoods / beer festivals / concerts, etc.

You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned Florida looked "flat and 'meh'". That's a big reason I want to get out. I love being outdoors, and being outdoors in Florida is brutal for 10 months out of the year.

Being married with a kid, I'm not looking for a place with lots of trendy "hot spots". More like a place that doesn't have to be a small town, but is not a "big city" (with the accompanying big city issues like traffic, clustered conditions, crime), and with enough to do that we don't get bored.

FL-

I'd also look at Castle Rock. It's a suburb 30 minutes from downtown Denver and 30-35 minutes from the Springs.

The outdoors are amazing here. Today was 65-70 degrees while golfing today, down to low 50s tonight. Nice hike last weekend. Skiing is an hour away. Always sunny and blue skies.

awesome info, thanks

actually I'm coming from ND so CS would be like NYC to me

hey proudaggie,

my brother is graduating in may and we're taking a week long trip with some buddies up to denver for a week. I've checked out some websites, and we're going to check out the main sites like Lodo, Red Rocks, Pikes peak, Fat Tire brewery tour, check out Boulder, stuff like that....

Is there anything off the beaten path not listed on typical travel websites you can recommend to check out? Really looks like the whole denver/colorado springs area is fun place to visit/live.

I have lived & worked in Colorado Springs (COS) since Summer 2004.

Absolutely great city.....clean, well run, safe, stunningly beautiful surroundings.

If you like 'a big city', locate in Denver.
If you like 'a small city' locate in COS.

I am into fly fishing, skiing, camping, hiking.

All of those things are plentiful and readily available.....regardless of where you live along the I-25 corridor between COS and Denver.

The rib (c/o 92) and I logged our 15th ski day this season on Saturday.

Thanks for the info guys.

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Is there anything off the beaten path not listed on typical travel websites you can recommend to check out? Really looks like the whole denver/colorado springs area is fun place to visit/live.

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If I had a week, I would do something like this:

3-4 days in Denver: Downtown is great: brewery tours (Great Divide, Breckenridge, Strange, etc.), bars, restaurants, Rockies game, 16th street mall w/ free shuttle bus. There are some great neighborhhods surrounding downtown, and several awesome parks. Go for a run and/or play sports at Wash Park (enjoy the scenery as tons of people run there after work). I recommend the Cherry Creek farmer's market on Saturday morning for great produce, food, and scenery.

Cherry Creek is worth a visit. It is less than 5-10 minutes from downtown, tons of good restaurants, and one of the nicest parts of Denver.

Denver has a ton of weekend festivals in the summer- lots of fun. Denver has great golf, so let me know if you need suggestions.

1-2 days north of Denver: Estes Park, Longmont, Boulder
I love Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Longmont and Boulder are both on the way to Estes Park, depending on which roads you take. Longmont has two of my favorite breweries (Left Hand, Oskar Blues), and Boulder has a bunch of breweries (Avery, Upslope, Boulder Beer, Twisted Pine, Mountain Sun). Boulder is a cool town and worth a visit.

1-2 days in/around the mountains of Summit County:
Breckenridge has a lot of good eateries/bars, and Vail is more upscale. Mountain golf is great, as is the hiking and fishing. When it gets warm here in the summer (gets to 90* maybe 30 days/year), I love getting away to the mountains where it is 75 in the day and 55 at night. You can stop in Idaho Springs (30 minutes west of Denver) and get pizza at Beau Jo's and hit up the Tommyknocker brewery and bar (I like their beer a lot). Blackhawk is a casino town 45 minutes from Denver. Evergreen is 30 minutes from Denver and is a cool town with an awesome lake.

1 day in Colorado Springs:
Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, Air FOrce Academy, Broadmoor Resort.

Of course, my hobbies could be a lot different than your hobbies/interests. Feel free to post your interests, and I can make other suggestions based on that. I love to play golf and ski (close to 100 days/year combined), hike or just get outdoors, drink craft beers, go to a bunch of Rockies games, see wildlife and go to zoos, and get out and about.

thanks proud aggie for the ideas, we will def do some of those. we're going to stay in downtown denver and then take day trips from there. i too am a big golfer, cyclist, overall outdoors person (which is hard to be in houston) so we're absolutely going to check out the mountains, parks, and such.

My older brother and wife (both tech fans) moved to CS and love it. They don't want to come back to texas.

We moved to CS 5 years ago. Married, 2 kids 9, 11, so not even going to try and compare bars/clubs/restaurants. We moved for family, outdoor living, scenery. No AC & never miss it. Camping, hiking skiing, fishing all within easy reach. Denver is the "big city" to me now after living 40 years in Houston. I almost dread going in to Denver because I'm so used to pretty much zero traffic. However, even when the desire hits to do some big city thing, the Denver zoo is 1 hour away, IKEA is 35 minutes, etc. As for the religion comments, it's a non-issue. It's just not a pushy place. Far more of a military town than any thing else. As for size, it's bigger than Oakland, Pittsburgh, and others, so not exactly small. It's just that Denver is much bigger.

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IKEA

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Why on earth did they put an IKEA right next to Lone Tree and Park Meadows? It sucks to play golf at Lone Tree or Inverness & have to see that eyesore.

[This message has been edited by proudaggie02 (edited 5/1/2012 4:19p).]

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Why on earth did they put an IKEA right next to Lone Tree and Park Meadows?

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Because it's convenient for those of us posers in "The Ranch"

I've got a buddy who has lived in Denver for 15+ years. He described "The Springs" as nice but... "They've got all that religion stuff". I laughed.

^
I would think most people in HR and Lone Tree would prefer to shop at a nicer furniture place than IKEA. It should be more appealing to people in Aurora, Denver proper, and some of the northern burbs.

I'm looking for a job in Denver if anyone has any suggestions. I've been living in the Vail Valley for 4 years, but am ready to get back to city living and more promising career opportunities. I have a master's in real estate and a marketing degree (both from A&M). I'd prefer something in marketing at this point, but would also be open to going back into real estate. Please let me know if you hear of anything.

Also, I've been trying to get a hold of the Denver A&M club, but haven't had much luck. Any suggestions for plugging into the Aggie job network down there?

Go to Aggienetwork.com and look up Aggies by company and industry within Denver and CO.

^ thanks proud