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Thinking of moving from Chicago to Denver......what do I need to know? (1 Viewer)

A

Alex P Keaton

Footballguy
Situation:

Have lived in Chicago area for the past 16 years (!!) after a bunch of moves all around the country.   We live in a north suburb (Evanston) that I jokingly call a liberal utopia.   Two kids (12 year-old twins).   I'm in the middle of interviewing for a job in Denver.  Long story, but it's a really good opportunity, good role, good company, yadda yadda.

Mrs APK and I have a good life here in liberal land.   Some really amazing friends.  3-hour drive to Wisconsin where our folks live.  4-hour drive to a lake cottage.   But.....the I've been stuck at work for a few years now working for a moron, and the company is getting worse not better.   While it would be disruptive to move, we've already decided that it makes sense to aggressively pursue this job in Denver.   

Despite COVID, work-from-home, all that jazz.....this job would definitely require a move to Denver.

Why did I post in here?

We're trying to understand some basics about Denver.   Where would people from a Midwestern liberal utopian semi-urban area want to live?  Which areas should we target or avoid?  What are the schools like?  Which high schools are top-notch?    What are the good and bad things about living in Denver?   How realistic is it to think we would ski a ton in the winter?   How bad is the crime in Denver?

Honestly, things are a bit of a whirlwind right now.   We used to move every couple years pre-kids, but we've been in the same area 16 years now, and the same house for 11 years.  We're domesticated.   The idea of moving is exciting, fun, scary, daunting.....you name the emotion, we've experienced it in the past 24-48 hours.

The company wants me to fly out there in a couple of weeks for a final round of interviews.   I'm probably jinxing it by posting this, but so be it.  I need to start researching Denver, so why not start now?  Why not try FBGs, the greatest source of random information on the entire planet?

Interested to hear from others.   TIA.

 
I don’t know much about the city proper, but Boulder is about as liberal as a suburb can get. Just be prepared for everyone being an Olympic level athlete/ex-athlete. Closer to the city, my friends in Arvada seem to enjoy their slice of suburbia.

And you should definitely ski, but I-70 ski traffic sucks.

Plus the constant marijuana smell is kinda obnoxious.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
I think it's kind of funny that somebody from the Midwest thinks of Denver as "not liberal enough."  
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That is definitely not the message here.  We live in Evanston which is a whole different level of faux-liberal than most parts of Chicago.   It’s like Berkeley, Madison or Austin TX.

 
Terminalxylem said:
I don’t know much about the city proper, but Boulder is about as liberal as a suburb can get. Just be prepared for everyone being an Olympic level athlete/ex-athlete. Closer to the city, my friends in Arvada seem to enjoy their slice of suburbia.

And you should definitely ski, but I-70 ski traffic sucks.

Plus the constant marijuana smell is kinda obnoxious.
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Much appreciated.   Have heard ski traffic is awful.  Ugh.

We have a skunk infestation here, so the smell of marijuana will be familiar. ;)

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Much appreciated.   Have heard ski traffic is awful.  Ugh.

We have a skunk infestation here, so the smell of marijuana will be familiar. ;)
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The good news is, you don’t need go too far for great skiing at places like Winter Park and Loveland. And you can avoid I-70 altogether and go to Eldora - it’s relatively small, but light years better than anything you’d ski in the Midwest.

 
Real estate market is bonkers in Denver right now, but I guess that’s true most places. Do you know in what part of Denver you’ll be working? My company’s main office is there, and a lot of employees are moving to places like Greeley and Colorado Springs, which are decidedly not liberal. You could look in Boulder/Longmont. Boulder is far more liberal than all the places you listed if that’s truly that important to tou.

 
Moe. said:
Real estate market is bonkers in Denver right now, but I guess that’s true most places. Do you know in what part of Denver you’ll be working? My company’s main office is there, and a lot of employees are moving to places like Greeley and Colorado Springs, which are decidedly not liberal. You could look in Boulder/Longmont. Boulder is far more liberal than all the places you listed if that’s truly that important to tou.
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Looks like the office is near where 225 and 25 intersect.  Can't tell exactly what 'hood that is, but it appears to be very close to Cherry Creek Park/Reservoir.

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Looks like the office is near where 225 and 25 intersect.  Can't tell exactly what 'hood that is, but it appears to be very close to Cherry Creek Park/Reservoir.
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Shoot, that’s SE Denver. Most of the cool stuff is on the other side of the city.

CO Springs is nice, but surely way more conservative than what you’re accustomed to. There’s good mountain biking and climbing near that area, but skiing will be more of a PITA.

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Looks like the office is near where 225 and 25 intersect.  Can't tell exactly what 'hood that is, but it appears to be very close to Cherry Creek Park/Reservoir.
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I've spent some time in Cherry Creek, actually.  High-end neighborhood (so probably not super liberal).  Really nice. Running in Washington Park is awesome.

 
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Alex P Keaton said:
Looks like the office is near where 225 and 25 intersect.  Can't tell exactly what 'hood that is, but it appears to be very close to Cherry Creek Park/Reservoir.
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Ok, that’s the Denver Tech Center area. Depending on how you feel about commuting Boulder might be a stretch 

 
gruecd said:
And there's a decent chance that they could have a REALLY good quarterback soon, but likely not until the 2022 season.
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Sean Peyton has just sent the Cajun Suppression Squad up there to quash the idea that he goes anywhere but down south here.

After the 38 interceptions we'll likely throw this season we'll be willing to put up City Hall as collateral to get him to mosey on down.

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Looks like the office is near where 225 and 25 intersect.  Can't tell exactly what 'hood that is, but it appears to be very close to Cherry Creek Park/Reservoir.
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There are some great areas around DTC.  Note that the Broncos headquarters/practice facility is in that area.  Is the political affiliation of the area that important to you?   Denver in general is kind of in the middle.  Used to be somewhat conservative but definite trend towards more liberal in the last 15 years or so. 

Regarding skiing, not sure if this would interest you but I've known a number of people who buy condos in the area of their ski resort of choice.  You can rent them out when you're not using them and it gives you a place to stay when you go skiing.  Traffic can be a bit of a pain for skiing but I think there are trains and some alternative methods of getting to the ski resorts.  Here's one:

https://www.denver.org/things-to-do/sports-recreation/ski-train/

 
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Alex P Keaton said:
Situation:

Have lived in Chicago area for the past 16 years (!!) after a bunch of moves all around the country.   We live in a north suburb (Evanston) that I jokingly call a liberal utopia.   Two kids (12 year-old twins).   I'm in the middle of interviewing for a job in Denver.  Long story, but it's a really good opportunity, good role, good company, yadda yadda.

Mrs APK and I have a good life here in liberal land.   Some really amazing friends.  3-hour drive to Wisconsin where our folks live.  4-hour drive to a lake cottage.   But.....the I've been stuck at work for a few years now working for a moron, and the company is getting worse not better.   While it would be disruptive to move, we've already decided that it makes sense to aggressively pursue this job in Denver.   

Despite COVID, work-from-home, all that jazz.....this job would definitely require a move to Denver.

Why did I post in here?

We're trying to understand some basics about Denver.   Where would people from a Midwestern liberal utopian semi-urban area want to live?  Which areas should we target or avoid?  What are the schools like?  Which high schools are top-notch?    What are the good and bad things about living in Denver?   How realistic is it to think we would ski a ton in the winter?   How bad is the crime in Denver?

Honestly, things are a bit of a whirlwind right now.   We used to move every couple years pre-kids, but we've been in the same area 16 years now, and the same house for 11 years.  We're domesticated.   The idea of moving is exciting, fun, scary, daunting.....you name the emotion, we've experienced it in the past 24-48 hours.

The company wants me to fly out there in a couple of weeks for a final round of interviews.   I'm probably jinxing it by posting this, but so be it.  I need to start researching Denver, so why not start now?  Why not try FBGs, the greatest source of random information on the entire planet?

Interested to hear from others.   TIA.
Click to expand...


Alex P Keaton said:
Situation:

Have lived in Chicago area for the past 16 years (!!) after a bunch of moves all around the country.   We live in a north suburb (Evanston) that I jokingly call a liberal utopia.   Two kids (12 year-old twins).   I'm in the middle of interviewing for a job in Denver.  Long story, but it's a really good opportunity, good role, good company, yadda yadda.

Mrs APK and I have a good life here in liberal land.   Some really amazing friends.  3-hour drive to Wisconsin where our folks live.  4-hour drive to a lake cottage.   But.....the I've been stuck at work for a few years now working for a moron, and the company is getting worse not better.   While it would be disruptive to move, we've already decided that it makes sense to aggressively pursue this job in Denver.   

Despite COVID, work-from-home, all that jazz.....this job would definitely require a move to Denver.

Why did I post in here?

We're trying to understand some basics about Denver.   Where would people from a Midwestern liberal utopian semi-urban area want to live?  Which areas should we target or avoid?  What are the schools like?  Which high schools are top-notch?    What are the good and bad things about living in Denver?   How realistic is it to think we would ski a ton in the winter?   How bad is the crime in Denver?

Honestly, things are a bit of a whirlwind right now.   We used to move every couple years pre-kids, but we've been in the same area 16 years now, and the same house for 11 years.  We're domesticated.   The idea of moving is exciting, fun, scary, daunting.....you name the emotion, we've experienced it in the past 24-48 hours.

The company wants me to fly out there in a couple of weeks for a final round of interviews.   I'm probably jinxing it by posting this, but so be it.  I need to start researching Denver, so why not start now?  Why not try FBGs, the greatest source of random information on the entire planet?

Interested to hear from others.   TIA.
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If you don't mind a 30 or so minute drive.. I would suggest Golden- My sister lives there & It's a very nice city

 
Tecumseh said:
Wait- as in the Casa Bonita from South Park? That's a real place??
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A lot of South Park places are based on real places.  The water Park episode of southpark is based on a water park called waterworld.  Casa Bonita is in fact a real place.  one of the reasons I would be bummed if it went out of business is that I have never been there and still want to go.

 
Ah Casa Bonita, I have eaten there so many times over the years. The all you can eat platter. The divers. The same video games that were there when I was a child. The mystery cave that used to be so scary when you were a kid, but then became a source of head injuries as your child dragged you through it and you realize it was only made for kids. Coming home with glow in the dark bracelets because that is the only possible item you can win at skee ball there. Good times Good times.

I have lived in Colorado Springs/Fountain all my life, but Denver has so many fun places to go---they have a Micro Center, two Dave and Busters, Elitches.The Rockies, stink but the ballpark is outstanding. Avalanche games. There are great used vinyl stores, so many unique restaurants.Mikes Sports cards is awesome if you get into that thing. You are close to fishing, skiing or hiking. Black Hawk and Cripple Creek offer gambling (we are driving to Cripple Creek as I speak)  We drive up to Boulder often and that is a great college town. Traffic is tough, but we use 470 to get around.  . 

 
I love Denver but the drive from the airport is crazy long. That's the only thing bad I have to say. Except for one crazy co-worker.

 
GLLLLLLLLLL 

I interviewed and was offered a job there (6 months before covid hit) but my wife didn't want to pull up stakes and move, so I didn't take the offer.

Keep us updated on where you settle. 

 
So, big cities aren't really my cup of tea, but after having spent significant amounts of time in both cities, I'd have to question the sanity of anyone that would rather live in Chicago than Denver, unless they were born and raised in the area. I just got back from a splendid trip to Colorado and will be spending next week in Chicago.  I'm dreading it, TBH. Short of things like family and friends in the area, which you mentioned you had around Chicago, there is not one reason to stay. Denver is just superior. Chicago has a big lake next to it I guess...

 
I've been in Denver for 5 1/2 years now, PM any questions you have. I came from Texas so Denver is liberal, hippie-ville IMO compared to what I was used to. Looks like you will be working in the Denver Tech Center/Greenwood Village area, very popular place for employers. Surrounding areas are great for the most part, Cherry Creek has some very nice neighborhoods and schools. I rented in that area (Centennial) for 6 months when we first moved here and loved it but the yards were not big enough for us with 3 dogs so bought further south. You are not going to want to live far north of town if you are working in that area, traffic is murder due to soooo many people moving here in the last 8~10 years. Northside has some nice areas but also a lot of very entry level, affordable housing type areas. Areas like Golden, Longmont, or Boulder are not suburbs, they are their own towns and quite a drive.

South of Cherry Creek is Lone Tree on the extreme south end of Denver, mostly high end living, recently listed as one of the top 10 best places to live by one of the big ranking magazines, I forget which one. West of that is Highlands Ranch, massive master planned community with lots of green space, community rec centers, etc. Some people love it, others consider it uppity. Any of the other southern suburbs like Englewood or Littleton range from really nice areas to transitional neighborhoods that are on the upswing. North of the Tech Center may be areas you might like in Wash Park, tons of old Victorians there to rent but be prepared to spend a pretty penny the closer you get to downtown.

 
Herb said:
So, big cities aren't really my cup of tea, but after having spent significant amounts of time in both cities, I'd have to question the sanity of anyone that would rather live in Chicago than Denver, unless they were born and raised in the area. I just got back from a splendid trip to Colorado and will be spending next week in Chicago.  I'm dreading it, TBH. Short of things like family and friends in the area, which you mentioned you had around Chicago, there is not one reason to stay. Denver is just superior. Chicago has a big lake next to it I guess...
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Right there with you.  If we didn’t have family nearby, we never would have lived here in Chicago.

 
Wait .... we're choosing where to live based on politics? May not be Liberal enough? I'm curious as to what the hardship would be that would be so much that someone would pass on a great job, beautiful home, in a great area.

I thought people knew enough to not talk politics (or religion) in social gatherings.

 
Also, as for Denver and Colorado in general? I absolutely love it here, despite my family all being back in Texas and the occasional question from people on if I would ever move back? My answer is a resounding no, I love Colorado and don't see myself ever moving. In Denver the winters are mild compared to the northeast, summers are amazing for hiking, biking, etc. The occasional hot spell in the summer doesn't mean much when the temperature goes down 30 to 40 degrees at night. I love the mountains and try to hike or camp up there as often as possible. Legal weed is annoying but easy enough to avoid and with so many other states legalizing its slowed down the numbers of people that moved here just for that. Craft beer culture is huge here, massive dog friendly city/state, and obviously all the winter sports that it is known for. My only complaint is the food scene is just okay IMO, it's a hodgepodge of cuisines from all over the rest of the country, likely due to so many transplants that live here.

Be prepared to wear lots of sunscreen, even sometimes in winter.

 
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Bossman said:
Wait .... we're choosing where to live based on politics? May not be Liberal enough? I'm curious as to what the hardship would be that would be so much that someone would pass on a great job, beautiful home, in a great area.

I thought people knew enough to not talk politics (or religion) in social gatherings.
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No clue what you're talking about.  This seems like a massive extrapolation/distortion of what is being said in here.  Nice fishing attempt though.

 
Buckna said:
Also, as for Denver and Colorado in general? I absolutely love it here, despite my family all being back in Texas and the occasional question from people on if I would ever move back? My answer is a resounding no, I love Colorado and don't see myself ever moving. In Denver the winters are mild compared to the northeast, summers are amazing for hiking, biking, etc. The occasional hot spell in the summer doesn't mean much when the temperature goes down 30 to 40 degrees at night. I love the mountains and try to hike or camp up there as often as possible. Legal weed is annoying but easy enough to avoid and with so many other states legalizing its slowed down the numbers of people that moved here just for that. Craft beer culture is huge here, massive dog friendly city/state, and obviously all the winter sports that it is known for. My only complaint is the food scene is just okay IMO, it's a hodgepodge of cuisines from all over the rest of the country, likely due to so many transplants that live here.

Be prepared to wear lots of sunscreen, even sometimes in winter.
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Wow, so much of this sounds simply amazing.   Y'all are definitely getting me jazzed about the idea of relocating.   The bold are red flags, but on balance it sounds awesome.   Mrs APK and I love all types of food....big part of what we enjoy.....and while we do like dogs, for me I equate "dog friendly" with a bunch of ####### 30 year olds who bring their support animal to dinner with them.   But let's be honest, that just makes me sound like an old guy screaming "get off my lawn!"   

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Wow, so much of this sounds simply amazing.   Y'all are definitely getting me jazzed about the idea of relocating.   The bold are red flags, but on balance it sounds awesome.   Mrs APK and I love all types of food....big part of what we enjoy.....and while we do like dogs, for me I equate "dog friendly" with a bunch of ####### 30 year olds who bring their support animal to dinner with them.   But let's be honest, that just makes me sound like an old guy screaming "get off my lawn!"   
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LOL, it's not that bad on the dogs, but you will definitely see them in all the parks and at bars, in stores like Home Depot, etc. There are definitely lots of good restaurants, but when i moved here it seemed to me that the vast majority of establishments came from other parts of the country or the menu's almost always had a lot of regional food from other regions, examples like cheese curds, fish tacos, etc. The more local types of cuisine are generally on many menu's too though like Green chili, trout, bison burgers or elk, etc.

One negative I forgot to mention is wild fires, whether or not you believe in global warming wild fires in the mountains are on the rise. That won't matter for Denver 99% of the time except when the smoke blows in for a few days. I'd like to eventually get a place of my own up in the mountains and that's more of a concern for something like that.

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Wow, so much of this sounds simply amazing.   Y'all are definitely getting me jazzed about the idea of relocating.   The bold are red flags, but on balance it sounds awesome.   Mrs APK and I love all types of food....big part of what we enjoy.....and while we do like dogs, for me I equate "dog friendly" with a bunch of ####### 30 year olds who bring their support animal to dinner with them.   But let's be honest, that just makes me sound like an old guy screaming "get off my lawn!"   
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Coming from Chicago, most cities will be a downgrade with food options/quality.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
I think it's kind of funny that somebody from the Midwest thinks of Denver as "not liberal enough."  
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Terminalxylem said:
I don’t know much about the city proper, but Boulder is about as liberal as a suburb can get. Just be prepared for everyone being an Olympic level athlete/ex-athlete. Closer to the city, my friends in Arvada seem to enjoy their slice of suburbia.

And you should definitely ski, but I-70 ski traffic sucks.

Plus the constant marijuana smell is kinda obnoxious.
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Terminalxylem said:
Shoot, that’s SE Denver. Most of the cool stuff is on the other side of the city.

CO Springs is nice, but surely way more conservative than what you’re accustomed to. There’s good mountain biking and climbing near that area, but skiing will be more of a PITA.
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gruecd said:
I've spent some time in Cherry Creek, actually.  High-end neighborhood (so probably not super liberal).  Really nice. Running in Washington Park is awesome.
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John123 said:
There are some great areas around DTC.  Note that the Broncos headquarters/practice facility is in that area.  Is the political affiliation of the area that important to you?   Denver in general is kind of in the middle.  Used to be somewhat conservative but definite trend towards more liberal in the last 15 years or so. 

Regarding skiing, not sure if this would interest you but I've known a number of people who buy condos in the area of their ski resort of choice.  You can rent them out when you're not using them and it gives you a place to stay when you go skiing.  Traffic can be a bit of a pain for skiing but I think there are trains and some alternative methods of getting to the ski resorts.  Here's one:

https://www.denver.org/things-to-do/sports-recreation/ski-train/
Click to expand...


Alex P Keaton said:
No clue what you're talking about.  This seems like a massive extrapolation/distortion of what is being said in here.  Nice fishing attempt though.
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Not fishing ... I'm actually reading people's opinions on how liberal the area is. Like it's a selling point? ... or not liberal enough is a deal-breaker?

 
Bossman said:
Not fishing ... I'm actually reading people's opinions on how liberal the area is. Like it's a selling point? ... or not liberal enough is a deal-breaker?
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I can't speak for everyone but the only reason I mentioned it was because the OP mentioned it regarding where he currently lives and, not knowing how important that is to him, I thought it was information worth mentioning.  I suspect that's why the few other posts you found mentioning political leanings also mentioned it.  We don't know how important it is to the OP.  Personally, I don't care.  I just tried to give as much pertinent information as I could so he could make an informed decision by whatever criteria was important to him. 

 
Hawks64 said:
Coming from Chicago, most cities will be a downgrade with food options/quality.
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True, but most will be a big upgrade with weather. And Denver has some surprisingly good restaurants, including probably the best sushi restaurant I’ve been to.

NM, I see the context of your post. While I’ve only been once, I know Chicago is considered top 5 or so in the US for cuisine. Denver is second tier IMO, but still pretty good in comparison to most of the country, maybe top 10-15 of US cities?

 
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