<p>Okay, this is inspired by Marylin’s Portland thread.</p>
<p>Both of our kids seem to be heading in the “I’m moving to Denver for the rest of my life” direction, for whatever reason. </p>
<p>We are a close family and I cannot imagine not being near the kids as they get older and start their lives and husband and I (aside from a villa in Tuscany) have begun to think in terms of moving out west.</p>
<p>What about the Boulder area for retirement? It seems as if it might not be bad.</p>
<p>We all ski, and husband loves to fly fish (went with once, but never again :eek: ), ride horses, and love hiking.</p>
<p>Has anyone every considered moving there? Or if you are from that area, is it “too young?”</p>
<p>I think Boulder has gotten too expensive. Real estate prices are insane. </p>
<p>My son lives in Denver. He got an excellent job there out of college and has been there since August. He is very happy there. </p>
<p>We love Colorado, and if I were going to retire there (which I was and no longer am) I think I would stay in the Denver area and not pay the Boulder prices. We have land in the western part of the state which we are selling because we have changed our plans.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is the altitude, which can be an issue for some people (especially folks with serious respiratory conditions like me). I enjoy Denver & Colorado but don’t like needing supplemental O2 there, so don’t go there very much any more (have been there many times & will be visiting there again this year).</p>
<p>I would recommend that you have an extended visit to any area you’re considering living, especially during their most inclement seasons to figure out how you’d like the area over a long term basis.</p>
<p>Glad to be an inspiration to someone since it never seems to work with my son .</p>
<p>And in the realm of odd coincidences, we lived in Boulder until I was six years old. Don’t really remember much! But if anyone lives on Panorama Avenue, you might be in our old house.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in lots of places with Colorado Springs being among them. Certainly a lot of people living in Colo like it there. It’s a nice place but of course, I prefer it here. I do prefer Colo over many other areas of the country but it does still have winter - although not really as bad as the midwest/NE IMO. </p>
<p>If you like skiing, hiking, camping, fishing, biking, views of mountains, exploring old mining towns, 4-wheeling, etc. then Colo has a lot to offer. The ocean though, is kind of far away.</p>
<p>Cost - of course it’s generally less expensive than California so the home prices seem pretty good to me, actually downright great by comparison, but you’d have to see how it compares to where you currently are or other places you’re considering. </p>
<p>Denver is a big metro area with lousy traffic jams, air pollution (they get socked with ‘inversions’), and other trappings that go with a big city so keep that in mind. Boulder is nestled closer to the mountains (which is also generally upwind since the wind is mostly from the west) so it suffers a bit less than Denver proper. </p>
<p>If you’d be retiring there though you’d have more flexibility in the area and could choose a nice area that might still be convenient to where you want to go but less expensive. Castle Rock (just south of Denver) is one area I went through about a year ago that I thought was kind of nice. You might also prefer living closer to the actual mountains or in a town in them (Denver’s actually on the plains next to the mtns - not in them).</p>
<p>Regarding the altitude - most people get used to it after a while (the human body physically adapts to it) but it’s a consideration if you have a severe oxygen issue but there are plenty of elderly people, asthmatics, etc. living there. The altitude tends to hit visitors the most when they go from about sea level to 5000 ft in a few hours on a plane ride and then try to hike up and down stairs with luggage or do some other strenuous activity.</p>
<p>Nice things: Boulder is a university town, so lots of things are on offer AND most adults you meet will have moved here from somewhere else. We’re used to (and welcoming of) newcomers. Quite a few folks retire here because their kids have settled in the area – we’ve got at least half a dozen friends for whom this is the case. Housing prices are high in Boulder, but less so in Louisville and Lafayette – and perhaps not high at all if you’re coming from, say, California. I have three different major hiking trails within four hundred feet of my front door, and I can walk a few blocks to the library or the downtown area. Lots and lots of sunshine, and the winter weather isn’t nearly as bad as we’d feared when we made the transition from California. There are lots of young people, but lots of other ages too. Folks are generally active – one of my neighbors leads a hiking group for folks 70 and up and they do absolutely killer hikes every week during the summer and fall, and snowshoeing in the winter. </p>
<p>Altitude issues aren’t usually a problem for people who acclimate – many people can’t come from sea level and jump into heavy duty exertion without several days to get accustomed to the altitude. I haven’t heard of anyone having to move away because of breathing problems – though I have heard that from folks who retired to Estes Park (by Rocky Mountain National Park, which is quite a bit higher.) </p>
<p>Several of the retired folks that we know that made the transition chose to rent for a year to decide if this was really a good fit for them – they all stayed, but I do think that the renting was a very good idea and generally let folks spend some real time figuring out where in town they wanted to live.</p>
<p>YMMV: Boulder is very liberal, but Colorado as a whole is quite a bit more conservative. That frustrates people on both ends of the spectrum. The city government is known as The People’s Republic of Boulder, because they have an unerring ability to mandate anything they can (We’re pet guardians, because pets shouldn’t be owned. Now you know. The City Council also loves to weigh in on national and international affairs.) Food is pricier than anyplace else I’ve lived – easily 10% more than it was in California. Bikes and pedestrians are everywhere, and you’re expected to stop and not hit them. (A good thing, but apparently hard to understand for some folks from some parts of the country.) Nobody dresses up; if you’re the pearls and mink type you’re going to feel pretty outcast. You won’t have any trouble finding a great cup of coffee or good Indian or Italian food, but the Chinese food is rather uniformly awful.</p>
<p>good advice from arabrab – i live in Denver, but would have been happy to live in Boulder. We moved to Colo from the Bay Area over 20 years ago. Have lived back east as well. Here are my general observations</p>
<p>– Boulder probably won’t feel too young. There are a lot of people of all ages living in town. But it MAY feel too white. While there are some Asians and Latinos in Boulder, overall this is a pretty aryan place. It may be a shock for someone coming from a highly diverse area. It certainly was for me, coming from Berkeley/Oakland. </p>
<p>– Weather will seem pretty nice for someone from the northeast. Boulder tends to be snowier than Denver and (slightly) cooler in the summer, but in both places you’ll get tons of sunshine & a lot of surprisingly mild days even in the winter. OTOH, summers can be HOT, especially in Denver. Streaks of 95+ temps – dry heat, true – but at this elevation, that sun is brutal. </p>
<p>– Locals LOVE LOVE Colorado. It’s a little annoying - as if this were Paradise and you’re dense and uncool if you don’t LOVE it as much.</p>
<p>– It’s a bit far from – everywhere. The nearest big city is Chicago or LA. (Denver isnt’ that much of a real city.) Far from the ocean. Far from Europe. Not that close to Mexico. </p>
<p>I PERSONALLY think there is more to do on either coast. Here, you’ve got the mountains, but unless you’re into ranching – that’s about it. If you want something really different, you have to get on a plane to experience it. Ditto if you’re into world-class ballet or opera. </p>
<p>OTOH, Santa Fe is a mere 5-hour drive – nirvana if you’re into New Mexican cuisine. You will become the biggest snow snob if you spend just one season skiing the Rockies. Many people in Denver and Boulder are smart and highly educated - but laid-back and unpretentious about it. Both areas are politically progressive - although just outside both cities politics turn a sharp right real quick.</p>
<p>The time I’ve spent in Denver over the past year and a half, I’ve found the people suprisingly similar to people in Chicago. It seems like a similar friendly, clean town. The city seems to be growing.</p>
<p>We’re from Chicago, so traffic jams, real estate prices, still a bargain for us. H and I originally thought we would head to the triangle area to retire. He’s a tarheel and I can go anywhere, make friends easily, so a college town is what we “see” when we “see” retiring.</p>
<p>I understand the theater scene and whatnot is actually really growing in Denver, but we don’t want to move into Denver since D is set on living in that city, and we don’t really want to move on top of her, just nearby. ;)</p>
<p>I love, love, love the idea of having hiking trails out my back door and being able to walk into town at the same time. And I’ve spent enough time in cocktail attire to last a lifetime. :eek: Wouldn’t mind living in boots and jeans for my “sunset” years. </p>
<p>How far to the closest skiing? Is it something you can just go and do for the day? Do people? Or is it still a “trip”?</p>
<p>Well, from Boulder you can get to the local ski resort, Eldora, in about 40 minutes either by car or by taking the RTD bus that drops you right in front of the main base. But there isn’t that much terrain, and the snow conditions aren’t as reliable as the Summit County resorts. Breckinridge, Winter Park, and a whole bunch of other resorts are about 2:15 from town; though coming back can be worse on Sunday nights because I70 gets backed up.</p>
<p>S2 and DIL live in Westminster and love it. Between both cities and they work, go to school, and play all over. They are never coming back from CO. View of the Rockies out their back door. He feel claustrophobic when coming east with all the tall trees. S2’s ILs are moving out there when they retire.</p>
<p>OP, you can go skiing for the day – or do it like I do and go up for the morning! From Boulder, Loveland and Winter Park/Mary Jane ski areas are 45 min-1 hour away. So you can leave by 6:30, get to the resort in time for breakfast and “open the slopes” by 8:30. You can ski hard 3-4 hours, and be home before 2 PM. </p>
<p>Of course, you as a RETIRED person (sounds good, huh?) can avoid weekend crowds and traffic altogether. </p>
<p>Skis, ski clothes, etc are ridiculously inexpensive here; you can buy a season pass for a couple resorts for under $400. $500 will get you unlimited skiing in 3 major resorts plus 10 days at Vail/Beaver Creek (posh & fabulous, but farther away.) If you ski often, that’s a pretty good deal considering regular lift tickets are now close to $100 per day! The big issue every year will be what kind of ski pass to buy. </p>
<p>Even if you live in Denver - or nearby suburbs - good hiking is very close by, and there are all kinds of organizations/clubs you can hike with while your husband goes fly fishing. </p>
<p>It’s very true that theater/dance/music keeps getting better (as does the entire cultural scene in Denver, for that matter). Certainly not Chicago-level, but improving all the time. Same with restaurants.</p>
<p>poetgrl: you might look at Ft. Collins. My D lived there for a year and a half between undergrad and med school. I absolutely loved the town when I visited. I have never visited any other town where I was quite sure I would be happy if I moved there. Nice people, large university with just a great atmosphere, shops, restaurants, not too big, not too much traffic, interesting things to do…I was sad to leave!</p>
<p>If your D is in Denver, that would just be about an hour and a half away, I think. That way you would both have your own town.</p>
<p>Yes, even as a kid, I grew up skiing in Aspen, learned at the ski school at snowmass, and skied out of bounds on Ajax, as Aspen used to be called. When I think, now, about skiing out of bounds back then, on those humongous skis! As a parent? I want to go back and send myself to my room for a week. ;)</p>
<p>But I have heard that people like Ft. Collins. </p>
<p>Denver is nothing like it was when I was in my twenties. I think my daughters are lucky it is growing up to be a cool town, like Chicago right before the traffic got to be so darn horrendous you need a cab in the city. I have a feeling there is a ton of opportunity in that town, personally. It just has that feel to it. </p>
<p>thanks for all the input. It makes me feel pretty interested.</p>
<p>Here’s a thought… for your next vacation (winter or summer/cheaper), consider renting a condo or house up in the mountains near a ski area. If you like it, in the future you could think about an investment/vacation property.</p>
<p>Good news - prices are lower than the past. Bad news - the prices are still high, and the rental market may not be so good.</p>
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I do prefer Colo over many other areas of the country but it does still have winter - although not really as bad as the midwest/NE IMO. </p>