I'm kind of the same way. None of my family is in Texas anymore. My parents moved back to Wyoming a couple years ago. I have one sister in California, the other in North Dakota, and relatives mostly in Minnesota and Wyoming. I will always have a soft spot for Texas though and I was the only one who went to A&M. I miss my old friends down there and Aggie football but I'm not looking to move back.

I'm past the honeymoon period for Denver now. Been here almost 5 months. My next goal is to find a good regular job and drive Uber/Lyft less and eventually stop. I really want things to work out for me in Colorado.

Green2Maroon said:

---

I'm kind of the same way. None of my family is in Texas anymore. My parents moved back to Wyoming a couple years ago. I have one sister in California, the other in North Dakota, and relatives mostly in Minnesota and Wyoming. I will always have a soft spot for Texas though and I was the only one who went to A&M. I miss my old friends down there and Aggie football but I'm not looking to move back.

I'm past the honeymoon period for Denver now. Been here almost 5 months. My next goal is to find a good regular job and drive Uber/Lyft less and eventually stop. I really want things to work out for me in Colorado.

---

That's a short honeymoon hah.

I think I'm still in honeymoon period, 7 years later! I am still very anxious to get out and see more of CO. We had two kids right in a row 2 years after we moved here (plus both of us trying to get established with jobs since we moved here with none), and now that the kids can use a toilet and don't require any more gear, (strollers, high chairs, pack n plays etc) I'm ready to pick up where we left off 5 years ago when my wife first got pregnant.

^
I'm still in the honeymoon phase nearing ten years in Colorado, or should I say more of a feeling of still being amazed by how awesome it is here. The endless natural beauty, constant sunshine, great weather nine months out of the year, and winter activities are really hard to beat.

Like you, I also was ready to leave Texas with no desire to ever go back. The last three trips I've taken to Texas have consisted of 5 days straight where it was rainy and cloud the entire trip, a 3-day trip where it was cloudy for all but a couple hours the first day (and it rained alot), and a trip where it was like 95* and 70-80% humidity when Denver was having 65-70* days.

Was searching and didn't see it off the bat. Where are good places to look if the office is going to be in Aurora?

Which part of Aurora? Parker on the south side. Stapleton on the north side. Those are both decent options. Centennial/Englewood might be options too.

There are a few nicer sports in Aurora too, though it generally gets a bad rap overall.

Looks like it's where 225 hits 70. When we first were looking into it their office was in Littleton but they'll be moving next month. Wife was kind of looking into the newer development Backcountry but that may be a bit of a commute to where this newer office is?

Backcountry in Highlands Ranch? Intersection of Broadway and Wildcat Reserve? That's right around the corner and a very, very nice area. It will be a bit of a haul to get to 225/70 every day.

The office location would lend itself to Stapleton as a good option. Note that it's a more densely populated area - designed to be walkable with shared greenspaces and smaller lots. Homes of every size and some areas are pretty cool.

Yes that's the one. When I first started talking to the company I think it was only 15 minutes or so but just found out the new address today. Well we'll be flying up in a couple of weeks to check it out. Was pretty impressed they offered to fly my wife out and put us up for 5 days to check out the area.

We really like this area (south part of Highlands Ranch). If you can deal with the commute, I couldn't recommend it more highly. Access to open space, and you could theoretically hike to Durango if you wanted to by connecting to the East/West Regional trail and then connecting to the Colorado Trail.

Everything we might want, except a short commute. My wife commutes to downtown every day. The drive isn't bad if she leaves early enough, but the trip home is always a bear.

Was hoping for a short commute but we'll keep an open mind about it.

agdaddy04 said:

---

Was hoping for a short commute but we'll keep an open mind about it.

---

Find out if they'll pay your tolls. HR to east side of 70 is not bad on E470, but it's going to cost $120+ a month.

Problem with backcountry is, it is deep in HR. You probably have 10 min. just to get to C470, the a 40 min highway drive. You could do Lone Tree.. While it's only 5 miles away, it would shave off 15 minutes of your commute. Then inching east, you get centennial or parker, shaving off another 5-10.

From Lone Tree to 225/70, using 470, would be 30 minutes, very consistently both ways, every day. It's also 30 miles, which gives you an idea of commute conditions. Driving E470, at any time of day, is putting cruise on 75 and actually enjoying the drive. Lone tree to that area using 25/225 would also be 30 minutes, plus or minus 10, and is only 20 mile drive.


From northern areas of Parker, it would be 25 miles, 25 minutes, and would be half the toll cost (parker rd is a free on/off).

For comparison sake, if you lived in stapleton, it would be 7-8 miles, and would be 20 minutes.

So, it all kind of depends on what kind of commute you like. I live 27 miles from work and it takes 35 minutes, but I have a few coworkers who live 5 miles away and it takes them 15. I'd much rather have my style of commute, and not be in such high density areas (like stapleton).

Your budget is a huge consideration as well. An area like foxfield is awesome.. big flat lots, great views, but are high 6 figures.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

agdaddy04 said:

---

Thanks for all of the feedback.

---

Also remember you can buy a lot more house here because of really low prop tax. Take what you know about what you can afford in Houston and throw it out the window.

For prop tax, assume 0.7% of house value. So $700 every $100k.

Then factor in house insurance. It is apparently way less here. I have the same premium on my $500k house here than I did on my $130k house in Tomball, both policies through USAA.

On the flip, we have 4.6% of AGI (not of gross) for state tax, which is weird, cause every year so far, I've only paid about 3.2-3.5%.

So get a spreadsheet and do the math to compare the two cities and what you can afford. You simply can't do it in your head.

Yes currently paying 3.5% in Spring for property tax. I'll certainly be putting together a spreadsheet.

I lived near the intersection of Broadway and Wildcat Reserve close to Saddle Ranch Elementary. When I lived there, there was nothing south of Wildcat Reserve and frankly, it was nice being that close to a massive open space. It was also great to be able to enjoy the open space north of Saddle Ranch Elementary, trails, dog park, etc.

The commute wasn't that bad - typical big city traffic (For comparison, I've also lived in LA, Austin, Houston/Galveston and work regularly in the Bay Area). Eventually you'll figure out the peak times and intersections to avoid. I worked on the east side of Centennial Airport to give you an idea about what my commute was like.

62strat is totally right about the difference in property taxes. When I was living in Round Rock, I was paying about $3600/yr. When I moved to Highlands Ranch, I was only paying about $1800/yr and my house in Colorado cost twice as much as my house in Texas.

The state income tax was small and the state Sales Tax in Douglas County was small too. I don't know if they still do this but in Colorado, if you buy a big ticket item like a car, they charge you the sales tax based on where you live, not where you make the purchase. 3.4% Sales Tax in Douglas County was pretty sweet at the time.

One thing Colorado will screw you on is vehicle registration. It could have changed but when I moved there, I went from paying $60/yr to register my Ford Expedition in Texas to $600/yr to register it in Colorado. There is one saving grace, after your vehicle is 10 years old, the registration drops to like $29/yr.

HollywoodBQ said:

---

One thing Colorado will screw you on is vehicle registration. It could have changed but when I moved there, I went from paying $60/yr to register my Ford Expedition in Texas to $600/yr to register it in Colorado. There is one saving grace, after your vehicle is 10 years old, the registration drops to like $29/yr.

---

I think it's based on a combination of age and value of the vehicle. I got a new (base model) F150 priced at $40k, reg. was like $750. But we have a '13 FX4 and '14 Durango, combined value also in the $40k range, and we paid about $550 for both. So initially I thought it was just based on value, but now with our used cars, I know that isn't the case; age must be a factor too.


On the flipside, you don't do emissions until car is 4 years old, and even then it's every other year, and even then, they do roadside, in motion, testing so you don't have to go anywhere to get it done. They set up test spots at on/off ramps on freeways.

Highlands ranch is unincorporated, that's why your sales tax was so low. All incorporated 'cities' or towns have a tax (arvada, parker, centennial, littleton, aurora, etc), so the total rate is 7-8%. Unincorporated areas just have the state (2.9%) and the county (usually about 1%).

On that note, the city/town boundaries are always pretty squiggly and random, often leaving gaps of unincorporated areas. For instance, I live in Parker, but the neighborhood adjacent to us, a huge neighborhood and one the first in 'parker', isn't actually in town limits, it's unincop. DougCo. This effects you in 3 ways:
*You don't get free parking in RTD lots, since you aren't in the district (RTD district is only in city/town boundaries). This can come in handy if traveling, I can park in the lot near my house free and ride rail to airport, saving parking fees, or if you use rail or park n ride regularly.
*You get a lower sales tax rate, so online ordering and vehicle purchase will save you 3-4%.
*You can't vote in the city/town elections of your 'city'. So while the outcomes of local elections may effect you since you geographically live in the area, you technically don't.

Do you really feel your quality of life has improved exponentially since leaving Houston?

We've been in Highlands Ranch since this past May after moving from Austin and we love it here. There are four huge rec centers that you get access to through a dirt cheap HOA fee and they are awesome for meeting other people. Everything you will need is no more than a 5 minute drive (obviously not counting work).

Not sure if we'll have time this go round but I'd love to meet up for drinks with someone willing to sit down and talk about the transition from Texas/ ags, etc.

I regret that I can only give this one blue star.

And the no HEB thing is hard to get used to.

Life here pretty much crushes living down there.

FightinAg13 said:

---

And the no HEB thing is hard to get used to.

---

Ha, this does already have me kind of worried.

agdaddy04 said:

---

FightinAg13 said:

---

And the no HEB thing is hard to get used to.

---

Ha, this does already have me kind of worried.

---

They deliver non-fresh foods and products via their website. It's something.

agdaddy04 said:

---

Do you really feel your quality of life has improved exponentially since leaving Houston?

---

Exponentially is strong word, but overall, yes I think it has. The few things that do it for me:

It's a smaller city (not just pop. but geographically), so I can live in the suburbs and still only be 20 miles from work (instead of Tomball being 40 miles to westchase, or even further to downtown. This comes into play for when we go into town as well for events or games; on a saturday this is a 25 min. drive.

Yes it can get cold. Single digits or even negative is not uncommon, but we're talking maybe a few days a year at that level. The flipside is it is really damn nice a LOT of the year. It was 58 degrees the other day, and will be 55 today.. 20 days in december were 55 or higher.. And mind you, 55 here in the winter with all the sun we have is NICE. Like I'll sit on my deck in the afternoon and have a beer in a tshirt. (granted,my deck faces the afternoon sun.) Snow is snow, it comes, it goes. Our neighbor has a walkout basement, and we have no fence between us, and so we have a kickass hill for tubing when it snows. My 3 and 4 year old literally did this for 4 hours sat. and sun last weekend cause we got a nice 4" snow on Friday.

Cost of living is pretty much the damn same in my experience. We have about the same salaries (wife's is maybe 10% less), and we live the same lifestyle.

Maybe it's just me hating on TX, but I think there is just way more stuff to do here on the weekends. It's so easy and quick to go west and find endless amounts of stuff. There are casinos to hot springs to white water rafting/tubing to mountain climbing, old historic towns, drive up mt evans rd, really good hiking really close to home (like 30 minutes and we can be hiking up a mountain and have views of the entire denver metro), scenic drives, estes park, RMNP, the sand dunes, fishing, hunting, etc etc.. yes texas has a lot of these things, but here it just seems closer and more easily accessible. I have 2 NP within 4 hour drive. Or I can drive an hour and stay in Dillon and feel completely away from your everyday life.

On a more broader scope, we are within an 8 hours drive of:
Mount rushmore, arches/canyonlands/capitol reef NP, jackson hole/Yellowstone, mesa verde NP/Durango, Glen Canyon area
and then an 11-13ish hour drive from:
Zion NP, Grand canyon, havasu/hoover/Vegas, glacier NP, death valley NP, Big Bend NP

So summer road trips are off the chain, and my kids are just a 2-3 years away from enjoying those types of vacays.

The beer scene is off the chain, and I'm a homebrewer so I'm into it.


Negatives:
Of course friends; many friends we had were almost lifelong friends. It's nothing that Colorado did.
The dryness is def. a thing. My wife is starting to hate it, and blames her always being sick now on it (I say it's the kids getting us sick, we didn't have kids in TX). But we have whole house humidifier and one in our room.
Late snows: by the time late april / early may rolls around, and it's been 70s for most days, a snow can kind of be annoying. We still get them randomly all the way up until mid/late may. It can be like 8", but then it's 70 degrees the next day and it's all gone pretty quickly.

Late spring, summer and early fall evenings can't be beat for having friends/dinner/drinks on the deck. Even on a 100 degree summer july day, by 7pm it will be in the mid 70s and feel great.

Also... the shade. In the summer, its 20-25 degrees cooler in the shade due to the absence of humidity. It's amazing. Same at night during the summer when it dips into the 50s. We leave our thermostat on 78 usually (as if we were in Texas) and most days the A/C doesn't even turn on...

Thanks again for all of the information. It's helpful hearing from folks that have lived it.

Living in Houston most of my life I've always been interested in whole house dehumidifiers so it's interesting to learn of humidifiers. My wife's skin definitely dries out in the winter so I guess that'd take some getting used to. Although there's pros and cons with everything it sure seems like the pros I'm seeing and reading about are pretty enticing.

agdaddy04 said:

---

My wife's skin definitely dries out in the winter so I guess that'd take some getting used to.

---

You can always just tell your wife to lay down on the bed nekkid in her underwear and you'll put oil/lotion on her.

Win/Win.

I'm also in Highlands Ranch. Work in Lakewood. Commute is 45 minutes both ways. Sucks but highlands ranch is great

So my trip up there is this Wednesday and they're talking about a blizzard warning now? Guessing I shouldn't decline the rental car coverage like I normally do?

Depends on your own auto policy and/or what your CC company provides.

When do you land? A lot of my friends are flying out Wednesday and there's some soubt on if they make it. Wednesday morning should be fine. Wednesday evening is looking nasty.

Arrive at 9:20am.

agdaddy04 said:

---

Arrive at 9:20am.

---

Should be fine to get wherever you need to from the airport, but I wouldn't plan on driving anywhere after about 2 or 3 pm. Its gonna get nasty.

I'll probably be playing golf on Sunday. Such is March in Colorado.

Nope. They cancelled everything. Had to push it to a 5am flight Thursday