Just 4

My wife and I are a big fan of Post Oak BBQ, especially the sides. They were the ones that got her hooked on fried okra (she's a Colorado native).

Last weekend we tried Lazy Butcher in Evergreen. I used to buy meat from them at the Arvada farmer's market until they moved and open a shop in Evergreen. Their brisket is tender and moist, but lacking in smoke flavor. Still excellent and large portions. And all their sides are fried in beef tallow. The cheese curds and onion petals are the best I've ever had.

They have a fun cowboy bar area, small market inside, and excellent drinks as well with live music on the patio.

COSCAG67 said:

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chiken said:

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COSCAG67 said:

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Yeah we'll have to work out logistics since she's in centennial, but she sounds like a seasoned veteran.

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she travels EVERYWHERE! I just bought a house in Thornton and she was with mr every step of the way. The woman goes where she needs to be.

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So we just walked a house with her today in Monument. My wife was very skeptical going into it because of her not being local, but after walking the house we are both very comfortable with her. Thank you for the recommendation.

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+1 for Cathy. She found the perfect house for my wife and I, and 2+ years later we still love it. Was an amazing deal in the perfect neighborhood in Littleton.

We were very picky and in no rush, yet she remained patient and never slowed down over 10 months, teaching the areas and home buying process as first-time home buyers.

Schall 02 said:

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Jock 07 said:

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This thread has inspired me. I have the day to **** off tomorrow, thinking about running up to pit fiend and then hit up a few breweries in town.

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Post reviews !

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It was solid as always, especially for not having to wait in a line. The cowboy candy they do was fantastic.

Chuckwagon did brisket fried rice this week and a coworker picked up a bunch of orders for the office. It was outstanding.

Quite the storm last night here in Littleton. I've never seen lightning like that in my life. It was all around and overhead - such an impressive display for almost 1hr.

Streets and some of the yard flooded and got some marble-sized hail, but no damaged to the garden or anything else.

I'm sure this has been done many times in a 114 page thread, but here we go...sorry for a long post with bunch of background info and likely some rambling.

I accepted a new role/promo (going back to what I use to do) with my current company and will be covering Colorado and Utah, with probably 2/3 of the customers in Colorado. I do not go into an office. I am 100% remote, though I do have to be onsite with customers. Since this is my second time working for my new manager, and we've known each other for over a decade, I have a lot of flexibility in relocation. I start the "new" role Aug 3, but he told me to take however long I want/need to make the relocation. I'll be traveling back and forth from Austin until we make the move. Most likely, we will move summer of '27, as we'll get the kids (girls 5 & 8) through this next school year before going up. We have a year to check areas out and figure out where we want to land.

I can live wherever I want, but the wife and I have pretty much ruled out Salt Lake for several reasons, despite the fact that we like SLC and have friends there. Most of my colorado customers will be all along the front range (no surprise), Ft Collins all the way down to Pueblo. I would have to drive into downtown occasionally, but I also set my own meetings and can typically avoid traffic. Some places, like Boulder and Ft Collins I will have to be in much more often than something like Pueblo. I will also need to go to DIA once or twice a month for work. I will work from home multiple days a week. I can also grab a hotel pretty much any time I want/need. Which means the family can come with or if the drive is longer than normal, I don't have to do the round trip in a day.

Currently, I live in Round Rock and cover Waco down to San Antonio. I'm use to driving 1-2 hours for meetings. I'm 45+ minutes from the Airport. My wife is currently stay-at-home mom, so no work/commute considerations for her. Once we are settled in, she'll probably find a PT job just to have something to do.

Things we like to do:

- Trail running (both wife and I)
- Cycling: whole family leisurely, but wife and I enjoy riding as well. I'm sure gravel bikes are in our future.
- Mountain Biking (me)
- hiking
- camping
- craft beer
- live music
- family/dog friendly events
- skiing is not a huge concern, though we'd likely go occasionally
- kids activities: dance, girl scouts, swim

I am somewhat familiar with Denver, as I've been up there multiple times, however, I'm less familiar with the suburbs. We do not really want to live in denver. I'd be quite happy in a place tucked away in the mountains, but my wife prefers more amenities and I want our kids to have more opportunities for activities/friends/etc. I don't want to live east of I25, and the closer to mountains/foothills the better, but I understand that that comes with a price tag. I have a short list of places that we are considering, but I'm sure I'm overlooking some areas. Boulder has been ruled out due to cost. The short list includes:

- Fort Collins - honestly, it looks amazing. Only drawback would be drive time to places, but on the surface, it doesn't look any worse than my commute down to parts of San Antonio. I'm sure winter could pose some issues, but that probably applies everywhere. Good schools. Would have multiple customers in town/close by.
- Loveland - close to Ft Collins, slightly closer to Denver. Slightly lower housing, as compared to Ft Collins. Seems very family friendly and good schools from what I've seen.
- Golden - looks pretty perfect for accessing outdoors, but housing is higher. Easier access to Denver. Would have one customer in town.
- Colorado Springs - access to mountains is really good. housing cost is lower. wife has a couple friends here. additional option for airport. However, wife was not the biggest fan of the springs. Not off the list, but she'll need to go back and have some convincing. Seems like it also gets slammed with some more extreme weather than much of the rest of the front range.

What did I get wrong? What areas am I missing? Wife and I are trying to compile a list of places to research and visit. I'll start visiting some of these places, and then she will join me on work trips to help narrow the search. I also plan on purposely staying in Ft Collins. Co Springs, etc when I have a meetings in downtown, so that I can judge the commute.

We've made multiple prior attempts at getting to Colorado, but they've all fallen through, so I'm beyond excited about making the move.

Public school or alternative ?

public

I'd suggest the south suburbs of Denver then. We chose Cherry Creek Schools but other like Highlands Ranch, Parker, etc.

Parker is east of 25, so thats out.

Highlands Park is a bit better location wise, and looks like there are trails on the south side. Ill do some research.

Here's my two cents.

The whole front range offers what you want. Everything is relatively close compared to Texas. And the climate and culture are much more conducive to being outside and "you do you."

So pick a spot where you can put down roots, where the schools are good and the homes are more likely to remain in demand. And, if it were me, the airport isn't over an hour away. You'll get "to the mountains" plenty while the kids are young but less as they get busy themselves. But the "urban" trails (like the high line canal trail) are great, too, and living "at elevation" means in town, too (biking, golf, trails - it's just an outdoors culture).

As an example, this is the kind of thing routinely in the local media: https://www.denverpost.com/2026/07/09/best-mountain-biking-destinations-colorado/

Pretty much everywhere around the front range cities are gonna meet your criteria.

I guess I'm not articulating very well if "everywhere" fits what you think I'm looking for.

I based "everywhere" off this list:

Quote:

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Trail running (both wife and I)
- Cycling: whole family leisurely, but wife and I enjoy riding as well. I'm sure gravel bikes are in our future.
- Mountain Biking (me)
- hiking
- camping
- craft beer
- live music
- family/dog friendly events
- skiing is not a huge concern, though we'd likely go occasionally
- kids activities: dance, girl scouts, swim

+ west of I-25

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"Everywhere" is obviously a bit hyperbolic, but most of the metro areas (Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Loveland, Ft Collins) are gonna check the boxes as most of the listed items are dependent on mountain access and living in a city that isn't tiny. Pueblo probably would too but no one moves there.

For Ft Collins something to think about is the student population there makes up about 20% of the city's total population. Could be a dealbreaker for some.

If you can afford it I think you're right to put Golden at the top of your list for Denver metro area based off you wanting to be in the mountains but your wife wanting to be in/near a city.

If you're primarily looking for downhill mountain biking like at a resort the closest to the front range that I know about is Keystone, which is closest to Denver by a good bit.

I don't think there are any obvious green or red flags for a city that you are missing based on what you've said matters to you and your family.

Edit to add: I know less than nothing about quality of schools in these places so I'm not attempting to speak on that at all. Also I don't think it is accurate to say the springs gets worse weather than the other places.

Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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I based "everywhere" off this list:

Quote:

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Trail running (both wife and I)
- Cycling: whole family leisurely, but wife and I enjoy riding as well. I'm sure gravel bikes are in our future.
- Mountain Biking (me)
- hiking
- camping
- craft beer
- live music
- family/dog friendly events
- skiing is not a huge concern, though we'd likely go occasionally
- kids activities: dance, girl scouts, swim

+ west of I-25

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"Everywhere" is obviously a bit hyperbolic, but most of the metro areas (Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Loveland, Ft Collins) are gonna check the boxes as most of the listed items are dependent on mountain access and living in a city that isn't tiny. Pueblo probably would too but no one moves there.

For Ft Collins something to think about is the student population there makes up about 20% of the city's total population. Could be a dealbreaker for some.

If you can afford it I think you're right to put Golden at the top of your list for Denver metro area based off you wanting to be in the mountains but your wife wanting to be in/near a city.

If you're primarily looking for downhill mountain biking like at a resort the closest to the front range that I know about is Keystone, which is closest to Denver by a good bit.

I don't think there are any obvious green or red flags for a city that you are missing based on what you've said matters to you and your family.

Edit to add: I know less than nothing about quality of schools in these places so I'm not attempting to speak on that at all. Also I don't think it is accurate to say the springs gets worse weather than the other places.

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I agree. I live in Parker and that checks everything except west of 25. Not sure why that's a requirement. I don't feel Denver has the 'itl' 'otl' discussions like you see in houston.
Plenty of craft beer with 5 breweries in our town. Live music in a handful spots most of the week, including free concerts put on by Parker in summer. Mountain biking along the Hess reservoir and dirt or concrete trails all over the place. Skiing is only 20 minutes further than say Littleton. Very well connected trail system. I can hike/ride to downtown on cherry creek trail if I wanted. Parker is loaded with kids so easy box check there. For camping you can go to springs and west from there, or just 470 to 70 and west from there. Again maybe adding 20 minutes compared to some other spots on town, but on a 2-3 hour drive who cares.

I live in the Ken Caryl area and it has all that except live music (Red Rocks is close though but pricy if you want to go a lot). Super easy access to the C470 trail, lots of mountain biking, hiking, trail running etc. Really good schools around here. Biggest downside to me is the time it takes to get to the airport.

Id say live music is probably the lowest priority.

Appreciate the responses. Compiling info. Been talking to coworkers and customers up there, who have been providing info as well.

The Pilot said:

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One thing I noticed in moving from Dallas to Denver is the outdoor eating patios aren't all dog-friendly. We used to take our dog everywhere in Dallas, much less in Denver.

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This is pretty surprising to me. Feel like dog culture is intense here.