Denver to DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My attempt to talk you out of it:

Denver is all about quality of life, and DC is just ... not. It can be a tough/stressful place to live unless everything lines up just right. My low point was flipping off a garbage truck that drove around me while I waited for the light to turn red. I was like, who have I become??? But some people make it work and love being around so much action (money, power, politics, culture). I just prefer a more laid back existence.

I lived in Denver in the early 2000s, and I know it’s changed—higher cost of living, more traffic, etc. Still, when I go back for work I always have such a nice time. I can breathe. People are less tense. I feel like I can freely move around.

This this this. It is hard to be in dc and not feel stressed - its palpable. People are just tense...other things too (materialistic, in many cases, for example.), but too tense is the best way to put it. I think the switch from Denver's high quality of life to DC (lack thereof) would be pretty tough. Where are you from originally?

Seems like a lot of you have this myth that Denver is this relaxing and inexpensive place you can just enjoy while having a laid back low hour commitment job or just retiring. The truth is it's quite expensive already and has its own traffic problems and also doesn't really have quite a robust job market as DC and similar cities. After looking at prices there I don't think it's that much of a relief and simply no longer a low COL place. As far as it's been worth it compared to places like DC it's really subjective and depends on personal tastes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We lived in Denver about a decade ago, and still talk about how great it was and how we'd move back in a second if we could swing jobs. The pros PPs have noted are real. We didn't really have a choice about moving back here (military) at the time, and our job prospects are better here, unfortunately. But for a voluntary move, it would take a significant salary raise, plus a close-in home location, to make it even begin to be worthwhile to move here.

I really liked Denver but it is very remote, very homogeneous, far from oceans, and you will be driving everywhere. DC is very different but on OP salary I would not move.

Agreed with everything. DC and Denver are like apples and oranges. Denver is not really a city, it's very car dependent while in DC and some of its burbs like Arlington you can live car free. DC is also bearable driving distance to many other cities like Philly and NYC and down South, which can be important if you have a family on Eastern seaboard and don't want to get on the plane to see them.

[Anonymous]

We considered moving to Denver as we work from home and have some friends who relocated there from other high COL areas we used to live in and were raving about it. After visiting and looking at RE I was very disappointed and don't see at all what the hype is all about. Washington Park bungalows are fugly, old and small and can give DC metro split level and ranch shit shacks run for their money. Nicer new homes are over 1m and the prime areas are nothing to write home about. People we met through our friends all tend to talk about sports and their various athletic pursuits which I find boring. Overall I was actually surprised how ugly Denver was, there is zero charm and the fact that it's flat and landlocked isn't helping either. I guess we went there with high expectations and now I believe that this city is simply overhyped. People on DCUM tend to complain how ugly DC burbs are, well, Denver is like one ugly suburb with busy highways and unimpressive downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We considered moving to Denver as we work from home and have some friends who relocated there from other high COL areas we used to live in and were raving about it. After visiting and looking at RE I was very disappointed and don't see at all what the hype is all about. Washington Park bungalows are fugly, old and small and can give DC metro split level and ranch shit shacks run for their money. Nicer new homes are over 1m and the prime areas are nothing to write home about. People we met through our friends all tend to talk about sports and their various athletic pursuits which I find boring. Overall I was actually surprised how ugly Denver was, there is zero charm and the fact that it's flat and landlocked isn't helping either. I guess we went there with high expectations and now I believe that this city is simply overhyped. People on DCUM tend to complain how ugly DC burbs are, well, Denver is like one ugly suburb with busy highways and unimpressive downtown.

Pretty much. It's also very brown unless it's heavily irrigated. People seem to forget it's in the desert, albeit a high (Alpine) desert. The only tree that is native there on the plains is the cottonwood, everything else was planted. Not that attractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We considered moving to Denver as we work from home and have some friends who relocated there from other high COL areas we used to live in and were raving about it. After visiting and looking at RE I was very disappointed and don't see at all what the hype is all about. Washington Park bungalows are fugly, old and small and can give DC metro split level and ranch shit shacks run for their money. Nicer new homes are over 1m and the prime areas are nothing to write home about. People we met through our friends all tend to talk about sports and their various athletic pursuits which I find boring. Overall I was actually surprised how ugly Denver was, there is zero charm and the fact that it's flat and landlocked isn't helping either. I guess we went there with high expectations and now I believe that this city is simply overhyped. People on DCUM tend to complain how ugly DC burbs are, well, Denver is like one ugly suburb with busy highways and unimpressive downtown.

Pretty much. It's also very brown unless it's heavily irrigated. People seem to forget it's in the desert, albeit a high (Alpine) desert. The only tree that is native there on the plains is the cottonwood, everything else was planted. Not that attractive.

This is true though technically Denver is in the high plains but it is very dry in both Denver and the mountains.

Also assuming Denver continues to grow and its water supply doesn't (both of which seem likely) at some point Colorado could go the way of southern California with extreme restrictions on watering which could result in brown lawns and parks everywhere. (Most people in Denver have sprinkler systems for their lawns).