JJ84

I’m moving to Denver in the new year with my wife and 2 kids.
We are trying to work out the best areas in and around Denver for a family to live. I’ll be working in Downtown Denver so a commute that is sub 30 mins is what I’m looking for.
From my research so far, places like Wash Park and Cherry Creek keep popping up as top places but these seem to be quite pricey. We have a budget of $5k a month for a furnished house so any recommendations on where you could get a high spec 3 bed with a back yard would be helpful.
Ive also been told that we won’t have any credit rating in the US but you can still get good deals on car leases if you put down a bigger deposit, is this true?
My wife won’t be working so access to communities with activities for kids and mums is important for us to help us settle in.
Are there any networking groups that we should look at to meet people in the area?

Any recommendations from expats or US nationals who have moved to Denver would be great!

Thanks

James

civilservant

Which visa? L1? H1B?

JJ84

scrubbedexpat099

E2, EB5, E3, EB1,2,3?

JJ84

excpomea

My daughter and Son in Law live in Denver.
Rentals are really expansive, increased dramatically over the past 5 years.
They purchased a house in an area called Aurora, typical American suburb. About 30 min drive into the city.

With a budget of $5k a month, you should be fine. Check out rentals on Zillow.com

TexanScot

I have a co-worker there and he loves it, although like most places in Denver it's pricey.

Another co-worker is in a new build across town on the border Westminster/Arvada, and it seemed a nice area when he hosted us for Christmas year before last. Both of them work from home however and don't have a commute, so that might be a factor that you will want to consider especially given how bad the winters can be in Colorado.

BenK91

I just moved out of Denver to Missoula MT.

It's a great city, incredibly expensive however. I lived in the Westminster/Broomfield area and commuted via bus (and sometimes car) into downtown. Although, if your office doesn't have designated parking, expect to pay $200+ a month for parking. Also, traffic is a nightmare and it can take well over an hour each way via car. Even worse in winter and if there is a sporting event going on (Rockies Stadium, Broncos stadium and the Pepsi Center where the Nuggets and Avalanche play) are all in ridiculously close proximity to Downtown and I25 (which you'll no doubt be using a lot).

I'm significantly happier living in Missoula. More money in a significantly cheaper place, less liberal, less crowded etc etc. You'll no doubt enjoy your time in Denver, just be prepared to pay a lot of money and be prepared to sit in traffic a lot (especially I25, US36 and I70) if you ever want to venture to the mountains/ski-resorts which themselves are stupid expensive and crowded.

Happy to answer any questions you have on here or via PM

Octang Frye

'Been in Denver since 2002.

Cherry Creek is where all the mansions are. Not sure I'd bother looking there.
Wash Park is another expensive area - lots of yuppies and hipsters and yoga barbies. Might find something there. Not a bad commute to downtown. You want to keep off I-25, 6th, and I-70. Stick to surface streets.
Capitol Hill is nice. I lived in Cheesman Park for 12 years. Loved it. Super close to downtown (mile and a half), but it's mainly apartments and condos.

Aurora is way too far from downtown - your commute would be miserable. Consider Lakewood, which is where we live, which is about ten minutes from downtown.
Also consider the Highlands and Little Five Points. That's being gentrified.
Vanilla-ton - I mean Littleton - is also too far. Ditto Highlands Ranch. Avoid the Tech Center - cause you'd have to take I-25 downtown.

Denver is great but is unfortunately starting to go downhill. After pot was legalized, people started flocking here. House prices and rent have gone through the roof.
Traffic is getting worse - we were up near Nederland with the dogs this weekend - and it looked like the Fourth of July scene in Jaws where hordes descend on Amity/Martha's Vineyard.
Little "secret" spots we enjoyed have now been discovered by the masses. Our favorite spot we call the Beaver Pond was overrun by foreigners and out-of-staters.

Anyway, the worst of it is Californification. These entitled morons are simply the worst. After messing up their own state with ridiculous liberal policies and ideologies, they are coming here in droves and bringing their nonsense with them, so they can eff up another state. Don't California our Colorado is the bumper sticker - but it's already too late.
They're changing the demographics and political landscape for the worse. It's very sad. We too are thinking of a move to Montana.

Octang Frye

How old are your kids?

scrubbedexpat099

Denver has changed a lot and I do not live down there but get enough feedback from those who do to confirm Octang Frye's comments.

They basically say the same thing, will be interesting to see how all this pans out, plenty of water this year but what when we hit a drought?

We had the leaf lookers up last weekend, best to hide! Some of the things you get asked are hilarious, another few days and they will be gone.

BenK91

Octang Frye

Leaf lookers! Ha! Yep, we saw them this weekend. Stopped on the Peak to Peak highway, streaming across the road, taking their snaps as the leaves change.
It's so funny to hear oneself sounding like a miserable old curmudgeon; it was better in my day, back then this was all fields...

There's still life in the old girl yet, but sure as heck things are changing.

One of the reasons I mention "foreigners" - of course, noting the irony of being an immigrant myself - is some of the experiences we have had lately with respect to our dogs.
Boulder is (was) pretty dog friendly. There are some great off-leash areas - Boulder Reservoir, Chautauqua, Marshall Mesa etc. We also go to the mountains with them too.
Anyway, we have three big dogs. Leonbergers. They're gentle giants, extremely affectionate. Biggest is 165lbs The smallest, our puppy, is 110.

We've been going to these places for years, just enjoying watching the dogs play and swim etc. This last year, we've had encounters with foreigners who demand we leash our dogs in off-leash places. They're not used to big dogs and expect that we accommodate them and their fears/beliefs(unclean) etc. Most recent were two Europeans walking their dog at the Res.
Our puppy went over to see their dog and they had a meltdown. Shrieking. Panicking. We recalled our puppy. They then proceeded to call the cops and report our "dangerous" dogs.
My wife was livid and wanted to tell them to sling their hook back to Spain or Portugal or whatever.

Yes, we get it. Culturally (and religiously) people can have an aversion to dogs. But don't go to an off-leash area and freak out and demand we leash our dogs.

Some people are great. At the Beaver Pond, we were coming down the trail, when we came across two Indian couples. Clearly, they're not used to seeing giant dogs appear out of the forest and coming down the trail. They jumped off to the side and made some kind of nervous noises, but they also had delighted grins on their faces, and one lady just couldn't get enough pictures. Indian people are generally awesome. Colorado welcomes Indian people. Californians? Sorry, we're closed. Ditto New Jerseyians.

scrubbedexpat099

Actually one of the better things about Boulder was that it was dog friendly.

The main Hunting season will start soon, fortunately they do not really clash which is just as well.

Joke around here is that they let them out once a year to come up an look at the leaves, FLL is the more common term. Normally all gone by now, been a long time since they have been this late.

JJ84