pejpm1

I'm considering a move to Denver. I've never been before, but a company have approached with an interesting job opportunity which I'm going to explore.

I don't really know the layout of the city too well, but I know the job will be in Cherry Creek. I'd be moving with my girlfriend, and her two dogs. I've never lived in a suburb, or even a smaller city, so I have a rough plan that we'd try and live in the city itself initially, to hopefully help ease the transition. Ideally, if Cherry Creek is a nice area, I'd like to live there so I can commute to work by bike, or foot. Obviously we'd get a car as well.

I'm assuming cost of living is a lot less than NYC, but all of the cost of living calculators don't really tell you much. The base salary is around $175k, and a small bonus, but I'm not going to factor the bonus into calculations as I have no idea what it's likely to be. I know it's all relative, but would this enable us to have a fairly comfortable lifestyle in Denver? I'm not reckless with money, but I wouldn't consider myself a spendthrift either. I'd anticipate that we'd want a 2br apt, and would have one car which we'd share. I've seen this kind of question related to NYC quite a lot, and the answers are usually pretty accurate, so was hoping someone could shed some light on Denver for me.

sir_eccles

You're already in the US right?

Sounds like a nice salary for Denver.

Mrs Danvers

Are you moving from NYC? I think you'll be fine, I lived on far less than that when I was on my own and I was OK.

Yes, Cherry Creek is a nice area.

Rents and home prices are going up in the area because we're experiencing a rather sudden rise in population. No idea why everyone is trying to move here. Pot laws?

http://kdvr.com/2015/05/21/report-re...er-metro-area/

State looks like a building site.

Pulaski

Drugs do that. Colombia had a building boom in the late 80's and early 90's, Miami/SoFla had a building boom around the same time. Spain had a crazy building boom from the late 90's until the great recession in 2008 - Spain's role as the gateway to/from the drug producing/trafficking nations of latin America is not coincidental.

username.exe

Anecdotal evidence, but I have friends who are looking to move away because of this. Apparently Phoenix looks to be far more affordable. They blame all the Californians moving there .

excpomea

My daughter lives in Denver.
Nice city, lots to offer. They live in town.
Rents are crazy at the moment, $2000 pm for a 1 bedroom apt.
But on 175K you should be able to live pretty well

pejpm1

ha, well we currently pay $3k pm for a 1 bed, and that's considered a bargain for the space we have, so that sounds pretty good to me.

excpomea

Yep it's all relative.

thelostdinosaur

You say you're moving with your girlfriend and her two dogs. What type of dogs are they? One thing is the altitude. Its really high in Denver and the lack of air can affect smaller dogs particularly badly here and cause various problems. I'd recommend going to a vet first to get them tested to see how they handle "thin air". Especially as they are HER dogs !!! Wouldn't be a good start.

Also I can recommend LoDo and The Highlands as great places to live here.

alisongarf

That's a great salary, and Cherry Creek is a really nice area. Very fancy, clean, good shops, etc.
I assume your GF is a US citizen? She won't get sponsored unless she's your wife
Your dog will be fine. I've never heard of smaller dogs having issues in Denver.

thelostdinosaur

Well my wife has a Silky and had to get tested. When we moved she had excessive drooling, panting and pale gums as well as a dry cough. The Silky was fine though haha! No seriously it was an issue and the vet told us he sees it from time to time. Over time the dog got used to it but it was always an issue at first.

scrubbedexpat099

I am a lot higher than Denver and plenty of dogs here. Including the little yappy ones.

thelostdinosaur

I hate the yappy ones. Wish we had a more manly dog!

scrubbedexpat099

excpomea

Daughter is a dog trainer at the Denver Petco store.
Her only advice is to keep them well hydrated when they arrive.
She moved her dogs over with no issues.