Author Topic: Questions about boulder/denver, co  (Read 5455 times)

Gin1984

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Questions about boulder/denver, co
« on: January 26, 2017, 06:31:25 AM »
My husband applied for a job with the state university of co at boulder.   Because I am a crazy planner, could anyone help me with the average costs they spend for food/gas/daycare and how bad traffic is?  Are there areas in that area that you would not live?  Any recommendations on daycare because daycares suck and often have 6 month waiting lists?  We are looking at denver even though there is a commute because I can find more jobs there. 

yachi

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Gin1984

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2017, 06:54:11 AM »
I heard somewhere that Longmont is nice...

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/05/09/stashtown-usa/

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/09/04/how-and-how-not-to-buy-a-house/
Longmont won't work for denver and boulder.  I am aware of MMM living situation, thank you.

Tick-Tock

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2017, 09:21:00 AM »
Commuting into Boulder from Denver has worse traffic than commuting into Denver from the suburbs. It can be a nightmare trying to get out of Boulder in the evenings (our normal 20-minute drive can be an hour or more). That has eased a bit with the opening of the new toll lane, but it's still not great. (It's because Boulder is expensive, so lots of people living elsewhere.)

Bus between Denver and Boulder can take close to an hour.

Roboturner

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2017, 09:27:47 AM »
If you target Golden/Lakewood your husband can use 93 to get to boulder and you could use 6 to get to Denver, both about 30 min drives - pretty too. That would allow you to avoid US36 which is a total nightmare for traffic

Also as someone above said, Boulder is very HCOL

Golden------93-------Boulder
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Denver
« Last Edit: January 26, 2017, 09:32:31 AM by Roboturner »

honeybbq

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2017, 09:54:25 AM »
As you've probably noticed, Boulder has a HCOLA - particularly in housing. Depending on where you are coming from, houses may be unattainable in the Denver proper.

Probably best to look at suburbs to the east... the commute from Denver, as mentioned, would be rough. Boulder is really cool though and a fun place to live.

nessness

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2017, 10:00:14 AM »
I heard somewhere that Longmont is nice...

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/05/09/stashtown-usa/

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/09/04/how-and-how-not-to-buy-a-house/
Longmont won't work for denver and boulder.  I am aware of MMM living situation, thank you.
Why not? Longmont is in between Denver and Boulder, so it was a perfectly reasonable suggestion.

Anyway, the commute from Denver to Boulder is rough. You probably want to look at the northern suburbs to make it more bearable.

To answer one of your questions, we pay about $1200/month for full time daycare at a center. This is about average for a center, in-homes are somewhat cheaper. Most places have wait lists for infants but care for older kids seems to be somewhat more readily available.

ETA: I think gas is around $2.20/gallon right now. Food prices seem fairly average to me.a
« Last Edit: January 26, 2017, 10:02:10 AM by nessness »

Lkxe

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2017, 02:46:09 PM »
We live on the northern end of Broomfield. Google tells me the bus from here(stop 1/2 mile walk) is an hour and twelve mins to CU. When my spouse was working downtown (Capitol area) he rode 3 miles to the park and ride then 20-30 to  Union Station.  Housing will be more expensive than Buffalo but groceries are a similar cost. We mores from the Midwest it's 30% more. Our gas electric for three in 2000 sq feet averages 97 a month.  We run the air about a week in the summer, heat at 68 in winter. Water and sewer 34 for lowest usage. The house is valued at 340000 for pretty typical 3 bed 21/2 bath family on 1/4 acre lot. but the 1600ft next door rents for 2100 a month. I love our neighborhood 1 mile from rec. center, Walmart, Whole Foods, dentist, King Soopers and 2 from the library but there is no downtown. The downtowns in Erie and Layfette are adorable.  No ideas on daycare, my youngest is middle school but I heard Colorado is one of the least affordable states.


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gipsygrrl

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2017, 04:38:03 PM »
I feel like Denver proper is getting a little crazy, cost-of-living-wise. Housing has gone through the roof, daycare was $1300/month when we moved last year, and yes - there were quite a few daycare waiting lists. I started my kiddo part time and then added more days as they became available, which was a good strategy for getting into a quality daycare (as long as you can do that work-wise).

Boulder is ridiculously expensive, housing-wise. Our friends are moving from there to Gunbarrel because they've been priced out.

Traffic is rough, but if you have the long view in mind, they're working on the light rail and there's also a commuter bus that runs Denver-Boulder. Like any city, if you can time your hours to be somewhat off-peak, that can help. The commute on 93 from Boulder to Golden/West Lakewood could be an option... it's sometimes kind of sketchy in the winter, though.

The good part is that lots of people are moving/have moved to the area... it's easy to make friends, as everyone is new!

Tick-Tock

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2017, 07:41:32 PM »

Traffic is rough, but if you have the long view in mind, they're working on the light rail and there's also a commuter bus that runs Denver-Boulder. Like any city, if you can time your hours to be somewhat off-peak, that can help. The commute on 93 from Boulder to Golden/West Lakewood could be an option... it's sometimes kind of sketchy in the winter, though.


That's the really long view--rail between Denver to Boulder and then Longmont probably won't be a reality for 20 or 30 years, if then.  Also, if the long-discussed plans to complete the 470 loop on the west side ever come to fruition, the drive on 93 could be impacted. 

Iplawyer

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2017, 07:59:59 AM »
There are buses that run non-stop between Denver and Boulder several times a day.  I know they leave from Union Station - I don't know if they leave from other places.  The Boulder school district is excellent.

moneysense

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #11 on: January 27, 2017, 12:09:51 PM »
I moved to Colorado to work at CU Boulder a few years ago. Housing costs in Boulder-proper were insane, but I was able to rent an affordable condo in Superior (about 8 miles from campus). Louisville is across the highway from Superior and seems more family-friendly (in that there's an actual downtown, library, etc.), so you may want to look into there. No way would I have commuted from Denver to Boulder every day.

CU Boulder provides all employees with a free bus pass, which is great. If you drive, you'll likely have to pay for a monthly parking pass to park on campus (though no guarantee you'll get to park near your office); mine was about $50/month. Also, the 401a (5% mandatory employee contribution, 10% employer contribution) is also a great perk!

Can't speak to daycare costs, sorry.

Gin1984

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Re: Questions about boulder/denver, co
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2017, 12:20:59 PM »
I moved to Colorado to work at CU Boulder a few years ago. Housing costs in Boulder-proper were insane, but I was able to rent an affordable condo in Superior (about 8 miles from campus). Louisville is across the highway from Superior and seems more family-friendly (in that there's an actual downtown, library, etc.), so you may want to look into there. No way would I have commuted from Denver to Boulder every day.

CU Boulder provides all employees with a free bus pass, which is great. If you drive, you'll likely have to pay for a monthly parking pass to park on campus (though no guarantee you'll get to park near your office); mine was about $50/month. Also, the 401a (5% mandatory employee contribution, 10% employer contribution) is also a great perk!

Can't speak to daycare costs, sorry.
Nice!