Making the move-Oregon Coast to Longmont

[terarym]

Found out last week that as a remote employee (software engineer for a regional bank) the footprint for where we can live has been extended to Colorado.  We have a nice house 2 miles from the beach on the Oregon Coast (Nehalem). We are ready to move on!  No problem with getting new mortgage or the move, yet what are best resources for finding a new home there?  Thanks.

[norajean]

Seems like quite a downgrade in quality of life. Will you save a lot?

[therethere]

Wasn't there a post exactly like this about a month ago?

Longmont is an interesting choice.... It's not exactly cheap. And there isn't anything of note there other than being a suburb of Boulder that farther from Denver. Oh, and it's on the way to RMNP. Other than having lots of sidewalks and bike trails (pretty typical in the front range anyway), it's just another pre-HOA suburb town. Strip malls, developments, nothing special. If you chose Longmont based off the blog, I'd do some more digging around for alternate locales.

[clarkfan1979]

Found out last week that as a remote employee (software engineer for a regional bank) the footprint for where we can live has been extended to Colorado.  We have a nice house 2 miles from the beach on the Oregon Coast (Nehalem). We are ready to move on!  No problem with getting new mortgage or the move, yet what are best resources for finding a new home there?  Thanks.

My sister-in-law is a real estate agent in Boulder County. I use her for my real estate transactions. Let me know if you want her info.

I love the Colorado Front Range (Fort Collins to Pueblo). If you rent first and don't like Longmont, just move to another city on the Front Range.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm very familiar with that part of the Oregon coast (we have a vacation house there), but not very familiar with Longmont. We enjoy visiting the coast a lot, but would never live there full time for a variety of reasons.

What's driving your desire to change, and perhaps we can way in on that?

[retiringearly]

This is a weird part of this blog.  Many people on here try to mimic everything that MMM does.  It appears they can't think for themselves or they simply think MM is some all-knowing god.

Original poster, was there any reason you decided on Longmont other than the fact that MMM lives there?  If not, look elsewhere.

[Metalcat]

This is a weird part of this blog.  Many people on here try to mimic everything that MMM does.  It appears they can't think for themselves or they simply think MM is some all-knowing god.

Original poster, was there any reason you decided on Longmont other than the fact that MMM lives there?  If not, look elsewhere.

Many? Really?

In several years of wasting a lot of time here, I think I've only seen one or two posters, none of whom I know as regulars, mention something about moving to Longmont, which I do agree is kind of odd, but not at all something that I've seen as common to this place or this community.

Odd? Yes. Characteristic of the MMM community? Not that I've seen.

I would actually say that most regular community members here are pretty openly critical of MMM and don't god-worship at all.

[terarym]

Well, I came back in and saw this old post from me.  Sheltering in place during the pandemic, I did appreciate my great house and why we chose the Oregon Coast. We designed a remote work life before it was a thing compounded by the desire to get out of Seattle/Portland. However, neighbors aren’t friendly and we don’t have much in common culturally with this community. Husband  and I do not have children or extended family, so we are looking for friends. Our tastes are jambands and financial investing-haven’t had much social success, thus the desire to move on.  COL is pretty good,, although it is filling up quickly (house-building) and that means more utilities have to be built out and rates will increase.  Taxes are increasing every year-that’s pretty common now in the Pacific NW.
I liked the idea of the Denver/Boulder suburb because of bikeability, weather and access to the cultural amenities.  MMM describes this well and that is appreciated, yet I wonder if he’ll remain after his son becomes an adult. I would check out the MMM Community Space as a resource.  And, as I write in mid-2021, who can move?  US housing market is clogged.  We retire in 61 months (according to plan) and then we’ll put on the backpacks and head out.  Best to all of you.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We just got to the Oregon coast today (we're a couple of miles from you, so super close) & I hear you about the cultural piece. We would never live here full time (mostly due to weather, but other factors as well, as we have two kids in high school). We're hoping to enjoy a lovely long weekend, and then we close on our house sale & will leave our Oregon Coast house behind. It's been such a great experience, but too far logistically to manage, now that we've moved to California.

[FINate]

Well, I came back in and saw this old post from me.  Sheltering in place during the pandemic, I did appreciate my great house and why we chose the Oregon Coast. We designed a remote work life before it was a thing compounded by the desire to get out of Seattle/Portland. However, neighbors aren’t friendly and we don’t have much in common culturally with this community. Husband  and I do not have children or extended family, so we are looking for friends. Our tastes are jambands and financial investing-haven’t had much social success, thus the desire to move on.  COL is pretty good,, although it is filling up quickly (house-building) and that means more utilities have to be built out and rates will increase.  Taxes are increasing every year-that’s pretty common now in the Pacific NW.
I liked the idea of the Denver/Boulder suburb because of bikeability, weather and access to the cultural amenities.  MMM describes this well and that is appreciated, yet I wonder if he’ll remain after his son becomes an adult. I would check out the MMM Community Space as a resource.  And, as I write in mid-2021, who can move?  US housing market is clogged.  We retire in 61 months (according to plan) and then we’ll put on the backpacks and head out.  Best to all of you.

@terarym, don't mind those giving you grief for considering this move. The idea that it's a quality of life downgrade is preposterous. I grew up on the pacific coast so I get it, there are great things about the beach life. But it's not for everyone. We moved from a beach town to an inland city last summer and we love it, don't miss the ocean one bit. I want hot summers with swimming and t-shirts/shorts at 11pm and warm mornings on my porch, and snowy winters fully of skiing and hot drinks, and crisp fall days and rainy spring days. I'll take real mountains and 4 seasons over the beach any day. This is one of those "know thyself" things.

And I hear you on bikeability and cultural amenities. We specifically targeted a city and neighborhood where we could bike most places, and pretty much everything we need/want is within a couple miles. I often find myself biking or walking around in my city lined with mature trees thinking "this is amazing!"

As for where to start, I would suggest making a trip to Longmont to check it out for yourself. Stay for a few weeks and see how you like it. Read the local news. Start paying attention to the local RE market and learn the neighborhoods. And be open to other locations. There are dozens of cities similar to Longmont throughout the Mountain West/PNW to consider. Make a list and start researching and narrowing it down. As you mentioned, the housing market is nuts right now, so you have time to consider your options.

[Mr. Green]

My wife and I are nearing the end of a 30 day stay in Boulder County (specifically Lafayette, CO). Here's my take for grins. This area seems pretty awesome if you're into hiking and biking. The cities of Lafayette, Louisville, and Superior (and Broomfield really) all butt right up against each other. You can tell from the way development has occurred here that these towns weren't very big before the advent of master planning. The easiest way to tell this is comparing communities with curving streets with open space and trails to simple grids. Grids are the way everything was cut up decades ago.

I personally love that these cities have seen most of their growth occur recently because the interconnectivity among them is amazing, like nothing I've seen on the East Coast. We're literally 10 miles or 15 minutes from the trailheads on the western edge of Boulder and there's quite a bit of open space between Boulder and this cluster of towns.

We drove through Longmont the other day and my take echoes what I've seen others mention here - nothing particularly special about it. The majority of the town is gridded, which means older. I was quite surprised given how far from Denver Longmont is and it made me wonder what big business was there decades ago that the city was that large, much larger than Lafayette, Louisville, and Superior. In the gridded sections of cities, there's not particularly a lot of trails or paths. Maybe if there's a creek or drainage area you might find a common use path running along side it but overall I'm much more impressed by the amount of open space in southeastern Boulder County than I was with my quick gander at Longmont.

We don't have jobs so we don't care to be particularly close to Denver. Our priorities are easy access to major highways for moving around the area and getting into the mountains.

I've you're still considering moving, definitely rent here and explore first. Even if it's a shorter period in an Airbnb you will gain a lot of insight.

[terarym]

Appreciate your insight.  We are considering a road trip to the Reno/Stateline/Tahoe area to check it out.  Colorado next year.  Life is good.  Take care everyone.


 

[Cranky]

I feel like people have missed the subtext of living in Longmont, which is that it has always been cheaper than Boulder and less urban sprawlish than Denver. The whole point is that it was kind of an average not fancy place. You didn’t live their for the amenities. It was a little bit of a cowboy town - more plains than front range.

[joe189man]

I feel like people have missed the subtext of living in Longmont, which is that it has always been cheaper than Boulder and less urban sprawlish than Denver. The whole point is that it was kind of an average not fancy place. You didn’t live their for the amenities. It was a little bit of a cowboy town - more plains than front range.

i think you are echoing what everyone is saying though, if a person is moving to colorado for the "colorado" experience, Longmont likely isnt the city that first comes to mind. Like others have said, its fine, but feels like it could be anywhere in any state

[Cranky]

I feel like people have missed the subtext of living in Longmont, which is that it has always been cheaper than Boulder and less urban sprawlish than Denver. The whole point is that it was kind of an average not fancy place. You didn’t live their for the amenities. It was a little bit of a cowboy town - more plains than front range.

i think you are echoing what everyone is saying though, if a person is moving to colorado for the "colorado" experience, Longmont likely isnt the city that first comes to mind. Like others have said, its fine, but feels like it could be anywhere in any state

Yes! And I always that it was implied in the blog - “Longmont! Not that great, but I’m okay with that!”

So it’s pretty funny when people are looking for the touristy highlights of Longmont…

[norajean]

... However, neighbors aren’t friendly and we don’t have much in common culturally with this community. Husband  and I do not have children or extended family, so we are looking for friends. Our tastes are jambands and financial investing-haven’t had much social success, thus the desire to move on.  ..

What exactly do you mean by “culturally”? What is the gap and how will you identify a place to fill it? You seek a location with friendly young investors who like live rock music?