Very confused. what is denver, co tacoma, wa and portland , or really like?Heard too many different responses

Question

My husband and I want to move in the next 1-2 years to a beautiful place with lots of outdoor activites available. We have 2 children, 11 and 5, so we also want safe communities with low crime and good schools. We would prefer to live in an older community that has some character. We would love a house built from the 30's and older. We had our hearts set on Colorado but have heard that we won't like Denver because it's overpriced and overpopulated. We also heard great things about Portland and some about Tacoma, Washington, but also lots of negative on this site. I've gone through alot of the postings on here and don't seem to be able to get a definitive answer. We would like to be close a major metro area for the "city life", airport, retail, and my husband works for Wells Fargo so he can easily transfer, but not have to commute through hours of traffic. What is the cost of living difference between these three areas? I know Denver is faily expensive, but how do they compare?

Answer 1

At the risk of further confusing the issue ... may I suggest an alternative to all of these?

Bellingham, WA, sounds perfect for you! And the housing costs are about 25% lower than any of those three cities. It is a city of about 85,000; which means short easy commuting, easy shopping, safer atmosphere and lower crime rates.

Bellingham is located about 75 minutes north of Seattle, 20 miles from the Canadian Border and an hour south of Vancouver, B.C. (one of the most beautiful cities in the world). Because of it's proximity to these two major cities, it is easy to partake of urban activities.

Bellingham itself has many parks, great schools, a sense of community, and lots and lots of older homes. There is a mall, big box shopping, athletic clubs, outdoor sports, 20 minutes to winter sports, bike paths, cultural events, live music, a show theater, and much more. Definitely worth consideration.

http://www.bellingham.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellingham,_Washington
http://www.cob.org/index.htm
http://www.bellingham.org/content/content.asp?ContentId=143
http://www.wunderground.com/US/WA/Bellingham.html
http://www.city-data.com/city/Bellingham-Washington.html

Answer 2

I don't live in Denver, I live about 3 hours away. Colorado does seem pricey, but I have cousins that go to school there. I think Denver is a very clean city and very modern. Most of the schools are very updated, but there will always be the exceptions. They're starting to build a lot of apartments (though I'm assuming you'd want a house) in the downtown, but perhaps because of this more houses will become available. I can't really help you with knowing the other cities, just giving my good word on Denver :) And Denver has plenty of activities - the summers are great for hiking, biking, etc and the winters allow skiing!

Answer 3

Right now, the Lakers would do fine against the Nuggets (especially with the return of Andrew Bynum) but if the Lakers lose within a close game, then they lose a game to a good team, who are #2 in the league. Now I am a little concerned about the Blazers about how they treated the Lakers last time around up there, and hopefully, without any fighting, they could just go up there and play a little more tighter defense, especially around Brandon Roy since he is a three-point shooter. And "the bench mob" a.k.a. the second unit really need to establish something offensively once they come off the bench. If the bench can get 20 or more of the Lakers points, then they would have done their part. BA: The dunk was niiiiice... Got everybody in the arena out their seats... #2: The Kings were with the Lakers in the first half, but the Lakers exploded with their offense in the second. The Kings really worked hard this year, but they need to get some energy guys up there if they want to keep pace with the Western Conference. #3: Boring, I had college classes today...

Answer 4

I don't know anything about any of these cities, but Colorado has many more cities than Denver. And although it is expensive, the money making oppportunities are endless to people with a creative mind or a great willingness to work.

Don't let someone's negative opinion steal you away from a "heart set" place because they are not the one with the dream--you are. If you have a passion for it, go for it and live happy with your family.