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JohnRice
- John Rice
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- Location: Colorado
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Jeremy, I think cost of living would completely eliminate SF. Unfortunately, 60K is poverty wage out there. I know that sounds absurd, but it is true. I am quite familiar with both Seattle and Denver. Both have the Airport well out of the city, though Tacoma is actually where the Seattle airport is, and it's no tiny town. I really like Colorado. I grew up here, lived many other places, then moved back. Denver is pretty expensive, but if access to the airport is important, you could look at living in Berthoud, which is a nice, smaller town, is cheaper and has excellent access to the airport. it also is not part of Denver proper and avoids the constant traffic.
I hope I'm not getting my town mixed up. I think Berthoud is the one I mean. It is just North of Denver and East of I-25. This is a great area, and if water is important, there are tons of recreational lakes.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Quote:
| My salary will be north of 60k a year |
I was making $140K a year in San Jose and wasn't really "making it". You have to see it to believe it when it comes to the cost of living in the SF bay area. My family moved to the SF bay area back in the 1860's when it was cheap, but it has gotten progressively unaffordable over the last century and a half.
My nephew moved from a condo in Pacifica to Seattle. He split with the GF but his half of the take from said condo is enough to get a much nicer place in Seattle. Living in MT you are used to worse weather than Seattle so I would go for it. Seattle was my second-choice after Boise but I prefer the red-state politics in Boise. Go read the Seattle PI website
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ and you will see what I mean.
Can't comment on Denver. It's the cheapest of the three and has great national air connections. Both SF and Seattle have better international air connections but that's not your concern.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: March 1999
- Location: NJ
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
What parts of the ocean appeals to you, is it the general beach type atmosphere or do you like to surf, kayak, sail, fish, etc.?
Idaho seems to be the new hot spot, I have a friend in Meridian who is a big whitewater rafter and flew into Boise after coming back from Alaska and it's a nice place, it was pretty hot when I got there, it's an arid climate but its got some very nice whitewater rivers (Salmon) and some good MTBing (Sun Valley) and some nice hiking (Sawteeth mtns) and stuff.... But no ocean if that is your key. And of course, depending on where in Montana you are from, might not be much of a move...
Bellingham would be a great place to live if you don't mind the wet PNW for kayaking, sailing, etc... the San Juans come to mind.
Jay
You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Quote:
| Idaho seems to be the new hot spot |
Boise has decent but not great air connections CONUS. But there are things that make up for that. Sure beats the heck out of New Jersey.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: August 2003
- Location: SF Bay Area
- Post Count: 2,329
Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Even though I feel the quality of like here is outstanding, the only real advantage I see in you moving to the Bay Area, other than those already mentioned, is there are three good size airports within 30 miles of each other. This means tons of flights for you to chose from. I don't fly much but I'd say SJC and OAK are comparable in size to Denver. Of course, getting to them is another thing all together. The cost of living is as bad as others have said but I've been here for 40+ years and have learned to live like a Pauper. Never been to Seattle but would love to some day. So all in all, I'd think Denver fits your needs better. But who am I to say. Except for a layover or two at the airport, I've never been there either! And don't get me wrong, S.F. has an enormous amount to offer. You just have to be willing to pay for it. And in some cases, put up with it.
"Everyday room": Mitsubishi 52631 RPTV, H/K 520, H/K dvd-5, H/K 8380, H/K CDR 20, OPPO BDP-83 BluRay player, Dish-HD, Infinity Beta 20's-C250-OWS1's, Dayton HSU10.
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JohnRice
- John Rice
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
FWIW, aside from my recommendation of Denver, I know Seattle and the SF area quite well, as well as Montana, Idaho, and I also passed up a job in Los Angeles, opting for Connecticut, which I ended up despising. If I didn't live in Colorado, I'd want to live in Montana.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
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JohnRice
- John Rice
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Heh, actually Denver is near one of the biggest fault lines in the world. It just isn't active.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Your better half says "She would really like to be in a ocean town again", so you've got two out of three chances of choosing correctly.
Denver, in addition to not being near an ocean, is different than the other two locations in that it is more conservative, at least by reputation. The strangest thing for me, having lived nearby for a couple years now, is that when the tv weatherpeople show weather maps, the entire state is just a big blank square. There's no crinkly edges of a coast to clue you in on where you are. It is disconcerting. The suburbs around Denver that I've seen look rather WalMart-y, and by that I mean they don't have much personality.
If I were you, I'd compare costs of Seattle versus Denver, and if they are comparable, I'd consider Seattle more than Denver. But I haven't seen Seattle in person.
"Scientists are saying the future is going to be far more futuristic than they originally predicted." -Krysta Now
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JohnRice
- John Rice
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- Location: Colorado
- Post Count: 7,519
Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
It's also Judgment City (ever seen Defending Your Life?). In the end, however, I think Francois is completely right. The lack of jagged borders is a deal breaker. Colorado is just a big, dull, box in the middle of the country. Looks like a snooze to me.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
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Dheiner
- John Dhein
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- Location: skonson
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Slightly OT, but, for air connections, I don't think it's possible to beat Vegas.
The Green Bay Packers
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
(no point)
"Scientists are saying the future is going to be far more futuristic than they originally predicted." -Krysta Now
- Joined: August 2003
- Location: SF Bay Area
- Post Count: 2,329
Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Quote:
| Oh and don't forget, in nearly every single one of those big disaster movies or 'what if' docs with comets crashing in the ocean, or a huge earthquake, all those coastal towns are gone and everyone seems to flee to nice, high and dry Denver. |
Of course, those of us out here think that when the next "big one" hits everything east of Nevada is going to fall into the Atlantic Ocean! Speaking of which, we just had a 5.6 Monday night in the East San Jose hills so maybe I shouldn't be joking about this stuff yet
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"Everyday room": Mitsubishi 52631 RPTV, H/K 520, H/K dvd-5, H/K 8380, H/K CDR 20, OPPO BDP-83 BluRay player, Dish-HD, Infinity Beta 20's-C250-OWS1's, Dayton HSU10.
"Movie/Music room": Toshiba 65HM167 RPTV, Pioneer Elite 59txi, Elite DV59avi, Elite CD-59, Pioneer PD-51FD BR, Dish-DVR, Swan Diva...
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JohnRice
- John Rice
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
And don't forget the SuperVolcano. Somewhere near Jackson Wyo, So Denver is toast.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
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Re: Denver, Seattle or San Fransico?
Seattle is within easy lava distance of Mt. Rainier which is probably much more likely to erupt than the Yellowstone caldera.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
