Moving to Boulder/Broomfield?

[Pauls1150]

Hi All,

Next week, I'll be flying out to Colorado for a job interview with Ball Aerospace in Broomfield. If this results in a good offer, I'd probably go for it and then have to move everything from my present house out to the Broomfield area.

Besides the necessity of having to re-adapt my old bones to snow country -

Might anyone be able to clue me in on what neighborhoods I should look at?

I presently rent a small 2 bedroom house plus detached garage, and everything is pretty much filled up with possessions and stuff - all the standard furniture, some appliances, plus bike plus lots of toolboxes, a couple of guitars (note avatar) and a big amp, and so on.

I'd like to find another 2BR house with a garage, reasonably secure & safe;
It's important to me to be thrifty, so I'd be willing look at, shall we say, somewhat "depressed" areas, as long as they're fairly safe (crime rate) for a single guy who's neither large nor buffed; house & garage actually have to be secure-able for obvious reasons;
I make noise, so an apartment or townhome is out of the question (and townhomes have other issues that I will not deal with);
It would be nice to have easy access to the local bike shops (Denver & Foothills, I believe).
I'm totally ignorant of the general public utilities there, but I will say that I'm not into the idea of propane or septic tanks, I like "real" city utilities.

Any ideas or guidance much appreciated!

Thanks,

Paul

[20774]

I make noise, so an apartment or townhome is out of the question (and townhomes have other issues that I will not deal with);

This borders on TMI! :stick

Good luck!

[Pauls1150]

Townhomes have "association" fees and dictate how long the grass in the yard may be and what color you can paint your walls. Some won't let you change your own oil in your own garage. NOT happening.

[Holly]

My son and daughter-in-law rented in Boulder for a few years, but did their house-hunting in Broomfield and Westminster. Those two are less expensive than either Boulder or Denver. They got a lovely 3 bedroom house with a large garage and good sized back yard for a very reasonable price.

[lkchris]

... Ball Aerospace in Broomfield.


The guys that made the part that blew up on Apollo 13 IIRC.

[Pauls1150]

Thank you, Holly!

and Kent - as a former aerospace electronics tech for over three decades, I can state without reservation that there isn't any company out there that hasn't contributed to some expensive failures. Most don't make the news. We were all made well aware of the infamous O-ring issue.
But this is off-topic...

More inputs regarding where I should be looking would be much appreciated.

Paul

[sfarson]

Paul... The Boulder area is a great place to put down a few roots. Last year a publication named it #1 community in the U.S. I don't know about that, but I have a son who moved there fresh out of college to work for HP and he really likes it there. I'm about 75 minutes away but know the area fairly well, and there's a little bit of everything there. You will be able to find what you're looking for.... whether in Boulder or in the surrounding communities. Just let a realtor know your interests, and they will know where to show you around. Would mention Boulder is on the pricey side relatively speaking, and this leads to a community mostly of more senior residents... and Univ of Colorado students. Broomfield is mostly a bedroom community of newer housing, families, and commuters. But there are a lot of communities in this area not far from Ball Aerospace, offering what you are looking for.

Oh, and FWIW, the Boulder area is loaded with great rides just to the west. http://www.farson.com/smiley/nod.gif

[piperjim]

Yes, Boulder is your place!!

In fact, I think they're the only place in Colorado still accepting refugees from California. :laugh

piperjim

[Pauls1150]

Yeah, Oregon and Washington won't have any more of us! :laugh

[Pauls1150]

A couple of Colorado questions:

Does Colorado have annual (or bi-annual) vehicle inspections?
(Some states don't; the cars here in CA often have crap tires or no brake lights...)
If I go to the local DMV to register my bike (or is it done some other way?), will they actually look for the charcoal canister?
And if the answer to the above is "yes", will they look closely enough to see that it's actually hooked up and not just occupying the space? How closely? (I can fake the vacuum lines.)

Thanks!

[bikerfish1100]

some counties, including Denver, have annual emissions for auto. Entire state has emissions for diesel. no part has emissions or other inspections for m/c.

you 're okay with no canister on the bike. If bike is currently registered & titled in CA, it should just be a Transfer of Reg, get newe Title, no inspection req'd. costs are not bad- i pay about $50 annual for reg & prop taxes on my 2001 R11S.

Look to Dacono/Firestone/Frederick area as well- jsut a bit north of the Broomfield/Westminster area, if you don't mind a 20 minute commute.

Boulder is nice, but pricey. Its the better location if you have dredlocks, or only listen to The Dead. Locally, its known as the Independent Republic of Boulder.

Like Farson said, contact a local Real Estate agent, give him/her your particulars, including price range and how far you are willing to go on your commute, and let them do the legwork for you.

You do your license at DMV offices- that is statewide- any will work for you. Registrations happen at county tax offices (County Clerk)- in the county in which you reside.

Snow country? Only if you want it. We've had like 2 or maybe 3 snowfalls this season, in the northern Front Range (Broomfield is Central Front Range) for a total of about 10 inches. Central and Southern mountains have had more like 10 to 12 FT of snow. Same thing for the Western Slope- lotsa snow; but that's about 200 miles west of Denver area. Get ready for extreme localization of weather, with very rapid changes- you have a major thunderstorm, 10 miles away is bright sunshine and no water at all. Ever catch a Thundersnow? Wild, lemme tell ya.

[Pauls1150]

Thank you! :dance

P

[bikerfish1100]

IF this all happens, when is your projected move? Couple good things hosted by BMWCC... http://www.coloradobeemers.org/content/view/2/25/
TOR is a great local rally. The riding is some of the very best in the country.
http://www.coloradobeemers.org/content/view/28/37/
A blitzkrieg of gorgeous roads and views.

[Pauls1150]

I've been to Paonia, good place. Never did the 100K, but I've criss-crossed CO several times on multiple road trips. I've also skied Breckenridge, Copper Mtn., Ski Cooper, and Winter Park/MJ (the rental car did a full 720 on the way back one late afternoon, on the upper south side of Berthoud Pass - real pucker factor, but was incredibly lucky!).
Too early to say when an actual move would be - we've only had two "first phone contacts" (one w/ HR and one w/ a real engineer, which I thought went pretty well), and our first face-to-face will be this Thursday morning.
If I accept an offer, then I have to decide "HOW" to move - rent a 32-foot U-Haul with car carrier, or since I don't have another person to help me load & unload, maybe just pay the big bucks for a commercial mover.
And of course there's the big issue of Where - should I get a temporary furnished corporate apt while I store everything and look around, or bust butt and grab a 2BR house immediately... lots of variables to get through with this!

BTW - We have micro-climates all over the L.A. area too! The weather reports that you probably see are either at LAX (Los Angeles Int'l Airport) or USC (University of Southern CA, just south of downtown LA). Where I am now is damp & cooler due to the ocean; but 10 miles inland it's hotter & drier, and they even get an occasional tornado! More inland from there gets you more desert effect.

[20774]

I haven't moved in like freakin' forever, but if something dynomite showed up, I'd take it. But what I'd do is set up temporarily and get to know the area and talk to co-workers. Then make an informed decision. But if you've already got "stuff" with you, you might have to pop for a house. Maybe rent a house somewhere and look to go permanent after you got the lay of the land.

[Pauls1150]

Good words. Yeah, I've been here for 26 years now, and "stuff" accumulates... we tend to expand into the available space. A short-term temporary would be easier on the brain, but then I effectively have to move twice... geeze...:dunno

[bikerfish1100]

maybe rent a house somewhere and look to go permanent after you got the lay of the land.

+1

[Statdawg]

You may wish to get in contact with Chris and Erin Ratay. They are MOA members, traveled the world on their bikes and can find a nice home for you.

http://www.ratayrealty.com/RR/index.html

[spanky]

..... Get ready for extreme localization of weather, with very rapid changes- you have a major thunderstorm, 10 miles away is bright sunshine and no water at all. Ever catch a Thundersnow? Wild, lemme tell ya.

Yes, and a thunderhail, thundersnowhail, and thundersleetsnowhail.:uhoh:bluduh


Welcome to CO, Paul, and I can attest to what Steve Farson said; the riding west of the Denver/Boulder area is incredible.

[Pauls1150]

Statdawg, THANKS! I've just added their home page to my "home search" folder in the favorites/bookmarks.

Everybody else -

Again, THANKS! Got back last night from the all-day interviews, and overall things seemed to go pretty well; all the different engineers & senior techs I was passed around to seemed pleased (or at least satisfied) with what I said and how I presented myself. (Didn't need the galoshes or ski parka, the long johns hid nicely under the monkey suit; gawd how I hate those! My sinuses did react to 5000 feet elevation.) Many of the guys there ride, a definite plus for everybody. Now that they have my formal signatures, they can do the "real" background & past experience checks, and find out if I am worthy or scum. I should hear back in about 2 weeks...

Paul

[Pauls1150]

Three weeks later, still no word from Ball... don't know if this is a good sign or not, but keeping my fingers crossed...

[robsryder]

You likely know by now that Colorado is a tough place to work if you are a motorcycle enthusiast. I suppose that one could work the night shift - but when would you sleep?

There is a MOA member that has posted some Colorado ride reports and videos that are quite nice - really makes Colorado look like a good place to be. I know that I really enjoyed traversing the state last summer via Rt 50.

Here are a few links to the sfarson threads (which have links to the videos) -

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10901&highlight=sfarson+video

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11412&highlight=sfarson+video

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11211&highlight=sfarson+video

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4151&highlight=sfarson+video

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31493&highlight=sfarson+video

[Pauls1150]

I’ve toured thru Colorado many times on various road trips, and I like what I see.… yeah, it can be freakin’ bitter in the winter (I don’t have any extra “personal insulation”), especially since it’s all at 5000 feet elevation, and it rains (WHAT???), but they don’t have earthquakes, and everybody I ever talked to there over the years seemed friendly – they’re there because they want to be. It would be quite a change from 35 years at sea level, on the edge of a desert; but I was born & raised in Pennsylvania, so yes I know what winter is.

Rambling:

It could be hard to leave SoCal - being able to bicycle down to the strand in January without a tee shirt, checking out the bikinis on roller blades…:heart

Couldn’t ride the motorcycle all year ‘round, true, but CO has lots of good riding too… Route 50 is only a pretty good sample of what’s out there.:clap

Have to buy snow tires (or maybe a 4WD?), more (real) long johns, maybe even complete my ski gear…
I learned how to snow ski about 25 years ago (and 95% of my skiing has been in Colorado), but never had the time and money required to be anything more than an “aggressive novice”. Haven't done it in over 20 years. It’s fun, I don’t mind falling down. Twisted a knee once; when it’s cold and damp, I get reminded…

One adapts. Or leaves.