Limey nurse would like advice

U.S.A. Colorado

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Hello all, im an RN looking at moving to Colorado next year from England. My main motivation is the (percieved) lifestyle of hot summers and 'proper' winters with tons of skiing - is this correct? Can you advise me as to whether Colorado is a pleasant place to live - bearing in mind i will be bringing my wife and 4 year old son across also. I am an avid mountain biker - the famous Vail area is the initail attraction to the area, but good schooling/housing and quality of environment for my family are the prime concerns along with crime - us brits do have this image of gun toting nutters on every street corner. Do you have any suggestions as to pleasant areas with decent working environments. All advice will be greatly appreciated.

PS - could someone explain about the CGFNS, what it is etc.

I'm not from Colorado, but welcome to the states! Hope you and your family find a wonderful home! Best wishes!

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Hi from another Colorado native. I don't know that "hot" descirbes our summers (I feel anyways.) The temp during summer months is 80-90's. We have had some low 100's (nothing like when I spent a summer in Arizona-110 degress in the shade).

The winter temps differ depending on where you live. In the mountains it can average 20-50's, in Denver and the plains 30-50's. There is plenty to do all year round. It is a beautiful state!

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Hey! I am not from Colorado, but I LOVE it there. My husband and I have been considering moving there. The one thing holding us back is cost of living. Frisco, Vail, and Breckenridge areas are beautiful and family oriented. When we go on vacation we stay in Frisco and it is a very peaceful small town. We went in the summer last year and temps were in the 70's, but we also go in the winter and it is cold but not bad. We live in Texas and here it is a wet windy cold, there at times we were not even wearing jackets while in the snow. My suggestion is, if you can afford it, go for it. But cost of living there is outrageous. I have checked into a few hospitals there, and if you do move to that area, Denver and Vail have the largest hospitals. Staying in frisco, vail was about 45 minutes to the west and denver was 1 hour to the east, so would have to drive into work.

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Not sure if you are still around -your post was old! I'm British and emigrated to Colorado in 2000. I live near Colorado Springs and love it here. The summers are fabulous (shorts and sandals from the end of May to at least October - and sometimes in January as well LOL!). The winters can be cold, and snowy up in the mountains, but you also get clear azure blue skies and sunshine most days in the Winter too. Thunderstorms are common around tea-time in the Summer, and can be violent with large hail - but they don't last for long and then the sky is as blue as it was before - most Coloradians are early risers so that they can take advantage of the day before the storms come in, which can take a bit of getting used to for us lazy Brits LOL! (Think 6am on a Sunday morning and your neighbour has ALREADY mowed his lawn, gone jogging and is halfway through building a gazebo!).

Colorado is generally a very safe area - certainly I feel safer here than I ever did back in England. I feel happy going hiking alone and there is none of the petty theft that you get in England (i.e. the kids can leave their bikes out on the front lawn for days on end, and nothing ever gets taken).

There is a British Shop in Colorado Springs, and probably some in Denver too, where you can get your Cadbury's choccies, Marmite & Branston Pickle from. There are also a few nice Indian restaurants for that Saturday night curry. Jack Quinns is an Irish pub in CS, and there is also The Wayfarers, a British/Irish Pub run by a Scot (!?). There are good Irish & British pubs in Denver too.

The things I miss the most are being so far away from the seaside, and the relative lack of availability of healthy, low fat foods (although the situation is getting better) - no fat free creme fraiche here, and low fat minced beef (

Avoid the bread, chocolate and bacon - all are awful. The bacon is about 90% fat and you can't get 'back bacon' here, only streaky (VERY streaky). Buy a bread-making machine ;) Oh, and remember that 'Whoppers' are NOT the same as Maltesers, even though they seem to be. You will die if you taste them they are so disgusting LOL!

The quality of food in restaurants is excellent compared to in England, and the service is much better too.

Electrical items can be tantalisingly dirt cheap - but we've learned the hard way that you get what you pay for (4 coffee machines, 2 breadmakers, 3 kettles, 3 toasters, 2 food processors & 2 blenders in just 4 years!). If you want it to last more than a few months, or you want it to actually do the job you bought it for, then go for the pricier versions.

Delivery services can be rather slow - and expensive if you live in a rural area - The delivery time on our washing machine and dryer was 2 weeks (eventually hubby had to go and pick it up from the warehouse himself). That situation has improved with some stores recently though too - so check before you buy.

The last thing to be aware of is that it costs MUCH more to fly from America back to England, than it does from England to America. We didn't know this when we moved here, and now cannot afford to go home to visit :( And I would recommend renting out your house rather than selling it (the one we sold in England is now worth twice what we sold it for and we are kicking ourselves that we didn't rent it out instead).

You will LOVE the price of petrol (I don't know what these Americans are all complaining about....LOL!).

Best wishes, Lynda

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