Denver Area Relocation - Nice Areas and RN Pay

husker-nurse, LPN, LVN · Jul 13, 2004

Denver is VERY expensive, realty-wise, and the cost of living is pretty high, too. Stay away from Cherry Creek, but you will probably find something in the suburbs; remember to negotiate for as many $$ as you can!

PennyLane, RN · Jul 13, 2004

I'm also interested in Colorado. Is Boulder more affordable than Denver?

nekhismom · Jul 14, 2004

Husker-nurse,

What's the deal with Cherry Creek?? I see many advertisements for apts. there. I am totally unfamiliar with the area too.

Do you know anything about the Castle Rock area??

husker-nurse, LPN, LVN · Jul 15, 2004

Sorry, I don't live there, mu daughter does, though, in Centennial, part of Littleton, in the south part of Denver. Cherry Creek is very nice, but also very pricey. I remember seeing Castle Rock, but honestly cannot remember. If you just key in Denver real estate into your search engine, you should be able to get some ideas. A LOT of traffic out there, but it is VERY nice!

husker-nurse, LPN, LVN · Jul 15, 2004

sorry, Penny, I cannot answer that, but considering it's a college town, it MAY be a little less expensive. Sorry I coudn't help ya out!

nightingale, RN · Jul 15, 2004

I do not know anything about Cherry Creek.

According to Map Quest, Castle Rock is South of Denver about 28 miles (the maps usually go center of town to center of town). Castle rock is also about 40 miles North of Colorado Springs.

There are a lot of facilities out that way but none that I am directly familiar with.

As for Boulder, it is like the "Santa Fe" of Colorado. It is probably rather expensive but there are vast comparisons and options in Denver from VERY expensive to inexpensive housing; I remember Aurora as an inexpensive area.

I hope this helps.

nightingale, RN · Jul 15, 2004

As for Salaries:

I have only worked AGency Nursing in Denver. Salary range, depending on Specialty is around $ 30 - 40 per hour.

Call offs, in the Denver area, are brutal; the shift is confirmed at 05 (or 17 if nights) usually, so you could be scrambling for a shift two hours before start of work. Once you establish yourself, as Agency with a facility AND they like you ---- you can easily or maybe not easily block book your hours with a particular floor.

HCA is alive and well in the Denver area but I am FIRM! I no longer will work with those facilities; that is my choice.

I hope this info helps you in your decision.

sarita279 · Jul 15, 2004

Don't know about the pay aspect yet, but I can tell you about living expenses in the area.

Boulder is known to be more expensive than Denver, especially if you want to buy a nice old house. Probably too much money.

There are many nice places in Denver for older houses, I would say northwest Denver is the most up-and-coming place. People are moving in there and renovating houses, plus they tend to have nice sized yards.

Aurora is a huge suburb to the east and is probably inexpensive in comparison to other places, but take it from me, it's pretty boring (I've lived there all my life).

Cherry Creek area (slightly southeast of downtown Denver) is very expensive. However, the Cherry Creek school district covers a larger area and is known to be one of the best in the area. Parts of south Aurora are a part of it. Of course this only matters if you have kids.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

PennyLane, RN · Jul 16, 2004

Thanks all! I"m sorry to hear Boulder is more expensive than Denver. I don't quite get the Santa Fe analogy, being an East Coast girl myself, but I've heard rave things about the area.

Maybe I'll see you all out in Colorado someday!!

micco · Jul 17, 2004

Boulder is kind of a college, hippie, artsy, granola type of place. Castle Rock does not have any major medical facilities (no hospital at all that I know of). It is mainly a place to go to the large outlet mall there, but not a bad place to live and commute to Denver or to Colorado Springs. Thorton north of Denver is a nice area. It has a very nice community recreation center.

tbtc1234 · Aug 2, 2004

Hope this info is not too late for you. I live in Castle Rock and have lived in lots of Denver metro area towns. Here are my opinions of several towns:

Castle Rock: Great family area, little crime, somewhat isolated from Denver, developing rapidly. Very few older homes, brand new ones are usually the ones with front porches, trees aren't very mature, nice historic downtown castle rock section. Lower priced than other areas

Littleton: Nice family area, lots of conveniences, homes built from 1970's - present, trees are mature, downtown Littleton beautiful during winter holidays - all lit up

Roxborough Village: beautiful red rock formations, nestled right against the foothills, not very many conveniences, mostly newer homes, trees not very mature, lower priced than other areas

Boulder: pricey, college town, very pretty, older homes, mature trees, great shopping

Cherry creek: same as Boulder except omit college town, unless you count DU that is pretty close.

Aurora/Parker: wide range of homes, more towards the east (the plains), wide range of tree maturity, lots of conveniences

Golden: very pretty, in the foothills, plenty of conveniences, some older homes

Highlands Ranch: mostly newer homes, family community, lots of conveniences

Good luck on your search. My husband is from Maine and has found the lack of trees (as compared to the east coast) here in Colorado the biggest adjustment. If you think you might find this to be an issue I would stay away from the newer developments and go with older homes in Denver (wash park), Cherry creek or Littleton, perhaps Golden. They are going to be more expensive though. Sorry - don't know much about towns north of Denver. Erie has some old and new homes and is pretty isolated.