To those who live in Colorado

U.S.A. Colorado

Published

Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

Hello!

My hubby & I have decided California is probably the worst place to raise a child. And with our 1st little one on the way, we are beginning to look at other areas to move to.

I currently work in ICU (mostly cardiac) and am completing my BSN to further my marketability. My husband is completing his education to be a Respiratory Therapist (Registered).

We were thinking somewhere between Colorado Springs & Denver would be a nice place to live. The reason I'm thinking in between is it seems there's a lot more hospitals in Denver. Hubby used to be a truck driver and drove through Colorado all the time and would never shut up about how beautiful it was.

How do you all think Colorado is? Are nurses treated well there? How are the public school systems? I'm aware the economy is horrible right now, but I wouldn't be able to move anyway until hubby is done with school, which is about 3 years down the road.

Thanks!

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.

With 3+ years of experience you shouldn't have too hard of a time finding a job. The good news is the housing market here is probably much cheaper than you are used to in CA. I moved here when I was 19 and I love it, although it's hard being away from family. Good luck!

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I would suggest Castle Rock as a great place to live. It is right in between Colorado Springs and Denver. It's a little bit of a bear to drive in the snow but Colorado doesn't have too many snow days! Castle Rock is right off I-25 (main highway through Colorado from North to South) and still has a small hometown feel. The community is great, heavily populated with police officers and is as crimefree as any small town can be. It's not too expensive to live there but can be if you go a little north and end up in Castle Pines (one of the most expensive places to live in Colorado). Stay a little south and you will find nice middle-upper class family homes in the $200 - $300 price range (most of which were built around 2002). They do have much older homes in the heart of Castle Rock but I do believe those are hard to find and I personally wouldn't want to live in the heart of Castle Rock (I would rather live on the outskirts of the main two streets in town).

If you are looking for a ranch style community with acreage, I would suggest Elizabeth which is due east of Castle Rock. You can still access Denver, it might not be as easy as Castle Rock, but if you are looking for more property then Elizabeth might be for you.

Good luck and welcome to Colorado in a few years!

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

Thanks for the advice! I had browsed Castle Rock some, good to know that it's on the safe side. With the housing market crash, California has become much cheaper, where I live you can now buy a brand new home for about 150k, and the salary is high (I make 37/hr on nights), but I think of all the spoiled little kids around here who already have an attitude at 4, the hectic life, where everyone just works constantly. There's this focus of material things that I want to get us and my child away from.

I appreciate all the info!

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I'm not a nurse (yet ;)), but I work at Denver Health and really like it there. I work with nurses who seem to like it there. There are other larger hospitals around Denver and I work closely with some nurses who like it there. Those are Swedish (south of Denver) and St. Anthony Central (west of Denver). THese are are all large level I trauma centers, but there are plenty of other places.

You couldn't go wrong with Douglas County (Castle Rock, Parker, Highlands Ranch-where I live) or Jefferson County in terms of housing or schools. Castle Rock is just about as far south as you can get for the Metro area and while the area is nice, I'd imagine that entire stretch of I-25 getting into Denver would suck. Same thing with living in even the southern metro area and commuting to Colorado Springs. I had a friend that did that and it about killed her.

Good luck!

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Oh, I've heard Poudre Valley Health can be tough to get into as a new grad, but Fort Collins is awesome (which is why it's hard to get a job there, but you have experience). They have good schools and have been rated one if the best places to live in America. They have a hospital in FC and in Loveland just south of there.

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Douglas and Jefferson County both have very good school districts. I taught in Jefferson County for 25 years. I'm subsituting in Douglas County now. Elizabeth is in Elbert County and personally, I would not put a child in their school system. Just my opinion. I think you'll LOVE Colorado. It is a beautiful state. Welcome.

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I lived in Colorado Springs and met people who lived there and commuted to Denver to work. Not advisable in the winter. A bit of advice that was given to me, "Don't advertise too much that you are a transplanted Californian." Out of work people from CA emigrating to CO were not very welcome in the past. We were military and ran into some negativity as it was. You would have thought we carried the plague. You will love the physical surroundings though.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Oh, I've heard Poudre Valley Health can be tough to get into as a new grad, but Fort Collins is awesome (which is why it's hard to get a job there, but you have experience). They have good schools and have been rated one if the best places to live in America. They have a hospital in FC and in Loveland just south of there.

Fort Collins is the BEST and so is PVH (I am doing clinicals there now). Can you tell I love my city!!!! I have lived all over the country and for a place to raise kids, I love it here.

As for where the OP is talking about, I have not been in that area a lot, but I was there this summer and I would pick Castle Rock. It is SO BEAUTIFUL there, and castle rock has a great outlet malls LOL, the important things you know. But if I were you I would try to come over to Larimer county, it's the best!!!!!

Although PVH is awesome to work for, we have PVH and MCR which is a branch PVH it's their newer Cardiac, Trauma 2, and Birthing center right off the HWY.

There is also NCMC in Greeley, and McKee in loveland that are Banner Health facilities. I don't find their perks and stuff AS good as PVH, but I know a few people that work for them and do clinicals for them and like it.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I wouldn't live in greeley though. Windsor is a really nice area as well that is fast in growing.

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What is an example of a salary for a home health or hospice nurse? Castle Rock is one of those Denver metro areas we were looking at. We're thinking of moving, as well.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Critical Care.

I grew up in Centennial/Englewood... very pretty, close enough to the mountains to easily take lots of weekend trips, and the schools were great. There was always a ton of community stuff going on too. Although I moved 10 years ago, I think it's grown a lot. I want to move back some day, I miss it!

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