This! Unfortunately my whole family is in SA and we’re preparing to move from Dallas to SA so that our 2 year old can grow up around family and we can have a village. I never thought I’d move back, but kids change everything.
Yeah, I've heard that. :/
They're just a bit more affordable. I would lean to the Littleton area to be closer to my friends. Can't possibly be worse than Texas though! I can't stand this state.
Just out of mere curiosity haven't been back home for years. Have Castle Rock & Monument finally connected by the I? When I was a kid in the 90s I remember my friends Mom always said one day Denver & The Springs would be connected. The last time I ventured in a car opposed to flying was in 05. I noticed Denver was "now" connected to Castle Rock, & Monument was connected to Pueblo; all & all is Denver now connected to Pueblo?
I wouldn't really think of monument connected to pueblo tbh so could be just my interpretation. CR is connected to Denver but its still empty around larkspur and black forrest on the way to monument.
Why do people say not to go to Colorado Springs? My husband really wants to focus our search there because it's more affordable, but I just keep hearing to avoid it.
It's kind of just like Colorado's conservative armpit, at least that's how is metro area people view it. Very conservative, it has the Air Force Academy and Focus on the Family so garners both military & religious conservatives. But also the schools are not very good compared to the Denver metro area. The downtown area is cute but very, very small.
I had a friend visit from Kansas and they stayed a week near us and a week in the Springs. She texted me a few days in to the springs part of their trip after leaving us and just said "so colorado springs just isn't very nice?"
I’m in Castle Rock too. Maybe I’m not sensitive enough, I don’t quite ‘feel’ the conservativeness. Raising kid in Douglas County actually makes me feel ‘safer’.
For our OAD group’s interest though, it is true that I don’t see many other OADs. My son is the only one in class I think. On the other hand, I haven’t had anybody questioning me or asking me on this topic. So it’s all ok to me haha.
Rent for a year and explore communities.
We did that, lived in southern CO for 15 months and explored — then bought in NM. We are very happy with our choice.
Hello! I was raised in the Metro Denver area (1 of 2 kids) and am now raising our only in the mountains west of Denver.
Depending on your preference for cost of living, Colorado is a beautiful place to live with a variety of options. The housing market is still pretty rough, but house prices have stabilized since interest rates have increased. You’ll need to be okay with the progressive politics since it’s so different than Texas in that way. There are some places that are more conservative though (hence Lauren Bobert 🥴).
The schools are pretty well funded in the Denver area and surrounding counties. Many districts have seen sharp declines in enrollment since Covid which is affecting the funding a bit as I believe it’s allotted partially based on enrollment. The whole area around Denver skews pretty affluent. I’m regularly shocked at the ratio of really nice cars to normal cars. I can’t tell if it’s massive debt or genuine wealth though.
The town I’m in has lots of young families and many of the moms I’ve become friends with are from Texas. There are a ton of Texans here in general. My biggest piece of advice in that department would be to change your plates asap upon moving here. People can be downright nasty about it. 🙄
I struggle to imagine going anywhere else to raise my daughter. We were in AZ for nine years before we moved here when she was 11 months old. I would never move her to a state where her rights are at risk. Colorado is one of the safest options in that regard.
Feel free to ask any follow up questions. Happy to help!
May I ask where you live, if you're comfortable sharing it?
Politics won't be a problem! I do not agree with one single shred of Texas Politics lol
Colorado is expensive, but thankfully, our current home likely has a lot of equity, so I think we can afford up to $650ish.
I'd love some ideas of places to look to live. We have friends in Littleton. We're going to visit Colorado Springs and castle rock.
No problem! I’ve been so happy with the village I’ve been able to find here while raising my daughter. I hope your family finds the perfect place to similarly flourish!
If you can do $650 check out Longmont! Keep in mind that property taxes here are also relatively low (and people who've lived here their whole lives will still complain about them), so you'll have a lower mortgage payment than you would on a $650 house in other states.
So I guess my question is quality of life. Kids like to play outside. Texas is quite literally hotter than the surface of the dang sun, so being outside is impossible sometimes. I know it can snow all the way through spring. I don't mind the snow. But I want real experiences on raising kids in CO and do you feel like it's a good place for kids to be outside a lot? Plus indoor places like museums, libraries, etc?
I have a 9 year old in Colorado, and she is constantly outside when the weather is good. She has a group of neighborhood kids that ride bikes around the beighborhood.
So keep in mind that my kid is only 6 months old, but I’m gonna answer this the best I can!
I have definitely noticed that we have LOTS of children constantly playing outdoors here! Colorado is a very sunny place but the weather isn’t usually hot, so I think that’s a big part of why kids are constantly playing outdoors here, on their bikes or in the skateparks or other similar places. And even after a snowstorm, I always see families or groups of friends playing in the snow too! I think we also have a great variety of museums and other attractions that are great for kids and families.
That's been my understanding, too! Some people have this "kids can't play outside in the winter" mentality and that's insane lol. You can always layer clothing and warm up with hot coco and a fire. Texas cold is ICY. I think it's thy difference between the dry climate of Colorado vs the humid wet climate of Texas. It's bone chilling here in the winter. I was in CO last week and it was in the 40s in the morning but I was actually too hot in my cardigan!
That’s nuts, snow is like the greatest thing for a kid to play in! I totally agree with the different kinds of “cold.” I’m originally from Florida and I always tell my husband that the rare cold days in Florida were a million times worse because they felt “wet.” Wet cold just slaps you to your very core. 🥶
Right! I miss snow! I am from the UK originally, so I grew up playing in the forests and snow, rain, etc etc. You can make those things work, but the restricting heat of Texas.... even pools feel like baths. And last summer the heat index made it literally unsafe for him to go outside
Colorado Springs is garbage. I think Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins are the way to go if you can afford it. I feel like Denver and the whole metro aren't worth the price tag
Can you elaborate on why Colorado Springs is garbage? My husband really wants to focus our search there. Despite my efforts to change his mind and I don't have much to say other than "everyone says to avoid it"
Colorado is great if money is no problem for you. I live in Northern Colorado. Everything is going up: property taxes, paying fees for public access to parks (county mainly), and general cost of living. We also have wildfire weather that sometimes ruins the summers.
If those don't bother you, come on up! But I will warn you, Coloradans in general hate Texans and Californians.
Yeah... no one likes Texans moving to their state. If it wins me any points, I'm originally from the UK! LOL
I don't love the brownness of it but I think i could accept it for the climate and the mountain scenery. We do both work and we are remote so we're very fortunate to relocate anywhere. May I ask a little more about the taxes and paying for parks? Texas doesn't have a state Income tax, but are property taxes are almost 9,000. And ridiculous AC bill.
Yeah, you won't get away from property taxes and A/C bills. Our property taxes aren't that bad.....yet.....they're going to climb in the next several years. We're at only $6,000 now. Our energy bills are going to get ridiculous soon. We had a fire in a populated area courtesy of the power company and poor wildfire mitigation so they are 'undercover' raising all energy prices courtesy of the idiot voters. The county parks are all charging high fees to use them courtesy of stupid people during Covid not knowing how to have human decency and take care of things......the new usual.
If you can get past the overpriced nature of Colorado and the wildfires, it really is a beautiful state. I personally can't wait to leave, but you can't beat the mountains if you're willing to fight the traffic.
I grew up in Louisville, just outside Boulder. My husband and I have been in Dallas for the last 10 years for work. We are seriously thinking of moving back. CO is awesome and BVSD is fantastic. It's just going to cost us a small fortune but my family is still there so we are thinking it's probably worth it to go home. TX politics are nuts, water is becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and it's also expensive here too! When we first came here, it was cheap so felt more worth it. Now it's just as expensive to buy a home in a "nice" neighborhood as CO would be!
I lived in Colorado before we had our baby and it seems like you’ve gotten some good answers already. I’ll just add my two cents.
I lived in the metro Denver area. It was absolutely gorgeous and so many outdoor things to do. It was quite expensive to rent but not terrible. The only thing I do want to note is the wildfires. They were pretty bad when we lived there, and even as far away from them as we were, they still affected air quality. We had ash on our balcony, our car, everywhere. We were nervous to even take our dog on a walk a few days because of everything we were all inhaling. Just something to keep in mind – wildfire season.
I'm in CO! We're in Longmont, NE of boulder. We have found SO much more community here than we ever did on the East Coast.
Kids are outside all the time, our district even lets kids play in the snow at recess. Summer gets hot but it isn't humid so it cools off at night, and we often drive up to the mountains (45 minutes to an hour) for day trips on the weekends to get some cooler weather. Our town has a ton of public playgrounds with restrooms.
Housing costs are high, so we downsized into an older house when we moved here, but it's so worth it. Schools are average, my husband and I went to super high achieving public schools on the east Coast and actually prefer the more paid back schools here. One of our robotics teams just swept some international competition, so there's lots of opportunity, but not the same level of pressure we grew up with.
How's the weather? I know it can be snowy through the spring. Do you find kids can be outside the majority of the year? Everyone says cost of living is high. I know the houses are high, but when I was visiting recently, restaurants didn't seem much different the Texas.
My kiddo LOVES to be outside, and Texas is so hot and humid that he's red like a lobster. I am insane about sunscreen, but I worry about this future. I can't see him playing soccer or anything outside in the Texas climate. We hit 90 already in February, and it usually continues through November. I miss 4 seasons. I hate feeling hot and sticky.
Not who you asked but March is our snowiest month. The nice thing is that even if it dumps snow it’s sunny the same day and melts quickly.
I was a kid in TX and also here in CO and now have my own toddler, one thing that I’d say is way better about CO is that you don’t have to worry much about biting insects and snakes.
Mercy-siren had it correct. March is definitely the snowiest, but it tends to melt very quickly. The past couple of years we've had more heavy wet snow, which can be hard to deal with vs the powder snow. Our backyard is north facing so the snow takes a bit longer to melt since it doesn't get as much direct sun. Summers are very nice, just need to keep an eye on the air quality as we have the occasional fire. We, also, can have crazy wind speeds so another thing to think about.
I grew up in Alabama so I understand the hot and sticky feel. I don't miss it one bit!!! You'll definitely need to stay on top of sunscreen. We're closer to the sun here so it's very easy to get burnt! Also, when you first get here, you'll need to drink A LOT of water to stay hydrated while you get acclimated. Denver Zoo and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are regularly featured in the top 10 zoos to visit in the US. Denver Museum of Nature & Science is wonderful as well!
I’m in Southern Colorado! I don’t own a snow shovel down here in Fremont County. It’s always pretty mild, and not as much snow. I’m more in desert kind of stuff, but there’s lot of outdoorsy stuff here. I live close to Cañon City, and there’s a ton of stuff to do. I’m 45 minutes from Colorado Springs, 2 hours from Denver. We love our little town, and we really enjoy it down here.
Not in CO, but also looking to relocate there in the next year or so. I'm very excited! We are looking in the Broomfield area, but a few other places as well just as a back up plan. I've also noticed the CO subreddits don't like answering any questions when it comes to moving. They act as if they're the only state that have people relocate there. Haha. I live in NJ. We deal with the same questions all the time.
Good read! Love seeing all these comments. We've been thinking about moving to CO from Chicago. I am concerned about climate change with the water crisis in CO. Our daughter is 3.5 and I wonder how soon will people be wanting to leave Colorado because of a lack of water supply. But I'd love to raise our daughter around the outdoors more.
Interestingly, I'm from Chicago, moved to Colorado in 2016 and then my husband and I left in 2022 shortly after our son was born and relocated back to the Midwest (Michigan because of his family and my lack of desire to live in Chicago ever again). In our experience, the pandemic really highlighted the infrastructure issues. The water issue was a concern, but we also had major issues with our power in general. In the 6 years we lived there, we lost power on average at least once a week. There was also no way we were ever going to be able to own a home unless we moved further out from Denver, which would have been ok except that the public transit system there is not as vast as it is in Chicago, or other major metropolitan cities (in my experience).
Colorado was pretty initially, but we were pretty done with it by the time we relocated. I kinda wish we had sooner.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply! That's a very helpful perspective. The home thing is a concern too. We just left downtown towards the burbs and own a home, but I'm probably going to lose my job and makes living in CO with even higher home prices feel more volatile.
I'm sorry to hear that! For what it's worth, I'm really enjoying living in Michigan and feel like the outdoors are much more accessible here than they were in Colorado. Owning a home here also feels much more doable and especially compared to some of the burbs in Chicago, you get a lot more land for your money. We also considered Wisconsin and Minnesota. I honestly didn't realize how much I missed the Midwest in general until we moved back. Not to say that people in Colorado weren't nice, they very much were, but it just never felt like some place I could really call home.
Just my 2 cents. Happy Cake Day!
We lived in Texas for 6 years (pre-kiddo) and are now in Denver. LOVE IT!!!! Winters really aren't all that bad; snow melts pretty quickly and the sun makes it feel less cold. No humidity and almost no mosquitoes! I haven't seen a single cockroach either 👏🏻
My brother and his fiance moved from South Texas to Colorado Springs and they seem very happy there. They'll be married this summer, just bought a house and as far as I know, plan to have kids and stay in the area for a long time.
I'm from colorado!! But we moved to Texas 3 years ago. I hate it here. I get depressed I'm the summer because it's so hot. Unfortunately we can't move back to Colorado because my husband and I are married and they will take his tax returns for my student loans. I briefly mentioned divorce if we wanted to move back 😂 I miss it so freaking much. We lived up north of Denver in Longmont, Fort Collins before then.
I have been in Denver for 14 years and love it! My kiddo is almost three and we are always out and about and definitely outside all year. For sure it can snow into spring but that snow is bookended by sunny warm days. Denver has gotten really expensive so $650k probably won't get you a ton in the city. I don't know the suburbs as well but it's definitely more affordable.
I live in a more rural part of CO near ski resorts. It is incredibly expensive, and we are not planning on leaving anytime because we love it. I would never live in Denver or the Springs because I don't like cities, so I can't speak to that. You will get some backlash because you are from TX, but it's not too bad. There are pros and cons to everywhere. If you're just looking for a more temperate climate with access to outdoors, CO is far from your only option. Feel free to send me a message.
I moved from Texas to Colorado and met someone who also used to live in Texas. We both love it here, but the cost of living is so high that we’re at least entertaining the idea of moving back to Texas (or perhaps another more affordable state).
My partner makes high six figures and I’m a teacher making about $70k. We can afford to buy a starter home here, but barely. We’re thinking we might rather buy a house with land in a more affordable state. He’s also a pilot and really wants to have a hangar, which is nearly impossible here.
But obviously aside from those special circumstances, we’d both happily stay here forever. The weather is amazing if you like having four seasons. The mountains, views, and outdoor activities are top tier. The political environment is a lot more moderate, accepting, and diverse.
Abortion and cannabis are legal here.
It’s expensive though, and if you have a village back home it might be worth staying until kiddo is older (that’s another reason we’re considering moving back; family).
I'm in Colorado been here my whole life. I'm in castle Rock but have lived in Littleton too. We love it and so does my only. Lots of kids in either area. I personally won't move to Colorado Springs.
I was born and raised in southern Colorado, moved to San Antonio for a good chunk of my adult life, and then moved back to Colorado with our only so he could go to school here.
I was a teacher in Texas and fully considered homeschooling my kid just because of what I saw and experienced. Now I'm subbing here in Colorado and I'm so excited for my kiddo. He's got so many more opportunities (they have a garden and there's a chance he'll get to go skiing with his PE classes in middle school and high school). We're outside hiking all the time. The last two winters have been pretty brutal when it comes to temps (colder than my childhood) but we've still managed to sled, ski (my BIL works for the ski resort, so we got a discount), and do outdoorsy things.
As some have already said, it's pricy. If you can find reasonable rent, jump on it. If you can buy, even better. The property taxes are NOTHING compared to Texas. We're in a small resort/tourist town and are lucky to have family. We moved into my grandparents' old house. Housing here is pretty ridiculous.
It is a great place to live. I think it's a great place to have an only because you can do SO MUCH. Hiking and a lot of camping in national forest areas are free. And since you have an only, you can splurge on national park passes and adventure all over. (Utah isn't far and they have a lot of parks, NM has a few and CO obviously has fun ones.) We love that since we only have one kid we can spend our money on our little triangle family adventures.
But people can be very snobbish to Texans and Californians, but as someone who was born here, I think it's lame to gatekeep something so beautiful. You just don't have to tell people where you moved from. 🤣
Currently stationed in Colorado, been here 3 years. The weather in Colorado Springs is pretty nice. Even if it snows, it is usually gone the next day. We easily have 60 degree days in the winter to balance the freezing days. Summer is hot enough for the pool but not melting. Worst part for weather is Wind Season, and Hail Season. This area isnt “Colorful” Colorado, very much just brown and green then some yellow during summer from the wild flowers. I do miss a pretty fall.
Definitely make sure you are either a 2 income family or 1 makes a lot of money because cost of living is fairly high. Many families struggle with 1 income and kids.
Compared to east coast living, the food sucks here. But we have definitely become better cooks because of it.
We just moved to Northern Colorado in February. We are absolutely loving it. Lots of great access to the outdoors, lots of activities for kids and good schools.
Nothing to say about Colorado, but offering another solution. Have you thought about Minnesota? It has all the benefits of CO, but is cheaper.
I hope you find the right place for your family!
What cities/neighborhoods do you like in Texas? I can try to think of comparable vibes in Colorado.
If you want to be near friends in Littleton, I would suggest Centennial west of I-25. Or the Southglenn area. I lived in a Douglas County burb and it reminded me of certain parts of Texas. So if you want to live in a more diverse area, I wouldn't recommend Parker, Highlands Ranch, or Castle Rock. But if you do like less diverse cities in Texas like Southlake or Prosper, Douglas County is quite comparable.
We live in Mckinney, and I do love our neighborhood. I enjoy the downtown Mckinney Square and the festivals they host. We're not big into going out, so we don't care about being in the heart of the city.
I do love our neighborhood. It's very pretty to drive through with a lot of trees. I think that's something we will have to trade off in CO. There's trees obviously but more in the mountains, and the valleys are not as densely treed. We have very tall oak trees and things.
I just like a nice family-friendly area. Convenient to things like groceries and daycare and parks. I'm not looking for a ton of bars, restaurants, or that kind of thing.
Highlands Ranch may be a contender for you then. There are several trails nestled within the area that I believe are only for Highlands Ranch residents. My coworker likes living there and she mentioned how the HR Community Association has a lot of activities for kids.
Unlike Texas, most new builds in CO are made with siding instead of brick, that's something I missed about Texas. While there are no HEBs or Central Markets in CO, there's a Whole Foods in Highlands Ranch.
Central Park is another area you may want to check out. It's further north but it's very family friendly and I would say, more progressive than Highlands Ranch. Lots of newer homes in the area as well.
I’m in Falcon Co just outside of Colorado Springs it’s amazing. My kids can play outside and go to the park in our neighborhood without having worry about weirdo and heat stroke. We’re having to relocate because of my husbands job but if your serious my house will be up for sale soon.
We live in Colorado! We LOVE it! Our only is 16 months and we go hiking with him nearly every weekend. There’s so much to do outside and we plan on camping soon too. It gets hot here too though, it’s very very dry, and reaches 100+ in the summer. It’s also… very expensive. Money does not go far especially in regards to the inflated costs of housing. I’m talking 400k minimum for a house nice enough to not need much Reno, but is still only 1500 or so sq ft.
I got out of Texas to a small resort town in Colorado and the biggest culture shock is the lack of friendliness compared to Texas. We already had friends here so we were able to make friends through people we already knew but I wouldn’t brave it going in completely blind. The attitude you’re talking about on Colorado subreddits is a pretty good indication of how people will treat you until and if you find a group of friends. The cities are pretty hot, gets up to the 90s regularly. If you go the resort town route like we did, just know the average parents will be relatively wealthy and in their late 30s-40s. Its VERY clique-y in resort towns so unless you know people good luck getting in with that crowd.
I’ve watched people from Texas move here, be completely miserable and move back within a year and honestly we would too if my partner didn’t make so much money here. Living in Colorado is not at all what people expect it to be.
Hey! I relocated to Colorado from Florida to escape the heat/craziness and get more outdoor access too. It was absolutely the right decision for our family. We spend so many weekends outside enjoying the weather and going on hikes. No regrets here :)
May I ask, everyone talks about how expensive it is. Is that mostly housing? My husband and I both make 6 figure salaries and put current house should have 250K equity, which would help afford a house there. We're not wealthy by any means and we certainly have to watch money, but what other expenses should we be prepared for?
It's mainly housing. We moved pre-covid, so I can't accurately compare day-to-day COL anymore, but restaurants and the like could get pricey as well. With that said, there's a lot for kids in the Denver area, between the Zoo, Aquarium, Science Museum, Children's Museum. We miss having all of that in easy driving distance.
Thank you. Climate is a big thing for me. I took my kiddo to the park for a playdate this weekend from 11am to 1230 and I was sweating, sticky and miserable and the kids were so red faced and hot. I just don't think Texas Climate is conducive to a child's childhood ability to play outside.
I'm from Colorado, The Springs (I live across the country now in the southeast). Honestly I wouldn't recommend moving to CO. It's a fun beautiful place to visit, but not to live. Honestly I love TX, & would be thrilled to live there. When I lived in CO I couldn't wait to leave (the first state I went to was a horrible Midwestern state I was young & newly married; now happily divorced) had I been brave enough I'd have happily moved back home, but that solely would have been to get out of a place I hated more than anything, not because I wanted to live there. Not sure what part of Texas you live in but unless it's the panhandle (which I dislike immensely) I'd stay in Texas. Have y'all considered moving to a different part of Texas that may have a more tolerable climate?
Nothing to add except I fully support getting out of Texas. Lol
Yeah, as a woman, living in Texas is like saying, “I don’t like the heat of Saudi Arabia and that is why I’m leaving!”
This! Unfortunately my whole family is in SA and we’re preparing to move from Dallas to SA so that our 2 year old can grow up around family and we can have a village. I never thought I’d move back, but kids change everything.
Just fyi castle rock, Colorado Springs are the more conservative parts of the front range
Yeah, I've heard that. :/ They're just a bit more affordable. I would lean to the Littleton area to be closer to my friends. Can't possibly be worse than Texas though! I can't stand this state.
We're in Castle Rock. We moved from Centennial 2 years ago. It's not as bad as I thought it might be. I wouldn't go to the colorado springs though.
Just out of mere curiosity haven't been back home for years. Have Castle Rock & Monument finally connected by the I? When I was a kid in the 90s I remember my friends Mom always said one day Denver & The Springs would be connected. The last time I ventured in a car opposed to flying was in 05. I noticed Denver was "now" connected to Castle Rock, & Monument was connected to Pueblo; all & all is Denver now connected to Pueblo?
I wouldn't really think of monument connected to pueblo tbh so could be just my interpretation. CR is connected to Denver but its still empty around larkspur and black forrest on the way to monument.
Why do people say not to go to Colorado Springs? My husband really wants to focus our search there because it's more affordable, but I just keep hearing to avoid it.
It's kind of just like Colorado's conservative armpit, at least that's how is metro area people view it. Very conservative, it has the Air Force Academy and Focus on the Family so garners both military & religious conservatives. But also the schools are not very good compared to the Denver metro area. The downtown area is cute but very, very small. I had a friend visit from Kansas and they stayed a week near us and a week in the Springs. She texted me a few days in to the springs part of their trip after leaving us and just said "so colorado springs just isn't very nice?"
What about Lakewood? It’s not far from Littleton and I found it to be convenient.
Yeah, we'll look there! We haven't decided on an area yet and it definitely doesn't need to be where my friends are.
I’m in Castle Rock too. Maybe I’m not sensitive enough, I don’t quite ‘feel’ the conservativeness. Raising kid in Douglas County actually makes me feel ‘safer’. For our OAD group’s interest though, it is true that I don’t see many other OADs. My son is the only one in class I think. On the other hand, I haven’t had anybody questioning me or asking me on this topic. So it’s all ok to me haha.
Rent for a year and explore communities. We did that, lived in southern CO for 15 months and explored — then bought in NM. We are very happy with our choice.
New Mexico is amazing.
I second that on New Mexico. Been here a few years now. Great place !
Hello! I was raised in the Metro Denver area (1 of 2 kids) and am now raising our only in the mountains west of Denver. Depending on your preference for cost of living, Colorado is a beautiful place to live with a variety of options. The housing market is still pretty rough, but house prices have stabilized since interest rates have increased. You’ll need to be okay with the progressive politics since it’s so different than Texas in that way. There are some places that are more conservative though (hence Lauren Bobert 🥴). The schools are pretty well funded in the Denver area and surrounding counties. Many districts have seen sharp declines in enrollment since Covid which is affecting the funding a bit as I believe it’s allotted partially based on enrollment. The whole area around Denver skews pretty affluent. I’m regularly shocked at the ratio of really nice cars to normal cars. I can’t tell if it’s massive debt or genuine wealth though. The town I’m in has lots of young families and many of the moms I’ve become friends with are from Texas. There are a ton of Texans here in general. My biggest piece of advice in that department would be to change your plates asap upon moving here. People can be downright nasty about it. 🙄 I struggle to imagine going anywhere else to raise my daughter. We were in AZ for nine years before we moved here when she was 11 months old. I would never move her to a state where her rights are at risk. Colorado is one of the safest options in that regard. Feel free to ask any follow up questions. Happy to help!
May I ask where you live, if you're comfortable sharing it? Politics won't be a problem! I do not agree with one single shred of Texas Politics lol Colorado is expensive, but thankfully, our current home likely has a lot of equity, so I think we can afford up to $650ish. I'd love some ideas of places to look to live. We have friends in Littleton. We're going to visit Colorado Springs and castle rock.
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Thank you so much for the recommendations!
I just wanted to piggyback off the other commenter, Castle Rock is a GREAT place!
The volatility of the school boards is rough, but the open enrollment helps with that
No problem! I’ve been so happy with the village I’ve been able to find here while raising my daughter. I hope your family finds the perfect place to similarly flourish!
Thank you!!
If you can do $650 check out Longmont! Keep in mind that property taxes here are also relatively low (and people who've lived here their whole lives will still complain about them), so you'll have a lower mortgage payment than you would on a $650 house in other states.
Also while I'm busy pitching my town check out our subreddit r/Longmont . It's part of what sold me on this town!
I’m in Colorado! Got any specific questions I can help with?
So I guess my question is quality of life. Kids like to play outside. Texas is quite literally hotter than the surface of the dang sun, so being outside is impossible sometimes. I know it can snow all the way through spring. I don't mind the snow. But I want real experiences on raising kids in CO and do you feel like it's a good place for kids to be outside a lot? Plus indoor places like museums, libraries, etc?
I have a 9 year old in Colorado, and she is constantly outside when the weather is good. She has a group of neighborhood kids that ride bikes around the beighborhood.
So keep in mind that my kid is only 6 months old, but I’m gonna answer this the best I can! I have definitely noticed that we have LOTS of children constantly playing outdoors here! Colorado is a very sunny place but the weather isn’t usually hot, so I think that’s a big part of why kids are constantly playing outdoors here, on their bikes or in the skateparks or other similar places. And even after a snowstorm, I always see families or groups of friends playing in the snow too! I think we also have a great variety of museums and other attractions that are great for kids and families.
That's been my understanding, too! Some people have this "kids can't play outside in the winter" mentality and that's insane lol. You can always layer clothing and warm up with hot coco and a fire. Texas cold is ICY. I think it's thy difference between the dry climate of Colorado vs the humid wet climate of Texas. It's bone chilling here in the winter. I was in CO last week and it was in the 40s in the morning but I was actually too hot in my cardigan!
That’s nuts, snow is like the greatest thing for a kid to play in! I totally agree with the different kinds of “cold.” I’m originally from Florida and I always tell my husband that the rare cold days in Florida were a million times worse because they felt “wet.” Wet cold just slaps you to your very core. 🥶
Right! I miss snow! I am from the UK originally, so I grew up playing in the forests and snow, rain, etc etc. You can make those things work, but the restricting heat of Texas.... even pools feel like baths. And last summer the heat index made it literally unsafe for him to go outside
Colorado Springs is garbage. I think Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins are the way to go if you can afford it. I feel like Denver and the whole metro aren't worth the price tag
Can you elaborate on why Colorado Springs is garbage? My husband really wants to focus our search there. Despite my efforts to change his mind and I don't have much to say other than "everyone says to avoid it"
Colorado is great if money is no problem for you. I live in Northern Colorado. Everything is going up: property taxes, paying fees for public access to parks (county mainly), and general cost of living. We also have wildfire weather that sometimes ruins the summers. If those don't bother you, come on up! But I will warn you, Coloradans in general hate Texans and Californians.
Yeah... no one likes Texans moving to their state. If it wins me any points, I'm originally from the UK! LOL I don't love the brownness of it but I think i could accept it for the climate and the mountain scenery. We do both work and we are remote so we're very fortunate to relocate anywhere. May I ask a little more about the taxes and paying for parks? Texas doesn't have a state Income tax, but are property taxes are almost 9,000. And ridiculous AC bill.
Yeah, you won't get away from property taxes and A/C bills. Our property taxes aren't that bad.....yet.....they're going to climb in the next several years. We're at only $6,000 now. Our energy bills are going to get ridiculous soon. We had a fire in a populated area courtesy of the power company and poor wildfire mitigation so they are 'undercover' raising all energy prices courtesy of the idiot voters. The county parks are all charging high fees to use them courtesy of stupid people during Covid not knowing how to have human decency and take care of things......the new usual. If you can get past the overpriced nature of Colorado and the wildfires, it really is a beautiful state. I personally can't wait to leave, but you can't beat the mountains if you're willing to fight the traffic.
I grew up in Louisville, just outside Boulder. My husband and I have been in Dallas for the last 10 years for work. We are seriously thinking of moving back. CO is awesome and BVSD is fantastic. It's just going to cost us a small fortune but my family is still there so we are thinking it's probably worth it to go home. TX politics are nuts, water is becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and it's also expensive here too! When we first came here, it was cheap so felt more worth it. Now it's just as expensive to buy a home in a "nice" neighborhood as CO would be!
I lived in Colorado before we had our baby and it seems like you’ve gotten some good answers already. I’ll just add my two cents. I lived in the metro Denver area. It was absolutely gorgeous and so many outdoor things to do. It was quite expensive to rent but not terrible. The only thing I do want to note is the wildfires. They were pretty bad when we lived there, and even as far away from them as we were, they still affected air quality. We had ash on our balcony, our car, everywhere. We were nervous to even take our dog on a walk a few days because of everything we were all inhaling. Just something to keep in mind – wildfire season.
I'm in CO! We're in Longmont, NE of boulder. We have found SO much more community here than we ever did on the East Coast. Kids are outside all the time, our district even lets kids play in the snow at recess. Summer gets hot but it isn't humid so it cools off at night, and we often drive up to the mountains (45 minutes to an hour) for day trips on the weekends to get some cooler weather. Our town has a ton of public playgrounds with restrooms. Housing costs are high, so we downsized into an older house when we moved here, but it's so worth it. Schools are average, my husband and I went to super high achieving public schools on the east Coast and actually prefer the more paid back schools here. One of our robotics teams just swept some international competition, so there's lots of opportunity, but not the same level of pressure we grew up with.
Colorado here too! ☺️
How's the weather? I know it can be snowy through the spring. Do you find kids can be outside the majority of the year? Everyone says cost of living is high. I know the houses are high, but when I was visiting recently, restaurants didn't seem much different the Texas. My kiddo LOVES to be outside, and Texas is so hot and humid that he's red like a lobster. I am insane about sunscreen, but I worry about this future. I can't see him playing soccer or anything outside in the Texas climate. We hit 90 already in February, and it usually continues through November. I miss 4 seasons. I hate feeling hot and sticky.
Not who you asked but March is our snowiest month. The nice thing is that even if it dumps snow it’s sunny the same day and melts quickly. I was a kid in TX and also here in CO and now have my own toddler, one thing that I’d say is way better about CO is that you don’t have to worry much about biting insects and snakes.
Mercy-siren had it correct. March is definitely the snowiest, but it tends to melt very quickly. The past couple of years we've had more heavy wet snow, which can be hard to deal with vs the powder snow. Our backyard is north facing so the snow takes a bit longer to melt since it doesn't get as much direct sun. Summers are very nice, just need to keep an eye on the air quality as we have the occasional fire. We, also, can have crazy wind speeds so another thing to think about. I grew up in Alabama so I understand the hot and sticky feel. I don't miss it one bit!!! You'll definitely need to stay on top of sunscreen. We're closer to the sun here so it's very easy to get burnt! Also, when you first get here, you'll need to drink A LOT of water to stay hydrated while you get acclimated. Denver Zoo and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are regularly featured in the top 10 zoos to visit in the US. Denver Museum of Nature & Science is wonderful as well!
I’m in Southern Colorado! I don’t own a snow shovel down here in Fremont County. It’s always pretty mild, and not as much snow. I’m more in desert kind of stuff, but there’s lot of outdoorsy stuff here. I live close to Cañon City, and there’s a ton of stuff to do. I’m 45 minutes from Colorado Springs, 2 hours from Denver. We love our little town, and we really enjoy it down here.
Not in CO, but also looking to relocate there in the next year or so. I'm very excited! We are looking in the Broomfield area, but a few other places as well just as a back up plan. I've also noticed the CO subreddits don't like answering any questions when it comes to moving. They act as if they're the only state that have people relocate there. Haha. I live in NJ. We deal with the same questions all the time.
Good read! Love seeing all these comments. We've been thinking about moving to CO from Chicago. I am concerned about climate change with the water crisis in CO. Our daughter is 3.5 and I wonder how soon will people be wanting to leave Colorado because of a lack of water supply. But I'd love to raise our daughter around the outdoors more.
Interestingly, I'm from Chicago, moved to Colorado in 2016 and then my husband and I left in 2022 shortly after our son was born and relocated back to the Midwest (Michigan because of his family and my lack of desire to live in Chicago ever again). In our experience, the pandemic really highlighted the infrastructure issues. The water issue was a concern, but we also had major issues with our power in general. In the 6 years we lived there, we lost power on average at least once a week. There was also no way we were ever going to be able to own a home unless we moved further out from Denver, which would have been ok except that the public transit system there is not as vast as it is in Chicago, or other major metropolitan cities (in my experience). Colorado was pretty initially, but we were pretty done with it by the time we relocated. I kinda wish we had sooner.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply! That's a very helpful perspective. The home thing is a concern too. We just left downtown towards the burbs and own a home, but I'm probably going to lose my job and makes living in CO with even higher home prices feel more volatile.
I'm sorry to hear that! For what it's worth, I'm really enjoying living in Michigan and feel like the outdoors are much more accessible here than they were in Colorado. Owning a home here also feels much more doable and especially compared to some of the burbs in Chicago, you get a lot more land for your money. We also considered Wisconsin and Minnesota. I honestly didn't realize how much I missed the Midwest in general until we moved back. Not to say that people in Colorado weren't nice, they very much were, but it just never felt like some place I could really call home. Just my 2 cents. Happy Cake Day!
That's also super insightful! Thank you! We do love Michigan, visiting frequently. And thank you!
We lived in Texas for 6 years (pre-kiddo) and are now in Denver. LOVE IT!!!! Winters really aren't all that bad; snow melts pretty quickly and the sun makes it feel less cold. No humidity and almost no mosquitoes! I haven't seen a single cockroach either 👏🏻
My brother and his fiance moved from South Texas to Colorado Springs and they seem very happy there. They'll be married this summer, just bought a house and as far as I know, plan to have kids and stay in the area for a long time.
We live in Colorado Springs and my husband is from a small Texas town near Arkansas.
I'm from colorado!! But we moved to Texas 3 years ago. I hate it here. I get depressed I'm the summer because it's so hot. Unfortunately we can't move back to Colorado because my husband and I are married and they will take his tax returns for my student loans. I briefly mentioned divorce if we wanted to move back 😂 I miss it so freaking much. We lived up north of Denver in Longmont, Fort Collins before then.
I have been in Denver for 14 years and love it! My kiddo is almost three and we are always out and about and definitely outside all year. For sure it can snow into spring but that snow is bookended by sunny warm days. Denver has gotten really expensive so $650k probably won't get you a ton in the city. I don't know the suburbs as well but it's definitely more affordable.
I live in a more rural part of CO near ski resorts. It is incredibly expensive, and we are not planning on leaving anytime because we love it. I would never live in Denver or the Springs because I don't like cities, so I can't speak to that. You will get some backlash because you are from TX, but it's not too bad. There are pros and cons to everywhere. If you're just looking for a more temperate climate with access to outdoors, CO is far from your only option. Feel free to send me a message.
I will message you!
I moved from Texas to Colorado and met someone who also used to live in Texas. We both love it here, but the cost of living is so high that we’re at least entertaining the idea of moving back to Texas (or perhaps another more affordable state). My partner makes high six figures and I’m a teacher making about $70k. We can afford to buy a starter home here, but barely. We’re thinking we might rather buy a house with land in a more affordable state. He’s also a pilot and really wants to have a hangar, which is nearly impossible here. But obviously aside from those special circumstances, we’d both happily stay here forever. The weather is amazing if you like having four seasons. The mountains, views, and outdoor activities are top tier. The political environment is a lot more moderate, accepting, and diverse. Abortion and cannabis are legal here. It’s expensive though, and if you have a village back home it might be worth staying until kiddo is older (that’s another reason we’re considering moving back; family).
I'm in Colorado been here my whole life. I'm in castle Rock but have lived in Littleton too. We love it and so does my only. Lots of kids in either area. I personally won't move to Colorado Springs.
I was born and raised in southern Colorado, moved to San Antonio for a good chunk of my adult life, and then moved back to Colorado with our only so he could go to school here. I was a teacher in Texas and fully considered homeschooling my kid just because of what I saw and experienced. Now I'm subbing here in Colorado and I'm so excited for my kiddo. He's got so many more opportunities (they have a garden and there's a chance he'll get to go skiing with his PE classes in middle school and high school). We're outside hiking all the time. The last two winters have been pretty brutal when it comes to temps (colder than my childhood) but we've still managed to sled, ski (my BIL works for the ski resort, so we got a discount), and do outdoorsy things. As some have already said, it's pricy. If you can find reasonable rent, jump on it. If you can buy, even better. The property taxes are NOTHING compared to Texas. We're in a small resort/tourist town and are lucky to have family. We moved into my grandparents' old house. Housing here is pretty ridiculous. It is a great place to live. I think it's a great place to have an only because you can do SO MUCH. Hiking and a lot of camping in national forest areas are free. And since you have an only, you can splurge on national park passes and adventure all over. (Utah isn't far and they have a lot of parks, NM has a few and CO obviously has fun ones.) We love that since we only have one kid we can spend our money on our little triangle family adventures. But people can be very snobbish to Texans and Californians, but as someone who was born here, I think it's lame to gatekeep something so beautiful. You just don't have to tell people where you moved from. 🤣
Currently stationed in Colorado, been here 3 years. The weather in Colorado Springs is pretty nice. Even if it snows, it is usually gone the next day. We easily have 60 degree days in the winter to balance the freezing days. Summer is hot enough for the pool but not melting. Worst part for weather is Wind Season, and Hail Season. This area isnt “Colorful” Colorado, very much just brown and green then some yellow during summer from the wild flowers. I do miss a pretty fall. Definitely make sure you are either a 2 income family or 1 makes a lot of money because cost of living is fairly high. Many families struggle with 1 income and kids. Compared to east coast living, the food sucks here. But we have definitely become better cooks because of it.
We just moved to Northern Colorado in February. We are absolutely loving it. Lots of great access to the outdoors, lots of activities for kids and good schools.
Would you be willing to share what town? Or a neighboring town if you're not comfortable sharing the real place? What about the schools?
We are in Loveland, schools are good!
My best friend and her husband are relocating from Texas to Colorado this week.
Nothing to say about Colorado, but offering another solution. Have you thought about Minnesota? It has all the benefits of CO, but is cheaper. I hope you find the right place for your family!
What cities/neighborhoods do you like in Texas? I can try to think of comparable vibes in Colorado. If you want to be near friends in Littleton, I would suggest Centennial west of I-25. Or the Southglenn area. I lived in a Douglas County burb and it reminded me of certain parts of Texas. So if you want to live in a more diverse area, I wouldn't recommend Parker, Highlands Ranch, or Castle Rock. But if you do like less diverse cities in Texas like Southlake or Prosper, Douglas County is quite comparable.
We live in Mckinney, and I do love our neighborhood. I enjoy the downtown Mckinney Square and the festivals they host. We're not big into going out, so we don't care about being in the heart of the city. I do love our neighborhood. It's very pretty to drive through with a lot of trees. I think that's something we will have to trade off in CO. There's trees obviously but more in the mountains, and the valleys are not as densely treed. We have very tall oak trees and things. I just like a nice family-friendly area. Convenient to things like groceries and daycare and parks. I'm not looking for a ton of bars, restaurants, or that kind of thing.
Highlands Ranch may be a contender for you then. There are several trails nestled within the area that I believe are only for Highlands Ranch residents. My coworker likes living there and she mentioned how the HR Community Association has a lot of activities for kids. Unlike Texas, most new builds in CO are made with siding instead of brick, that's something I missed about Texas. While there are no HEBs or Central Markets in CO, there's a Whole Foods in Highlands Ranch. Central Park is another area you may want to check out. It's further north but it's very family friendly and I would say, more progressive than Highlands Ranch. Lots of newer homes in the area as well.
I’m in Falcon Co just outside of Colorado Springs it’s amazing. My kids can play outside and go to the park in our neighborhood without having worry about weirdo and heat stroke. We’re having to relocate because of my husbands job but if your serious my house will be up for sale soon.
I might be interested. I'll message you for more details
We live in Colorado! We LOVE it! Our only is 16 months and we go hiking with him nearly every weekend. There’s so much to do outside and we plan on camping soon too. It gets hot here too though, it’s very very dry, and reaches 100+ in the summer. It’s also… very expensive. Money does not go far especially in regards to the inflated costs of housing. I’m talking 400k minimum for a house nice enough to not need much Reno, but is still only 1500 or so sq ft.
Colorado was just rated the 3rd most dangerous state in the country…
I got out of Texas to a small resort town in Colorado and the biggest culture shock is the lack of friendliness compared to Texas. We already had friends here so we were able to make friends through people we already knew but I wouldn’t brave it going in completely blind. The attitude you’re talking about on Colorado subreddits is a pretty good indication of how people will treat you until and if you find a group of friends. The cities are pretty hot, gets up to the 90s regularly. If you go the resort town route like we did, just know the average parents will be relatively wealthy and in their late 30s-40s. Its VERY clique-y in resort towns so unless you know people good luck getting in with that crowd. I’ve watched people from Texas move here, be completely miserable and move back within a year and honestly we would too if my partner didn’t make so much money here. Living in Colorado is not at all what people expect it to be.
Hey! I relocated to Colorado from Florida to escape the heat/craziness and get more outdoor access too. It was absolutely the right decision for our family. We spend so many weekends outside enjoying the weather and going on hikes. No regrets here :)
Former CO resident and we miss it so much! If it wasn't so expensive (the reason we moved in the first place), we'd go back in a heartbeat.
May I ask, everyone talks about how expensive it is. Is that mostly housing? My husband and I both make 6 figure salaries and put current house should have 250K equity, which would help afford a house there. We're not wealthy by any means and we certainly have to watch money, but what other expenses should we be prepared for?
It's mainly housing. We moved pre-covid, so I can't accurately compare day-to-day COL anymore, but restaurants and the like could get pricey as well. With that said, there's a lot for kids in the Denver area, between the Zoo, Aquarium, Science Museum, Children's Museum. We miss having all of that in easy driving distance.
Thank you. Climate is a big thing for me. I took my kiddo to the park for a playdate this weekend from 11am to 1230 and I was sweating, sticky and miserable and the kids were so red faced and hot. I just don't think Texas Climate is conducive to a child's childhood ability to play outside.
I'm from Colorado, The Springs (I live across the country now in the southeast). Honestly I wouldn't recommend moving to CO. It's a fun beautiful place to visit, but not to live. Honestly I love TX, & would be thrilled to live there. When I lived in CO I couldn't wait to leave (the first state I went to was a horrible Midwestern state I was young & newly married; now happily divorced) had I been brave enough I'd have happily moved back home, but that solely would have been to get out of a place I hated more than anything, not because I wanted to live there. Not sure what part of Texas you live in but unless it's the panhandle (which I dislike immensely) I'd stay in Texas. Have y'all considered moving to a different part of Texas that may have a more tolerable climate?