How to Plan Your Moving to Denver Scouting trip
One of the most common stories that I’ve heard about moving to Boulder or Denver is that someone’s car died in the town that they eventually ended up in. While that’s a hilariously weird and interesting common story, it’s my view that if you’re thinking about moving to a new place, it’s important to schedule a scouting trip.
These trips give you the opportunity to experience the place that you’re thinking about moving to. In this case, we’re talking about the ins and outs of planning your upcoming scouting trip to Denver. If you’re not sure how to plan your moving to Denver scouting trip the goal of this guide is to help give you a framework of what to think about and consider before saying “yes” to Denver.
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How Long Should Your Scouting Trip to Denver Be
One of the most important decisions to make when designing a scouting trip is how long you plan to be in-town. You need to be in town long enough to get a feel for the regular “vibes” of the city if you were to live there. And you need your stay to be long enough for something annoying to potentially happen. That annoying occurrence could be an aggressive weather change (not unusual for Denver) experience Denver’s highway traffic or just something that is unplanned for that can be frustrating.
These annoying experiences are important to have because you may gain some insight into how Denverites will help you with something frustrating, bureacracy and resources that help you deal with a problem. As for the time frame, I have two suggestions:
- Visit twice in one year at different points during the year.
- 5 days between June-October-You can experience epic heat, snow, concerts and everything in-between during this time.
- 5 days during the Winter season-I want you to actually experience a week during the Winter. Ideally between November-February. Especially if you’ve never lived in a cold weather climate.
- If you’re coming into to town for 5 days and flying Frontier Airlines, check out my the review of my favorite personal item bag that I use so that I don’t get charged extra before the flight.
- Visit just once during the year if you’ve already lived in a cold weather climate. If you’ve lived in Chicago, anywhere in the NorthEast-you’ll love the winters here. So, I would recommend visit during the warmer months.
- 5-10 days if you can. Ideally, you would visit during a holiday weekend if possible so that you don’t use up to much of your vacation time.
Basic Logistics of a Denver Scouting Trip
Once you’ve decided the time of year you plan on visiting Denver, then there are the basic logistics of flying into town and hotels to stay at. I’ve included a map to give you some ideas. The map below will also give you an idea of how far Denver International Airport is from Denver’s city center. The good thing is that the Train to the Plane takes 37 minutes to arrive in downtown Denver.
It costs $10.50 and you can use the ticket for 24 hours to take public transit such as the bus or light rail. There are payment kiosks where you board the train. Have a charge card or cash on you just in case. Fares are checked but sometimes you’ll be on a train where it doesn’t happen. Just pay the fare.
Get a Rental Car
If you’re wanting to drive around town and will need a rental car, check out Discover Cars. This resource helps travelers to compare the price to rent a car from different car rental places. I love this resource because it helps to save travelers money.
Tip #1-Change the Neighborhoods You Stay In
I strongly encourage you to stay in different parts of town. Not just to DRIVE to different parts of town. Fortunately, checking in and checking out of hotels are pretty straightforward nowadays. There’s something about walking around, going to the local coffee shops, checking the grocery stores on foot or from your hotel that will give you a better feeling for the vibe of the part of town you’re in.
- Downtown (Neighborhood #1)-The western end of downtown Denver is really thriving, has so much to do and just is a lot of fun. Not everyone is built for living downtown but I think that it could be a really fun and exciting part of Denver to experience.
- Hilton Garden Inn-I really like this hotel because it’s 2 blocks away from Union Station, close to restaurants on the light rail line and just is a prime hotel location for downtown Denver. It’s also very walkable. This hotel also next to a fantastic restaurant Woodie Fisher-highly recommend.
- Cherry Creek (Neighborhood #2)-This is actually a shopping district as well. You’ll end up driving a lot more in this area and exploring some of the neighborhoods that you might not have thought about because you’ll be driving around.
- Moxy Denver Cherry Creek
- Halcyon Cherry Creek
- The Highlands (Neighborhood #3)-This is my second favorite neighborhood in town. I won’t say what my favorite is because I live in that neighborhood LOL! This area has so much energy and beautiful home.
- Espadin LoHi
Tip #2-What Are Your Needs?
For me, I cannot live without access to the following in my neighborhood.
- Access to light rail or public transit-I love living within walking distance of the light rail. If you’re skittish about public transit maybe this isn’t on your list. Or, maybe you’re public transit curious, then light rail access may be for you. I use it to attend concerts, go to side-hustles, or just to make my way downtown or somewhere else. I also regularly take the train to Union Station so that I can transfer to the Bustang/Snowstang to the mountains or the bus to Boulder.
- Grocery stores within walking distance-I want to be able to walk to the grocery store whenever possible. If I need to do a big shop I can drive over or have my groceries shipped to me.
- Parks nearby-Fortunately, Denver has a massive parks and recreation district. It’s pretty easy to find nice parks in almost every single neighborhood that you’re likely looking at checking out.
There are other needs and wants such as the following:
- Safety
- A great school district
- A religious home for folks who practice
- Fitness studios
- Coffee Shops-This one is actually huge to me. I love Denver’s coffee culture so much that I regularly review my favorite coffee shops across town. Here’s my list of the 21 Best Denver Coffee Shops of 2023
- Proximity to restaurants and random fun stuff
Tip #3-Attend an Event While You’re in Denver
As part of designing an impactful scouting trip to Denver, I highly recommend finding a fun event or experience that will be happening when you’re in town. Is there a concert, local event or experience that will be happening while you’re in town? I’ve shared some examples below. Participating in local events will help give you an idea of what life is like when you’re in town. I’ve shared some events that might not necessarily be in Denver proper but that locals will drive to and enjoy.
- Winter
- The National Western Stock Show
- International Ice Sculpture Competition
- Ski/snowboarding or other winter activities
- This could mean adding a few days in a mountain town.
- Live Music
- Theater
- Sports
- Spring
- Frozen Dead Guy Days
- 420 Celebration
- The First Week of May-EPIC
- May the Forth Be With You
- Derby Party
- Cinco de Mayo
- Farmers Markets Start Opening Up at this time
- Live Music
- Theater
- Sports
- Summer
- Live Music
- Theater
- Sports
- Hiking
- Fan Expo Denver
- The Chalk Art Festival
- Cruiser Ride
- Denver Urban Skate (roller skating)
- Meetup.com events-I’ve joined in on events in other countries too!
- Fall
- The Great American Beer Festival
- Denver Broncos Games
- Denver Nuggets Games
- Highland Festival (Estes Park)
- Touring around Rocky Mountain National Park
- Denver Center of the Performing Arts
Tip #4 Visit the Mountains
One of the strangest conversations that I’ve had with transplants to Denver is that they haven’t had a chance to visit the mountains. But, that they’ve been living in Denver for more than a year.
Don’t let this be you.
Schedule a Mountain Tour
Schedule a mountain tour where you leave the driving to someone else. They can share details about the area, deal with the traffic and help create a memorable mountain experience for you. I spend quite a bit of time in the mountains and I can’t imagine not exploring the mountains if you’re living in town. One of my favorite towns close to Denver is the Town of Breckenridge.
If you get a chance to check out other areas of the state, I strongly recommend that you do. My favorite part of the state is a little further south. It’s more remote, wild and gorgeous.
- Salida
- Buena Vista
- Ouray
- Ridgeway
- Telluride
- Durango
If you have the time, add one or two of those towns to your must visit list.
Tip #5-Don’t Try to Recreate Your Hometown in Denver
It’s not going to work. Denver is its own special place. That’s why you’re thinking about moving here. That said, I find that it’s one thing to look for items or spaces to manage your homesickness and search for community. It’s another to be constantly frustrated that you can’t find:
- New York Bagels-I’ve had good bagels here, but I do think New York bagels…made in New York are likely going to be better. You’re not in New York LOL!
- Dunkin Donuts-They exist here but Denverites tend to love local coffee shops more.
- Your favorite nostalgia restaurant chain-I feel like so many have opened up here in recent years, but there still might be a favorite chain that isn’t here.
- Aldis or Lidl-We don’t have it. Or Wegmans. I feel in love with Wegmans when I went to college out East, but we don’t have it here.
Tip #6-Don’t Underestimate How Certain Comments Might Piss Off Locals
A lot of people are moving here because Denver is more affordable than their home town. It is very frustrating and irritating to have people talk about this as a local. We are frustrated by the following:
- Rising cost of living-People are being priced out of Denver and there are some very real and raw feelings about that. You would be surprised by who has been impacted by the increase in the cost of living.
- Traffic-We don’t want to hear that the traffic is better than Los Angeles. We’re telling you that the traffic has gotten WORSE. Listen to what we’re saying.
- Disdain-This shows up in comments that people bring up about what is missing from Denver that is unique to their OLD home town.
Even if people don’t say anything to you about this or react in the moment, I can guarantee that you’ve likely upset a long-time local.
Tip #7-Don’t Move Here and Hope it Doesn’t Snow
In recent years I’ve started to notice this trend. Where people are so happy about the lack of snow. For me, it shows a lack of awareness about the following:
- No snow=FIRES-These fires aren’t just in the mountains. They also impact the Denver metro area. In December of 2021, we had the most costly fire in our history and 1,000 buildings were destroyed in a town in between Boulder and Denver.
- What part of “Ski State” was missed? We have a major industry that hinges on having snow. Without snow we lose A LOT of money from tourism.
- Snow is necessary for agriculture-One of our major industries in Colorado is agriculture and there’s a wine region that needs moisture.
- When it rains and snows it cleans up the air. You do NOT want the Brown Cloud to return. Don’t know what that was/is? Google it.
The winters in Denver are significantly nicer than people out of the state realize. No one believes us until they live here. I’ve begun trolling people on social media about our weather and recorded a short podcast episode about our weather. The whole point that I’m making? If you don’t like cold weather or snow, it happens, don’t move here and move to a locale that is a better fit for you. There a number of beautiful places to live that have no snow.
And, most importantly, lack of snow and moisture is a huge part of how Colorado and the Western United States are being impacted by global warming. It’s a huge threat, a real issue and to wish that we don’t have snow means you’re not seeing the bigger picture.
Denver has snow.
Welcome to Denver
I love the energy, excitement, knowledge and fun that comes when people are excited to move to Denver and the state of Colorado. I would much rather have growth than not have people wanting to live here. Denver is a wonderful town to live in, but a scouting trip also helps to take off the “rose-colored” glasses that touristy visits are experienced from.