Are You Moving to Colorado? Questions Answered!

Kenda Ruck (00:02)
Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of Getting Real Estate with the Living Colorado team. Today we have a very special guest, somebody who is very near to my heart. This is my sister, Tiffany. And Tiffany, nice to have you on the

Tiffany (00:16)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (00:17)
show today. Thank you so much. You know, Tiffany is thinking, considering.

A move to Colorado within the next year. And I just thought, you know what, why not have Tiffany come on and ask John and me whatever questions she might have about making the move? She is currently living in Georgia and planning to move to Colorado within the next year. So, Tiffany, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do in Atlanta and

Just kinda your background story so we can we can get to know you a little bit better.

Tiffany (00:54)
Yeah, so I have lived in Atlanta since two thousand and five and moved there to

go to undergrad at Georgia Tech and just kind of never left. Like I've had a I spent a year in New York and that was definitely not for me. and truly I love many, many things about Atlanta. Currently I'm a meditation and mindfulness teacher. I work with a company called Magnus One. and we work specifically with first responders, teaching stress resilience and kind of

whole human happiness and well being and thriving in these like very difficult high stress, high stakes professions. so one of the beautiful things about considering a move at all is that my work is virtual and so it comes with me. I won't need to change careers or professions because I love, absolutely love what I do.

And I'm I'm just ready to be out of the big city. I'm ready to be in the mountains, I can feel the the pull to being in nature more. And as a mindfulness teacher, I think I also conceptualize Colorado as

more aligned kind of energetically with how I live my life, you know, nature driven, peace driven, connection driven, instead of the hustle and bustle of Atlanta or New York or kind of these major metropolitan places.

John Wilkinson (02:30)
Yeah, I I love that. You know, I'm a I'm a hot Lantress myself. I was actually born in Atlanta. Yes. I know.

I know snap, snap, snap here. Yep. My dad

Kenda Ruck (02:38)
How did I never know that, John? Hot Lana.

John Wilkinson (02:41)
was in the military and I think it's Fort McPherson that used to be there. That's where I was born, but I didn't spend a lot of time there. but I get it. I lived in Dallas for a while, and Dallas and Atlanta are very similar. So I think that

Tiffany (02:54)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (02:55)
energy, you know, is is is very similar between those two cities.

My mom is Mexican, she's from Mexico, and she always talks about being grounded, right? Getting, you know, just going out and getting grounding yourself.

Tiffany (03:07)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (03:08)
And that's one thing I love about, you know, Colorado. Yeah, I moved here from Texas, but being here, we were actually going to the mountains this weekend, but going out and seeing these massive conifers, yeah, just reaching towards the sky and even hugging. I mean, that's so cheesy. Like you hug them.

Tiffany (03:25)
Ha

ha ha.

John Wilkinson (03:26)
To ground yourself and

you put your feet in the dirt or or in the stream, right? It's it's it's that that vibe, that energy that is pulls so many people to Colorado. So I I totally get what you're talking about.

Tiffany (03:38)
A hundred percent. I love that you talked about grounding 'cause it really is like

That's it, right? Being connected to yourself and the earth and everything around you. And there's I it's just such a different energy. I really love Atlanta, to be clear. I've loved my time in Atlanta and everything about it. And I'm 39, I'll be 40 next year. And there's just a real sense for me that I could live in Atlanta for the l rest of my life and be comfortable and happy. And my community and my tribe there is wonderful.

if I'm ever gonna make a move, sell everything and and let it all go, it now is the time, right? I'm only gonna get more comfortable.

Kenda Ruck (04:24)
Yeah, yeah.

John Wilkinson (04:24)
Yeah, a hundred

percent. Kenda and I have talked about this on previous episodes, but you know, sh obviously she moved from Cabo. I moved from Austin and we were in Austin for my husband and I for twenty-three years and it was really difficult because our tribe was there, my friends, family, network, everything. And it just got it got to a point where we met that that kind of that turn in the road and we were like, okay, do we actually

Go or are we gonna stay? And if we're gonna stay, we're

Tiffany (04:55)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (04:55)
staying, right? And so it was just and we loved it and and still love you know all the time we spent in Austin and and the and the people that we met. and I and I am also happy that we discovered you know life in Colorado and have had started making kind of our network and and our tribe here. and it's it's life's a journey. And I think any anywhere anybody wants to go.

They follow their heart and their spirit. if they do that and do it for the right reasons, you know, wherever somebody ends up, you know, they they should be satisfied.

Kenda Ruck (05:27)
Absolutely. Tiffany, you travel a lot for work, right? So you have this great proximity to the airport in Atlanta, which is you can get anywhere in the world. So I I I imagine you want to have proximity to the airport. Are there any other questions that you have about like

What's this gonna look like when I when I move to Denver? Like how's it gonna can I afford it? What are what are some of the questions that you have about moving to Denver?

Tiffany (06:00)
I definitely have questions.

Kenda Ruck (06:02)
I'm sure you do.

Tiffany (06:04)
And honestly, the airport was a is a big thing, right? you actually hit the nail on the head with that. I'm traveling sometimes every other week for months at a time, and so proximity to the airport is really important for me. you know, as I explored Colorado

Like Golden is kind of where I have my mind set for that reason. It's like a straight shot east to the airport. and not in Denver Central, but super close, close to Red Rocks. so all of that conceptually feels really good and really aligned. One of the things that I have a question about for sure is, you know, in my mind.

Moving out here gives me the ability to be in the mountains on a regular basis all the time. But the truth is I have absolutely no idea what that looks like. You know, so like living in a place like Golden, what does it look like to be able to hike and get into the mountains? Do people do this regularly? Am I insane?

John Wilkinson (07:06)
Yeah, no, you're not insane. And people actually do

do it all the time. Yeah. yeah, it's it's Golden is an amazing area. And it's actually on the way up 70 to they call it the foothills, right? So up 70, you have Golden, the next town's gonna be Idaho Springs, which is kind of quote unquote the first stop in the mountains that you can go to, and there's beautiful trails.

in around Golden, even in Boulder, which is close-ish, you know, to Golden. There's amazing like the the flat irons in Boulder are an amazing place to go hike. You may be familiar with them. but it's okay. It's beautiful, yeah the views

Tiffany (07:44)
I visited once, yeah. It's gorgeous.

John Wilkinson (07:48)
you get back you look down past you know Boulder and you know you see Denver and and the plains. but yeah Golden is is amazing Idaho Springs all of the foothills Morrison where Red Rocks is

evergreen, there's so many things just there. And then Idaho Springs is probably another, I don't know, 25 minutes from 30 minutes from Golden. But then you keep going and you get Breckenridge and and Copper and Priest Lake and I mean there's so many. There's more than I can name, but you have rapid access to the mountains and people go day hikes all the time.

Kenda Ruck (08:24)
And biking too, you know, like not just street biking, but trail biking and mountain biking. That's a

John Wilkinson (08:30)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (08:30)
really big thing here.

John Wilkinson (08:32)
Yeah.

Tiffany (08:32)
Yeah, that's something I'm super interested in too. I visited Lake Tahoe for the first time this year and did the Flume Trail mountain biking, first time mountain biking off-road, and it was incredible.

John Wilkinson (08:47)
Okay, nice.

Tiffany (08:49)
yeah, and even hearing you say it's it's wild to me, right? Because living in Atlanta, it takes 30 minutes to get anywhere. And so to hear you say, you know,

Was it Idaho Springs?

John Wilkinson (09:03)
Idaho springs, yep.

Tiffany (09:04)
yeah, Idaho Springs is like twenty-five or thirty minutes and you're actually in the mountains. It's like,

John Wilkinson (09:09)
You're in a mountain.

Tiffany (09:10)
wow, it t it takes twenty-five minutes for me to get from my house in Decatur to Midtown. Yeah, exactly.

Kenda Ruck (09:13)
Target. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

John Wilkinson (09:16)
Yeah. Yeah.

one of the cool things too, Tiffany, so in Idaho Springs, they just launched a gondola system. It opened Memorial Day. And like it takes you or your mountain bikes up to the top of the mountain and you get to I guess you're at around eight or nine thousand feet. And built these really great mountain bike trails that go down from the top of Mighty Argo all the way down. You just keep looping it.

And then on Fridays and Saturdays, they have live music they built a stage and the views of the mountains are like insane. It's insane. Yeah, I know. Yes, I know, I know, I know, yeah, yeah.

Tiffany (09:51)
John, this is what I'm talking about. Like how do we how do we not move here?

Kenda Ruck (09:56)
Exactly.

The other

thing that I think is super cool is that these these ski towns like Brecken Ridge and Vale and Idaho Springs, in the summer, they're just as popular because people ride their bikes down the ski slopes and they have, you know, it's like it's like a year round there are things to do outside. And that's why I do think, Tiffany, this is gonna just be an easy transition for you to be able to go out and get grounded.

the way you want and and not not so much traffic and angst and anxiety that I felt in Atlanta. I don't really feel that as much here because I guess the mountains just bring that that grounding feeling for me. And I I think it will for you too.

Tiffany (10:45)
Yeah, certainly

In the times that I've gotten to visit, even just driving down the road

Kenda Ruck (10:51)
Yeah.

Tiffany (10:52)
and having the view of the mountains beside you, it's such a calming, present experience. I mean, in Atlanta, I ride with my windows down and my music on, and another plus is I have a motorcycle. There's a huge difference between riding a motorcycle on the city streets in Atlanta and what I imagine that's gonna look and feel like being able to ride and

Colorado.

John Wilkinson (11:16)
yeah, I would I would h highly recommend looking up Guanella Pass. it's so it's past past Idaho Springs, a town named Georgetown. And you can go that way or or go b past Morrison and and up. But anyway, Guanela Pass takes you up to 10,000, a little over 10,000 feet, but it's this switchback up the mountains and taking your motorcycle up there and like just seeing the the wildlife.

you know, and these these alpine lakes that you can stop and fish if you want

Tiffany (11:47)
Ugh.

John Wilkinson (11:48)
to or just you know feel the cold water. it's is magical for sure. And coming up in September, all the leaves are turning Golden, yellow and and and it's super crowded, but it's a beautiful place to go, like just driving up, you know, Guanela Pass. I think that's something you'd

Kenda Ruck (12:02)
It's beautiful. Yeah.

John Wilkinson (12:05)
you'd you'd definitely

Kenda Ruck (12:07)
It's beautiful. Tiffany, do you know a lot of people who live in Denver?

Tiffany (12:12)
No, so that's kind of my second question too, is I have two friends in Golden. I have one friend in Boulder, and I obviously have my incredible sister here in Littleton. And so that's it. And

John Wilkinson (12:33)
Yeah, yeah.

Tiffany (12:35)
I'm definitely curious like what it looks like. What are the best ways to build community here? you know, I think I have a lot of interests that align with people who live in Colorado. I'm a huge base music girl, and Red Rocks is kind of like the home of base music, which is great. but

You know, living in the idea of living in Golden, I'm well aware it's not the same as living in a bigger city. And so I'm curious what you guys think about what it looks like to build community moving out here. Is it is it gonna look like traveling into Denver and into Boulder for things? yeah. Just your your thoughts on that.

Kenda Ruck (13:16)
Yeah, I think community for me has been one of the easiest things to to build. I think when I look at the type of people who live here, they remind me a lot of the type of people who live in Cabo. And that is people who

Tiffany (13:30)
Hmm.

Kenda Ruck (13:31)
love to connect with nature, who love to be outside, who love to be adventure seekers. And I think for me that is

Easy to make a connection with other people who have that like mind. Not everybody is an outdoor person here, Tiffany. You've known me for you know a very, very, very long time.

Tiffany (13:51)
Ha ha

Kenda Ruck (13:53)
Can you see me sleeping in a tent? No, ma'am, you cannot. No, no, ma'am. So that's

Tiffany (13:55)
Absolutely not.

John Wilkinson (13:57)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (14:00)
the thing. I I'm not a super outdoorsy person, but I love the mountains and I love the wild.

wildlife and and I we walked yesterday for six miles in the rain on a trail and we had so much fun and I loved it and it was so so healing and so comforting to be able to do those things. And I think when you're surrounded with people who have similar goals and similar desires for their life outcome, it becomes easier to to make connection. My experience with Atlanta was people go to work, they come home, they make dinner

They do their responsibilities, they go to bed, they get up, they go to work, they come home, they do the that was my experience in Atlanta. And I did have some excellent friends there and dear friendships. But here it's people go to work and they come home so they can get outside and and

Tiffany (14:49)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (14:50)
do something with their life.

John Wilkinson (14:52)
Yeah, totally. I think it's it depends on on kind of your interests. we have we're very mindful about seeking out ways to meet people. and so we've built a great friendship. Like we have an annual holiday party in Austin. The last one had, I don't know, 130 people there. Well, our first

Tiffany (15:13)
Wow.

John Wilkinson (15:14)
party here, we had 80, right? So and and it's all new people that

Tiffany (15:17)
Wow.

John Wilkinson (15:19)
that we met in a year, and and folks that we wanted to invite to our house. And and so I think that if you have the intention to get involved or do things, right, that all helps kind of build that. And people here want that that's the one thing I find unique about Colorado. Maybe it's the energy here. I I don't know, but it's people want to meet folks and talk to them and help them and and I it's different than other places that I've lived.

in my life. But it's great because, I'm also very social and I like to talk to folks. And so that's helped quite a bit. So it's I guess it's all intention, kinda what you're you're looking for. And think having those that that group of people that you already know, you know, there's there's obviously a network that they have that you'll also meet and then it continues to kind of spiral from there.

Tiffany (16:10)
Yeah, that sounds I mean it sounds wonderful. I love the piece about intention, right? because I definitely I definitely am a believer that the people we have in our our sphere and connection and relationships are probably the most meaningful thing that we have in life. And so it is a very real curiosity for me that 100% without a doubt, especially after the first part of this conversation, I know that the

the landscape and the energy in Colorado is where I want to be. And I am very well aware that I have forever people in Atlanta. You know, I have I have best friends that we've been through a a lot of hard and wonderful things together and they are forever friends. So it I think that's the one thing that feels scary. Nothing else really feels scary. Cr curiosity for sure. Uncertainty, absolutely.

But for sure the one thing that feels a little bit frightening is physically, of course not mentally and emotionally, but physically stepping away from these people that I love with all my heart and hoping that you can find the same level of depth and connection in new places. And I'm sure I will, right? But and John hearing you talk about your your move recently and and having it from Austin and to here, that's that's helpful to hear.

John Wilkinson (17:35)
Yeah,

it's really interesting. And we we had our best friends and my family in Austin. And so that physical separation was really difficult for me. my I'm my my family were very close. our friends were also our neighbors and like best we traveled everywhere together. They're uncles to our son, like it was very difficult to leave that and not knowing what our neighbors were gonna be like here. But it was so crazy that when we moved here,

I'd gone to an event. I met this this couple. They invited us to their house. They introduced us to this other couple. That couple invited us to their house. And talking to them then, one of them was friends with one of our best friends from 40 years ago.

Tiffany (18:18)
wow

John Wilkinson (18:19)
Yeah. It's crazy. And so, like, so like it is, it was like the

Kenda Ruck (18:21)
Okay.

Tiffany (18:22)
Synchronicities

John Wilkinson (18:24)
universe like pulling us, and I said, Wait, do you know Max Judd? And he was like, Yeah, like I was, yeah, I'm I I knew him.

40 years ago, and Max had come out here when his partner had passed, 40 years ago to spend a couple weeks to get connected and and re-energize. And then we were at that same couple's house, and another couple was there, and one of the guys mentioned this couple in Dallas, and Billy used to work out with him, and it's his best friend. So it was like all of this connection

Tiffany (18:52)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (18:54)
that was, it's like it it like it was just the universe telling us.

This is where you are meant to be. And like all of those, those physical barriers, right, that we had conceived of really kind of went away because if they're meant to be in your life, they're gonna be in your life. It's just tough not seeing them every day. Now with FaceTime and everything, it makes it a little bit easier, but you can't just go to dinner, right? Or brunch or or whatever.

Tiffany (19:22)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (19:24)
I think you bring up a really good point, John, because when you do move, you know, to think that there will not be any tough days, that's that's not realistic. There will be tough days. I remember when we moved to Cabo. and I was so excited to move to Cabo. We sold everything in Atlanta and we moved to Cabo and I remember we moved there in January. Well, we moved there December 31st.

And so we started the full month in January. So we started the year in Cabo. And I remember in mid-February having this moment that just kind of overwhelmed me of what have I done? Why

Tiffany (20:06)
Mm-hmm.

Kenda Ruck (20:07)
did I do that? And a little bit of

I'm terrified and I wasn't prior to that, but I'm terrified and I think I made a really big mistake, you know? And and it just takes a little bit of time. I think anytime you make a move, we're gonna experience some ups and downs and some struggles and some insecurities and some fears. But if you just keep your intention in the right place, those people will come to you and they will come into your life.

Tiffany (20:40)
I

definitely r resonate with that so powerfully, Kenda, because and I think it's really the question that I ask myself. like I will say to be clear, I'm not thinking about moving to Colorado. I'm going to move to Colorado. And the the reason for that

Kenda Ruck (20:56)
Okay, I like hearing that.

John Wilkinson (20:57)
Yeah.

Tiffany (20:59)
is I feel like for the first

thirty five years of my life, I really organized my life. I mean I'm I'm type A, I'm perfectionist, you know everything I liked everything to be in order anyway.

But I think I organized my my life around creating a family and the idea of what success looked like and quiet undertones of trying to control what my life looked like to feel comfortable and happy, right? And you know, upheaval happened in 2022 and my life turned upside down. And what I realized is we can't control anything anyway. You can do the best you possibly can to create this like comfortable.

Life and the definition kind of of being human is that weird and unexpected and out of control things are gonna happen. And so when I look at like when I hear you guys talk about the discomfort and the shit, did I make a mistake moment of trying to integrate and settle into a place, my feeling around that is like, yeah, a hundred percent I know I'm gonna have those moments when I move, but I'm also super aware now.

Like hard enough things have happened in my life staying in my comfort zone that I'm just so aware. We have those moments of did I mess something up? Did I make a mistake? Life sucks right now for this period of time. Whether we stay in our comfort zone or we are willing to throw caution to the wind and follow our hearts and go to where we want to go. Like you're guaranteed to have those shitty moments, no matter which option

John Wilkinson (22:42)
Yeah. Yep.

Tiffany (22:43)
you choose, you know? And it's like you can either

control and accept like coming to Colorado, it's I know I'm I'm opening the door to having those moments, right? But if I stayed in Atlanta, I know I'm opening the door to having those moments too, just in a more uncertain way. Like what's gonna create them, I don't know. But I'm still gonna have them.

John Wilkinson (23:04)
Yeah,

yeah, you're right. We all will, right? And we'll still have those here in in Colorado. Like it's just

Kenda Ruck (23:08)
That's right.

John Wilkinson (23:09)
it's it is you know, my dad is military. We traveled every three or four years, and inevitably when we would move, it was very tough for me. Change was was difficult and I would hate it. And then like three or four months in, this is the best place I've ever lived. You know, it's been amazing. This is awesome.

Tiffany (23:25)
Ha ha

John Wilkinson (23:27)
I can't believe I didn't live here before. and yeah, I think anybody thinking about

moving or moving to an any place, like you mentioned, and Kenda, like there's gonna be strife and and and second guessing, but at the end of the day, with intention, right, you bring in what you what you desire. And like you've got to go out and and and do that. And we've talked about this before. It's like how do you get involved? You gotta go and just do it. You gotta, you know, like get out of your your comfort zone.

here to make friends because it is new and we're we're older and you know we're not in hi in a classroom with other kids that make it a lot easier. You know we're adults and we've to find that classroom for ourselves. you know, and and I think that when you do that you can have really beautiful

Tiffany (24:16)
Yeah, I definitely feel that for sure. I think so

much of that too is about where I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Where are you putting your energy? Like where am I investing my energy and my time? Even like who you talk to on this thing, you know, like am I putting a lot of my time into like who am I talking to? Where am I putting my energy? and so I think

I'm aware moving, you have to be so much more intentional about that because it's easy to just fall into habits and routines that are self-contained

John Wilkinson (24:53)
Yes.

Tiffany (24:53)
when you move to a new place when you don't have people around.

I

do have one more, I think, kind of big question, which is I'll tell you guys, every single person across the country that I have told I want to move to Colorado, the very first thing that they say is, it's so expensive.

John Wilkinson (25:17)
Yeah.

Tiffany (25:18)
And so

You know, Atlanta is not cheap either. but I'm definitely curious, especially talking to you guys, which I think is a really cool resource. like

What are your thoughts around actual cost of living being out here? I'm well aware because I'm s gonna be so new. I don't wanna buy the first year. I kinda wanna land, play around, visit lots of places, find where feels good, you know, what does accessibility to the airport look like? All of these things. And then, you know, if Colorado is my w forever home in a way, I definitely wanna buy and so I'm curious what

How do we make Colorado affordable? What does actual cost of living look like? what does it look like to be a a buyer here? Like all of those things are certainly floating through my head.

John Wilkinson (26:12)
Well, Golden is is is one of the more expensive places to choose. of course it is. I mean you're like right in the mountains. Yeah, exactly. You want to be 20 minutes from the mountain. There you go.

Tiffany (26:17)
Of course it is. I have great taste.

Kenda Ruck (26:21)
It was Boulder or Golden for her? Yeah.

John Wilkinson (26:25)
So location, location,

Tiffany (26:25)
Ha ha ha.

John Wilkinson (26:26)
location. yeah, so Golden is is expensive. I think i in general, it is expensive. There's obviously state income tax here. the flip side, I'll speak from Texas.

We didn't have a state income tax, but we had the property taxes were much higher. So it kind of

Kenda Ruck (26:42)
Mm-hmm.

Tiffany (26:42)
Okay.

John Wilkinson (26:42)
offsets that expense issue. but there are like gas is a little bit more expensive. You know, there's when you register your car, that's a lot more expensive. I don't know what it is in in Georgia. In Austin, it was about

Kenda Ruck (26:56)
Mm-hmm. Gee.

John Wilkinson (26:58)
$80. Here it's about $400 a year, right? To register your car. Yep.

Kenda Ruck (27:02)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tiffany (27:02)
wow.

John Wilkinson (27:03)
I think two is insurance is a big issue. So car insurance is more expensive because at today, I don't know what time you're flying out, but if it's between two and seven PM, there may be a chance there's a weather delay.

in the summer, just because there's some big storms

Tiffany (27:17)
Ha ha ha.

John Wilkinson (27:19)
and some big hail storms coming, apparently, allegedly today. you know, so like insurance is expensive, house insurance because of that same weather impact is expensive. And just you know, the the snowstorms and whatever that we get. So those things are from top of mind, things that are definitely different than other places. but on the flip side.

The taxes also go to great things. Like Colorado was just named the number one public education state in the country. Right. So I moved from Texas was 47. Right. So now our son's in school and he's actually getting an education. Yeah. So

Tiffany (27:53)
wow.

Kenda Ruck (27:56)
Yeah. Georgia might be forty eight, I'm not sure.

John Wilkinson (28:01)
so there's there's flip side, and then there's all the parks and things. So there's kind of like a trade off. Now, financially, it is the cost of living is a little bit more. I can't say that I outside of those things that I've noticed.

A big difference. Restaurants are still restaurant costs. I think it's crazy how much they charge for stuff sometimes. but but they charge that a lot of places, you know. So I don't know, Kinda, what do you think?

Kenda Ruck (28:24)
I I agree. you know, it I think a little bit of it depends on where you come from for sure, because everything is relative. But John Tiffany did get to experience the don't fly into the Denver airport between the two and buy she got to experience that on the way in here. So I'll send you the luckily she just missed it. Yeah.

Tiffany (28:40)
I did. No, I didn't, thank God. I landed,

John Wilkinson (28:42)
Did you get diverted or

good.

Tiffany (28:48)
the plane landed and parked at the gate, and the downpour happened, and the the whole plane started swaying in the wind. And I actually looked at the lady next to me and I was like, the plane is moving, right? This is not just me.

Kenda Ruck (29:02)
Yeah.

Tiffany (29:04)
Did we take a plane or a boat here?

John Wilkinson (29:04)
Well luckily you're on the ground. Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (29:06)
Exactly.

I'll post the we'll put the picture up that she took from the window when she was flying

John Wilkinson (29:12)
That's crazy.

Kenda Ruck (29:12)
in. It's it's pretty

Tiffany (29:13)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (29:13)
sobering. But yeah, you know, coming from Cabo, everything is very expensive in Cabo. People think Mexico's cheap. There are Mexic places in Mexico that are more affordable, but Cabo is not one of those places. So for me when I moved here, it felt like it was a lot less expensive.

I think people moving from California or Washington State or New York, they may move here and find that it's more affordable. But I think moving from Atlanta, you are gonna see a few things that are a little bit higher. John mentioned, you know, insurance, that's gonna be a little bit higher for you. But there are also so many more things to do that are free that cost you nothing.

John Wilkinson (29:56)
Yeah. Yep.

Kenda Ruck (29:58)
there are so many opportunities to

Do very life-impacting activities that just make you sit back and just be like, wow, I can't believe I get to do this, that don't cost anything. And I think it's, you know, knowing what is important for you personally and putting your energy towards those things. The other thing that John and I have learned as we've gotten more comfortable in Colorado is that different areas and towns have very different price points.

So again, Boulder, super expensive. Golden, pretty expensive. So, you know, if you are moving here and you're like, well, I my income is only $70,000 a year. Can I live here? yes, you can. You may not be able to live in Boulder, but you can live here on $70,000 a year. And I think that is like where the rubber meets the road. That's the important thing, is there are options.

here in Colorado. Whereas in Atlanta, you know, it felt like everything was so far apart. And to be able to do things that were free, it just didn't feel like that much availability to do things that didn't cost anything. And here it's everywhere. Concerts and in the neighborhoods and parks and you know like the the park that you live next

too, John. You always hear, you know, music and the elephants in the background, you know, because the zoo's right there and there

John Wilkinson (31:31)
Do, yeah. Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (31:34)
are ways to live here very affordably for sure.

John Wilkinson (31:37)
And I think it's smart too to rent. Like if somebody's relocating here and it's they're brand, brand new, right? They obviously you've been here before. I think it's smart to feel out a city and and figure out like what where what do I like the best? There's so many like like micro neighborhoods in the area that can feel very different within two miles. and I I think and there's so many parks and and things around. So like feeling that out and and and

Figuring that out, I think, is great. Unless you have kids and you need a certain you want to go to a certain school, then that's different. Then you're kind of, you know, boxed in an area. but largely I think it's it's great to like that's what we wanted to do is just rent. But we had a kid that wanted to go to a specific school and so we had streets to worry about, you know, like so. but otherwise, you know,

Tiffany (32:27)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (32:28)
like and luckily we like where we live now, but there's we've we've seen some great, amazing neighbors, even in the foothills.

may not be just in Golden, but like Ken Caryl, it's like a little bit just outside of it, but still there.

Tiffany (32:42)
I so appreciate everything you guys are saying because it's very true like if you wanna spend time with friends in Atlanta, it's really a rarity that you're doing anything for free. you know, it's one of the things

Many, many years ago traveling in Europe and visiting San Francisco, like people are sitting in the park together all the time and, you know, sharing baguette and cheese and wine and that's like right

John Wilkinson (33:08)
love. Yeah.

Tiffany (33:10)
one of my favorite things in Paris was walking across the bridge that goes over the Seine at at sunset and there's just people on blankets with absolutely, you know, everybody brought one thing and there again there's just a

Different energy about that, right? And that doesn't really exist in Atlanta. If you're spending time with friends, most of the time you're going to a bar and getting a drink or grabbing a coffee or having dinner or grabbing lunch or whatever it might be, but it always costs something. and certainly New York City is even like more like that when I was living there.

The feeling in New York is like, we're getting out and doing something fun if you find a market to go walk around.

John Wilkinson (33:54)
Yeah.

Tiffany (33:54)
But now you're shopping, which is even more expensive than going to brunch or something like that, right?

John Wilkinson (33:57)
Yeah. Right.

Kenda Ruck (33:58)
Right.

Tiffany (34:00)
But it's an outdoor market, so look, we're doing something outside.

John Wilkinson (34:03)
Yeah.

Tiffany (34:05)
so certainly I I feel this connection to just like where you invest yourself looks different. I am really curious.

in transitioning out here, you know, one of the things Kenda and I have talked about is the gas is actually cheaper out here than it is in Atlanta,

Kenda Ruck (34:25)
Mm-hmm.

John Wilkinson (34:25)
Wow.

Tiffany (34:26)
which is very cool. you know, but I I'm you just never kind of know what what is the monthly budget gonna look like until you actually make the move and settle in. and so I definitely think that's one of the questions is like insurance offsetting gas prices, offsetting

Rent offs you know, what where are we when the dust settles, what is it gonna be?

John Wilkinson (34:50)
Yep. Yep.

Those are I I think it's great that you're thinking of that. Like

Tiffany (34:56)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (34:56)
there's it's it it cause it always fluctuates right now. Rents are depreciated, because there's been overbuilding and there's a lot of competition out there. So from a rental perspective, there's a lot of great opportunities. People are giving owners two to three months free in some cases, right? For a twelve month lease in some of these newer buildings, which the pros and cons on those, but

There's there's definitely as long as you're weighing your options, you're looking at everything. I think that's the intelligent thing to do. because there's there there there are deals out there and there's opportunity and I think if there's a budget, then like doing that is is the spark.

Kenda Ruck (35:37)
Tiffany, thank you so much for being brave enough to ask us your questions. I think you help a lot of people by

Bringing us your questions because there are a lot of people who have the same questions you have. And I think one of the best things about Colorado is the ability to find your tribe, find your people, and find your community. And that was one of your big questions. So I think you're spot on there. It's really important for John and I as we do this podcast to work with people who are thinking about moving to Denver, or maybe you're new to Denver and you have questions, just like Tiffany did, just reach out.

to us and let us know hey I have these questions can you help me we may not put you on camera unless you want to be on camera but we

Tiffany (36:22)
Ha ha ha.

Kenda Ruck (36:24)
would love to help answer any questions that you have about life in Colorado.

John Wilkinson (36:31)
Absolutely. Tiffany, thank you so much. Safe travels back to Atlanta.

thank you so much for the questions. and as always, everybody, work hard and be kind.

Tiffany (36:43)
Thank you guys.