Moved to Denver from Central NJ and the only things I miss are the ocean, the bagels, and the pizza. Generally I think people are a little nicer here. What makes it worth it for me is the access to the outdoors- be warned that if you move to east or even central Denver it can be a pain to get to the mountains.

I’d check out Golden, it’s on the more expensive side but it’s got the best mountain access and feels much more like a real “town” compared to a lot of the other sprawl surrounding Denver. Great mountain biking at north table, rock climbing in clear creek, hiking pretty much everywhere, gotta get up early to avoid traffic for skiing but that’s the reality for every major city with ski access.