Rising living costs, stagnant wages, expensive housing, congested roads and legalized weed were all reasons people offered for departing Colorado when The Denver Post asked on Facebook. Some complained the state they once knew had changed too much, while others lamented that economic realities left them no choice. Below are edited comments from some of the people who recently bade farewell to Colorado:

“We moved from Atlanta in March 2013 and absolutely loved Denver! It was always our dream to move there, and it totally lived up to it. After a few years, we decided to have a baby, and while apartment living was fine before our son was born, it was not going to work for our growing family. After we started looking for houses, we quickly realized that Denver was out of our price range. Which is ironic because that was one of the reasons why we moved there.” — Karlee Hemphill, who relocated with her family to Virginia in August

“What really sealed the deal for us was taking my children to ‘Boo at the Zoo’ at the Denver Zoo. The parking garage was basically a giant bong. I couldn’t allow my children to get out of the car in that. My husband and I both worked over 50-hour weeks for less than national average pay in our fields to barely make it. We didn’t get to enjoy any part of Colorado that makes it worth it. Driving to the mountains was a nightmare.” — Kathryn Aitken, who relocated to Charlotte, N.C., in June 2016

“I worked for Jeffco at Bell Middle School, and I loved it: the atmosphere, my colleagues and the students. I didn’t like the fact that our responsibilities grew, yet our paycheck stayed the same. Colorado’s cost of living keeps rising without financial recourse for teachers.” — Josephine Wade, who relocated with her family to central California

“I hated to watch the area I grew up in and love turn into a buzzword destination for Midwest millennials. Denver was a cow town no more. The last straw: In May 2016, I was driving my scooter to my office downtown, less than a 4-mile commute from our Park Hill house, when a 17-year-old girl ran a stop sign and ran me over. Torn hip labrum, required surgery. In that moment, I had had enough of Denver’s population explosion.” — Scott Parker, who took an engineering job in Alaska in September 2016

“The reason for our move this time still has to do with cost of living. We decided as we try to start a family, it will be easier for us to afford the possibility of one income being in a state like Iowa, where you can rent a decent home for less than $1,000 a month, yet you can get a job that will pay a decent wage. In all honesty, I love Colorado. My husband does, too. It’s just difficult to stay here when living costs continue to go up.” — Eden Reich, who left Colorado for Iowa with her husband in 2015, moved back in 2016, and plans to leave again

“I know this story is tired, but I really miss the Colorado I had growing up. I worked two jobs, an internship for the city and waiting tables, and had three roommates in order to afford living in a house in Denver, and before that an apartment in Centennial. … I moved to Kanab, Utah, in May and I am actually closer to aspen trees and high mountains than when I lived in Colorado. I only pay $850 for a two-bedroom house with no roommates!” — Erin Steen, a Colorado native

“Recently, I moved back to my hometown of Atlanta … because I found the Denver metro job market hostile to the middle-aged. In 2017, I made it to the final third or fourth rounds of interviews with four different companies and was told ‘no’ by each. … For all the hype about Denver’s low unemployment rate, I am an example of an experienced professional who got frustrated trying to find decent work.” — Lisa Long

“I moved to Denver in 2013 shortly after graduating from college. I loved living in Denver and had a great little studio in Capitol Hill, but wasn’t saving money, rarely could afford to travel and seemed to be putting all of my money toward rent and debt. I had to sell my car to avoid defaulting on student loans. After many attempts to obtain the kind of work that could pay a more realistic wage, I gave up and went back to seasonal work in Alaska this summer. When the summer season was over, I found a job with the state of Alaska earning substantially more than I was ever offered in Denver.” — Brit Anderson