Choosing where to live in Colorado

[TradArcher]

You will live in Kremmling like the rest of us or you have to commute from Fairplay/Alma/Leadville.

Everything about Summit "proper" really sucks imo. You pay a premium over living in the Denver metro, yet you deal with crowds 24/7/365. Trailheads are always packed, grocery store is swamped, only a small portion of people are even local. Complete lack of community with every other house being a short term rental or second homeowner.

How do you like Kremmeling? I have been considering there or Montrose to get away from crowds plus housing cost. Long drives for groceries and the like or is there enough in town?

 

[ReaptheHeat]

I like it. Its close to world class skiing, backpacking, fishing, and snowmobiling. Hunting is meh (now with wolves!). Though bear in mind, this is one of the coldest areas in CO you can live in, winter is November through May with temps diving to an occasional -40 F without windchill. Expect to wake up in the heart of winter with sub zero temps every morning that won't go about freezing for days on end.

You either grocery shop in Granby or Dillion. Town just has a little bar, brewery, coffee place, and a couple restaurants. The hardware store is pretty decent which is nice. You still need to make trips down to Denver for odds and ends sometimes.

Most people live outside of town limits either in Spring Creek, Old Park, or off Highway 40. Town itself is kind of dumpy in spots. Housing is also not cheap here by any means and is demanding mountain prices.

Main industries are ranching, mining, tourism, government.

Even though its a small town, you have to deal with the Steamboat traffic coming up 9 or off 40. Floating and white water rafting are big here off Trough Road. You also will not be alone during the hunting season.

 

[subtlevibe]

I like the montrose area

 

[Jn78]

Do you currently work in the Springs? What’s your schedule? If you only do one commune a week, why not live somewhere an hour or two away? Lots of options. Castle Rock, Elizabeth, Bailey, Buena Vista, and everything in between. We are in Douglas County - schools are great, everything is convenient, conservative relative to the rest of the state, and it is still safe.

 

[TaperPin]

I spent a week there every year for a decade - some friends and high school classmates still live there. There’s no way I would think of it as similar to anything on the front grange, so it makes sense to spend time there in the heat of the summer to see if hot, dry and a lack of green is for you.

Economically, looking at the average family income will not be the only thing to look at, but it will confirm what you see while there.

At least back in the 1990’s, about 20 actual hookers used to have a girls night out at one of the bars in the middle of the week - it seemed like a very large number for a town that size. Maybe they were there for an event, but that has always stuck out as weird.

I don’t care for towns with oil field trash after having seen first hand how it impacts a community - I don’t know what’s going on with oil shale now, but there are currently 23 oil field jobs advertised.

Talking with a local paramedic or FF would be a great first step about where the problem areas are.

 

[squirrel]

I like it. Its close to world class skiing, backpacking, fishing, and snowmobiling. Hunting is meh (now with wolves!). Though bear in mind, this is one of the coldest areas in CO you can live in, winter is November through May with temps diving to an occasional -40 F without windchill. Expect to wake up in the heart of winter with sub zero temps every morning that won't go about freezing for days on end.

You either grocery shop in Granby or Dillion. Town just has a little bar, brewery, coffee place, and a couple restaurants. The hardware store is pretty decent which is nice. You still need to make trips down to Denver for odds and ends sometimes.

Most people live outside of town limits either in Spring Creek, Old Park, or off Highway 40. Town itself is kind of dumpy in spots. Housing is also not cheap here by any means and is demanding mountain prices.

Main industries are ranching, mining, tourism, government.

Even though its a small town, you have to deal with the Steamboat traffic coming up 9 or off 40. Floating and white water rafting are big here off Trough Road. You also will not be alone during the hunting season.

Dont forget the skeeters... Cant forget them! But I'm still coming to grips with calling GJ a "small town". Funny how people see things, friends just left who are shopping for a house in Fort Collins, cause they want to live in a "small town".

 

[Blackbird]

I live in SW Colorado and commute to NM for my fire job. It’s an option if you are interested in this area of the state.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

Dont forget the skeeters... Cant forget them! But I'm still coming to grips with calling GJ a "small town". Funny how people see things, friends just left who are shopping for a house in Fort Collins, cause they want to live in a "small town".

Haha...two seasons... arctic and skeeter.

 

[mtntppr]

Do you currently work in the Springs? What’s your schedule? If you only do one commune a week, why not live somewhere an hour or two away? Lots of options. Castle Rock, Elizabeth, Bailey, Buena Vista, and everything in between. We are in Douglas County - schools are great, everything is convenient, conservative relative to the rest of the state, and it is still safe.

We are in one of if not the last little pockets of resistance along the entire front range, I feel like.

I like CO. Honestly, the only things I miss (transplant from back east) is the ocean, though I have grown to prefer the mountains because there are typically fewer people (and we do have some gold medal trout waters), and the food. Pulled pork, fried catfish, all the sides, cheerwine, sun drop, etc. I've learned, when you relocate, especially if it's a long distance, sometime it's the little things you don't even really think about that you end up noticing more. And that's not to say CO doesn't have good food, they certainly do. Green chili, and I really like Elk.

Douglas Co. is nice, it's pretty quiet, however, like a lot of places, it's getting expensive. But there are good people here.

ETA: There's good fishing in the SW corner of Douglas Co. on the South Platte, but it gets pretty crowded.

 

[Oldrifle]

If this part of the state piques your curiosity, it is an alternative. The most sought-after neighborhoods in Colorado have the drawback of having salaries that are out of line.

 

[CHIEF CRNA]

I am in a position to where I am trying to figure out what area to live or stay in Colorado so I am looking for some input. Specifically, those who live out on the Western Slope. I am currently living in Colorado Springs and I don't mind it. The military brought us here and we have enjoyed our time. I am a little bit enamored with the idea of getting into a smaller town like Grand Junction or somewhere that has a smaller town vibe and more accessible less crowded fishing/hunting access nearby. Springs is getting a little bit crazy and I like the idea of moving my family while they are young. The current political climate here is not lost on me, however my wife is very set on staying in state so going to another Western state is not an option. I plan to hopefully get out to GJ and explore the area a little bit more. Most of the research I've done is online about cost of living, schools, etc. so I'm hoping to get some input from those who actually live out there. How do you like it? How is it raising a family? How is the fishing in there area?

I am also open to other suggestions on where to live within the state, however I am somewhat limited to my career (Firefighter) and where the job openings are.

Thanks all!

My Father-n-law lives in GJ. It is getting busy there too. Not as bad and CS, but pretty bad. I retire in a year from the Navy (36 years) and will be buying a home with some land in Monument. Going to have a custom home built and will be doing Anesthesia in the springs somewhere. There are always a ton of jobs for anesthesia. Same goes for fire fighters. Have you looked into getting into FEDFIRE? Maybe on the USAFA?