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Where to Live in Colorado

freedy

freedy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Parker, CO
I'm seriously considering moving to Colorado next summer and trying to narrow down where I think I want to live. Proximity to off road venues where I don't have to drive too far is one of the more important considerations and I'm hoping to get some opinions on that.

I'm thinking somewhere between Fort Collins and Colorado springs but definitely outside of Denver. It's hard to imagine anywhere within that area that doesn't have at least decent access to trails but I'm wondering more about areas where there might be a concentration of venues or maybe areas that aren't so good and can be eliminated.

I appreciate the input.
 
freerider15 said:
That's a BIG area :laugh:

What you do for a living can easily dictate things.
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Retired for the most part and do the rest on the internet. The other constraint is I'd like to keep the home price with a 3 or 4 handle and something on the newer end but it looks like that doesn't exclude too many areas. I'll get out there in the fall and really start looking for areas I like but seems like good access to trails is something to help narrow things a bit.
 
If you are retired, I would not live along the Front Range. It is too congested and expensive. Personally I would look at Buena Vista, Salida, Montrose, Grand Junction.
 
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old_man said:
If you are retired, I would not live along the Front Range. It is to congested and expensive. Personally I would look at Buena Vista, Salida, Montrose, Grand Junction.
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That's some good advice and there's a lot to be said about that way of thinking. I originally was thinking of Montrose or Grand Junction but in the end I prefer better access to more populated areas. I haven't completely eliminated that idea though as it's been 20 years since I've been in that part of the state and will definitely go through there in the Fall.
 
1-tonxj said:
If it's California and you vote Blue ...Colorado is full as suggested ...lol
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You're right on the California part but I'm not one of them Leftists and that's the main reason I want to escape. I'm tired of closed wilderness for things like disrupting the sex lives of frogs. Also want to get my guns out of here before they get taken away. Seriously, the NRA just saved us from having to give up all our magazines that hold 10 rounds or more (for rifles and handguns). Can't wait to go but my daughter is a Senior in high school next year so just waiting for her to graduate.
 
freedy said:
You're right on the California part but I'm not one of them Leftists and that's the main reason I want to escape. I'm tired of closed wilderness for things like disrupting the sex lives of frogs. Also want to get my guns out of here before they get taken away. Seriously, the NRA just saved us from having to give up all our magazines that hold 10 rounds or more (for rifles and handguns). Can't wait to go but my daughter is a Senior in high school next year so just waiting for her to graduate.
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I have always found it funny a state such as California that is broke and over run by illegal residents has such influence that they set the tone for other states.
 
Buena Vista is only a bit over an hour from
Denver. It is smack dab in the middle of a ton of great scenery and wheeling. It sits in the snow shadow of the mountains, so some trails are open year round.
 
Yep Colorado's full...sorry.

Personally, I'd go to the western slope. Fruita is an awesome place, a hell of a lot cheaper than Denver. 2-3 hours from San Juan NF (IMHO the most beautiful part of Colorado), Moab and just about anything else that is amazingly awesome. My wife and I want to move there but the job market sucks (at least for me). The front range sucks now. Traffic is a B, takes for ever to get up the hill and unless you're heading 3-6 hours out of Denver you're just caravaning with the rest of Tom, Dick and Harry's. There are a decent amount of trails around town but unless you have to live in Denver I wouldn't.
 
As a person who unknowingly contributed to the Denver area problem a decade ago, I have to agree. If your job allows it, look anywhere west of Georgetown / Buena Vista and avoid the I-70 corridor until you get well west of Vail. If I could move myself that way I would.
 
SolarBell said:
As a person who unknowingly contributed to the Denver area problem a decade ago, I have to agree. If your job allows it, look anywhere west of Georgetown / Buena Vista and avoid the I-70 corridor until you get well west of Vail. If I could move myself that way I would.
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Ok, it's really getting through my thick head to stay far away from I-70.

I don't think I want to live at 7K or 8K feet so Montrose and Grand Junction are still options on the west but just to complete the picture on the east is Fort Collins or Colorado Springs areas far enough away and is there plenty of good trail access from those areas?
 
freedy said:
Ok, it's really getting through my thick head to stay far away from I-70.

I don't think I want to live at 7K or 8K feet so Montrose and Grand Junction are still options on the west but just to complete the picture on the east is Fort Collins or Colorado Springs areas far enough away and is there plenty of good trail access from those areas?
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While there are trails up north, there are nowhere close to as many or as pretty trails as west and south. Ft Collins is getting damned expensive and too many people and traffic. I live in Loveland, a once small and peaceful little town. Now it takes a half hour to get across town in rush hour.

I never think of BV as being that high. Here we worry more about the winter weather. Like I said, BV is in the snow shadow of some really big mountains. The weather there in the winter isn't at all bad. Now if you go north to Leadville, the altitude there combined with the weather/wind is a bitch in the winter.
 
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I mean it's Colorado so your going to have to deal with elevation..... Evergreen which is a few miles outside of Denver is 7k, even Lakewood (suburb) is 5,500. Grand junction is lower than Denver.

Ft Collins is awesome but as expensive. It's a college town, wheeling while available just doesn't compete with anything South or West. The Springs is a mixed bag for me. Certain parts are decent and others are beyond shitty.

Truly, if you're not wanting to spend more than 400k I wouldn't even consider Colorado unless you head to the Western Slope. Home prices will go up again next year and I'd except to pay around 450k for an average home that maybe doesn't need to be gutted and is a remotely decent area.
 
freedy said:
Ok, it's really getting through my thick head to stay far away from I-70.

I don't think I want to live at 7K or 8K feet so Montrose and Grand Junction are still options on the west but just to complete the picture on the east is Fort Collins or Colorado Springs areas far enough away and is there plenty of good trail access from those areas?
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I'm in the springs.... not worth it. As prices rise in denver ever one comes here. Consequently, prices are going up here. Traffic is every bit as bad as denver. As far as trails there's alot of dirt roads around but no "serious" wheeling, the great trails are a couple hours away. If the springs wasn't nearly as populated and the infrastructure could handle it, I would recommend it but that's not the case lol.

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ATC1128 said:
I'm in the springs.... not worth it. As prices rise in denver ever one comes here. Consequently, prices are going up here. Traffic is every bit as bad as denver. As far as trails there's alot of dirt roads around but no "serious" wheeling, the great trails are a couple hours away. If the springs wasn't nearly as populated and the infrastructure could handle it, I would recommend it but that's not the case lol.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I have been in Colorado Springs my entire life, all of it on the east side of town. The east side is really the only direction to grow. The town, maybe, has the infrastructure to handle 60-70% of the population. Roads are a joke. We approved a tax hike to fix potholes and repave roads and from what I have seen we've fixed more curbs than roads.
 
Don’t move to the west slope. It’s horrible. Super run down and no trails. Garbage scenery. It’s the worst
 
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