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Colorado, the possibilities...

mwaterous

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
197
Location
New Mexico
Well I posted in the Montana forum so I figured I should post here too. We're in New Mexico currently and looking at moving north, possibly a little bit, possibly a lot. We're researching both states as best we can, but it's always helpful to hear from the people who live there.

What do you think is the best place in Colorado to live? Remember I'm not just asking about gun laws, though those can factor in... I'm talking about quality of living, cost of living, the neighborhood folks, the neighborhood itself. What do you think of where you are in Colorado? Honesty; if you don't like where you are, we'd like to know why before we move there. :)
 

mobiushky

Regular Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
830
Location
Alaska (ex-Colorado)
I'll pipe up from the perspective of someone who is not a native. I was born in NJ, but only lived there for a year after so I don't count it. I'm mostly a Pacific NW person. Lived in Idaho a lot. I've lived in California, Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, and South Carolina as well. So I guess you could say I've had a smattering of experiences. Hands down Colorado wins. Remember, this is just my opinion. My wife is from Indianapolis. Born and raised. She HATES it. LOL! She grew up in a big city and now she hates being cramped in by all the people. We lived in Centennial for about 6 months before she nearly had a panic attack. Now we live in Parker.

So why Parker? Well, My job is in the Tech center which is south of Denver, so it had to be someplace on the south side of Denver. Parker is a small town feel with some big town amenities and yet we're only 30 mins from Denver if (God forbid) we ever have to go there. The only reason we currently tread on Denver soil is for Hockey! Go Avs!

I think it all really depends on your personality. If you're a loner type, there are places here where you can live out in the middle of nowhere and people can't stand having to drive 3 hours to get to your shooting range... LOL!! Just kidding Rob. You can choose to live in the mountains and have some small privacy. Or you can choose a place like Colorado Springs. Which is a little bigger, but not huge. It all depends.
 

JeepSeller

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
412
Location
Orlando, FL, ,
I hope you don't mind a response from someone who doesn't currently live in CO. I lurk the CO board from time to time because, to be quite honest, I miss it. I absolutely loved being there. If the opportunity opened up today for a decent job for the wife or I, and we had the resources to cover the move, the U-Haul would be packed and this litter-box (Florida) would be in our rear view mirrors by nightfall. I'd move back THAT quickly.

IMHO, you can find what you're looking for in Colorado. If you're looking for the metropolitan, big-city feel, it's there, if you're looking to almost disappear into the wilderness, you could do that as well, and there's everything in between. And, truthfully, bigger city amenities such as Denver or Colorado Springs are only a few hours way from a good portion of the state no matter where you go. And, you just cannot beat the scenery you'll get during your drive there and back. (Although, the eastern plains of CO are kind of bland if you end up going that way for any reason. I enjoy the mountains, so, my experiences with CO are westward LOL. )

I spent some time in Denver, well, Lakewood-West Denver to be exact. Then, I spent about 6 months in Eagle and Gypsum (VERY small towns) and then about a year or so in Glenwood Springs. I enjoyed living in Glenwood Springs more than any. The Denver area isn't bad at all. But, as pointed out above, it's nice to find a quiet place just outside Denver to leave the hustle of the city behind. Not to mention Denver's frustrating odd-ball OC ban in a state where OC is barely noticed anywhere else.

Eagle was a little desolate for me. Nothing there but an airport and.....well......they've got an airport. *shrug* Glenwood Springs was perfect for me. Everything I might need or want, but, none of the big-city mess. And, Denver was only about 3 hours way when I wanted to see the Bronco's play. That's good weather of course. Took me almost 6 hours one night as a winter storm chased me back home from Denver. If I hadn't been in a well equipped 4x4, I'd have spent the night somewhere in between. But IMHO, those risks are just part of the adventure of Colorado.

I'm a wanderer though. I spent most my free time literally picking a highway at random, then picking a direction at random and spending a day or two traveling Colorado. That state has some of the coolest little towns and scenic byways I've ever seen. You literally never know what you'll find around that next bend in the highway.
 

Bellum_Intus

Regular Member
Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
540
Location
Rush, Colorado
If you are concerned with Open carry, Colorado Springs is good.. =)...

I may be moving to one of the 4 Constitutional carry states in the next year or so... SO..
I've been OC in COS area for 10 years and have never.. not once had a 'bad' encounter w/ the public and zero LEO encounters..
(other than the "hey, how are ya" waves from SD and PD)

--Rob

[EDIT] LOL MOBI!!! I just read your remark :p
 
Last edited:

PFC HALE

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
481
Location
earth
i live in lochbuie, 30 miles north of denver, and i work nights for a reason. Traffic BLOWS. try to live outside of the main metro area. basically when you look at a map and c470 encircling denver is the metro, outside of that ring to the east, south, west and north east are nice, north is still crowded a bit. Plus denver doesnt allow open carry in the city or county, of which covers id say %50 of that metro area.

you cant beat it though, the mountains are nice! this is a guy who moved from florida.
 

widowman10

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2012
Messages
12
Location
C-springs
having lived in more than a few states, this one ROCKS! (montana and alaska are pretty cool though too :))

as far as cities go, you can find whatever you're looking for here. big, small, hippie, old, cowboy, mountains, plains, desert (national park!), cold, hot, high in elevation, not-as-high in elevation (!), etc, etc, i could go on.

amazing scenery, great hunting, gun-friendly, just awesome.

if i had my druthers, i'd live outside colorado springs, maybe halfway between there and denver in the mountains somewhere. close to the bigger cities, but still not cramped. great state.
 

mahkagari

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
1,186
Location
, ,
having lived in more than a few states, this one ROCKS! (montana and alaska are pretty cool though too :))

as far as cities go, you can find whatever you're looking for here. big, small, hippie, old, cowboy, mountains, plains, desert (national park!), cold, hot, high in elevation, not-as-high in elevation (!), etc, etc, i could go on.

amazing scenery, great hunting, gun-friendly, just awesome.

^That. OP, can you give more info on what you're looking for? Your "quality of living, cost of living, the neighborhood folks, the neighborhood itself" criteria can be subjective. E.g. how do you define "quality of living"? City amenities? Clean air? Good roads? Anyplace even slightly urban will have higher cost of living than NM or MT, but many will still be below the national average.
 

mobiushky

Regular Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
830
Location
Alaska (ex-Colorado)
Of course this is all under the caveat that you aren't from California originally in which case, Colorado sucks. You would never want to live here in the horrible cesspool of filth and something else really bad... :D
 

Beau

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
672
Location
East of Aurora, Colorado, USA
I live 20miles SE of Byers which is a town along I-70. I love it out here. It seems like there is nothing but flatland but I live in one of the fingers of the black forest. 5 to 7 acre lots and there are quite a few homes on the market out here.
 

mwaterous

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
197
Location
New Mexico
I'm definitely not from California, nor would I fit in there. I am however from Canada and damn proud of it, despite not having a second amendment there... or the ability to purchase and own most firearms. You can't completely fault them for it though, it does provide yet another statistic demonstrating that outrageous and over the top gun control does absolutely nothing to curb gun related or other violent crime. Oh and before anybody tries, no Obamacare is nothing like Canadian healthcare. Nothing. Like. It. End of story. ;)

My wife is a born and bred Nevadan, so between me being an imported and naturalized gentleman more than willing to help defend your constitution, and her being a desert rat from a nearly entirely military family... well, California just wouldn't cut it.

I guess my quality of life question was a little broad. I suppose I just meant, how do you like it? We're hard working but laid back, we enjoy a good conversation, love to fish, can't get enough fresh air, try to do our best to respect others... but we don't drink or go to clubs, which seems to be the primary focus of most city life now-a-days so we don't really fit in to that circle. If there's a place for folk like that, then we're golden.
 

since9

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
6,964
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
if i had my druthers, i'd live outside colorado springs, maybe halfway between there and denver in the mountains somewhere. close to the bigger cities, but still not cramped. great state.

That would be my preference, as well. I'm currently living in the Springs as my elderly parents live here and work is here, as well. In the future...?
 

M-Taliesin

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
1,504
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Howdy Amigo!
Well, you have everything imaginable here in Colorado. Big Cities with all the atmosphere of a big city to little towns that feel as though you've stepped onto the set of a western movie. You can wear shorts in the morning, maybe go for a swim, then suit up and go skiing in the afternoon after a drive up to the high country.
There are places to live that are outrageously expensive, like Aspen or Vail, or in a neat little town like Fairplay or Deckers where things are far more reasonable. Buena Vista is outrageously beautiful, nested as it is against the Collegiate range; as are Westcliff and Silvercliff at the foot of the Sangre de Christo range.
But even in an urbanized area, such as Aurora or even Denver, you can find enclaves of living in an almost rural setting.
Where I live is on the edge of the 2nd largest city in the state, but behind me is the Star Ranch open space, and beyond that about a mile or two is farm lands stretching clear to the Kansas border. Open carry, with the exception of city and county of Denver, is your right, and it gets respected around our state.

But rather than me pontificating further, let a few photos do the talking. It is claimed they should be worth a whole lot of words and shorten up your time spent enduring one of my typical novellas!

[video=youtube;GgU34iSWHLo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgU34iSWHLo&feature=plcp[/video]

Blessings,
M-Taliesin.
 

mahkagari

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2009
Messages
1,186
Location
, ,
I'll point out that Louisville consistently ranks in the top 5 of best places to live in the US, however, its cost of living is commeasurate with that. It's also got its share of Boulderitis infection. But if you have developed somewhat of an immunity to it, Lafayette is cheaper and next door (with commeasurate drop in standard of living). Erie's not bad either and close to those two. Fun history perspective: Once upon a time in the mining days, Louisville and Lafeyette were the mining towns. The latter was home of the miners, the former the managers. The disparity in demographic and standard of living continues today.
 

widowman10

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2012
Messages
12
Location
C-springs
We're hard working but laid back, we enjoy a good conversation, love to fish, can't get enough fresh air, try to do our best to respect others...

:cool: sounds like a coloradan to me!!

That would be my preference, as well. I'm currently living in the Springs as my elderly parents live here and work is here, as well. In the future...?

yep! in the springs right now too. GREAT city, i just like to have more land is all. can't beat a plot 'o land to call your own! ('specially where you can shoot!!)



and mahkagari- i didn't know that! thanks for the interesting piece of history!
 

zach

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
228
Location
Castle Rock, Colorado, USA
Of course this is all under the caveat that you aren't from California originally in which case, Colorado sucks. You would never want to live here in the horrible cesspool of filth and something else really bad... :D

As one who was born & raised in California, that comment don't bother me... :)

When I moved here in '06 it was to get away from what I grew up in. Before I moved I had bought land out in Black Forest with plans of building there. Well, I ended up getting a job based out of Denver, so at first the drive was a little to far. Now I'm ready to move from Castle Rock and won't mind the drive.

Douglas County has been nice to me since my move, in every aspect, not just OC.
 

luv_jeeps

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 22, 2010
Messages
136
Location
Thornton, Colorado, USA
I have lived in Colorado for pretty much all my life. We moved here from Canada in 1967 so my Father could help work (mechanical engineer) on the Eisenhower Tunnel.
I have lived mostly in the northern 'burbs (Arvada, Westminster, way north Thornton.)
I love Colorado, but after living here for 40+ years, it's time for the Wife and I to leave soon. Too busy for us now. It also seems to me that the current goverment folks are trying to Kalifornicate us. Just my opinion.
I would love to stay here, but something tells us it's time to go. I have 6 acres of land in the Black Hills of South Dakota, all bordered by National Forest, and we're going to look at some places in the Scottsdale area in October for something in the winter.
 

manveru

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
39
Location
wiggins,co
if your going to move to colorado make sure where ever you go has water, it wouldn't surprise me if guns start being drawn on the issue. millions, probably hundreds of millions have been spent in the courts over it.
 
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