Looking at COS as a possible relocation from San Diego and Orlando (Empire: lease, to live)

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by BarstowC

How about Farmington, NM? You have Navajo Lake to the east, and over by Cortez, CO, you have Mcphee Reservoir. There are some lakes to the north around Durango, CO; they are colder, but very beautiful and scenic. Farmington has everything one needs. And best of all, it is centrally located. Colorado mountains to the north; Monument Valley, Four Corners, and canyon country to the west (heck, you can even get to Lake Powell in a reasonable amount of time); Navajo country to the south.

Ooooh that sounds nice! I haven't explored NM much, so it's definitely something to consider.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by stablegenius

Ooooh that sounds nice! I haven't explored NM much, so it's definitely something to consider.

The thing to keep in mind about Farmington is that it's rural and very isolated. The city itself is under 50k and the closest major city is Albuquerque - 180 miles away.

[BarstowC]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

The thing to keep in mind about Farmington is that it's rural and very isolated. The city itself is under 50k and the closest major city is Albuquerque - 180 miles away.

It is somewhat rural and it is somewhat isolated, but Amazon Prime delivers there.

[willc86]

to give you an idea, since late DEC it has been 20/30s to 40s maybe 50s during the days. a few days in between with high 50s. CO gets cold but does get hot in the summer.

if you want warmer weather, I would suggest penrose and below...even then it gets cold. If you want more variety I would say maybe the desert states besides CO. Maybe southern part of Colorado or even Arizona.

other than that, CO is a good place to be if one can afford it and dont mind the growing traffic. We have a bunch of open spaces, and of course beautiful forests and land!

[Vision67]

When we tire of cold winter weather, a cheap airline ticket to Tucson is good for a warm vacation.

Second choice is Honolulu.

[TCHP]

You didn't mention work. that is certainly a big factor on if Cos and Co in general would work for you. If you have a remote job, Cos does have a great tele-communications infrastructure to support that.

Some sites to check out to see if Cos would be a good fit for you outside the info you have shared so far. If you think it still is viable, then nearly everyone on here would recommend a visit to evaluate in person.

https://www.visitcos.com/ Things to do and the touristy perspective

https://coloradosprings.gov/ Local government and services with more local flavor recreation.

[DrDog]

Can’t imagine anyone liking Farmington.

[Kerguelen]

Originally Posted by stablegenius

I tend to shy away from the south because much of it has gators (I think?). Southern bodies of water just seem way too dangerous, filled with too many things that want to kill me. I'll look into the Ozarks. For some reason, I just hate the idea of Texas. Nothing against the people, it just seems hot and flat. I can't do flat. I have been spoiled by San Diego's perfect weather, so anything is going to take an adjustment. I tried mostly warm (Orlando) and I didn't love the fact that it was warm all. the. time. So I'm thinking I may rather be on the colder side. Colorado is so beautiful too.

I may be able to do with the extreme cold (at times), although I'd be taking a big gamble moving there just to find out I hate it. I was reading some of the threads here that said sometimes in February you can have a 60 degree day. I think I'd be ok with winters where you get plenty of sun, and an occasional, slightly warmer day. Like I said I don't necessarily need to be IN the water, so much as ON the water and I figure in the summer, that could be possible?

The Ozarks don't have gators. (Shame too or gator meat might be more readily available.) The lakes here are for the most part safe, although some spots are absolutely full of bugs. Just keep that in mind and it's fine.
Temperatures range (on average) from 20s in the middle of winter to around 95-100 in the middle of summer. It can be colder or hotter on some days. Sometimes winters have exceptionally warm days, we once had a 80 degree day in February. Also, thunderstorms. Lots of them. (I like thunderstorms the best, others may disagree.)

It doesn't get too cold in my opinion, but some winters the roads can get icy which is a risk in the hilly regions. We usually get snow, in small amounts, a couple times a year. Summers are b*tchin hot and humid, not as hot as Texas but too hot for me. Causes me breathing problems, which is one of the reasons I want to leave. But if you can swing that, there's a lot of lakes nearby and while it's not mountains, it's not flat either. Forested, to the extent that even Springfield has a fair amount of greenery in the city. Rent, gas prices, and general cost of living is very cheap...although wages are also very low.

That's a bit of a tangent for the Colorado forum, though.

[stablegenius]

@Kerguelen, I'm not sure the Ozarks are for me. I liked Florida. If I end up moving back to a climate with warm summers I may as well move back there I guess.

[TCHP]

How long until you move? You could get a subscription to Springs Magazine and watch it for a while to decide if the area fits with your lifestyle.

https://springsmag.com/category/arts-culture/ to get an electronic view (the paper mag is much better) and decide if you want to subscribe.