The 5 things you should do if you want to live in rural Colorado:

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by francowell

Tool Shed

You wrote: Franco, where in CO did you end up, and what can you tell me about it?

All things considered, Grand Junction seems to most closely offer what I was looking for. Even though it is a bit too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and somewhat barren looking, population-wise it's a good fit. Since my wife and I are dependant on the local economy, decent paying jobs are a necessity, as is affordable housing and Grand Junction offers both of those. We both love hiking in nature which is easy to do here. The wineries, orchards, and locally grown produce are BIG pluses. The downtown is quite nice as well. We enjoy weekend getaways and/or simple day trips. Within a 2 hr drive we can visit the Grand Mesa, Ouray, Glenwood Springs, & Moab UT. Add another hour on to that and we can visit Crested Butte, Aspen, Telluride. And I'm sure there are many other places within both of those ranges that we haven't yet discovered.

regards....Franco

hey, isn't that kind of cool how those vineyards and orchards etc sort of spill out of the mountain canyons via the river onto the desert like that? i bet the local produce IS awesome there!

[megabyte]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

3. Colorado's current transportation system is an abomination, not because its highways are inadequate, but because the state (like everywhere else in the U.S.) over-relies upon them. Colorado should move to develop a robust short and medium-haul intermodal (rail and highway) freight transportation infrastructure. There need to be fewer trucks on the highways and more freight moving by rail. It can be done, and some states are moving in this direction (Pennsylvania is a good example). Colorado needs to quit having much of its remaining rail infrastructure slowly dismanted and needs to revitalize and expand the current structure. New development should singly shoulder future costs of highway expansion--it should not be socialized on all of the taxpayers of the state.

4. The state should re-examine its entire tax structure, and eliminate ALL direct and indirect subsidies that encourage sprawl, unsustainable transportation infrastructure and general waste of scarce resources--most notably, water. It should also eliminate direct and indirect subsidies that encourage non-productive investments and consumption, and move to encourage investment in industries and commerce that promote efficiency and conservation.

I live in central Pennsylvania (harrisburg) where 3 major highways intersect we have major rail hubs but only for goods moving from west to east coast nothing benifits us. I live in a city thats all about trucks not a day goes by where a trucker doesnt kill someone usually from NY passing through. This is trucker h*ll. We have no public transportation yes we have buses but to get anywhere you have to plan a day in advance. I have lived in germany and there public transportation is apart of everyday life most people dont even own cars like in NY city. You mention scarcity of water what do you mean? Do you have instances in the summer when you cannot get fresh water? Or do you have to watch your shower usage sometimes? On the east coast we have water purity problems like contamination with clorine and bacteria where we have to boil the water to drink it. As for taxes being raised local government whole purpose is to raise the taxes to increase the infrastructure to lure new residents to pay into the tax base. Our local taxes have been going up yearly because city folk keep moving out to our suburbs. Most politicians need the tax base to increase their power base so they can deprive you of your liberties. To just add a deck onto my house I have to apply for many permits all of which can be refused at anytime. I have to pay the local government engineer to survey my own property before I can subdivide the property usually $5000 then they increase my taxes because I own two properties while denying me a tax break on my first property because its now worth less (because of subdividing it). Taxes on a $200,000 one acre house in rural harrisburg pa is on the average $3800.

[Lindenin]

Great thread. I'm a strong believer that we are all stewards. If you move to a place, you need to become a steward of that place. If you move to rural Colorado, know that you need to help figure out ways to slow down the Mountain Pine Beetle... you need to help balance your need to water your lawn with the fact that the area was meant to be brown.... you need to realize that every time you add a convenience, like a Gart Sports or Circuit City store, you are decreasing the land devoted to nature.

[nm_photojournalist]

Just a "quick" thought, along with my appreciation for the "logical, and concise" views produced on this forum.

"The only constant in life...is change!" I forget the author, but a "thinker" obviously! :-)
We either adapt, or fall behind, or worse...disappear.

The originial statement regarding rural living, certainly holds true for New Mexico also.

I recently responded to another forum letter, where the party wanted to move to New Mexico, and be near "big city" shopping, schools, and activities...but specifically close to a certain town they loved while visiting. This "town" is 5,000 population, and the nearest "big city" is 100 miles away.
As we see on these forums, unfortunately, many people are literally blind to the conflicts between their "dreams" and "reality!"

I guess they'll just have to "adapt!" :-)

Everybody keep thinking and talking though. We'll adapt best by listening to all points of view.

[snshyne005]

2. Don’t expect to be greeted with open arms by many of the rural Colorado natives. You, and thousands of other people like you, are moving to rural Colorado. You are causing the real estate market to inflate and you are demanding more and more governmental services. That will translate into higher taxes for the current residents. Many of those like you have contributed to the demise of the industries that historically supported much the local population—ranching, farming, logging, mining. You are also helping to make it economically impossible for many of the native residents’ children to stay in the community in which they grew up. And, unless those natives are prostituting themselves by selling you their land, or by working in the real estate or construction industries to pander to your needs, you are doing little to benefit them economically. Your increasing presence is reducing the amount of open space and agricultural land that they have enjoyed—often for generations. Your presence means more traffic congestion, less solitude, inflating living costs, and—often—increased social problems. Most of the natives didn’t ask you to show up and a lot of them, at least privately, wish you hadn’t.




Jazzlover,

Welcome to the United States! It's not just Colorado, it's everywhere. The Montana boys on the forum next door are saying the same thing! Chances are, even if new people didn't move into your towns you guys would start trying to develop your own land. It's gonna happen everywhere and to everyone--sad, yes, but don't just sit there and blame the ones who are coming into your state, they aren't the officials behind the decisions that are being made. I'm from Minnesota--a state with a high rate of people moving in--and we've had to get used to it too. It sucks when you see farmland disappearing, and two hundred houses go up that all look exactly the same. But I'm not about to blame the people who are coming here. It would happen regardless. It's human nature to always want more than what we have. This is the consequence for our greed.

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by snshyne005

2. Don’t expect to be greeted with open arms by many of the rural Colorado natives. You, and thousands of other people like you, are moving to rural Colorado. You are causing the real estate market to inflate and you are demanding more and more governmental services. That will translate into higher taxes for the current residents. Many of those like you have contributed to the demise of the industries that historically supported much the local population—ranching, farming, logging, mining. You are also helping to make it economically impossible for many of the native residents’ children to stay in the community in which they grew up. And, unless those natives are prostituting themselves by selling you their land, or by working in the real estate or construction industries to pander to your needs, you are doing little to benefit them economically. Your increasing presence is reducing the amount of open space and agricultural land that they have enjoyed—often for generations. Your presence means more traffic congestion, less solitude, inflating living costs, and—often—increased social problems. Most of the natives didn’t ask you to show up and a lot of them, at least privately, wish you hadn’t.




Jazzlover,

Welcome to the United States! It's not just Colorado, it's everywhere. The Montana boys on the forum next door are saying the same thing! Chances are, even if new people didn't move into your towns you guys would start trying to develop your own land. It's gonna happen everywhere and to everyone--sad, yes, but don't just sit there and blame the ones who are coming into your state, they aren't the officials behind the decisions that are being made. I'm from Minnesota--a state with a high rate of people moving in--and we've had to get used to it too. It sucks when you see farmland disappearing, and two hundred houses go up that all look exactly the same. But I'm not about to blame the people who are coming here. It would happen regardless. It's human nature to always want more than what we have. This is the consequence for our greed.

i think jazzlover has a good handle on some of this, while i think you're also right in some ways. yet, there can be some nuances to the mindset and nature of the "growth" (and the resources - and people! - it taxes) in CO. and it can take living there for a while to really begin seeing some of that.

[McGowdog]

Dude, you're my idol! Look at the responses you provoked;

The 5 things you should do if you want to live in rural Colorado: (Denver: mortgage)

Jazzlover, you have the right to express yourself in these forums. But so do I, and I'm telling you that I am so fed up with your negativity, that you have officially turned me off to wanting to move to Colorado. Why don't you just put up a great big sign at the Colorado border, telling people to turn around and go home? I've never encountered such an unwelcoming attitude, and frankly I'm sick of it.

If you don't want people coming to Colorado, fine. I'll go somewhere else. It's a shame, because I really had my heart set on the area. But I'd be too reminded of your attitude and it would just make me feel uncomfortable and unwanted.

I'm sorry you feel the rest of the country is to blame for the problems in Colorado. I'm sure the native Americans felt the same way about the settlers.

Jazzlover... you should have just wrote....

Colorado - INVITE ONLY..

Only native Coloradans are worthy of living here, we hate everyone else, and we are tough mother-efffrs that may shoot you if you move here. Colorado was once a nice, green paradise, but now it is a brown wasteland with out water and higher taxes. We are grumpy people who get irritated with paved roads and more than two families living within 80 acres of each other.


Nice try to badmouth your community for your own selfish reasons, but luckily in America, anyone can buy any piece of land they want, and stake their claim to enjoy life as they please, hopefullyJazzlover you won't be so grumpy if we are ever neighbors.

Franco, where in CO did you end up, and what can you tell me about it?

Jazzlover,

Welcome to the United States! It's not just Colorado, it's everywhere.

Now please leave those of us who are still here "suffering" in Colorado alone!

"you cant live in a state and close the gate behind you"

I guess the only other thing we could do is move out again, and just leave all of the "locals" who were born here .

You guys are living in the past. Get over it. Things change. People move in, people leave. If you don't like Colorado anymore - move! You don't own the whole thing. If somebody wants to build a motocross track on their property then it is their right to do so. The whining on this thread isn't even unique to Colorado anyway. Far from. Jazzlover is stuck in the 1950's or something.

He is a broken record like Rawlings (with all the conservative ranting) and LovesBoating telling us a 100 times about his accident last winter. Get over it!

This has been a beauty of a thread!

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Dude, you're my idol! Look at the responses you provoked;

The 5 things you should do if you want to live in rural Colorado: (Denver: mortgage)














This has been a beauty of a thread!

wow. colorado threads. so hostile.

but seriously, i have to say some of the tendency to say things like "in america we can do what the hell we want" makes little sense to me. it seems a little like saying, "hey, in MY house i'll s#!t all over the floor AND the back yard and turn the gas of the stove on and see what happens just 'cause i CAN". "why, i'll SHOOT ya you tell me not to let my septic tank leach into your yard!" excellent stuff.

[NewAgeRedneck]

McGowDog wrote:

Franco, where in CO did you end up, and what can you tell me about it?

I've been living in Grand Junction for about 14 months. There's lots of information about Grand Junction already posted. I recommend starting with a search, on the words Grand Junction. Send me a private message if you have specific questions that aren't answered in previous posts. I'll help you out anyway I can.

Maybe Jazzlover gets a bit grumpy at times, but he contributes so much wisdom that it's a non-issue for me. I certainly don't agree with everything he writes, but then again I don't agree 100% with anyone on the forum. I might add that no one I'm aware of agrees with me 100% either. He has written some of my favorite posts! I hope you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Also, keep in mind, that only place I have encountered animosity toward newcomers is here on the forum. That is likely to be your experience in Colorado too.

blessings....Franco

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by NewAgeRedneck

McGowDog wrote:

Franco, where in CO did you end up, and what can you tell me about it?

I've been living in Grand Junction for about 14 months. There's lots of information about Grand Junction already posted. I recommend starting with a search, on the words Grand Junction. Send me a private message if you have specific questions that aren't answered in previous posts. I'll help you out anyway I can.

Maybe Jazzlover gets a bit grumpy at times, but he contributes so much wisdom that it's a non-issue for me. I certainly don't agree with everything he writes, but then again I don't agree 100% with anyone on the forum. I might add that no one I'm aware of agrees with me 100% either. He has written some of my favorite posts! I hope you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Also, keep in mind, that only place I have encountered animosity toward newcomers is here on the forum. That is likely to be your experience in Colorado too.

blessings....Franco

Hey Redneck, I still owe you a rep but can't yet. (You know how it is) But you are first on my list.

But McGowdog DID NOT wrote: any such thing, he quoted it. I think someone else wrote that about 3 months ago.

PS: If JL was 100% right, there had BETTER be a GOD! If Redneck were 100% right, there had BETTER be a DEVIL!