Glenwood Springs (Denver, Grand Junction, Durango: real estate, jobs, housing)

[samaria]

thank you jazzlover for your post....

[Nea1]

My husband and I just moved to New Castle. He makes 90000 a year in the construction field (he drives to Aspen). I dont work now and we are doing great here with our 3 kids. Honestly our bills didnt go up much from AZ, in fact our car insurance went down. Rent went up 400 a month and our utilities are cheaper surprisingly!! Love it here.

[samaria]

Thank you,Nea1 for your response...give us some hope...Can someone give us some information regarding high schools in this area>
thanks,........samaria

[MountainQueen]

Uhhh there is no "gridlock" here, not sure where you heard that...

As far as crime, it is on the rise. Read the Post Independent to get that info...(Perhaps compared to Denver or other large cities the crime is lower, but things like schools closing because of racial threats written on portapotties is happening more often)

Affordbale housing... nope. Unless you consider a trailer, maybe. The majority of homes here start at 350k (small and not very nice) and go up QUICKLY. There really is not much available(unless you are ok with townhomes/condos) under 500K.

And...coltoncity, why would you think you could not get to Aspen "because of the roads".. Do you think we just close up shop come winter? LOL. I wish

GWS does NOT have a new WalMart. It is small and dirty. Rifle has the new WalMart.

This area is not somewhere to just try out. It is EXPENSIVE and very very little available housing. PLEASE read our local papers before just showing up

postindependent.com
aspentimes.com

[jazzlover]

Bluntly, I don't like Glenwood. Real estate is overpriced. I used to have to go there frequently on business. To me, it has the feel of a high-priced tourist trap. That's unfortunate--many years ago it was a very nice community. That all changed when I-70 was put right through the middle of it. The area towards Carbondale used to be nice, too. Now, it's just a suburbanized trophy-house ghetto.

Working people are slowly getting forced out of Glenwood, just like they got forced out of Aspen and Basalt starting 20 years ago. More and more "worker bees" are having to live in Silt and Rifle, and make the commute to Aspen or Glenwood.

Many native Coloradans call the strip from Denver to Glenwood "the I-70 sacrifice zone," meaning they think it's too screwed up to save. Maybe they're right . . .

[Nea1]

I live in New Castle just moved here from Chandler AZ. We love it, cant beat the people or the views. Love the small town schools as well. . We are in Castle Valley Ranch and have a 1900 sq.ft home for 364,000.00 with great views near the schools. I did the big home less money before. Hated where we lived, big city high crime crappy schools, too many big box stores, strip malls. I love it here, only two Walmarts and no Home Depot!! I will say I am not used to the low property taxes here in New Castle. Ours a year is 900.00, where as in AZ we paid 300,000 for a 1400 sq.ft home and had 2500 in yearly prop taxes!!!!

[Nea1]

Originally Posted by samaria

Thank you,Nea1 for your response...give us some hope...Can someone give us some information regarding high schools in this area>
thanks,........samaria

My oldest will be attending Coal Ridge high school outside New Castle, new one. then there is Glenwood Springs high and Rifle high as well. My kids love the small schools. Their last school was 1500 kids. now it is 400!!! We are buying a home in Castle Valley Ranch in new Castle. Great place with great schools.

[randalmartin]

Awesome post MoutainQueen!! Although if you want to try something then rent for 6 months or so before you make an expensive mistake.

[thepizzaguy]

I've been to GWS many times on vacation. Usually stayed there a week. The worst time to be on the road is between 4 and 6 PM. The street is a parking lot from the Red Mountain Inn all the way to Aspen it seemed. It was so frustrating went I accidentally went shopping and got stuck in the traffic. I've always been in "rush hour" traffic went I drove from Aspen to Glenwood Springs. Argh....

It is very bike and pedestrian friendly, (except during rush hour). My favorite place there is Hanging Falls. The first time I saw in like in 1999-2000 it was like a major flood. In 2005, Grizzly Creek was barely flowing, and Hanging Falls was not very impressive. The bike trail through the canyon is cool. In either direction, coming and going it never felt as it I was biking uphill. It was like down hill in both directions. May I was just in a good mood.

I was also lucky to see a brown bear at the Amtrak Station.

[Sean&Payten'smom]

My husband and I have been wanting to move to Colorado for a few years now, my husband grew up in Ouray, and only wants to live on the western slope, so I have been looking into several cities out there, I was looking at Glenwood Springs, it looks nice, does any one have any information that might help, and any other suggestions would be nice, we have two small children and want to live somewhere family friendly! Thanks for all your help