tell me--what is colorado like?

[gotta get out of memphis]

I live in Memphis, TN and am intending to move to Colorado in a few years. I am tired of the crime and the ghetto fab. Not saying that crime doesnt exist in every city, that would be naive. I have been to the front range several times and think it is beautiful. Mountains in every view. One question, I have not made it during the summer months yet. Here in Memphis a typical summer is 100 days of 90+ degree temps with no less that 90% humidity. What is a Colorado summer like?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by gotta get out of memphis

I live in Memphis, TN and am intending to move to Colorado in a few years. I am tired of the crime and the ghetto fab. Not saying that crime doesnt exist in every city, that would be naive. I have been to the front range several times and think it is beautiful. Mountains in every view. One question, I have not made it during the summer months yet. Here in Memphis a typical summer is 100 days of 90+ degree temps with no less that 90% humidity. What is a Colorado summer like?

There are very long weather threads in the COLO forums, since lots of people back east think all we have are the Rocky Mountains and all towns look like Aspen and Vail where people ski all year and drink champagne from ski boots. NOT! Our weather is the biggest misconception that people have, and weather is discussed in great detail in those threads....check the index or use Search with "weather" as a keyword (or wind, snow, tornado, blizzard, hail, thunderstorm, etc).

The eastern 125 miles of this state is FLAT (okay, "gently rolling") dry grassland prairie. Farms and cattle ranches. The mountains are in the central part of the state. The western third is even drier; semi-desert as it flows into Utah.

Our summers are remarkable for their dry air. Lots of the eastern plains get to 100 degrees, but since it's dry, it's totally different from back east. Back east is a steam room, here it's a dry sauna. Denver often gets into the 90's or even 100, we can get that here in COLO SPGS, too, and Pueblo and Canon City can also be near 100 without trouble, but it's dry air. There are no dog days of August here. Even at 90, if you're in the shade you feel quite comfortable. I'm on the north end of COLO SPGS, at 6800 feet, and rarely get above 88 here at the house, even if downtown gets to 95. We usually have our windows open, unlike the DC area, where we had the A/C running most of the time from early June to mid September.

You'll love it, come out and see for yourself. Come to Denver in the summer, stay downtown, walk to a Rockies game. Enjoy!

[Julia Garbus]

The mountains are gorgeous. But I live in the exurbs of Denver--Greeley, a flat, stinky (feedlots/meatpacking), closed-minded town. It is brown a lot. I miss water! And big trees. And the animals that live where there's water and big trees. I find Coloradans chilly without being honest. (I'm from Boston, where at least people tell it like it is.) Their mindset is individualistic, sometimes to the point of being libertarian. There's less of a recognition that people need community than I've seen in any part of the country. The weather's quirky--temps can drop or rise 50 degrees between days. The dry air makes me sneeze all year.
Yuck.

[Ticky909]

I like the whole state, plains included, may be considered boring but they're still a mile high and pretty unique.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by Ticky909

I like the whole state, plains included, may be considered boring but they're still a mile high and pretty unique.

I love living on the plains but a mile high we are not. In fact Pueblo is about 4695 feet above sea level and as you drive down the Arkansas river valley the elevation continues to drop. Keep in mind that a mile high is 5280 feet above sea level.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Julia Garbus

The mountains are gorgeous. But I live in the exurbs of Denver--Greeley, a flat, stinky (feedlots/meatpacking), closed-minded town. It is brown a lot. I miss water! And big trees. And the animals that live where there's water and big trees. I find Coloradans chilly without being honest. (I'm from Boston, where at least people tell it like it is.) Their mindset is individualistic, sometimes to the point of being libertarian. There's less of a recognition that people need community than I've seen in any part of the country. The weather's quirky--temps can drop or rise 50 degrees between days. The dry air makes me sneeze all year.
Yuck.

Waa. Greeley seems like a sore spot to compare Colorado to Baston from.

Pak th caa and git meya beeya. Ha bout' dim apples?

Originally Posted by Josseppie

...but a mile high we are not. ...Pueblo ...4695 feet ...Arkansas river valley the elevation continues to drop. ... a mile high is 5280 feet above sea level.

Well let's just get technical. But keep this in mind too; one of the lowest spots in Colorado is adjacent to the highest spot in Kansas! The Eastern Plains start at about 3300 I think and gradually grow to about 4600 to above 5000 along this "Front Range". But as some comedian once said, "It's a mile high, but it's also a mile high over here and and a mile high over there..." But we do have 14ers. How many 14ers does Taxachutsettes got? Bah! Ha bout' dim apples AGHGHGHG?