Questions about Salida (Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo: foreclosures, Home Depot, find a job)

[redwhiteblue]

I have visited Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, & Montrose.
Can you tell me if Salida looks similar to any of these areas terrain wise?

Is there many trees in Salida? the few pictures I have seen don't show too many.

Where do people go to do their big shopping, if they needing to go to a mall?

How is the weather? Is it pretty sunny most of the time?

If you live in Salida what do you like about it and what do you dislike about it?

Is Salida considered a liberal leaning town or a conservative leaning town?

Thanks!!

[Melanzana92]

Terrain: Salida is a hilly little town with a tiny centralized core and then ranches, etc. spread out over a few square miles. The mountains are just to the west - similar to Colorado Springs.

Trees: Like most places east of the Rockies in CO, most trees in Salida are planted, not natural. There is a small river that runs through where trees grow along its banks. Pine trees will do just fine in Salida, and regular (oak, maple, etc.) trees will grow fine as well but they need to be watered more and are more maintenance-demanding than pines.

Shopping: When people go shopping, I'd imagine that most go to the Walmart, Target, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. in Castle Rock just a few miles to the southeast. For a mall, they can go to Castle Rock's outlet mall or they can go to Park Meadows at the junction of I-25 and C-470 which is farther away but offers a lot more retail.

Sun/weather: Like most of the Front Range, Salida enjoys many sunny days - well above average than the nation overall. Since the town is cloer in to the mountains, the chance for popcorn thunderstorms in the late spring and summer is much higher than a place further east such as Parker. These rainstorms are quite enjoyable though, in my opinion, because they water whatever greenery you have and in 15 minutes you can be back outside enjoying the weather.

I don't live in Salida, I live in nearby Castle Rock, but I do like it here very much.

And for politics, I'm not sure, but Douglas County as a whole leans quite conservative, and is becoming more liberal as people my age start to reach voting ability. I'm sure Salida leans well conservatively.

Oh, and if you're looking for work, you will definitely have to be a commuter if you find a job because the most that's in Salida are a couple small restaurants and a gas station, I think.

That's about all I got for ya!

-Tony

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Tony, you just spend a lot of time talking about Sedalia. The poster asked about Salida. Totally different place.

Salida is located on Highway 285 along the Arkansas River, south of Leadville. In answer to your question, OP, Salida, is a small town in a valley with some really high mountains around. It doesn't look at all like GJ, CS, or Montrose. There's a WalMart in town, but no malls. I would assume that the closest malls are in Colorado Springs. The downtown has a lot of small tourist shops and there is an active art community. A lot of retirees like Salida due to the relatively mild winters. I suggest you spend some time looking at google maps and even the street views.

I don't live there and don't know anything about politics in the area.

[Melanzana92]

Oh..........

I'm now going to proceed to smack my head against a wall for being so stupid. My bad. I swear I'm developing dyslexia or something or another... Sorry about that. I tend to get those two towns mixed up all the time...


But yeah... Dreaming of Hawaii pretty much nailed it. I don't know much about Salida, but the high mountain areas tend to lean liberal, probably mostly because they're pulled to the left by the resort towns. Since Salida isn't a resort town (there is some tourism, but not much compared to Breckenridge or Aspen), I'd guess that it is moderate to conservative. According to CNN, in the 2008 election, Chaffee County voted 49% McCain and 49% Obama. So the area is pretty much split in the middle of liberal and conservative, using the '08 presidential election for data.

[lalahartma]

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1440&bih=700&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q =salida%2C+co&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

images ^^

I love Salida.

[jazzlover]

Salida may be considered "mild" for a mountain climate at 7,000 ft., but it is not climatically mild in the context that most people think. It is warmer in winter than some mountain locales because of the Chinook winds it receives, but it also means that it is often pretty windy there in winter. Because of its elevation and locale, those Chinook winds do not have as reliable or strong warming effect as they do along the Front Range.

Salida, for a mountain location, is actually pretty dry--high desert describes the area in the immediate Salida environs pretty well. Its growing season is pretty short, as well--around 90-110 days if memory serves. That means the Salida is brown for a good chunk of the year.

Culturally, Salida is pretty much split along the lines old-line conservative families (though some of them are "Union Democrats"), affluent transplant retirees, and liberal transplant trustifarians, hippies, etc. As I and others have noted, Salida is a pretty rotten place to live if one has to rely on the local economy for an income--low salaries and high housing costs being the toxic combination.

Shopping beyond the basic necessities, Wal-mart, and tourist trinket shop experience means going to Pueblo or Colorado Springs, either about a hundred miles away, or to Denver at 140 miles.

Salida used to be a very different place. It had a strong local economy--the limestone quarry at Monarch was running, Climax was running above Leadville (a lot of Salida folks worked there), Koppers had a big railroad tie production plant near town, and the railroad was a substantial local employer. All provided pretty high wage jobs for Salidans, and all of those industries are gone from Salida. Too bad it all changed.

[proveick]

Unless you are independently wealthy or have a fat pension good luck with Salida. I have friends getting "economically eliminated" after living there 10-12 yrs. The rural economy is in the crapper.
When gas hits $4-$5/ gallon it's just going to get worse. Bring your job with you, there are NO jobs there. RP

[proveick]

Case in point.
Foreclosures in Colo. mountains scaling record heights - The Denver Post
RP

[lalahartma]

Oh, maybe I can take advantage of my 'work from home' job! I'd love to live in Salida rather than CoS.

[davidv]

My grandparents settled in Salida, and that is where my father graduated from high school. He got out by joining the military and then settling in Denver. My dad's family was rather large and I had a few aunts and uncles and many cousins to visit when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.

It's all changed. Of the 20 or so cousins that I had there, only one or two remain. They have all moved somewhere else in order to find jobs. My grandparents are gone and only one aunt and uncle remain. Salida is still one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, but the working class is gone and has been replaced largely by retirees and artists. Not that I have anything against that, I just miss the sleepy little town that it once was.