Johnstown Feedback

[M3 Mitch]

What Shuffler said. I lived in Johnstown back in the late 1980s, it was a quiet little rural place, I bought the house at 22 Harding street for about $40K, I electrified the garage and built the carport next to it. While driving the M3 home from Memphis, I went through Denver and dropped by the old place, this was 2002 or 2003, IIRC. The McMansion builders have ruined the area, and as far as living there and working in Denver, well, you can have it, pal.

Colarado has some weird land-use regulations, you can't build a country home on less than 20 acres, so the few out there that are grandfathered can cost more than they are worth.

It does snow quite a bit around Denver. You can have sudden blizzards even into April. But I also remember riding motorcycle on a bone-dry road, in the warm sun, with snow right up to the edge of the road.

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by SuzieQ68

Hello, my husband and I are moving to Johnstown all the way from New York State. I have done alot of research. We own a RV. I am having a bit of trouble finding out which sub divisions allow them. Any advice would be appreciated, as we will be there in about four weeks.

Check with the HOA in whatever place you choose to live...in most cases HOAs don't want RVs in the 'hood. Any knowledgeable realtor should have simple info like this available. There are some boat/RV storage places along I-25 in the area, however...

[SuzieQ68]

Thanks all!!! Not used to the whole HOA thing. We dont really have to worry about those where we live now. We live in a nice area without restrictions like those. I wish my realtor would have told me. Would have saved me alot of work. I am finding communities that do allow RVs and/or do not have HOAs at all. We will be there in a couple of weeks. I am still researching schools and neighborhoods. We will definitely get a better feel for the area once we are there. I am from a smallish town. Allthough, it has tripled in size in the last ten years. I do prefer the small town feel. We will be looking in Johnstown, Milliken, Loveland, and possibly Berthoud. Any advice you can give an out of towner would be appreciated.

[NenaT]

I have read this thread two or three times, and I really like what I hear about Johnstown. My husband and I are retired Texas teachers, and we want to live closer to one of our kids--our son lives in Denver and our daughter lives in Los Angeles. We fell in love with Colorado several years ago and are seriously considering the Johnstown area. We were there in September, and upon driving up on a cornfield, my husband said, "I can live here!" We are not interested in buying a house right away--we want some time to get acclimated and to determine if we want to stay. We both love the idea of a small town close to metropolitan areas. I have spent hours on the Net, and the rents seem more than reasonable. I do have two questions: (1) What about health care? (2) Do many retired people live in the area? We saw lots of very young families in Milliken. Thanks for any help!

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by NenaT

I have read this thread two or three times, and I really like what I hear about Johnstown. My husband and I are retired Texas teachers, and we want to live closer to one of our kids--our son lives in Denver and our daughter lives in Los Angeles. We fell in love with Colorado several years ago and are seriously considering the Johnstown area. We were there in September, and upon driving up on a cornfield, my husband said, "I can live here!" We are not interested in buying a house right away--we want some time to get acclimated and to determine if we want to stay. We both love the idea of a small town close to metropolitan areas. I have spent hours on the Net, and the rents seem more than reasonable. I do have two questions: (1) What about health care? (2) Do many retired people live in the area? We saw lots of very young families in Milliken. Thanks for any help!

Nena, you might want to consider larger economic factors at play here. I don't know that Johnstown is where I'd want to be if the 'economy' implodes further and things have yet to sort themselves out. As these are 'bedroom communities', I'm wondering if those young families are going to have jobs to commute to in the next 6-12mos....and how many amenities will be left in the surrounding area. Just something to think about.

[NenaT]

Good point! Thanks...

[Tom Emmerling]

Originally Posted by NenaT

I have read this thread two or three times, and I really like what I hear about Johnstown. My husband and I are retired Texas teachers, and we want to live closer to one of our kids--our son lives in Denver and our daughter lives in Los Angeles. We fell in love with Colorado several years ago and are seriously considering the Johnstown area. We were there in September, and upon driving up on a cornfield, my husband said, "I can live here!" We are not interested in buying a house right away--we want some time to get acclimated and to determine if we want to stay. We both love the idea of a small town close to metropolitan areas. I have spent hours on the Net, and the rents seem more than reasonable. I do have two questions: (1) What about health care? (2) Do many retired people live in the area? We saw lots of very young families in Milliken. Thanks for any help!

Health Care is great around here. Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland is a level 2 trauma center and a cardiac hospital. Very good care there. You may want to look at Loveland as a lot of retired folks live there.

[NenaT]

Wow! Thanks!

[froggin4colorado]

DH applied for a position in Milliken- the Fire Chief position. We toured the area today. I couldn't get past the smell! It reminded me of Iowa, when I was a little girl. Don't know how much it will bother me. I am an educator, sped and regular ed. I am also working on becoming BCAB certified (behavior consultant for individuals...like on the autism scale). We looked at some of the home divisions and am not sure if that is for us. We are also looking at homes with land- a place for our RV and ATVs. We are currently in Fountain, south of Colorado Springs and love it here. DH is a ff at the United States Air Force Academy and I teach on Fort Carson...so a lot of diversity. It looks like the area is predominately white there in Johnston and Milliken?? I didn't know such places existed! I enjoy teaching in Title I schools with a diverse population...not sure what to do with kids who have parents that really take an interest in their child's education- I've met so few of them! I am not sure how much I will like the transition because I have lived in COS for 12 years and I have never been a fan of Denver much less done much north of Denver. I take that back, we visited Loveland once and hit Estes Park a couple of times. Wish us luck and pray that God leads us down his path!