My take on the Grand Junction Area (Montrose, Orchard Mesa: sales, sales tax)

[BornintheSprings]

I have passed through the town on several occasions but never stayed for very long. What is it like to live there? How are the restaurants,nightlife, and outdoor activities? Also on average how expensive is it compared to other similar sized towns?

[StarrySkiesAbove]

There are several threads on Grand Junction, this is one and there may be others that interest you; use the forum search tool and it will give you a list.

Why Aren't More People Interested In The Grand Junction Area?

[BornintheSprings]

If that thread isn't on the first page its worthless. I am creating a new thread on Grand Junction!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

If that thread isn't on the first page its worthless. I am creating a new thread on Grand Junction!

I've merged your question into a recent thread that provides the sort of general info you're seeking.

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by iknowftbll

Grand Junction recently landed a single-A affiliate for the Colorado Rockies. Has that turned out to be a good draw for the community? I thought it was brilliant when it happened. I hope it is going well for the team and community alike.

It's worked out well for the community. They had been based out of Casper, Wyoming for the last several years. Poor attendance was the problem there. A lot of money was spent to update Suplezio Field and even though we're just single A over here (Rookie League) GJ made a good move to park the club over here. I go to a dozen games or so a season. To be sure, it's a short season (mid-June to late August)

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

outdoor activities?

If you're into fishing, you'll stay plenty busy. The Grand Mesa sits east of town, stretches out over 50 miles long. It's the largest flattop mountain in the world. And there are dozens of charted lakes up there, and a few dozen uncharted ones as well. Plenty of lower level lakes and reservoirs surrounding Grand Junction; Corn Lake, Rifle Gap reservoir, Highline Reservoir, Mack Mesa, and others.

Youth baseball has quite a few ball fields to choose from, those fields are just off I-70 between 24 and 25 Road.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

If you're into fishing, you'll stay plenty busy. The Grand Mesa sits east of town, stretches out over 50 miles long. It's the largest flattop mountain in the world. And there are dozens of charted lakes up there, and a few dozen uncharted ones as well. Plenty of lower level lakes and reservoirs surrounding Grand Junction; Corn Lake, Rifle Gap reservoir, Highline Reservoir, Mack Mesa, and others.

Youth baseball has quite a few ball fields to choose from, those fields are just off I-70 between 24 and 25 Road.

Awesome that sounds great I assume theres lots of good hiking trails as well.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

Awesome that sounds great I assume theres lots of good hiking trails as well.

The Book Cliffs and Colorado National monument are nearby.

Check out this thread also - info you're asking about has been discussed there: Why Aren't More People Interested In The Grand Junction Area?

[CosmicWizard]

BornintheSprings wrote: Awesome that sounds great I assume theres lots of good hiking trails as well.


If hiking and/or mountain biking is your thing, Grand Junction will suit you very well. There are trails on the edge of town in the Lunch Loop area, more trails another 2 miles past the Lunch Loop parking lot ... in the Colorado National Monument. Then you have the fabulous trails in McInnis Canyon, adjacent to the National Monument on the Fruita side. A few miles west is another set of trails on the
Horsethief Bench overlooking the Colorado River. There is an abundance of trails on the nearby Grand Mesa, with a trail under construction that will connect the town of Palisade with the top of the Grand Mesa. Bangs Canyon is another hiking area on the edge of Grand Junction. There are others as well, but these are the ones that come readily to mind.

[elvira310]

I keep on seeing this thread pop up and I finally sat down to read it all. I enjoyed the OP's opinion and it made me feel like I'd really like GJ.

I visited GJ in the Summer of 2014, with the thought of perhaps eventually moving there, or Montrose. I'm in a creative field, and if I moved to GJ would bring my work with me. It seems like many of the things discussed would not be an issue for me. Restaurants? Del Taco is just fine, and I availed myself of it when I was in GJ! Oh, I guess I do like to go to a restaurant now and then (infrequently) and it sounds like GJ would have more than enough. I was very impressed with a soup chain joint in GJ, Zoup ( https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._Colorado.html ) which I very much enjoyed. This should tell you at what level I am at when it comes to fine dining. (At least Zoup is not Golden Corral, okay? )

Concerts and such? I grew up going to concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, but even then I never went a lot. I have long since gotten used to not going to many concerts, and when I do, it'll probably be when I'm in L.A. and can go to the Hollywood Bowl!

My main interest would be the outdoors, just traveling around and looking at it, visiting different beautiful spots, and I already know that the GJ and Montrose area have plenty to offer within a few hours' drive!

As for arts, I did spend some considerable time at GJ's Art Center. Home - Western Colorado Center for the Arts I told the people there about my hopes of eventually moving to the area, asked about different classes, looked at the art gallery, visited their pottery studio, and was favorably impressed. I'm from S. California and thought their ceramics studio was just fine. They also had a ceramics show on display in one of their galleries and it had some very nice stuff. Another gallery had some excellent paintings.

Now I can't say, just from a few days spent there, that I know all there is about the arts in GJ, but assuming that the Art Center is going along just as well as it was when I visited less than two years ago, I would say that it isn't too shabby at all. But of course, these days I don't limit myself to only "local" art scenes. If I were to move to GJ (or Montrose), I'd be selling my creative work online, as well as working to sell my work at galleries all over Colorado (and the rest of the USA), not just the town I was living in. All I can say is that, for local classes and associating with fellow creative types and artists, I thought GJ looked perfectly fine, especially for a town of that size.