Why do people leave Colorado? (Denver, Colorado Springs: real estate, housing, rent)

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by nelumbo

And I find it strange that so many people dislike humidity, because I love it! (No, I am not joking )

heehee
I like a little humidity, too.
I can identify with esya in post #82.
Elemental, your point is well-taken, you too, Badams.
But sometimes people are just ready for a change.
I first moved to Colorado in 1968--I was 14.
By the time the spouse and I reached our 50's, Denver had changed, and he was ready for a different job.
I missed the ocean, and was tired of the cold.
Obviously Colorado, a place of much grandeur and beauty, still tugs at my heart, and I enjoy this forum quite a bit.

[elemental]

When you have been around long enough to recognize a change, you also have to consider your own growth. Sometimes, you just live out your time without the realization that internally your values, likes, dislikes and tolerance levels for characterisitcs of an area and/or society are changing. Then you wake up one morning ready to go. This is just evolution. It's what caused people to emigrate, migrate, or just plain flee once these changes became apparent and disturbed them enough to take action. Do not fret. Take those great memories and begin your search for a new place to dwell before the bitterness consumes you.

[Mike78613]

Originally Posted by elemental

When you have been around long enough to recognize a change, you also have to consider your own growth. Sometimes, you just live out your time without the realization that internally your values, likes, dislikes and tolerance levels for characterisitcs of an area and/or society are changing. Then you wake up one morning ready to go. This is just evolution. It's what caused people to emigrate, migrate, or just plain flee once these changes became apparent and disturbed them enough to take action. Do not fret. Take those great memories and begin your search for a new place to dwell before the bitterness consumes you.

I got a tear in my eye!

I lived in Colorado from 1981 - 1987, then came back in 1991-1996. Moved and now / still in Austin, TX. As you mention above, I ran fast as heck to get out of Colorado because I wanted that change!

Living in Austin now for little over 9 years, I miss what Colorado had to offer, but I plan to be back very soon.

[dgolocal]

Well. I am a Durango Colorado native since birth. This year i just turned 25 and have had my own child and am now realizing my child and i will have to be moving in the near future. It is not that i hate this place it is that we are experiencing a high rate of transplants whom of course are more wealther and are buying up houses like crazy. Which raises the cost of everything for us "true" locals. Also i find it sad how developers are carving the beautiful mountain sides to make more houses for these people.

[elemental]

Originally Posted by Mike78613

I got a tear in my eye!

I lived in Colorado from 1981 - 1987, then came back in 1991-1996. Moved and now / still in Austin, TX. As you mention above, I ran fast as heck to get out of Colorado because I wanted that change!

Living in Austin now for little over 9 years, I miss what Colorado had to offer, but I plan to be back very soon.

The courage to make the change is applauded and now that you have seen another side, you are anxious to return. After 9 years, it might be like moving here for the first time. Let us know how you fare upon your return. Better to run the course of a gypsy then a hermit!

[elemental]

Originally Posted by dgolocal

Well. I am a Durango Colorado native since birth. This year i just turned 25 and have had my own child and am now realizing my child and i will have to be moving in the near future. It is not that i hate this place it is that we are experiencing a high rate of transplants whom of course are more wealther and are buying up houses like crazy. Which raises the cost of everything for us "true" locals. Also i find it sad how developers are carving the beautiful mountain sides to make more houses for these people.

Wherever beauty exists, those with the eye to recognize it will certainly take hold and make it their own. I would prefer to live with people who drive up prices by restoring old homes or building beautiful new ones than those who prefer the status quo of deterioration. By deterioration, I am referring to both the buildings and the infrastructure that supports it. Better to hold your ground where possible, embrace the positive aspects of the growth- like additional job opportunities due in large part to the development - than run to another town with a larger percentage of locals.

What do you think?

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by elemental

Wherever beauty exists, those with the eye to recognize it will certainly take hold and make it their own. I would prefer to live with people who drive up prices by restoring old homes or building beautiful new ones than those who prefer the status quo of deterioration. By deterioration, I am referring to both the buildings and the infrastructure that supports it. Better to hold your ground where possible, embrace the positive aspects of the growth- like additional job opportunities due in large part to the development - than run to another town with a larger percentage of locals.

What do you think?

I'm with dgolocal on this one. Given a choice, I would take the Durango that I knew back in 1967 over today's Durango in a New York minute. Back then, Durango was was one of the coolest towns anywhere--a place with one foot firmly in the mid-20th century and one foot back at about 1900. A schizophrenic dichotomy of a place that just took your breath away. The whole southwest part of Colorado was sort of like that then. I've said some of this before, so I'll stop now.

[steveco.]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I'm with dgolocal on this one. Given a choice, I would take the Durango that I knew back in 1967 over today's Durango in a New York minute. Back then, Durango was was one of the coolest towns anywhere--a place with one foot firmly in the mid-20th century and one foot back at about 1900. A schizophrenic dichotomy of a place that just took your breath away. The whole southwest part of Colorado was sort of like that then. I've said some of this before, so I'll stop now.

Ive never been there, but what has been the biggest difference since then? Population? Sprawl? Running water??

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by steveco.

Ive never been there, but what has been the biggest difference since then? Population? Sprawl? Running water??

Lots of sprawl now--spreading 10 miles or more north of town up what was back when some of the prettiest irrigated ranch country you could find anywhere in the West. Commerical "big-box," mall, and surburban-type car dealership development has also spread 5 miles south of town towards Carbon Jct. Of course, with all of that, the population has boomed, too.

40 years ago, the narrow gauge railroad yard dominated the south end of town. It was already an "antique" even then, with steam-powered freight trains running from Durango to Alamosa or Farmington about once a week--along with the tourist train to Silverton. The place was a mecca for railfans and history buffs who wanted to see one of the last operating steam freight railroads in North America. The buildings and yards there had not changed for nearly three-quarters of a century. Now, most all of that is gone, covered up with the usual tourist clap-trap of hotels and the like. The railroad's roundhouse (which, itself, burned in 1989 and was rebuilt) and the railroad depot are about the only structures left from that earlier era.

Though, even back then, there was a lot of tourist-related businesses on Main Ave., there was no mall and the downtown area was the shopping district for the town. Like many places then, most of the businesses were locally-owned. It still had a small-town feel.

To sum it up, Durango back-when was a very interesting place with a lot of history and scenery that one could find almost nowhere else in the country. More and more now, it's just another yuppie tourist town and second-home nest. It's pretty much lost what made it unique.

This website Durango and its branches gives a pretty good feel for what things looked like in Durango back in the 60's, at least down around the railroad yard area.

[steveco.]

So would you say that it has lost its historical value? Maybe by destroying some of the more historical aspects of the town. How many people live there? I ask all these questions because I really want to take a weekend trip down there some time. I have heard some good things about the monarch ski resort to and was going to check it out this year