My possible move to Colorado

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by davidv

There are actually very few colleges in the mountains themselves, but you can be in the mountains if you go to Western State College (Gunnison), or Ft. Lewis College (Durango).

Adams State gettin' no respect, I tell ya! Sangres to the east, San Juans to the west. No, Alamosa isn't in the mountains but then again, neither is Durango.

FWIW, I went to CSU and Fort Collins is close enough to the mountains, but the Poudre and Big Thompson canyons are packed with people from spring through fall.

[Idunn]

If the mountains, one might as well consider Colorado Mountain College.

They have campuses in the following towns (some distinctly in the mountains):

• Aspen
• Breckenridge & Dillon
• Buena Vista
• Carbondale
• Edwards
• Glenwood Springs
• Leadville
• Rifle
• Spring Valley
• Steamboat Springs

Their website: Colorado Mountain College - Campuses in 11 Mountain Towns

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by Idunn

If the mountains, one might as well consider Colorado Mountain College.

They have campuses in the following towns (some distinctly in the mountains):

• Aspen
• Breckenridge & Dillon
• Buena Vista
• Carbondale
• Edwards
• Glenwood Springs
• Leadville
• Rifle
• Spring Valley
• Steamboat Springs

Their website: Colorado Mountain College - Campuses in 11 Mountain Towns

Great list!
I can't speak for the institution or an individual campus, but if I were choosing form that list, just based on lifestyle, my top choices would be:

5. Edwards
4. Leadville
3. Breck & Dillon
2. Carbondale
1. Buena Vista

Your cost of living will always be lower if you're not IN a ski town like Aspen, Breck or Steamboat. Leadville is one of my favorite high country towns but it's historically a mining town, is 2 miles in elevation and takes a special kind of person to live there year round. Buena Vista probably has the best mix of Cost of Living, weather, Outdoor Rec. opportunity and vicinity to front range cities (e.g. major airports).

[timothyjames14]

Originally Posted by Idunn

If the mountains, one might as well consider Colorado Mountain College.

They have campuses in the following towns (some distinctly in the mountains):

• Aspen
• Breckenridge & Dillon
• Buena Vista
• Carbondale
• Edwards
• Glenwood Springs
• Leadville
• Rifle
• Spring Valley
• Steamboat Springs

Their website: Colorado Mountain College - Campuses in 11 Mountain Towns

I was thinking the same. Recently read an article that it was one of the cheapest colleges in the country.

It will ultimately be is going to be less expensive to live in Breckenridge than it is living in Gatlinburg Tn. Go figure.

[CosmicWizard]

otterprods wrote: Buena Vista probably has the best mix of Cost of Living, weather, Outdoor Rec. opportunity and vicinity to front range cities (e.g. major airports).

Agreed! If no college is needed, about 30 minutes south of BV is the wonderful little town of Salida, which I like even better than BV.

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

Agreed! If no college is needed, about 30 minutes south of BV is the wonderful little town of Salida, which I like even better than BV.

Me too. Every time I go through there, I ask myself, why don't I live here instead?

[jazzlover]

Hmm, it seems no one is telling the OP the hard truth that out-of-state tuition costs in Colorado are skyrocketing and that Colorado's dismal fiscal situation is diminishing the quality of education available at many Colorado higher education institutions. I got a great education at a Colorado college many years ago--when tuition was very affordable (especially for in-state students) and education quality was good, even at the small state colleges. Most all of that has changed--markedly for the worse.

My recommendation: get a good education at an affordable in-state college or university where you live (and Michigan has several fine schools) and then worry about living in your "dream place." It will pay off much better in the future than paying high tuition to attend what may be a mediocre institution and then competing in Colorado with graduates with better education from non-Colorado universities for the relatively few decent jobs available compared to hordes that want them.

The Colorado schools that I consider the exception to the "mediocre" standard: Denver University (private and very expensive) and Colorado School of Mines (scholastically one of the most difficult universities in the US from which to successfully graduate--students there have little time for ANYTHING but studying if they want to actually graduate).

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I got a great education at a Colorado college many years ago--when tuition was very affordable...

Everything was affordable in 1934. But of course, you only made about 50 cents an hour, if you had any work at all...

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by otterprods

Everything was affordable in 1934. But of course, you only made about 50 cents an hour, if you had any work at all...

Well, yes, college was affordable when I attended (much later than 1934). I graduated with a good education, no student debt, and relied very little on my parents for any of my educational expenses. Those "good old days" are, indeed, gone--and most likely gone for good. That makes it about 10 times more important for today's college students to get the biggest bang for their buck in education, get serious about getting a degree that will allow them to make a living (and pay off their student debt), and get serious about being prepared to work--and work hard--to make a living once they graduate. They no longer have the luxury of a "party-on" attitude like many of their parents were able to get away with doing. Those "youngin's" are going to have to work longer, harder, and smarter than their parents to even have a chance at the life most of their parents have enjoyed--and, even with all of that, many of them won't achieve it. Hard facts, hard truths that these younger generations are just going to have to accept. That die has been already cast for them.

[otterprods]

I can't tell the future but I can say that if a young person has reasonable expectations, adequate training, and is willing to work hard from the bottom up, then their chances of succeeding are good. Beyond that, other people's opinions should have little bearing on one's choice of schools, majors, and careers.