Craig (Yampa: hotel, travel, work)

[CosmicWizard]

DrQ

Before moving ANYWHERE I strongly encourage you to spend some time in the place where you are thinking of living. Even a weekend visit will give you more relevant information than reading a thousand posts expressing someones opinion of the place. I assure you that a visit will be time, money, and energy well spent.

Someone mentioned Grand Junction as another alternative. I live here and I think it has alot to offer, but that is merely my opinion. There are many chiropractors located here already, but if you are a competent practitioner AND a good marketer, you'll do OK.

Best Wishes with your relocation.

Many Blessings.......Franco

[tycodmom]

My husband moved to Craig in 2005 for a job. We are originally from S. Cal and were moving from Las Vegas. After visiting the town, I realized I could not live there personally. We decided to move to Steamboat which we were fortunate enough to be able to. Every town has things about it that some love and some do not. The problem I personally have with Craig is that they have not kept up the community. The movie theater is a mess, there are only two restaurant's worth eating in and though there are some decent neighborhoods a good portion are not kept up and the grocery stores leave something to be desired. Meth is a huge issue in the community. That being said, my son went to school there for one year and made several friends who came from good families. There is a lot of trouble you're kids can get into,drinking and drugs are a problem due to boredom. There are good kids if your kids gravitate to that element. For adults many nice home town people. The sports programs for kids are outstanding, but the coaching can get a little rough. The education was substandard. Deer run through your yards especially in the winter and the Yampa Valley itself is beautiful. Again, I live in Steamboat which gets way more snow then Craig. I do not find the winters in Craig hard at all. The snow comes but the streets are clear in a few hours. We have a lot of sun in the winter as opposed to gloomy days. They are building a Super Walmart to compete with Big K so there is your shopping. Home Depot is two hours away. Malls in Grand Junction or Denver. Contrary to what is written the area is booming again. Lots are selling like hot cakes and housing is increasing since many can't afford to live in Steamboat and commute. To be honest, I would live in Hayden which is 15 minutes from Craig if I had a choice. Much smaller, fewer issues but easy driving to both Craig and Steamboat for groceries, movies etc. Hope this helps.

[GypsyLee]

Originally Posted by docow34

What can you tell me about Craig? Housing? High school (2 teenagers)? Weather? Community? Taxes? Everything else a newcomer would need to know...Thanks!!

Newspaper: Craig Daily Press The Craig Daily Press: Front page

As someone else has mentioned the town is a bit run down. Even those it's grown some it has been kept up as nicely as it should be. There's a KMart and a new Wal-Mart being built there right now. Village Inn, Subway, and other fast food. Housing and schools I couldn't tell you because our family members have had homes there a long time and well out of school. It's a diverse area. As mentioned meth use may be a problem there, as it is in a lot of communities now.

It would be worth visiting it first.

Good Luck!

[DO2B]

I will be in Craig for the month of August and would appreciate suggestions/advice. While I doubt I'll have much free time, can anyone suggest anything specific I shouldn't miss seeing or doing in the area? Do any of you have suggestions on where I could rent a room/apt for 1 month only?

Peace

[martytaffy]

I live in Craig. I have lived here for 16 years. This is a really nice town to live in and raise kids. The winters are a little too long and cold, but I think that the elbow room makes up for it. We have a new Walmart opening in a few weeks, a KMart, plenty of fast food, a nice bowling alley, new hospital being built, proposed new middle school, a new Walgreens starting to build, actually alot of new things coming in. I would say that this town is in a mini boom...probably because of oil, gas and coal. We also have a golf course and are 40 miles from skiing, and about 25 miles from a small airport. Traffic isn't bad and lines in stores aren't bad. It's comfortable, and there are alot of outdoor activities during the right seasons. Great town.

[TXMOMMYof5]

Originally Posted by martytaffy

I live in Craig. I have lived here for 16 years. This is a really nice town to live in and raise kids. The winters are a little too long and cold, but I think that the elbow room makes up for it. We have a new Walmart opening in a few weeks, a KMart, plenty of fast food, a nice bowling alley, new hospital being built, proposed new middle school, a new Walgreens starting to build, actually alot of new things coming in. I would say that this town is in a mini boom...probably because of oil, gas and coal. We also have a golf course and are 40 miles from skiing, and about 25 miles from a small airport. Traffic isn't bad and lines in stores aren't bad. It's comfortable, and there are alot of outdoor activities during the right seasons. Great town.

It has been 10 months since you posted this. Can you give me an update of the area? How are the schools? Is there an area that is better than the other as far as raising children?
Thank you in advance!!

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by TXMOMMYof5

It has been 10 months since you posted this. Can you give me an update of the area? How are the schools? Is there an area that is better than the other as far as raising children?
Thank you in advance!!

Most of my family still live in Craig. What would you like to know? The schools are average to slightly below. The district has a difficult time recruiting and keeping good teachers because of the area's remoteness. That being said, I went to school in the district from 5th Grade on and came out with an IQ higher than a turnip.

There are a handful of elementary schools, 1 junior high, and 1 high school. The school's aptitude rankings can be viewed at

Denver Post: School Accountability Report (SAR) and Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) results

The district in the selection box is Moffat County Re:NO1.

As far as raising kids, there isn't a lot to do in Craig. City Park does have a wave pool and a regular swimming pool, but they're only open from May/June to late August/early September. The closest town with any appreciable entertainment value (besides skiing) is Grand Junction, and it's 160 miles away.

[TXMOMMYof5]

bluescreen73,
Thank you very much for your response.
Do you know if the high school offers dual-credit courses? How close is the nearest college? My oldest will be a junior this year and he is signed up to take dual-credit courses.
How much attention is their athletic department given? My 4 older children are very athletic.
Do you have any idea what the current population for the area is? How is the housing situation? Is there an abundance of rentals or will it be near impossible for a family of our size(7) to rent?
How about the safety of the area? Is the town large enough that there is a 'good' side and a 'bad' side of town?
These are just some of the questions I can come up with right now. If you have any additional information about the area that you think I might be interested in, I would love to hear it!!
Thank you again!!

[bluescreen73]

TXMOMMYof5,
First off, you must have the patience of Job. I only have 3 kids and there are days I want to pull every hair (that's left) out of my head. 5 kids and I'd have to be committed.

I don't know if the high school offers dual credit courses but their website may have some info for you.

Moffat County High School (broken link)

Colorado Northwestern Community College has a campus in Craig and your oldest can take college placement courses there if he/she desires.

The nearest 4-year school is probably Mesa State College in Grand Junction. If you're interested in athletics, Mesa is a Division II school. The nearest D-I schools are Colorado State University in Fort Collins, The University of Wyoming in Laramie, and CU-Boulder.

The high school athletic department is big, but not by Texas standards. The football team has made the state playoffs a handful of times over the past few years and the current coach, Kip Hafey, is a former classmate of mine.

The girl's basketball team and the swim teams are also fairly highly regarded. The high school actually has an indoor pool.

The current population is between 9 and 10,000. The area is definitely experiencing a boom due to all the natural gas exploration south and west of town. It's already been covered, but most of the housing is older - late 70s/early 80s. Those are the houses that were built during the last boom.

I don't know about the rental market, you might want to call one of the local realtors to find out about that. The town newspaper's website has some banner ads for realtors.

Craig Daily Press / Craig, Colorado, News and Information

The town does have an image problem because of a high concentration of methamphetamine busts. Whether this is due to a real problem that's above the national average or aggressive law enforcement remains to be seen.

There's only one really bad area of town. Near the Ridgeview Subdivision on the west side of town is Columbine Apartments. Columbine is a lower income apartment complex and they have had issues with crime in the past. There are a handful of mobile home parks in town, some seedier than the others.

What part of Texas would you be relocating from? The reason I ask is because Craig is not the typical postcard location one would associate with Colorado. People fall in love with Colorado's mountains, the greenery, the trees, the lakes, etc. That's not Craig.

All of that is within an hour or so from Craig, but Craig is more like the Permian Basin or the Chihuahuan Desert. If you're from El Paso, Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, or Amarillo the flora are similar.

There are no high mountains in Moffat County. The highest point, Black Mountain, is "only" 10,815 feet and can easily be seen from the higher areas of town.

Moffat County is also the 2nd largest county in the state. At 4,700 square miles it's just slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.

Anything else I can answer for you?

[TXMOMMYof5]

bluescreen73,
Thank you so much for that reply!! The school information was great! It looks as though it is larger than the one my children go to now.
I am in East Texas. So I'm guessing the outdoors will be a bit different? The farthest west I have ever been is Fort Worth. The farthest south would be Houston or San Antonio. I have only traveled to those places once.
Thank you again!!