Salida Shopping (Pueblo, Pueblo West: incomes, job, housing)

[hegs]

What's the shopping like in Salida for groceries and dry goods? Is it tough to get decent produce during the winter months?

[jazzlover]

Oh, please. It has a Safeway and a Wal-mart. They get the same produce that those stores stock everyplace else. Is it like having a fresh vegetable market next door year-round? No. If you want that, live in Florida or California.

[McGowdog]

I've been to Florida and California lately and it ain't all that.

Our Safeway out in Pueblo West has gone gourmet, as the prices have too. It's right next to a Walmart and they seemed to have decided to go "high end" instead of competing as a "discounter".

I like good quality food as much as the next guy, but MAN the prices seem high lately!

Schwan's sells some food you ought to look into. You only need to spend like 50.00 or maybe 60.00 every two weeks to be considered a "good customer" and see that yellow truck on a consistent basis. I know their meat is getting expensive, but compare it on a per ounce basis some time. Their chicken breast may seem pricey but cook them up some time! This is food that you will eat! It you don't let it sit there in the freezer for a year and freezer-burn, it will not go to waste. I guarantee you'd spend way more money at your Mickey D's and have the body to show for it. As far as produce, I never used to eat frozen corn ever. Schwan's changed all that. With the directions on their food, I can cook like a gourmet! Seriously. Their California Blend veggies and triple blend berries (if they still have that) is the best. Their Asparagus is WAY expensive, but we still get it from time to time. It's nice to have on hand. This is basically your grocery store on wheels. They sell pretty much everything but milk and beer.

Enough of my Schwan's rant. Food at Walmart is a joke! I'd rather buy food at Big R's!

[hegs]

Jazzlover: Sorry for my ingnorance. I have no local knowledge and thought I could get some friendly advice/info. I'll spending about 6 weeks in Salida during Jan/Feb and was just trying to get a handle on things. FYI - I do live in the stinkhole that is South FL and produce is abundant in the winter because that is the prime local harvesting period. Plenty of good produce if you can avoid getting shot/rolled/carjacked/etc.

[jazzlover]

I didn't mean to sound flipppant. Unless you live someplace like interior Alaska, there aren't many places in the U.S. that fresh produce is not available year-round. I think that may change as fuel gets more expensive and the "warehouse-on-wheels" concept that most big food retailers now embrace starts to falter. But, for now, when it come to staple food, dry goods, etc., most anyplace in Colorado or anywhere in the Rockies is pretty much like everyplace else. If you look at the food cost indexes on websites like Sperling's Best Places, you will find most of this region above the national average. That's a function of those transportation costs to bring a lot of those food and other consumer products in from somewhere else. In fact, most of rural Colorado has higher than average costs for just about everything (and often lower than average incomes). That used to be compensated by lower than average housing costs, but those days, sadly, are long gone.

[McGowdog]

Two of my brothers live in Bradenton. Is that part of the ghetto you speak of? If so, it seems like a pretty nice ghetto. The traffic is getting pretty rough for sure, depending on the season.

One of my brother's is a butcher for Publix out there.

Either way, you don't see too many people starving in America!

PS: Schwans still uses propane to power most of their vehicles. It's slightly cheaper than unleaded or diesel.

[hegs]

The Schwan thing looks pretty cool. Thanks for that. I'm in SouthEast FL. Think Miami-Dade / Broward. Ugh.

[brinna1]

Hi! I was in Salida in late September and saw a fantastic farmers market stand right in the center of town with tons of fresh veges! But, of course it's summers only. Yes, the Safeway is way more expensive than the Super WalMart but at least you have a choice. The local newspaper is on-line at www.themountainmail.com and the local weather is at www.weatherbug.com so these are great ways to get to know about Salida. We live in Ramona, CA which is in San Diego County and we just bought a great lot in Salida with incredible views of the mountains. We plan to build our dream home next summer. We have zillions of questions about building so if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them! Salida rocks!

[proveick]

There are some things to consider if building in Chaffee County.
You will need a ton of permits and inspections for one and people move here to play. (it took me 5 months to get a garage built !)
Some friends built in Game Trail in Buenie. They were told it would take 8 months to build their log home. Hmmm
She had to move here, buy a trailer and try to find the gentlemen to build her house. (elk hunting, kayaking, fly fishing are big distractions) The job took 18 months. Be prepared.

[onehotzonie]

Originally Posted by proveick

There are some things to consider if building in Chaffee County.
You will need a ton of permits and inspections for one and people move here to play. (it took me 5 months to get a garage built !)
Some friends built in Game Trail in Buenie. They were told it would take 8 months to build their log home. Hmmm
She had to move here, buy a trailer and try to find the gentlemen to build her house. (elk hunting, kayaking, fly fishing are big distractions) The job took 18 months. Be prepared.

That seems to be an "inside joke" about construction in the area. The wife and myself have friends in the area that had a custom built. Somewhere during the framing stage the foreman asked the owners if the framing crew could take "some time off" to go elk hunting. The owners said "sure" thinking it was only for the weekend. A month later the framing crew was back doing their job.

I just finished our preliminary drawings for a custom residence just outside Salida. As of this moment, the wife and I, are in "discussion" as to where we can cut some of the livable square footage back. I'll make sure she understands "the bigger they are, the longer it takes to build" motto.