Moving to Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo: university, pros and cons, living in)

[bmm129]

I am currently a college student at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi and will be graduating next week. I have some job interviews set up throughout the state and would like some advice on what to expect from these areas. I am an agribusiness major so I will be working in the agricultural field. I will be interviewing in Monte Vista, Kersey, and Keenesburg and would like some more information on these areas and the surrounding towns. Does anyone have any suggestions on nice towns to live in around these areas and some pros and cons of these areas. I am not concerned about the cold weather, I am just looking for a nice clean town that will feel like home, as I do not know anyone in these areas. I am very excited about this opportunity I just wanted some input from some locals. All advice and comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brett

[jazzlover]

Kersey is a small town just east of Greeley. It is still strongly ag, but the sprawl of the Front Range is creeping that way. There is not a whole lot in Kersey itself, but all of the Front Range cities are not far away, so if you like city life at all, it's easily at hand. The same can be said for Keenesburg. Keenesburg is not very far from Denver metro, and a lot of people have their little "horsey ranch" out there and commute to Denver to work. The climate in both is similar to Denver metro--probably a little warmer and more humid in the summer. One thing that can happen in both places--the smog from Denver can tend to drift down the South Platte drainage and affect both of them (even though Keenesburg isn't right on the Platte).

Monte Vista is a nice town, and would be my choice of the three. It is located in the San Luis Valley, and is--in my opinion--the nicest town in the valley. Monte is 16 miles from Alamosa, the biggest town in the Valley. I have posted before--the SLV isn't for everybody. It is a dry, cold high altitude (7,500 feet plus) desert. It is a thriving ag area because it is underlain with a good water supply--it would be nothing without that irrigation water. Though you say cold weather isn't a concern, the SLV is one of those places in Colorado where cold takes on a new meaning. 30 below is not uncommon in the winter. There can also be huge variations in diuranl (day to night) temperatures. One day a couple of weeks ago, Alamosa reported a high of something like 62 and a low of 8--only 54 degrees difference in a matter of hours.

The other thing about the SLV that can bother some people (not me) is that the area is from about 50%-80% Hispanic, depending on the area of the Valley. Most of the residents of the Valley, Hispanic or Anglo, are old-line families that have been there for generations. Some of the poorest counties in the nation are also in the SLV. Rio Grande County (the county that Monte Vista is located in), however, is one of the "wealthier" counties in the Valley.

The SLV is close to some fantastic mountain country--some of the best and least destroyed in increasingly overdeveloped Colorado. The tradeoff is that the Valley is relatively isolated. The closest larger cities (Pueblo and Colorado Springs in Colorado, and Santa Fe and Albuquerque in New Mexico) are 110-180 miles away. Shopping and specialized medical services are limited in the Valley.

I would strongly encourage you to visit all three places. They would all be substantially different from what you are probably used to.

[bmm129]

Thank you for the reply, it seems that you have a pretty vast knowledge of the areas I will be visiting. I have tried to do as much research as I can on these areas and concluded that the San Luis Valley would be a very nice area to live at with the only detriments being the extreme cold and the poverty in the area. I was somewhat concerned about the areas on the front range due to the smog from the Denver area along with the accessibility to basic amenities such as grocery/convenience stores, wal mart, and various other things since most of the towns seemed very small. I would like to live in a town around 3,000 to 15,000 people and feel this would be more easily accomplished by living in Monte Vista or Alamosa in the southern region. I had a difficult time finding any larger towns with the exception of Greeley which I have heard mainly bad things about. As I stated earlier I live in Mississippi currently and have attended college here for three and a half years and this is also a very impoverished area so I feel that I would be more well suited to live in the southern area. After interviewing and getting to see some of these areas I feel that I will be able to get a better idea of where to live at. I am also only 21 and would like to live near an area that offers activities for the younger crowd and Alamosa seemed like a nice town and also has Adams college there which would provide me with the possibility to make new friends in that area. The front range towns are also in close proximity to Denver though which proves very beneficial in this aspect also with all of the concerts, sporting events, and other activities to become involved in. Any more input would be appreciated.