Southern Illinois Stinks!!!! Wanting to move to CO. when I Retitre! (Denver: sales, houses)

[pdhunter54]

Hello! This is my first post on your forum. I have read several of the post on people wanting to move to CO. I'm one of those people that are stuck where I'm at for at least a few years (because of my employment) but am wanting to retire in CO. So, I might be a little over anxious about getting out of Southern Illinois and moving to the great state of Colorado. I have been in love with the mountains every since my parents took us on vacation to Colorado Springs back in 1960! I have since been there one other time.

I lived in the country here in Illinois for 20 years and then because of my job was forced to move to a more urban area. I use to love to be able ot go out my back door and have the peace and serenity of nature. Now all I see is other houses. I love to take hikes in the woods, hunt and fish and just sit and enjoy the scenery. I loo k forward to the day when I can get out and cut firewood and do lots of outdoor activities.

My search of what I might find to be the right area of Co. for me and my wife to retire and spend the rest of our days has brought me to the area of Pueblo, Canon City, Beulah, Rye and Colorado City. I would love to hear from anyone that is familiar with So. Illinois weather and living that can tell me a little about this area and it's living expenses. I am currently working as an Electric Lineman ans might be persuaded to come out early if there was ample jobs in this profession. From my research i'm thinking that this area would be more comparable (as far as cost of living) to what I'm used to rather than being close to the bigger cities (which I don't want to do anyway).

Any help would be appreciated! thanks!

[pdhunter54]

I'm assuming that I didn't get any response from my first post is because I was way too vague about what I was asking. Sorry about that! What I really wanted to know was if these towns were good choices for someone that was retiring. I was also curious if anyone from Southern Illinois had moved to this area and how it compared economically. I am also interested in how the weather is in those areas, considering that elevation and other geological issues might affect such things. I am use to very hot (90+ days) with very high humidity. Spring and Fall are very short but nice. Winters (Nov-Mar) can be anywhere from 0* - 60*. Winters aren't bad here but summers are horrible! (for me anyway) Not retiring soon but really want to research before I do. Planning 10 day trip to CO in June. (wife's a school teacher) or we'd come sooner. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Charles]

What do you think your price range will be for a home?
Are you researching medical facilities and their locations?
There are tons of weather/climate web pages that provide climate comparisons.

[Katiana]

I lived in Champaign for 7 yrs, similar climate to what you have in S. Ill. It's different here. The seasons are more blurred; it can be 70 degrees on New Year's Day and 70 degrees on the 4th of July and everything in-between. This is in metro Denver. Pueblo is warmer, Canon City seems about the same in summer, have never been there in winter. (Quite dry, almost desert like in CC). I'm not familiar with the other cities you mention.

[pdhunter54]

Charles,

Thanks for the reply. We hope to be in the $150,000 range. We won't need anything big. I haven't researched the medical facilities. Right now we are an hour from any decent med facilities in St Louis, so I was thinking Pueblo or Colorado Springs would be the closest and comparable to what we have now.
Thank you for the idea of the weather sites.... hadn't really gotten that far yet! I am a lineman for an electric utility here in So IL and am planning on retiring in 10 years (maybe less depending on economy) I love the outdoors... Golf, Hiking, Camping etc. Actually a country boy at heart! So we are looking for a little space! Not near the big cities. (not that there is anything wrong with that, just can't afford it!)

Thanks again

[Katiana]

You're welcome. Try googling some realtor sites for home prices in that part of the state. I am clueless.

[pdhunter54]

Pittnurse70

Thanks again for your reply. How would you compare the economics of Illinois to Colorado? (state taxes, property taxes, property value, cost of living etc). Is it all relative? Are wages higher in Colorado than what you experienced in Champaign?

Do you recommend moving to CO? How long have you been there? Any regrets?

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by pdhunter54

Pittnurse70

Thanks again for your reply. How would you compare the economics of Illinois to Colorado? (state taxes, property taxes, property value, cost of living etc). Is it all relative? Are wages higher in Colorado than what you experienced in Champaign?

Do you recommend moving to CO? How long have you been there? Any regrets?

We didn't own a home in Champaign, so I can't answer about prop. taxes. Rents were much higher here than in Champaign. We were shocked! Wages-about the same for an RN. My DH was a grad student when we lived in Champ., so can't compare professional wages for him (physics/engineering). Asided from housing, general cost of living seemed about the same. It's been a long time since we lived in Ill (1980).

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by pdhunter54

Charles,

Thanks for the reply. We hope to be in the $150,000 range. We won't need anything big. I haven't researched the medical facilities. Right now we are an hour from any decent med facilities in St Louis, so I was thinking Pueblo or Colorado Springs would be the closest and comparable to what we have now.
Thank you for the idea of the weather sites.... hadn't really gotten that far yet! I am a lineman for an electric utility here in So IL and am planning on retiring in 10 years (maybe less depending on economy) I love the outdoors... Golf, Hiking, Camping etc. Actually a country boy at heart! So we are looking for a little space! Not near the big cities. (not that there is anything wrong with that, just can't afford it!)

Thanks again

Property tax rates per dollar of fair market value are a lot less in Colorado than in Illinois. Illinois is one of the top property taxing states in the country. HOWEVER, property prices are considerably higher in most of rural Colorado than they are in rural Illinois. Unless you are on the eastern plains, $150K is not going to buy you much at all. Living costs are not really low in the rural areas of the state, either. Fuel, groceries, etc. generally cost the same or more than in the metro areas. Gasoline, for one, tends to cost considerably more. Colorado's combined local and state sales taxes are fairly high, over 8% in many locales. Colorado's income tax is fairly reasonable.

As you will see on other posts on the board, natural gas costs for heating are fairly reasonable in Colorado because there is a lot of gas being produced here that can not be shipped out due to pipeline capacity constraints. That situation is likely to change in the next year or so, and local retail natural gas prices will probably climb considerably. If you are in a rural locale that heats with propane, that is darned expensive. A friend who lives in western Colorado (out in the country) just paid well over $3.00/gal. for a propane fill up.

I don't know how medical costs are where you live, but medical costs in Colorado, according to Sperling's Best Places and some other websites with living cost comparisons, tend to be above the national average in most Colorado locales.

If making your retirement dollar go as far as possible is the goal, Colorado is not the place to be. Nice as it may be in many regards, Colorado is not the inexpensive retirement haven it used to be, unless you compare it to some outrageously expensive place like California, Hawaii, or the like.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by pdhunter54

Pittnurse70

Do you recommend moving to CO? How long have you been there? Any regrets?

I see I neglected to answer the last part of your questions. Sure, I'd recommend moving here. We've been here since 1980, with a short stint in upstate NY in 1988-89. I like the weather here; I like the sort of "live and let live" attitude. My kids, now young adults, are Colorado natives and they know it! Both went out of state to college, both came back; one for grad school, one to finish undergrad (was in Indiana in the Chicago metro area, now at CU).

Regrets? Not really. The distance was difficult when I was dealing with aging parents (I am originallly from Pennsylvania), but that's all over with now. For many years we had no family here, but then my brother got divorced (in Florida) and his ex and her new husband moved here with her kids, so now we have a nice group to spend holidays with, etc.