Wanting to move to Colorado soon

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

If a person could find work in N. Platte or Ogallala and only wanted / needed / could arrange mountain time 5-10 times a year it might be a clever solution. (Living in Nebraska and getting your employer to pay for time in Colorado moreso.) If the Nebraska option meant living in Lincoln or Omaha, you'd either need to think nothing of the 500 mile drive just to Denver or plan to come in extended weekend or week plus bursts.

On the opposite side of things, there are lots of folks in mountain towns whose actual amount of time in the mountains doesn't really justify living there over the front range, Nebraska or Missouri.
Half dozen ski days, half dozen hikes (and mainly when visitors come), if that. For many it seems the mountain experience is a restaurant / brew pub crawl with an occasional look at mountains from a house or car window. It is important to be realistic about how much time you will actually spend in mountains vs. your fantasy. Really going to make 30- 50-100 plus excursions into the mountains year after year after year (and not just the novel first season or two) then live in the mountains. If not, maybe just vacation there or possibly get or share a weekend getaway.

Yup. This is why I wonder what the big deal is about moving to Denver or somewhere else in the Front Range metroplex. Many of these areas - especially the newer suburbs out east - don't even offer a view of the mountains. A person can live in Highlands Ranch, get out on the Interstate for the stop and slow commute to the Tech Center where they are confined all day long in a little cubicle. When the clock turns 5pm, they can be free at last to endure the same old stop and go commute back home where they pop open a six pack and watch some crappy program on their cable. On the weekends they join the hoards doing the grocery shopping, hitting the malls and the big box stores, etc. On Sundays a person may relax and tend to their blue grass lawn, using precious water up in the ill advised attempt to convince themselves that Colorado is really Kentucky.

Then there's the few weekends a year that you can join the hoards on I-70 heading for the slopes. More likely than not, it will be one long traffic jam all the way to Vail and if you're extra lucky, a semi will jack knife on Vail Pass shutting everything down for hours. In the summer you can compete with the tourists for a hook-up somewhere for your RV and spend a week up in the mountains glued to the DVD player, raptly watching a marathon of re-runs of Dallas. You probably won't even bother to glance out the window for a possible glimpse of a hummingbird.

For THIS, people are panting to move to Colorado? Well, good luck with that, but I'm still of the opinion that you and your blue grass would have been better off staying home in Lexington and exploring the near-by Appalachians instead.

[jazzlover]

^Rambler nails it. Metroplexes are metoplexes no matter where they are. People living in them easily (often, almost inevitably) fall into the grind of trying to make a living, and those gorgeous mountains might as well be a thousand miles away for as often as most metro residents get to them. It's especially true for the extremely materialistic-centered society that America has become, combined with the continuing erosion of middle-class purchasing power. The days of Mom being a stay-at-home Mom and Dad working a 40 hour week--and making enough $ to take the family on a weekend camping trip "to the hills"--and having the time to do it--are pretty much gone. These days, man and woman are both working 40+ hr. weeks, trying to juggle the rest of their time to do the necessary chores around home and ferrying their kids around to day care, school, and other activities--and are still going in debt up to their eyeballs to afford the "good life."

And, check how many of those cookie-cutter subdivisions on the Front Range actually have even a view of the mountains. The simple fact is that metro Colorado living is something much different than the slick tourism brochures, misleading real estate development ads, and swarmy posts that (mostly) affluent retired people from someplace else or people with advanced educations and many years of work experience spew for consumption by young, somewhat naïve people who often have neither the skills, work experience, nor financial resources necessary to afford the league of lifestyle that would make Colorado truly enjoyable for them. The pattern on this forum pretty much consistently shows this: Who posts the most about wanting to live in Colorado? Young, relatively inexperienced people with limited financial resources. Who is best able to afford to live in Colorado? Middle-aged to retired people with advanced education, great job skills, and significant financial security. Why is it so difficult for people to see the basic "disconnect" there?

[wycoyote]

Originally Posted by Mover1234

Thanks everyone for all of this information! I would also like to add that we want to be next to some 14ers, and because of that we are looking at the Durango area a little more closely now.

I suspect Durango might be a good fit for you. The recreational opportunities are outstanding, it's warmer through the winter than the mountain resort towns, and you'll have great access to the entire 4 Corners area and Navajo Reservoir as well as Lake Powell. Being so close to the red rock country in Utah is a bonus, and you can drop right down to the Grand Canyon in 1/2 a day's drive. Happy hunting!

[Rainbow Demon]

If you are a couple with drive and no fear of hard work you can make a stand...even in the most expensive of towns. We did it. We moved to Vail from Misery (Missouri) 30 years ago and never looked back. My wife is the professional...I am the grunt. She has a career, I have had a series of jobs. In the end many people sacrifice high pay for lifestyle here...often working 2 jobs/etc. Over the years I've done whatever was needed to make things work/to keep a check coming in...just like most of the other resourceful folks who call these hills home.

good luck in your quest.

[NW Crow]

Yeah, the word of mouth economy among acquaintances and friends is a path for making it for some. Often short term, part time but sometimes above average in pay. If you aren't rich, it can sometimes pay to work to get to know some and volunteer to help them. But not always, as someone else noted. Sometimes they are the worst to work for.