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I think this OP has a good idea that "wherever" you are....it's what you make of it more than it is what others tell you it is like.
Yeah...money makes it all revolve here in SkiTown, USA...but that doesn't mean you can't live IN the mountains and make it work or that EVERYONE here is a rich a-hole. We found out what it is REALLY like to live in Vail WHEN WE MOVED HERE. Before that we had an attitude much like is portrayed here. (highly uninformed and seriously jaded by thought/overthought rather than experience) Yawn.
With family in tow the OP will make great memories wherever they end up.....and without a doubt the possibility of having fun is exponentially greater in one of those "**** magnet towns" than it is in one of those "**** SMELLING Plains towns where there are more cows and cow **** than people.....and absolutely no draw/tourist interests whatsoever. (there might be a Wal-Mart tho....LOL)
Preach it, brother.
You are spot on. I want to give my kids the opportunity to experience something very few people get to experience, which may mean living in a place many consider a vacation spot. I understand there are downfalls to living in paradise (least of which, one day I may have to sit on the other side of these conversations and deal with the revolving door of "dreamers"), but how do I know without trying it out for myself/my family?
Since the OP asked, some thoughts about other Rocky Mountain states. Unlike Colorado, both Wyoming and Utah have a strong fiscal commitment to education. That's a big plus for those states right there. Wyoming supports only a little more than 10% of the amount of population of Colorado in a state that is close to the same physical size, so there are no big cities in Wyoming. Lander and Sheridan are two very nice Wyoming towns, the latter about a 2 hour drive from Billings, MT, a regional trade center. Sort of a diamond in the rough is Evanston, Wyoming. It has the advantage of not being a resort town, but is close to outstanding mountain country to the northwest, north, and south of the community. It is also within a couple of hours of Utah's Wasatch Front, a large trade center.
Utah also has some nice areas. The Wasatch Front is certainly "big city," but has some splendid mountain country right at its doorstep. In Utah, I particularly like Logan and the Cache Valley. Again, outstanding mountain country all around, easy to get to Salt Lake when necessary, and some culture with Utah State University there.
I also like the area around Pocatello in Idaho. Once again, nice mountain country all around, with a little culture with Idaho State University in town. It's also within a couple of hours of the Wasatch Front. If one wishes to live in an agricultural-based community (which I think is a plus) with mountains relatively close, the area around Idaho Falls is nice, too.
In Montana, Billings and Great Falls offer "non-resort town" living, but with a lot of nice mountain country nearby.
I don't recommend the usual "s*** magnet" resort towns like Jackson, Bozeman, Missoula, Park City, etc. for the same reasons that I wouldn't recommend Glenwood Springs, Durango, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Aspen, etc. Way too many people in those places with a lot of dollars and no sense.
Thanks for your thoughts and insights. I'm a fan of the cities you suggest in Montana as well, so I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. As an aside, my wife would move to Hilton Head Island, SC tomorrow if she could. We vacation there frequently and spent the month of November there as well (yes, you can take my word at face value as far as my job situation). I understand vacationing, even for a month, does not reflect the reality of living in one of these resort towns.
We have so much "stuff" which is quickly becoming a chain around our necks. I want our kids to place significantly less value on accumulating stuff and more value on living life.
Then moving to a resort town is the absolute LAST place you should consider. Those towns are narcissist/hedonist central, chock full of people whose values are the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you want you say that want your children to be exposed to.
If you are sincere in wanting to raise your children away from those things, then consider a community that is away from the kind of people whose only concern is living in a "cool" place. About the first criteria that I use (and have posted this same advice before) is that if the place has been talked up in a national magazine, then it's already been wrecked. There are a few of those non-resort, non-yuppieville places that are still left in the Rocky Mountain West, but you won't likely read about them on the C-D forums. My advice is pretty simple: Don't move where every other transplant d***weed is headed for. Head for where those types are few to be found. Buck the crowd. Then you'll find someplace "real," not a cartoon town.
I too have fully remote working circumstances with a stay at home wife and two young children. We chose the front range for a lot of practical reasons. We live in a really small town between Denver and Springs though, so it's a lot different from what most people think of as the front range. Every summer we travel and play in the high country, and part of me wonders why we don't just move up there. We could afford it if we bought modestly, we would enjoy the winters, and the summers are simply unbeatable. Schooling would be a challenge but there are so many solid home school and/or hybrid programs that that is not the biggest factor. What keeps us here, with no real urge to move, is when we think of proximity to major airports (for travel, occasional business and visits from family/friends), excellent medical care options (mostly in Denver, IME), sports, museums, or just being able to go to Costco, Target, Home Depot, etc, etc, etc... without having to drive for hours. That may seem minor, but it's really not when you're living your life day to day. Also, it is good peace of mind that if anything ever happens to my cushy remote circumstances, I may have some sort of other career opportunities besides just ski resort employee, construction worker or city works, which can be really hard to get and low paying anyways. IMO WAYY too many people are focused on things like super cool bars, killer scenery, rad skiing, good vibes, and general awesomeness. Things like medical care, commute time, rent/mortgage and finding food, etc. become an afterthought at best. But it does't really look like you're doing that and if you're only coming for a couple months you have a lot less to consider and can be just about anywhere you like for that long. I guess the only thing is if you're hoping to sway your wife to move, don't woo her with Ouray in July and then move to Hartsel in February. That's probably pretty obvious advice though.
That's awesome that you have a similar set up. Like you, it could certainly change but that's not a huge concern for me at this point. May I ask where you live? As much as I want to live in the mountains, it's all about compromise.
And I couldn't agree more with your post about stay at home moms. We're blessed that my wife is able to stay home with our kids... the last thing I want to do is strand her with no access to the typical amenities she's used to. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd love to shift her thinking in terms of what she needs to live. One thing at a time though.
Avoiding materialism and moving to Vail or some other resort town (especially along I-70) seem like diametrically opposed goals. I think you need to come here and look around some more. Again, if it's just for a month, there is a lot less to consider, so Vail or Glenwood is fine and will have easy access to a lot of other areas.
I can see how it sounds as though I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth. And I don't mean to do that. This might be my naivete speaking, but I feel as though immersing my kids in the outdoors will somewhat negate the effects of materialism/consumerism/the accumulation of "stuff"... as well as other things that are ruining our kids these days. And trust me, we are not independently wealthy so will not have an opportunity to keep up with the "Joneses" in [insert resort town of choice].
And, yep that's the plan... come for a month, check it out, see if my wife is moved (cross my fingers), figure out where to lay our roots.
One other thing I should mention in response to previous comments by others is that my parents are fairly newly retired and, with my brother and sister in law already in BV, it would be a no brainer for them to retire to CO if we did. That's not the only reason why I'm hell bent on CO, but certainly makes life easier as we'd be moving away from my in laws and the rest of our support system.
^With that in mind, two places come to mind, at either end of the climate and "vibe" spectrum. Cañon City, though certainly a tourist town, does not have the resort vibe that many other Colorado towns have. It is close to Colorado Springs and Pueblo, but far enough away that it is not a suburb of them. Cañon City does not have a mountain climate, but is close to some very nice mountain areas. The other is Gunnison. Gunnison is also a tourist town, but has not (yet) been completely turned into resort suburbia. Gunnison is certainly more isolated than Cañon City and has one of the more brutal winter climates of anyplace in the US, but it has some culture with Western State College and outdoor recreation is some of the best left in Colorado.
All that said, I'd still be looking potentially at other states. Colorado's festering fiscal problems that will affect everything from schools to health care to essential public services are not going away, and will get much worse when the economy sours, which it will at some point.
For nearly 30 years my wife refused to live anywhere there was not the neon glow of a shopping center in the night sky. Today she cannot imagine moving back into a city - any city. But there was a sea change in the interval - the kids grew up and moved out (we changed the locks).
For ourselves, we find shopping to be a non-issue, with one important exception: groceries. We have a choice of quite decent grocery stores in Woodland Park, about 45 minutes away. If it was two hours to a quality grocer I think we would find life more difficult. For the rest of it, a trip to the Springs every few months is sufficient. I do, however, have a personal relationship with the return staff at Home Depot and Lowes: whatever I buy I get two of them plus the next size larger and the next size smaller and return whatever is unused the next trip.
Living in a fairly remote part of Teller County and on a small acreage, we have outdoor activities just outside the door. Pretty much anything is nearby except snow skiing. But the local children typically cannot wait to get out of school and move away. It turns out there is only so much hiking/camping/hunting/fishing you can do. Involvement in school, church, or community activities gets to be a problem due to the travel time involved. If Joe needs to go an hour in this direction and Sally needs to go 50 minutes in this other direction, and then both need to be picked up later - well, you see the issue.
I am not saying children cannot grow up happy and healthy in a rural mountain environment, and there are ways and means of dealing with the problems. But do not sell your wife's concerns short. And do not mistake - your dream may be her nightmare. The dividing line can get incredibly thin.
There is a continuum of lifestyles available, and you will want to explore them. Using my own area as an example, there is the urban center of Colorado Springs, the suburbs like Falcon, the outlying communities such as Palmer Lake or Woodland Park, the rural areas such as Buena Vista or Salida, and the truly remote areas throughout the state. Others have pointed out that outdoor activities and urban living are not mutually exclusive. Living in, say, Colorado Springs is not exactly a form of punishment and the mountain are still there summers, weekends and holidays.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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one month in Woodland Park ? Colorado Springs
One month in Glenwood Springs / Carbondale
That should cover enough territory and options for things to do, and regions to stay (Since you already know BV)
Spend a long Weekend in Ft Collins (tho I prefer Loveland myself (for family / community / schools)... I have issues with traffic lights (College Ave in Ft Collins... ) and soccer moms driving aggressively in SUV's.) *There are an abnormal amount of rollover accidents at Ft Collins intersections, and more than a couple friends have been hit head-on by errant SUV's in Ft Collins .
You are spot on. I want to give my kids the opportunity to experience something very few people get to experience, which may mean living in a place many consider a vacation spot. I understand there are downfalls to living in paradise (least of which, one day I may have to sit on the other side of these conversations and deal with the revolving door of "dreamers"), but how do I know without trying it out for myself/my family?
Yes, there are downfalls. The same thing can be said about living >anywhere<. The first are the folks chiming in who've never lived here. They know only what they have formulated in their head as the truth.
Yeah, there's wealth here. So what? Those folks pay hefty taxes for services they never use, like the schools your kids will go to and the valley-wide bus system you can safely put your kids on to say...send them up to ski for the day.
Or, you could vacation in Brush....or Gillette, Wyoming....or maybe La junta. Those plains towns are hopping places. There your kids will find a myriad of excitement awaits. Watch the ground crack open, collect large hail stones, count cows or vacant store fronts in town/etc. I'm sure they'd never forget (you for) such an exposure! (cruel beyond measure)
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saricbell
Preach it, brother.
You are spot on. I want to give my kids the opportunity to experience something very few people get to experience, which may mean living in a place many consider a vacation spot. I understand there are downfalls to living in paradise (least of which, one day I may have to sit on the other side of these conversations and deal with the revolving door of "dreamers"), but how do I know without trying it out for myself/my family?
This is EZ...but requires a commitment on your part (of Course).
1) If you MUST use 'traditional schools' ...Get a job in a foriegn country with excellent schools (Europe or Asia)
2) Many (We) Homeschool, lived internationally and our kids experience many cultures and climates / beautiful destinations year round. We came back to USA (retreat / destination area) when they were in 8th grade and they designed built their own Mtn homes (they did 100% of the critical work and got permits / inspections). They each had businesses, and by living in WA or HI were able to go to college (Fulltime) for free, instead of wasting time in a public High School. (YMMV)
We lived from Switzerland to Canadian Islands, My Company paid for us to travel as a family for over 10 yrs. Not a bad gig, but since money is not a barrier for OP, there are endless opportunities.
We did international and USA service projects many weeks / yr. Our kids lived and worked in Orphanages / drug rehab clinics / homeless shelters / dairy, grain, fruit, goat farms, and we fit in a few 5* resorts (very few...)
10 yrs beyond college our kids seemed to have survived.
We continue to drive a 40 yr old car and eat on $100/ month. Life is good. And our kids turned out OK, ... but more importantly, they are very engaged in world issues and are active in service to others.
Continuing the 'lifestyle'... travel more than stay home, tho our 'main home' is in a beautiful vacation spot... we avail it to international travelers so it gets enjoyed by others.
Listen to JL, as there is truth and experience (as with many posts of others too).
weigh you options, if you are serious about your kids... then you have few 'right' choices. Time is passing.
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and more than a couple friends have been hit head-on by errant SUV's in Ft Collins 
.
... but more importantly, they are very engaged in world issues and are active in service to others.
