scenic, music and arts, sunny town in Colorado? (driving, people)

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Once again, an OP has posted a "wish list" that is essentially conflicting and mutually exclusive in Colorado. How many times do we have to go through this?

6432.
All because these people do not spend anytime (i.e., hours) reading previous posts and gaining an understanding of how Colorado is not the same as (for example) North Carolina.

Originally Posted by DianaRose

Other than the four seasons, does my list have problems?

Water. If you do not understand water and water rights in Colorado, then you need to spend a few hours in this forum reading about them.
Growing season length. It is short here.
Land prices. 2 acres for <$15K! Delusional. Only if there is no water.
Music scene. All the musicians live with all the other people [customers] on the Front Range.

Originally Posted by DianaRose

We are looking for cheap land (at least 2 acres...not going to spend more than $15,000)...within an hour of one of these specific cities...: Boston, NYC, Buffalo, New Haven CT, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Columbus OH, Cincinnati OH, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Seattle WA, Portland OR, Salt Lake City UT, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver.

This list alone proves that you are confused about many aspects of living in the USA. For example, 2 acres within 1 hour of Boston will cost upwards of $400K.

[Arrby]

What you seek is not available in Colorado at any price. If you had plenty of money you could get some of it.

However, IF an approximation is to be had at all you might look in and around: Trinidad, Pueblo, Longmont to Ft. Collins (lots of snow, though), Florence to Canon City, maybe Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, or Cortez.

The four seasons was not the part that struck me as unobtainable. Here in Teller County we get four seasons, it is just that they do not necessarily come in sequence. We have winter, then spring, then more winter, then spring, then a bit of summer, then fall, then winter, then fall some more....

Farming is quite different than what you may think out here. Water ranges from scarce and expensive to unobtainable. The thin air that makes it hard to breathe makes it hard for many crops as well. "Sustainable Farming" means not having to move to the city for a few years to make enough to go back and farm some more. Successful farms are typically very large which makes the population density very low. This means neighbors of any kind are few and far between. And they do not drop into the local coffeehouse to play clarinet and sculpt of an evening.

Gardening? That means 35 acres plus, or a city lot with a local water supply that permits outdoor water use. Do a search for "water" on this forum.

Alternative building means getting a real modular rather than just a mobile home.

"Gorgeously Scenic" and "we are not rich" are likely to conflict. It turns out that "Million Dollar View" is not just an expression.

[DianaRose]

Originally Posted by Arrby

What you seek is not available in Colorado at any price. If you had plenty of money you could get some of it.

However, IF an approximation is to be had at all you might look in and around: Trinidad, Pueblo, Longmont to Ft. Collins (lots of snow, though), Florence to Canon City, maybe Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, or Cortez.

The four seasons was not the part that struck me as unobtainable. Here in Teller County we get four seasons, it is just that they do not necessarily come in sequence. We have winter, then spring, then more winter, then spring, then a bit of summer, then fall, then winter, then fall some more....

Farming is quite different than what you may think out here. Water ranges from scarce and expensive to unobtainable. The thin air that makes it hard to breathe makes it hard for many crops as well. "Sustainable Farming" means not having to move to the city for a few years to make enough to go back and farm some more. Successful farms are typically very large which makes the population density very low. This means neighbors of any kind are few and far between. And they do not drop into the local coffeehouse to play clarinet and sculpt of an evening.

Gardening? That means 35 acres plus, or a city lot with a local water supply that permits outdoor water use. Do a search for "water" on this forum.

Alternative building means getting a real modular rather than just a mobile home.

"Gorgeously Scenic" and "we are not rich" are likely to conflict. It turns out that "Million Dollar View" is not just an expression.

I was aware that farming and water and gardening would be difficult in CO but thought it would depend on location. I don't need to be near farms, just hoping for neighbors with similar values. Thank you so much for your information - it is so helpful! I will check out your leads and see if any of them sound like what we want!

[CosmicWizard]

jazzlover wrote: Once again, an OP has posted a "wish list" that is essentially conflicting and mutually exclusive in Colorado. How many times do we have to go through this?

I know. It gets old, BUT answering these questions is one of the reasons this forum exists. Participation is voluntary.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by Arrby

What you seek is not available in Colorado at any price. If you had plenty of money you could get some of it.

However, IF an approximation is to be had at all you might look in and around: Trinidad, Pueblo, Longmont to Ft. Collins (lots of snow, though), Florence to Canon City, maybe Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, or Cortez.

I'm afraid that OP will need to strike Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, and Cortez from her list at the very least. Among other things, Alamosa is too cold for sustainable gardening, as well as being a difficult to place to find land with irrigation rights. Cortez is somewhat warmer, but again, land with water/irrigation rights is more precious than rubies out here. As I've been discussing in the "Death of a National Monument" thread, energy giant Kinder Morgan has set up shop in the Four Corners and is busy destroying both public and private property with their fracking and CO2 pipeline building activities. Do NOT buy land in Montezuma County unless you don't care if some energy giant comes along and steals your land under the "right of eminent domain" (another term for "theft"). Pagosa Springs is expensive and doesn't have much of a growing season. And Canon City is the home to several large jails, including Supermax. You may not care, but all that prison based industry in that area has always given me a bad vibe. It also has problems with radon being found in the foundations of many older homes that were built in Florence and Canon City before there was any regulation or inspections done to make sure that homes were built on safer land.

How about the PNW?

[NW Crow]

If you are open to the Northwest, you might take a look at Eagle Point, OR (with the music scene in Medford, Jacksonville and Ashland). Or if closeness to big city is important, Silverton.

If it isn't that much, then could also consider 15-30 miles outside Missoula or west of Bozeman.

Back in CO, you could look just west or south of Greeley.

Down to NM again, maybe outside Madrid.

In Utah, way outside Heber City.

[peneumbra]

You might find all that you're seeking - well, at least a good shot at it - in and around Durango.

It's a decent town (yes, it still is, even with the growth and overinflated price of real estate) and if you are versatile, you could probably find a situation that will work for you.

Durango, although it's not a big city, has many of the amenities of much larger places, including good and varied food, entertainment, and shopping. I really like a town that has both Texas BBQ and a Tibetan restaurant...

[StealthRabbit]

near but not IN the mtns,
Masonville, Berthoud (Garden Spot of Colorado), Loveland. Home - Sculpture in the Park


If Colorado scares you away (no water / anti friendly ("You can't do this...!")), We have plenty of water (100" drizzle), yet similar activities in Income Tax Free WA (I escaped CO during my earning / Homeschooling yrs)
Clark County Home Educators - News & Events


WA trees are of 'Evergreen' variety, not Ever-BROWN (as in CO Beetle kill)
Gardening? How about YEAR ROUND! our corn is over 14' tall in prime of summer. FREE wildberries and plenty of Salmon fishing (no crowds for the few trout CO has left).

this is what we looked at / adventured into out the back door while home schooling.
https://www.google.com/search?q=colu...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ 5 min from Safeway / 20 min to #1 USA small international airport

but... our kids MOST enjoyed living here and homeschooling with 9 other boys their age... They spent most of the day 'exploring', cuz they could do school at night! (I am not keen on curriculum when there are so many other life skills to use for learning). Our kids designed built their own houses while in Jr High and went to college full-time for FREE (instead of High School) Another WA perk).
Running Start - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://www.google.com/search?q=thet...ed=0CAgQ_AUoAg

Living in Spain and Switzerland were also favorites for the kids, but we were pretty weird to be homeschooling there! (even more weird while living in Singapore... illegal to homeschool (of course)).

Nothing wrong with a 6 yr 'field trip'!

Most of my friends with internet businesses domicile in US protectorates, Income Tax free is good business!

[DianaRose]

Thank you so much for all the thoughtful replies!!! I love your input and style StealthRabbit! I'm pretty sure Colorado is not where we are going to end up, and our wishlist continues to evolve. This was very helpful.

[beckandcall]

This post helps me out, too! Looks like we are looking for the same things. Where I live now, Florence, AL has everything but it is time to leave. You can only stay in Alabama so long without going crazy.