Lake City, Colorado (Montrose, Alamosa, Gunnison: house, buying, theater)

[Mike from back east]

Realtor.com shows 183 properties on the market in Lake City, COLO. That does seem a lot for a small town in a beautiful setting. I did a google drive by but the street level images are ten years old.

Why not pass a noise ordnance or enforce one if there's one on the books...

[StarrySkiesAbove]

I was actually in Lake City last weekend, we were camped on the other side of Slumgullion Pass next to the Rio Grande River and went in to pick up a few supplies. It seemed fairly quiet compared to the last time I drove through in July when tourist season was in full swing. Last weekend there were some people driving in their OHV vehicles along the main road but they were not driving recklessly that I saw.

Lake City is one of those Colorado tourist towns that triples in popultion in the summer months and is pretty dead in the winter. A lot of the properties seem to be second homes. When we were there in July, also passing through, the Texas license plates outnumbered the Colorado plates about 4 to 1. It was a bit of a madhouse. Also many of the homes were flying Texas flags; Lake City in the summer feels like it’s primarily a Texan vacation spot.

I personally would find it difficult to live in small tourists towns where the visitors significantly outnumber the local residents, it leads to an unbalanced or lack of sense of community. And often you have to deal with people on vacation acting in rude or disrespectful ways they would never do in their own neighborhood.

[MountainEarth]

The severe spruce beetle kill was bad enough. But the boneheaded move to allow OHVs everwhere in Lake City is an absolute travesty. My wife and I used to love to vacation there, especially in the off season. Not anymore.

[MBWolf]

I haven't posted in several years on this forum. And no, I'm not a realtor nor do I own a business in Lake City or Hinsdale County. The reason I've jumped back in here is to say that yes indeed, as several of the other posters have pointed out, Lake City has become one of the ATV (OHV) capitals of our state. My wife and I have lived full-time in Lake City for over 20 years now. For the first 15 years or so, the "culture" or feel of the place remained much the same. If you liked it, you loved it and if you didn't it was probably too remote and lacking in services. To each her/his own. But in the last 5 years, things have changed to an ATV based culture. Some will like this change and others will eschew it. I write to point out the change, not to take sides in the ongoing ATV debate in our area. If you don't like ATVs, then Lake City is most likely NOT for you.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by MBWolf

I haven't posted in several years on this forum. And no, I'm not a realtor nor do I own a business in Lake City or Hinsdale County. The reason I've jumped back in here is to say that yes indeed, as several of the other posters have pointed out, Lake City has become one of the ATV (OHV) capitals of our state. My wife and I have lived full-time in Lake City for over 20 years now. For the first 15 years or so, the "culture" or feel of the place remained much the same. If you liked it, you loved it and if you didn't it was probably too remote and lacking in services. To each her/his own. But in the last 5 years, things have changed to an ATV based culture. Some will like this change and others will eschew it. I write to point out the change, not to take sides in the ongoing ATV debate in our area. If you don't like ATVs, then Lake City is most likely NOT for you.

That's really too bad! Lake City was pretty high on my "gotta see" list for potential retirement locations. With this news, I'm pretty sure I'll have to cross it off the list. We want peace - listen to the birds, elk, wind blowing through the trees, not trucks, ATVs/OHVs, etc. ripping up nature and noise pollution.

Do you happen to know if Creede (not too far away) is similar?

[interloper1138]

Originally Posted by EricBabula

That's really too bad! Lake City was pretty high on my "gotta see" list for potential retirement locations. With this news, I'm pretty sure I'll have to cross it off the list. We want peace - listen to the birds, elk, wind blowing through the trees, not trucks, ATVs/OHVs, etc. ripping up nature and noise pollution.

Do you happen to know if Creede (not too far away) is similar?

Very similar now. Summer in Mineral County means constant ATV traffic -any and everywhere- that's accessible to those types of vehicles. If you get away from those establishes trails you can still find solitude, though - especially in the La Garitas. I hiked four peaks last year from the Cebolla trailhead on a weekend and didn't encounter a single person in the two days I was there.

The way I see it is as that ATVs and OHVs are a way for people to get into the mountains that otherwise wouldn't be able to. Anyone that abides by the rules and doesn't tear up terrain beyond designated roads is fine by me. Everyone deserves to be able to be in the mountains.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by interloper1138

Very similar now. Summer in Mineral County means constant ATV traffic -any and everywhere- that's accessible to those types of vehicles. If you get away from those establishes trails you can still find solitude, though - especially in the La Garitas. I hiked four peaks last year from the Cebolla trailhead on a weekend and didn't encounter a single person in the two days I was there.

The way I see it is as that ATVs and OHVs are a way for people to get into the mountains that otherwise wouldn't be able to. Anyone that abides by the rules and doesn't tear up terrain beyond designated roads is fine by me. Everyone deserves to be able to be in the mountains.

My wife and I are planning on being in CO in a few months to check out possible places to retire to, eventually. We still don't have even a region picked out, much less an exact town. Part of the trip was going to take us from Buena Vista/Salida, south toward Creed, then to Lake City.

Was tipped off to Creede and Lake City as being beautiful area in the mountains. But, we do want peace, also. We want to sit on our deck and enjoy the views of the mountains and the sights and sounds of nature, not listen to the annoying buzzing of ATVs/OHVs, jeeps, trucks, etc.

This news gives me pause to rethink our detour thru Creede and Lake City. Instead, we might think about bypassing those two, and just take Hwy 50 straight to Montrose (our next base camp). Would save 2 1/2 hours driving. OTOH, maybe we go thru the two towns, just to experience the beauty.

Thoughts? Any more info on Lake City and/or Creede would be much appreciated. Restaurants/pubs? Any kind of night life? Art/music/theater scene? They look very small, so I'm guessing there's not much. And, nearest town would be Gunnison, about an hour away from Lake City. Is that where shopping, dining, health care would be? Nearest airport?

[otowi]

I would still drive through if not in a hurry.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by EricBabula

...
Thoughts? Any more info on Lake City and/or Creede would be much appreciated. Restaurants/pubs? Any kind of night life? Art/music/theater scene? They look very small, so I'm guessing there's not much. And, nearest town would be Gunnison, about an hour away from Lake City. Is that where shopping, dining, health care would be? Nearest airport?

Not that I know of. I was going to take a day trip to Lake City last summer and I think there were two restaurants to consider. Beautiful drive, yes, but little else.

I think Gunnison is the nearest anything, Montrose is the nearest real airport (four gates).

[pikabike]

EricBabula,

Aside from the OHV factor, probably the biggest thing to consider with regard to buying a house in Lake City or anywhere in that region is just how much winter can you take?

WI gets cold and snow, but not coupled with mountain terrain and road conditions. And “isolation,” which is even more subjective. From the questions you asked, LC would be tough to handle.

My impression of Lake City and other TX-“owned” towns is that they are nothing more than part of the owners’ arrays of seasonal toys (second, third, fourth homes). There was talk decades ago of TX making CO a TX state park, and places like these make it not exactly a funny joke. It was probably the reason why there was so much vitriolic hate for Texans in those days, and some of it still persists. Visit Ouray and Telluride in summer for a taste of why the antagonism lingers.