Best CO Ski Town To Move Family To? (Denver, Montrose: real estate, apartments)

[Chaffeetrekker]

Originally Posted by carpediem71

We are seriously considering moving our family of 5 to ski country. We have 3 kids- 6, 5, & 2. My wife and I are in our mid to late 30's and both lived in Squaw Valley from '93-'94. We had moved out there after college to stay for 1 year before we got "real jobs". The day I left CA my boss told me "You're a skier - you'll be back". Well it's taken us 15 years to make the decision to return to the West and really follow our dreams. We love to ski and bike and most all outdoor activities. We're heavily leaning towards CO - we've visited there numerous times and feel it is the best option for us, as all of our family is back East in MD, VA, & SC and we can fly direct from DIA to most places back East. The Broncos have been my favorite team since 1985 and my favorite concert ever was U2 at Red Rocks. Seems like we are being led to be out there!

I run a successful small business out of a home office so employment is not needed. We realize that ski towns are 'more expensive' than towns on the front range, that is understood.

The places I've skied are - Jackson Hole, Vail, Beaver Creek, Summit County, Steamboat, & Winter Park. Never been to Telluride, Crested Butte, or Aspen. Steamboat seems a little isolated.

Here is what we are looking for:

*Small town atmosphere - friendly neighbors -
*We'll be renting a house at least for the 1st Year till we get settled
*Safe, clean area, low crime rate
*Great school system, high test scores, less than 20 kids per teacher
*Recreational Sport Leagues for the kids - soccer, lacrosse, swimming.
*Great restaurants
*Spa nearby
*Good Golf Course nearby
*Fitness center nearby
*Close proximity to world class skiing - not necessarily "In" Vail, or "In" Breck but close enough nearby so that we'd feel like locals and we could ski every week - not have to worry about traffic to get to the hill.
*Walmart or Target within 30 mins. or so
*Great healthcare
*Christian Church in area

Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated!

Telluride is a great ski town however, there is a high population of turgid Trustafarians.

I prefer to ski Monarch because it is primarily patronized by the citizens of Salida, Poncha, Canon, and Buena.

[MEfree30]

I know it is not CO, but I think that Park City, UT has most of what you are looking for...while UT is mostly Mormon, PC is more diverse. SLC airport is decent, but probably not as good for non-stops to the East as DIA.

We currently reside in Bourg Saint Maurice, France which also has quite a bit of what you are looking and I am looking for a Western US ski town to relocate to as my wife has had enough of France. Looking for most of the same criteria that you are, but would also like a town that is very walkable. I thought PC might be it, but it was not as walkable as my wife would like.

Do any of the Vail Valley or Summit county towns offer housing that is walkable to the local elementary school and a grocery store?

Thanks

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by MEfree30

Do any of the Vail Valley or Summit county towns offer housing that is walkable to the local elementary school and a grocery store?

Not in Summit County. The closest you can get to a fully walkable town in Summit is Breckenridge (if you live in town, close to Main Street), and to a lesser extent, Frisco. But even then, the middle and high schools are a little ways out of town (middle from Breck, high from Frisco, definitely driving/school-bus distance).

Don't get me wrong, you can walk all the towns in Summit (especially with the help of the free bus system) -- we do. But walking along along strip malls and 4-lane highways is not really the true ideal of "walkability".

[sunsprit]

In West Vail .... yes, walkable to the grocery stores (and other shopping, restaurants) and close to the schools. There is the local circulator bus route that also serves this area.

Downvalley, Avon or Eagle would also be a good choice with walking access to the shopping area and schools. Eagle has more of a "little town" feel to it ....

[dj32]

i thikn i recommended it before but definitely check out Eagle, CO. Small town feel and walkable elem schools.

[carpediem71]

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to post replies to my thread - it has helped!

We've narrowed our search to either the Frisco/Breck area of Summit Co. OR the Edwards/Avon/Eagle West Vail area.

Now that I've narrowed the search considerably, any ideas come up for you all in comparing these 2 areas? Pros vs. Cons?

ps - Yes, I do see your point about the Target and Walmart discussion and excuse my "suburban" point of view for including that. It is clear that those stores are not a necessity living in a smal mountain town!

Thanks in advance - Chris

[STU GITLIN]

Why not move to Truckee, ca? Best of all worlds.

[Sockeye]

An old post of mine regarding Telluride's schools:

They ought to be "top notch", as property taxes are so high there the old hangers on have been forced to move out. What you have is a superficially beautiful place occupied by no one from there anymore, essentially an assortment of elitist trustafarians, a few old hippies, and a transient workforce.

I certainly wouldn't want to raise a family in such a place. The same can be said for Aspen, Basalt, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Vail, and Durango.
Both Glenwood Springs and Steamboat Springs still have some old hangers on and still feel like real rural mountain communities, but have gotten pricier over the years.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Sockeye

An old post of mine regarding Telluride's schools:

They ought to be "top notch", as property taxes are so high there the old hangers on have been forced to move out. What you have is a superficially beautiful place occupied by no one from there anymore, essentially an assortment of elitist trustafarians, a few old hippies, and a transient workforce.

I certainly wouldn't want to raise a family in such a place. The same can be said for Aspen, Basalt, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Vail, and Durango.
Both Glenwood Springs and Steamboat Springs still have some old hangers on and still feel like real rural mountain communities, but have gotten pricier over the years.

I absolutely agree with this. I have to frequent many of the ski resort towns in Colorado on a semi-regular basis for business purposes. However nice they may be to visit, they would suck as a place to live and raise children, in my opinion. That is, unless one considers raising kids around a transient population, trust funders, and rich spoiled brats "normal." If those kids never had to leave that coddled strange environment, maybe it would be OK--but, unless they become trustfunders themselves, they usually have to move to some normal community when they grow up. I've seen quite a few of them who have a real problem adjusting to that.

Also, don't take easy and cheap (or even readily available) air travel for granted, anymore. I think that era is just about over.

[SheridanL]

True enough Jazzlover....and I usually agree with him....however...

There will always be "people" who wish to live in the "upscale" areas. Doesn't matter if they are "trust fund" babies or, just have a load of cash to spend! They will buy and live in these upper scale areas! No one can stop them....they just want to have a safe area with good schools for their kids. IF ONLY!! IMO

Fuel costs make a huge difference (especially NOW and,.the future) but, NOT for the "uber" rich. They will not care how their property declines...why would they? They are where they want to be!!
They have their "pie in the sky........McMansion!!

IF there weren't any of these properties to be had..., then we wouldn't have a care,..right??

We can't, nor would we,..cut off their road to their homes.

I do forsee a time where, unless we find a solution,....that I 70 will be a "ghost town" way to travel. This is one way that I agree with Jazzlover!

Sad state of affairs if you ask me! Hard to imagine for some?? Understand that I can't even imagine some of you that think Berkley and other areas are worth $$$. WEIRD!!
Of course, I have a hard time thinking that Stapleton is a NEIGHBORHOOD!

I lived in Aurora ( my youngest, now 21, was born there) where it was very expensive. My oldest ( now 30) went to Cherry Creek Schools and graduated from Smokey Hill High School...my taxes were HIGH!!
NOW,...to my surprise,....it's a "bad place" to be!!!!!!! WHAT??

I guess what it ALL comes down to is.......GEOGRAPHY! Just like Jazzlover says!

My how things change AND,,,,,,they will AGAIN!!!!!!!!! YEP!!