Acceptance of an Inter-Racial Couple on the Western Slope (Grand Junction: relocation, real estate)

[hereIcome]

Hi All, I am headed for the Delta area in a couple weeks to take a new job. I'll be thinking about possibly buying a house, maybe renting for a while to see what happens in the local real estate market...relevant threads on this topic have been most interesting.

What I'd like to hear about is recommendations for a community that will be accepting of me and my non-Caucasian wife. I've lived in rural areas before, and so I do know there is that 'element' that will never accept interracial marriage. I don't want to be the object of a community's disdain. My experience in far northern Michigan suggests I need to do some homework before I pick a town to settle down.

My options, given the job in Delta are Delta itself, Montrose, communities between Delta and Cedaredge, and those heading up toward and including Paonia. I'm thinking Grand Junction is just too far to drive every day.

I believe I read an earlier posting from someone in the same situation who struggled to live in Montrose with a non-Caucasian partner. I believe s/he recommended Paonia, as the region's center of open-mindedness.

Anyone else? Or, any more details on the kinds of trouble the earlier poster or others have experienced with this concern?

[jazzlover]

Having family in Delta, I will comment. If by "inter-racial" you mean black, you may not feel totally comfortable anywhere on the Western Slope. It's not that the region is filled with bigoted rednecks--it really isn't. There are just very few blacks in the area. (You can query a couple of other posts of mine that cover that.)

As far as other races, I know several inter-racial couples in the area. They haven't had any problems that I'm aware of. Paonia has the reputation (as you mentioned) of being the center of "diversity." I think that reputation comes as it has long been popular for some liberal former urban types as a popular relocation spot. However, it is also economically tied to three large coal mines nearby, and most of their employees (not exactly "granola-crunching" types) live in and around Paonia. That makes for an interesting combination.

The biggest social problem in Delta County is the typical age of the residents. If you are younger than about 60, you're a kid. That area, like most of rural Colorado, has little economically to hold young people who grow up there. Most young people have to leave to make a living--most of the people who move in are retirees who bring their income with them. So the typical age is relatively high. So, if you are relatively young (like under 40), you may not have a lot of folks to socialize with. Though it probably doesn't matter in your situation, Delta County is about the lousiest place in the state to live for someone single. There are very, very few single people (excepting elderly widows) in the whole county.

Montrose has a little younger population, but probably not enough difference to warrant locating there and commuting. Plenty of people commute to and from Grand Junction, but with (in my opinion) fuel costs poised to go through the roof, I wouldn't recommend that, either. I'm also not enamored with Grand Junction as a particularly nice place to live these days--you can query my other posts on that.

For a long time, there were few rentals available in Delta. I have friends who religiously read the local weekly real estate ads and they tell me that there a quite a few now. I also think home prices have peaked and may be starting downward. A couple of these same friends in the area are trying to sell houses--they are getting no takers at all. It looks an awful lot like the early 1980's right now--just before things really tanked then. Real estate is still WAY overpriced compared to local incomes--I think it has a lot of downside potential.