Steamboat or Summit County or Basalt?? (Denver, Colorado Springs: ski resort, rent, buying a house)

[Caprivi11]

My wife and I have been living in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia for the past 35 years. We currently live in the Houston area. In about two and half years, my wife will be retiring,..I will move into semi-retirement,…and our kids will be in college. At that point, I’ll be working remotely, and only need to travel to Houston or New Orleans about once every 6 weeks. So we are interested in buying a house in the mountains. We would like to be within 30 minutes of a ski resort. We enjoy skiing and mountain biking but also like the civilization normally in ski towns, like restaurants and summer activities.

We have not been to Colorado in the past 5 years, as most of our recent vacations have centered around kid’s activities, family events, or international travel. Prior to that, we spent quite a lot of time in Colorado, mostly around Denver, Colorado Springs, Steamboat and Summit County. We were doing 3 or 4 trips a year, mainly in summer or winter. At this point we are interested in Summit County, Steamboat and Basalt area. I realize an awful lot can change in 5 years. I was looking for feedback on these area as places to live.

Depending on where the kids land, we will also have small place near the coast in Louisiana or Texas. Our plan would be to live 7 or 8 months in the mountains, and 4 or 5 months on the gulf coast. I love the saltwater fishing in Louisiana, especially in April, May, Oct and Nov.

Thanks

[bluescreen73]

All I can say is bring a high 6 or low 7-figure budget. Mountain housing isn't cheap.

[davebarnes]

I would pay attention to the availabilty of medical care.

[NW Crow]

You probably will enjoy any of the three, assuming you find a place within your budget. Select Summit County if frequents runs into Denver are a priority. Select Steamboat is you want laidback, more western veneer on the town. Pick Basalt if you like having access to the greater Aspen scene with the more upscale restaurants, nightlife, luxury shopping & services.

[Dogmama50]

Basalt has changed more than a lot in 5 years, still a great little town but really more than 30 minutes to Aspen/Snowmass with traffic. Steamboat is a nice town too, but remote. Summit has the most civilization and easy proximity to Denver and the airport, it's way too cold for me and I live in the Vail area. Really the only way to decide what works for you is to come visit, look at the amenities, access, health care, communities and see what strikes the right cord. You could always rent something for a month or so and really give it a test drive. As bluescreen73 mentioned bring lots of money, my little working class neighborhood has 2000q/ft fixer-uppers for mid 7's and 8's.

[NW Crow]

Airfares are probably higher or a lot higher from Aspen or Steamboat compared to Denver but I haven't checked the details. If you fly to Houston 8 plus times per year that could be a few thousand bucks or maybe not quite that bad.