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After a little research, the cities of Longmont and Loveland did increase population, but only by perhaps 1,000 for Longmont and by 4,000 for Loveland.
Longmont 2007 population: 85,927
Longmont 2015 population: 86,000
Loveland 2007 population: 63,000
Loveland 2016/2017 population: 66,859
Still way below the almost 1 million where we are right now! Colorado's population might have increased by 1 million, but still think that would be in the Denver metro area and south to Parker and into Highlands Ranch. Obviously, by the population stats, not Longmont and Loveland.
I don't feel like Longmont is really that isolated from the metro area. You're still going to be fighting metro traffic if you try to go anywhere during rush hour. 119 can be a mess going to Boulder, and your other option on I-25 isn't very good either.
Loveland is a little more detached, but not completely.
You seem more like a Loveland person to me because I don't think you'll like the Boulder/Longmont connection.
Ok, question is, do either of you do power boating on CC or Chatfield and get to the lake at 8AM??
Yes to powerboating and early water because it is the smoothest to ski on. Nope to CC and Chatfield, I avoid em entirely. I've been heading west on 470 at 7 in the morning and seen 20-30 boats on Chatfield at that time. Cherry Creek, haven't stopped there, but it is busier than Chatfield most days. But again, I'm limited to weekends. Weekdays would certainly be better.
There are a lot of bodies of water north of Denver. Berthoud, Campion, Loveland or Windsor may be a better choice for you to have easy access to these. There also are some immediately east of Denver you may be interested in. Barr Lake and Banner Lakes and closer to Denver and are fishing exclusive lakes without the watersports.
Yes to powerboating and early water because it is the smoothest to ski on. Nope to CC and Chatfield, I avoid em entirely. I've been heading west on 470 at 7 in the morning and seen 20-30 boats on Chatfield at that time. Cherry Creek, haven't stopped there, but it is busier than Chatfield most days. But again, I'm limited to weekends. Weekdays would certainly be better.
There are a lot of bodies of water north of Denver. Berthoud, Campion, Loveland or Windsor may be a better choice for you to have easy access to these. There also are some immediately east of Denver you may be interested in. Barr Lake and Banner Lakes and closer to Denver and are fishing exclusive lakes without the watersports.
Apparently power boating is more popular than it was when we lived there. The few times we did go to CC, we had to wait in a line at the launch area, but not long. I remember, one time, we decided to check out CC on a Father's Day. Completely blown away at how many boats/wave runners were in line. The line went from the ramp to the entrance gate by Parker Rd.. Didn't have our bowrider with us.
Now, we really had no problem getting on Chatfield on the weekends, but getting off sometimes was definitely different. There were times we had to wait in the No Wake area (next to Dam) awhile before we could use the ramp to take the boat out. It was around noon, when folks would really showing up with boats. Chatfield was our favorite, because it was right down the 470 from our house in Parker.
One time we took our bowrider to Horsetooth Reservoir, just west of Ft. Collins. Much deeper lake than either CC or Chatfield. Had fun, but it was a "one time deal" going there.
There are lakes in Colorado that don't allow power boats, but do allow fishing. Not for us, unless we didn't have a boat.
Ok, question is, do either of you do power boating on CC or Chatfield and get to the lake at 8AM??
I don't do power boating, but I have been an avid outdoors woman all my life. For twenty years I was married to a man who exists only to go fly fishing - the more remote and solitary the stream, the better. We spent many a weekend (and no small number of weekdays) exploring streams and public lands west of the Front Range from Loveland to Pueblo and beyond (and yeah, we'd be out on the stream, pond, reservoir or lake by 7 or 8am). I have a cousin who lived in Loveland and another who lived in Greeley. Their Dad (my uncle) loved to come out from Kentucky and borrow their power boat and fish. We'd all get together for a family reunion and head for the hills - great times back in the day. But over the years, places to fish, hike and camp are becoming loved to death, and where once there was solitude, now you find crowds. It would be wonderful indeed if power boating has somehow become exempt from all this. I'd suggest you do a Google Earth of your old hang outs in Colorado. You will be amazed at how built up and more densely populated they are.
Last edited by Colorado Rambler; 03-04-2017 at 09:47 AM..
All my life I've seen info in various publications (to include Field and Stream) about all the large reservoirs and lakes in the southeast area, many of them going back to the days of FDR, the Great Depression and the dam building days of the Tennessee Valley Administration. These places offer some really great fresh water boating and fishing that are far removed from big city crowds and high real estate prices.
I'm looking at Google maps and see a lot of blue along the I-75 corridor in TN for 50 miles in each direction north and south of Chattanooga, not to mention east into NC, south into GA and west to Nashville. Lots of blue on the map to offer a large variety of places to visit, much of it rural, and IIRC there's no income tax in TN.
If you're retired the whole country is your oyster and I think I speak for many of us on here who'd advise people to look at a variety of options and visit many places.
Myself, if I could stand the winters I'd go to a place like Traverse City, MI for freshwater boating and fishing. If I had the money I'd get a place on a river near the Chesapeake Bay which I fished as a young person.
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We aren't 100% sure on moving back to Colorado, but if we do, it would be in the northwestern portion.
Areas of TN, Georgia, NC were mentioned for power boating, but those aren't "Western/cowboy" states like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, So. Dakota are. We love wearing our Western attire (Resistol hats, Wrangler jeans and Ariat Lace-Up Ropers to rodeos. I'm a former rodeo roper. Love seeing big Bull Elk. IOW, I'm finding out, thru this Thread, that many here apparently don't have most of the same interests that we loved while living in Colorado.
When we lived in Parker, we were the only family in the housing development that had a boat, that was used on local lakes, only ones who dressed Western sometimes, went to rodeos and went to RMNP for the "rut". We didn't feel "out of place" because, to a certain degree, that is what Colorado is about. Heck, the Stock Show & Rodeo are still there, as well as some other pro-rodeos there. The "Denver Metro life" hasn't completely taken over the state.
Last edited by Mike from back east; 03-04-2017 at 12:43 PM..
Reason: Changed northeastern to northwestern.
We aren't 100% sure on moving back to Colorado, but if we do, it would be in the northwestern portion.
Areas of TN, Georgia, NC were mentioned for power boating, but those aren't "Western/cowboy" states like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, So. Dakota are. We love wearing our Western attire (Resistol hats, Wrangler jeans and Ariat Lace-Up Ropers to rodeos. I'm a former rodeo roper. Love seeing big Bull Elk. IOW, I'm finding out, thru this Thread, that many here apparently don't have most of the same interests that we loved while living in Colorado.
When we lived in Parker, we were the only family in the housing development that had a boat, that was used on local lakes, only ones who dressed Western sometimes, went to rodeos and went to RMNP for the "rut". We didn't feel "out of place" because, to a certain degree, that is what Colorado is about. Heck, the Stock Show & Rodeo are still there, as well as some other pro-rodeos there. The "Denver Metro life" hasn't completely taken over the state.
Speaking from the Western Slope here... I live in an old farmhouse in the middle of a vast alfalfa farm in the rural Four Corners area. You can't get much more ranch/farm/cowboys and Indians than me. As I type this, I can glance out my front window and watch them plowing up the fields for the first spring planting. If I look out the window to the right of me, I can see the snow covered Sleeping Ute Mountains. Step out my front door and I see both my landlord's ranching family's vast haybarn (almost empty this time of year), and the mesas which make up Mesa Verde National Park. Two miles to the south of me is the boundary line for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Lands. I sell the Utes and all sorts of other people who live around here produce from my garden and apples from my many fruit trees in the fall. I'm looking forward to the yearly Montezuma County Ag Expo which will be going on for three days at the end of this month. I always look forward to the fall elk season. I've been to the Denver Stockman's Show which reliable sources assure me is indeed still in existence. Out here we wear ball caps and padded jackets and Sorrells or work boots (depending on the weather). We purchase these items at the local Big R. I've got a cowgirl hat with the feather of a barn owl stuck in it and a pair of cowgirl boots that I wear for dress-up on special occasions, and I've been to my share of rodeos. Grew up on the Front Range, then spent the better part of the last 30 years out here.
I was drawn here and remain here because this sort of life-style is not so prevalent on the urbanized Front Range - not just the Denver metro area. However, rural Colorado is struggling - especially the drought-stricken Eastern Plains. We've been experiencing drought out in the Four Corners as well, but - thank God - last year was a good year (the one before that was an outstanding year) and this year's snow pack in the San Juans and the La Platas is giving us all hopes for another good year when the water shares won't be abruptly cut off in mid-August as they were in the drought year of 2014 (fingers crossed and knock on wood). Prices for agricultural commodities have been low while the cost of hay to feed livestock is high at $8.00/bale. Everything is all about water, has always been all about water and will always be all about water. This is the arid West and we jealously guard our dwindling water supplies from the thirsty ever-growing cities on the Front Range with their idiotic bluegrass lawns. And what Longmont doesn't have an eye on, Phoenix, Tucson, and LA do.
Yep, you can still live on the Front Range and dress up in your cowboy hat and boots to go see the Stock Show. But you are not going to be treated to wide open spaces and clear, turquoise skies. Odds are that you'll have to spend time waiting around at boat ramps at Chapman and others. Just checked the monthly Colorado drought monitor and the entire Front Range all the way to the Kansas line is experiencing drought conditions with a couple of counties experiencing severe drought. Colorado Springs has already had a huge grass fire east of town that threatened homes and property.
I don't know what you are imagining the Front Range is like these days, but whatever it is, I can tell you that you're in for a surprise. I'd suggest that you guys come out here for a visit before you make any firm plans to move to anywhere on the Front Range. But what do I know, since I don't "share your interests."
Last edited by Mike from back east; 03-04-2017 at 12:43 PM..
Reason: Changed northeastern to northwestern, per the OP.
Speaking from the Western Slope here... I live in an old farmhouse in the middle of a vast alfalfa farm in the rural Four Corners area. You can't get much more ranch/farm/cowboys and Indians than me. As I type this, I can glance out my front window and watch them plowing up the fields for the first spring planting. If I look out the window to the right of me, I can see the snow covered Sleeping Ute Mountains. Step out my front door and I see both my landlord's ranching family's vast haybarn (almost empty this time of year), and the mesas which make up Mesa Verde National Park. Two miles to the south of me is the boundary line for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Lands. I sell the Utes and all sorts of other people who live around here produce from my garden and apples from my many fruit trees in the fall. I'm looking forward to the yearly Montezuma County Ag Expo which will be going on for three days at the end of this month. I always look forward to the fall elk season. I've been to the Denver Stockman's Show which reliable sources assure me is indeed still in existence. Out here we wear ball caps and padded jackets and Sorrells or work boots (depending on the weather). We purchase these items at the local Big R. I've got a cowgirl hat with the feather of a barn owl stuck in it and a pair of cowgirl boots that I wear for dress-up on special occasions, and I've been to my share of rodeos. Grew up on the Front Range, then spent the better part of the last 30 years out here.
I was drawn here and remain here because this sort of life-style is not so prevalent on the urbanized Front Range - not just the Denver metro area. However, rural Colorado is struggling - especially the drought-stricken Eastern Plains. We've been experiencing drought out in the Four Corners as well, but - thank God - last year was a good year (the one before that was an outstanding year) and this year's snow pack in the San Juans and the La Platas is giving us all hopes for another good year when the water shares won't be abruptly cut off in mid-August as they were in the drought year of 2014 (fingers crossed and knock on wood). Prices for agricultural commodities have been low while the cost of hay to feed livestock is high at $8.00/bale. Everything is all about water, has always been all about water and will always be all about water. This is the arid West and we jealously guard our dwindling water supplies from the thirsty ever-growing cities on the Front Range with their idiotic bluegrass lawns. And what Longmont doesn't have an eye on, Phoenix, Tucson, and LA do.
Yep, you can still live on the Front Range and dress up in your cowboy hat and boots to go see the Stock Show. But you are not going to be treated to wide open spaces and clear, turquoise skies. Odds are that you'll have to spend time waiting around at boat ramps at Chapman and others. Just checked the monthly Colorado drought monitor and the entire Front Range all the way to the Kansas line is experiencing drought conditions with a couple of counties experiencing severe drought. Colorado Springs has already had a huge grass fire east of town that threatened homes and property.
I don't know what you are imagining the Front Range is like these days, but whatever it is, I can tell you that you're in for a surprise. I'd suggest that you guys come out here for a visit before you make any firm plans to move to anywhere on the Front Range. But what do I know, since I don't "share your interests."
We aren't looking for "wide-open spaces", like where you are or on the Eastern Plains. We want to live near a Walmart and other conveniences. I grew up in the farming country of northeastern Indiana and, after leaving the farm for the Navy, decided farm life really wasn't for me. Urban/country, like Parker was to us, was fine, but we know just how much Parker has grown since leaving in 2007.
Even after leaving Colorado, we still have all of our Western attire, but have only wore the clothes a couple of times going to a USTRC Affiliate Team Roping here. Went to one rodeo in Lake City, FL, but it sure wasn't like going to one in Colorado or ones we went to while living there.
Our "interests" are somewhat different than yours, because of where we'd really like to live again. We love "Western" stuff, but don't want to live out in the middle of nowhere. Yes, "nowhere" can be/is nice, but definitely not for us. We almost bought a house (horse property) in Strasburg in 2004. Then, small town, one stop light (maybe still is). Inspection done and tons of repair costs. The night after we told our realtor "no", a snow blizzard hit and closed a whole stretch of I70 thru that area.
Heh! Well, FWIW, we have a Walmart which I frankly try to avoid, and where I live is as different from Strasburg as the night is from the day. The Eastern Plains are for the birds - and even the birds are having a rough time out there these days. I love to learn that people don't want to live in the "middle of nowhere," because that means my special middle of nowhere may remain undiscovered for a while longer and not get inundated by the crowds like on the Front Range. In fact, I've seriously considered quitting posting about how much I love the Four Corners and the San Juan Mountains - it seems to draw too much attention from others. So, I'll stay happy and sassy out here in God's country and I hope you find a place to be happy and sassy for yourself - be it on the Front Range or anywhere else.
We aren't looking for "wide-open spaces", like where you are or on the Eastern Plains. We want to live near a Walmart and other conveniences. I grew up in the farming country of northeastern Indiana and, after leaving the farm for the Navy, decided farm life really wasn't for me. Urban/country, like Parker was to us, was fine, but we know just how much Parker has grown since leaving in 2007.
Even after leaving Colorado, we still have all of our Western attire, but have only wore the clothes a couple of times going to a USTRC Affiliate Team Roping here. Went to one rodeo in Lake City, FL, but it sure wasn't like going to one in Colorado or ones we went to while living there.
Our "interests" are somewhat different than yours, because of where we'd really like to live again. We love "Western" stuff, but don't want to live out in the middle of nowhere. Yes, "nowhere" can be/is nice, but definitely not for us. We almost bought a house (horse property) in Strasburg in 2004. Then, small town, one stop light (maybe still is). Inspection done and tons of repair costs. The night after we told our realtor "no", a snow blizzard hit and closed a whole stretch of I70 thru that area.
IOW, love Western stuff, but love Walmart also.
Maybe look near the Cheyenne area. You would be near Glendo and Guernsey Reservoirs for powerboating, though Guernsey gets drained in early summer. And it is close to Fort Collins, Horsetooth Reservoir, plus some other more northern Front Range reservoirs.
CO is not a great boating state unless you are a whitewater kayaker. Yeah, I know, not your interest. Seems that other parts of the US would better fit the lake powerboating and proximity to big box stores and services, with less ramp waiting time because there are simply more lakes spreading out the population of powerboaters.
Believe it or not, cowboys and ranching do exist in other parts of the country. The cowboy myth/icon might not be as obvious as in the west, but cowboys weren't known for being boaters, so they didn't care if lakes for recreation abounded. Frankly, in the most ranchy parts of CO, any little shallow muddy circle of water in the ground is viewed as a watering hole for livestock.
Last edited by pikabike; 03-04-2017 at 08:35 PM..
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