Curiosity... Monte Vista. (Alamosa, San Luis: rentals, theatre, colleges)

[A_Curious_One]

Hi, I'm a 19 year old female.
I've been living in a big city for quite sometime.
Baltimore, MD. Population here is almost 800,000 people.
I really want to get away from it all.
For 6 months to a year.
I'm looking to find out more about the area and if there are any great rentals around....

I've planned on moving somewhere small for month but only recently have I thought of moving West. Please any thoughts or Suggestions for me?
I'll take any knowledge you can give me!!!

[suzco]

Originally Posted by A_Curious_One

Hi, I'm a 19 year old female.
I've been living in a big city for quite sometime.
Baltimore, MD. Population here is almost 800,000 people.
I really want to get away from it all.
For 6 months to a year.
I'm looking to find out more about the area and if there are any great rentals around....

I've planned on moving somewhere small for month but only recently have I thought of moving West. Please any thoughts or Suggestions for me?
I'll take any knowledge you can give me!!!

Monte Vista is in the San Luis Valley. If you do a search here on C-D for San Luis Valley, you'll find some information to get you started.

The Colorado forum also has a great index thread that Mike from Back East compiled. http://www.city-data.com/forum/color...links-key.html

You can start to learn more about Colorado reading some of those threads.

[jazzlover]

You can read my other posts on the San Luis Valley for more in-depth information. Monte Vista is a nice town, but has few jobs. It is primarily an agricultural community. You can get a lot of information on the whole San Luis Valley area (and most all of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico) at this site: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada Information and Vacation Planner . I suspect that Monte Vista or anywhere in the San Luis Valley would be quite a culture shock for you--a lot of Hispanics (many of them multi-generational natives of the area), short summers, cold winters, lots of potatoes and barley. The valley itself is billed as the largest high-altitude alpine valley in the western hemisphere, so it is flat. The surrounding mountains are quite beautiful, though. Just a very tough place to live economically.

[esya]

The closest place to get a short term job would be Alamosa. Check out the internet for the local paper. It has two small colleges,a real downtown, a walmart and strip mall shopping, a multiplex theatre, a real coffee shop, and is well located if you have a car.

If you can waitress or make beds, you should think about areas that have seasonal tourism (which Colorado does). Some are winter tourist spots (skiing) and some are summer (like near the sand dunes in the san louis valley.