Wants vs Needs Retirement (Denver, Pueblo: homes, luxury, live in)

[wmcw]

We want to retire "out West". Currently we live in Atlanta. The past few years we have spent our summers in the many National Parks trying to chose a different area each time. Our wants and needs aren't lining up for us! I want a dry arid climate, a lake for a trimaran or kayak, small walkable downtown, and walk/bike trails . We need a decent medical center nearby that can accommodate our inevitable aging bodies.😂 Our home budget is around 600K.
We enjoy festivals, concerts, and fun, funky stuff. Pretty open-minded for a couple of old folks! Atlanta has cured us of big city life.
Am I searching for the impossible? All advice is welcomed!!

[NW Crow]

Dry, arid climate... so does that mean you don't want much or any snow and / or don't want summer afternoon rain showers? If either is true, probably don't want Colorado.


If you are not set on super dry, arid all the time maybe Durango or Loveland could work. Or Pinetop/Lakeside AZ though they get winter snow and summer monsoons too.


Silver City NM is dry & arid. Lake Roberts about 1/2 hour north of town. Minden / Garnerville NV? Page AZ? Cody WY? (little snow in town, little rain either. Buffalo Bill Reservoir to the west and some other lakes nearby.)


Small downtown... like 1-3 streets? Couple thousand people or more like 10-25k? Or bigger?


Decent medical center... like at least one specialist in most fields or multiple / some of "best" in state?


More details, better matching.

[brown_dog_us]

Originally Posted by wmcw

a lake for a trimaran or kayak,

We don't have a lot of lakes for boating. Especially in the mountains. If that is important to you, I'd start with a list of lakes that would work, and then add the rest of your requirements. Three that popped into my head immediately are Dillon Reservoir near Breckenridge, Shadow Mountain Lake / Grand Lake near Grand Lake, and Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison.

[wmcw]

Thank you both! We like the idea of a Lake town but most of them don't seem to have decent medical care? We don't mind winter snow but still want to be able to get outdoors. My husband wants to look at Grand Junction b/c he thinks that is more of the climate he would like but I saw in forums there was lack of medical facilities there.

@NW Crow Thanks for suggestions in other states. Let the hunt begin!

@brown_dog_us I will search the forums for the lakes you mentioned.

[NW Crow]

Those three areas have nice lakes. And long winters. And varying levels of summer storms.

[wmcw]

I will rewrite this and try a more detailed post. Good questions and suggestions. New at this so thank you for help.

[NW Crow]

GJ has maybe 170k people in metro area and serves other outlying areas too. So it will have medical facilities roughly commensurate with that population. It has the most medical in state outside front range.


Grand Mesa southeast of GJ has lot of pretty lakes. Usable half of year. Bring mosquito spray / maybe netting in early summer.

[mic111]

You don't mention if you want a new or older home. You may want to look into Longmont. Cute walkable downtown, homes in your price range. Very close to medical in Denver and Boulder. Trails are all over the front range area. You would have to drive to the smallish reservoirs but there are several to choose from.
Example home in Longmont walking distance to main street.
http://www.recolorado.com/homes-for-...0501-232224611
or for newer
http://www.recolorado.com/homes-for-...0501-236345884

If you want 55+ and to be a short distance from all your wants look at Anthem. Small cute walkable downtowns in Louisville and Lafayette are very close by and have some excellent restaurants. All the small town around have loads of festivals so there is always something to do. Denver has all the big city amenities.
https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-...olorado%20(DSA)

Example home in Anthem Ranch.
http://www.recolorado.com/homes-for-...0023-233244140

Another possibility is Lafayette.
http://www.recolorado.com/homes-for-...0026-236289417

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by wmcw

We want to retire "out West". Currently we live in Atlanta. The past few years we have spent our summers in the many National Parks trying to chose a different area each time. Our wants and needs aren't lining up for us! I want a dry arid climate, a lake for a trimaran or kayak, small walkable downtown, and walk/bike trails . We need a decent medical center nearby that can accommodate our inevitable aging bodies.�� Our home budget is around 600K.
We enjoy festivals, concerts, and fun, funky stuff. Pretty open-minded for a couple of old folks! Atlanta has cured us of big city life.
Am I searching for the impossible? All advice is welcomed!!

How about Cave Creek, AZ? It's part of Phoenix metro but on the far north side. There are mountains and lots of government-owned land up there so it's not going to get engulfed in suburbia. Lots of trails around there. In the summer you can head up to Sedona or Flagstaff to get out of the heat if you like.

Dry/arid climate, yes.

Several lakes not too far away. Lake Pleasant, Tempe Town Lake, Saguaro Lake, Canyon Lake

About half an hour from Mayo Clinic.

Not sure what sort of festivals you are looking for. The link below will give you a flavor. Just local stuff...

https://cavecreeklive.com/events-in-cave-creek

[otowi]

Pueblo has all that, did you look at it?