Ridgway and Dolores (Durango: homes, school district, subdivisions)

[waltcolorado]

Great info!

Pikabike, yep, dont want squatters. Burglary and vandalism are way higher on this list of things to worry about. If you leave a home unoccupied, having neighbors that you know within sight of the house is a great thing and of course there are all sorts of electronic security systems that allow you to remotely monitor things.

I have been noticing a lot of homes that look attractive do have HOA and the price varies from say $30 per month to over $300 per month. I would avoid a home with an expensive HOA fee and if Im not alone, that would tend to reduce the number of people interested in buying the home and would tend to lower the value. What do you get between the factor of 10X HOA price difference?

The snowbird thing is good for a period of time from when you retire to when you no longer have the energy and desire to do it. We are not tired of it yet but that day will come so the choice of town will also be about growing old in a place you can live year around. Im currently living at about 8800 ft elevation in Park County and dealing with the elevation just fine (64 YO now) but elevation also plays a little into where to live. Where Im currently at is too remote and cold to spend the winter but its very pleasant in the summer.

All of the places mentioned are great for the outdoors but a nearby lake is also part of the consideration (sailing and paddle sports).
Im kind of liking Durango a little more.. my pro's (which are probably too general and could be off)

Durango El 6522
Medical and shopping - close by
Lake Nighthorse - less than 10 miles
Navaho lake- easy day trip
Lots of HOA homes and wild fire risk in some areas

Ridgway El 6985
Medical - 20 drive to Montrose.. probably not too bad even in the winter
Shopping - smaller local stuff, drive to Montrose for larger stores
Ridway Res - less than 10 miles
Lots of HOA homes. Wild fire risk in some areas..
Brightdoglover lives there.. a good thing!!!

Dolores El 6936
Medical - 10 miles to Cortez
Shopping - very small local store, drive to Cortez for larger stores
Not much HOA and probably lots of wild fire risk in the areas where I would want to live
Macphee res - nice big res and sort of close - you have to drive a way for access. I know very little other than this
More house for the $$ than either Ridgway or Durango

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

The cost of the HOA would depend on what they provide. For example, if there are HOA-owned roads versus county roads, then there will be a high cost for maintenance, snow plowing, etc. So, if you find a house you like in an HOA, you would have to research what they collect dues are for and if there are any special assessments.

I'm glad to see that you list "medical" first. I'm in my early 70s, and spend part of the year in a remote area of the Big Island of Hawaii. Being far away from a decent hospital is a big concern, and one of the reasons why some of the aging neighbors move away.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by waltcolorado

Great info!

Pikabike, yep, dont want squatters. Burglary and vandalism are way higher on this list of things to worry about. If you leave a home unoccupied, having neighbors that you know within sight of the house is a great thing and of course there are all sorts of electronic security systems that allow you to remotely monitor things.

That works if you are OK with being in sight of neighbors’ places and they actually keep an eye on things, and if your WiFi extends far enough to cover what you want to monitor with electronics. If the place is on multiple acres and not in a WiFi zone, you also need several game cameras that you frequently check. Yes, it’s a PITA but worth doing—the photos and videos substantiate suspicions and provide evidence. BTW, understaffed sheriff depts covering big geographic areas tell people to put up game cameras. They need solid things such as license plate numbers, images of people and videos of acts, etc, to catch someone. Also, even with fairly nearby neighbors, it does not help if they stay indoors all the time or don’t pay attention to what is going on or they don’t want to call LE.


I have been noticing a lot of homes that look attractive do have HOA and the price varies from say $30 per month to over $300 per month. I would avoid a home with an expensive HOA fee and if Im not alone, that would tend to reduce the number of people interested in buying the home and would tend to lower the value. What do you get between the factor of 10X HOA price difference?

We were pretty sure we didn’t want to be in an HOA subdivision but considered several such properties. Make sure you get a copy of the HOA covenents and study them thoroughly before making any offer. RE agents will not provide these UNLESS you specifically request them! I don’t know why fees vary so much, but I do know that the covenents themselves vary hugely. In the ones we studied, the minimum square footage of the dominant house (or whatever term they used to mean Not the Garage and Not the ADU) ran from 1800 sf to 2600 sf. In every case, all other buildings (“subordinate buildings”—I sht you not that really was their term for it) had to be smaller than the dominant house. This rules things out for anyone who wants a big garage-workshop and a small house, and lord forbid they not match each other in style and color.

As for attractiveness, you probably realize that many people prefer HOA places because they forbid what can end up being ugly messes. I mean multiple buildings in bad condition, weed-overrrun yards, every square inch outdoors covered by machinery in all kinds of conditions including forever-dead-and-unresurrectable, junkyard dogs running around, oil spills staining the dirt, etc.

So HOA or not depends what tradeoffs you are willing to make.


The snowbird thing is good for period of time from when you retire to when you no longer have the energy and desire to do it. We are not tired of it yet but that day will come so the choice of town will also be about growing old in a place you can live year around. Im currently living at about 8800 ft elevation in Park County and dealing with the elevation just fine (64 YO now) but elevation also plays a little into where to live.

We lived 15 years in a winter-difficult (and extreme fire-risk) part of the Front Range. We realized its demands would throw us past the tipping point when we got older, so we left the area. So I hear ya. But anywhere in CO, there’s gonna be snow and cold. Now we have a longer, hotter hot season, too. No place is perfect.


All of the places mentioned are great for the outdoors but a nearby lake is also part of the consideration (sailing and paddle sports).

I myself am a kayaking fanatic. Ocean paddling is my favorite of all, but I settled for reservoirs. The thing that is bad—really, really bad—about CO, and especially SW CO, is that the reservoirs can literally be drawn down to a trickle or a mud puddle by late summer or early fall. Aggie use has priority. And reservoirs that look good now because the “plumbing” for water supply isn’t finished will be vulnerable to the same phenomenon eventually. I think Nighthorse falls into this category, unfortunately.

ALL of the region is high fire risk. There are things you do to reduce the chance of your building burning, but if there is extensive brushland or forest nearby, not much you can do about that without owning a lot of water rights ($$$$$).


Im kind of liking Durango a little more.. my pro's (which are probably too general and could be off)

Durango El 6522
Medical and shopping - close by
Lake Nighthorse - less than 10 miles
Navaho lake- easy day trip
Lots of HOA homes and wild fire risk in some areas

Ridgway El 6985
Medical - 20 drive to Montrose.. probably not too bad even in the winter
Shopping - smaller local stuff, drive to Montrose for larger stores
Ridway Res - less than 10 miles
Lots of HOA homes. Wild fire risk in some areas..
Brightdoglover lives there.. a good thing!!!

Dolores El 6936
Medical - 10 miles to Cortez
Shopping - very small local store, drive to Cortez for larger stores
Not much HOA and probably lots of wild fire risk in the areas where I would want to live
Macphee res - nice big res and sort of close - you have to drive a way for access. I know very little other than this
More house for the $$ than either Ridgway or Durango

Weird that C-D says my message is too short to be posted!!!

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Weird that C-D says my message is too short to be posted!!!

I've gotten that message and figured out that it's when I add something and didn't put ellipses around my quoted parts. It somehow reads out as too short then.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I've gotten that message and figured out that it's when I add something and didn't put ellipses around my quoted parts. It somehow reads out as too short then.

Yeah, I probably should’ve written my reply as one piece after quoting the respondee instead of addressing each paragraph as interspersed with his. I think my way of bluewriting the integrated parts is easier to correlate to the quoted piece, though.

[waltcolorado]

Thanks again!!

My wife likes hummingbirds.. so hopefully those towns in Western Colorado have some visiting. For some reason it seems they like higher elevation??

Where we are now near Elevenmile is a good spot for this (about 8800 ft). This video was taken the last two days, just barely loaded to youtube. All the little hummingbird social stuff (they dont share well LOL) is pretty entertaining.

https://youtu.be/iMovxENrv6U

[brightdoglover]

My friend who has a lovely property on the Ridgway/Ouray line has tons of hummingbirds with only two feeders. They practically dive-bomb the porch!

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by waltcolorado

Thanks again!!

My wife likes hummingbirds.. so hopefully those towns in Western Colorado have some visiting. For some reason it seems they like higher elevation??

Where we are now near Elevenmile is a good spot for this (about 8800 ft). This video was taken the last two days, just barely loaded to youtube. All the little hummingbird social stuff (they dont share well LOL) is pretty entertaining.

https://youtu.be/iMovxENrv6U

SW CO has lots of hummingbirds. We have regular ones, despite not putting any feeders out, though only two species of them (Black-chinned and Broad-tailed). I’ve seen them at lower elevations, too. One brushed feathers against my elbow a couple days ago, possibly attracted to my purplish-magenta t-shirt.

[waltcolorado]

The area around Durango to the SW that is South of 160 but North of Nighthorse res is looking interesting.

It tends to be homes on a few acres and lots of HOA but most HOA tend to be less than $1000 per year.

Does anyone know the wild fire history in this area? North of Durango you get into lots of Pines and Fir forests but that area to the SW looks to be a little dryer and less forest. But that of course does not at all mean less wild fire risk.

Zillow shows an estimate of home owners insurance and I have not yet started to examine that but I wonder if the insurance premium number shown by Zillow reflects on what the insurance company thinks the wild fire risk is..

[NW Crow]

Rafter J to the south west a bit (not sure if you we're looking this far west) and Florida Mesa to the southeast both have had fires in recent decades. There is some area in between, out LaPosta Road, homes and businesses. Florida Mesa grass fires are more common. Call the fire district for more info. I think it is this one: https://lospinosfire.com/contact/


Rafter J is a pretty neat area. The winding road down to / up from town is something to be careful on in winter but not that bad.