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Old 05-14-2008, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Montrose
63 posts, read 333,002 times
Reputation: 19

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Take a trip out to Western Colorado and GJ ,cover the whole area ..
Bet you end up liking MONTROSE ...

HM
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Old 05-16-2008, 06:10 PM
 
1 posts, read 5,188 times
Reputation: 10
Default Summer in Grand Junction with Kids

I moved to GJ in 2005 with a 2nd and 4th grader. If you have to move Grand Junction, take heart...there are worse places to live. Hiking and biking are big here. I find the people very friendly and it is a beautiful area. My kids attend the only Catholic School -- which is fantastic. So are the families. BUT....there is nothing for kids to do in the summer. The only summer camp, Moon Farm, has closed. The public swimming pool is infested with gangs and crime. The Parks & Rec program are not an option (for us) because the camps/activities are held outdoors - and it's HOT, HOT, HOT. Having lived in the burbs of major metropolitan areas, my kids are used to swimming and going to day camps (sports, science, academic, adventure, etc) in the summer. There are two country clubs but they've raised their rates and are out of our price range and attract an older crowd -The area is a magnet for retirees. There just isn't anything for kids to do here. I have no idea what teens do (I can imagine) and I hope I'm out of here before my kids are in high school. The people that I know either work (and leave their kids at home or set up playdates) or they leave for the summer. This is my 3rd summer in GJ and I plan to rent a vacation condo in Denver so that my kids can go to football, lacrosse, rocketry and reading camps...and swim at the complex pool!
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Old 05-16-2008, 10:24 PM
 
31 posts, read 130,335 times
Reputation: 21
There is an ice rink, numerous swimming areas/lakes, bannanas fun park, 21 movie screens, and the kids here still like to hang at the mall. Not the most teen life, but you should have seen it twenty years ago!

Redlands Mesa (Redlands for short) , despite what the other posts say is well known. It is a very nice area of town. Don't make the mistake of going to Redlands Mesa near Hotchkiss. It is a wasteland. Good luck.
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Old 05-17-2008, 10:25 PM
 
Location: Bend, OR
3,296 posts, read 9,650,454 times
Reputation: 3343
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmcray1 View Post
There is an ice rink, numerous swimming areas/lakes, bannanas fun park, 21 movie screens, and the kids here still like to hang at the mall. Not the most teen life, but you should have seen it twenty years ago!

Redlands Mesa (Redlands for short) , despite what the other posts say is well known. It is a very nice area of town. Don't make the mistake of going to Redlands Mesa near Hotchkiss. It is a wasteland. Good luck.
I didn't say that the Redlands was unknown, just that I was unfamiliar with it being called Redlands Mesa. If I were staying in GJ, I would most certainly live in the Redlands if I could afford to do so. It is the nicest part of town.
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Old 05-18-2008, 03:02 PM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,925,448 times
Reputation: 9579
Default The hundredth monkey!

cmcray1 wrote:
Redlands Mesa (Redlands for short) , despite what the other posts say is well known. It is a very nice area of town. Don't make the mistake of going to Redlands Mesa near Hotchkiss. It is a wasteland. Good luck.
I saw the Redland Mesa sign ( at the entrance to The Ridges ) for the first time yesterday, even though I've driven by it at least a hundred times before yesterday.
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Old 05-18-2008, 07:14 PM
 
31 posts, read 130,335 times
Reputation: 21
..........ty
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Old 05-20-2008, 12:14 AM
 
82 posts, read 314,601 times
Reputation: 35
There isn't much for young kids to do unless you get creative. There is no aquarium or anything like that. Bananas Fun Park has mini-golf. There doesn't seem to be a healthy base of younger families that are actually active in the community and not stoned most days of the week.
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Old 07-02-2008, 02:15 PM
 
19 posts, read 75,499 times
Reputation: 22
Like others have said, it depends on what you're into. If you like drinking and restaurants, mountain biking, traffic, crime, farmer's markets, wineries, subdivisions, housing developments, high cost housing, apartments with nearly no amenities, roundabouts (traffic control), oppresive heat for a couple months during the summer, and have money, you'd probably like it here. As for kids and young people, there really isn't anything to do here, no boys/girls clubs or anything like that.
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Old 07-03-2008, 01:20 PM
 
Location: Out West
11 posts, read 56,843 times
Reputation: 30
A simple answer to the question is that generally, if you have to ask "will I be happy here?" and what makes you happy is living where you live with no desire to live somewhere with a different flavor, the answer is probably NO. If you're interested in trying to make a go of it, and trying to enjoy it, you probably will like it here.

I'm NOT a GJ native and grew up in a larger city but my spouse and I came in ready to check things out and make the best of it-so we like it here. Did I love it at first? No. It was a new place, we knew no one. I think this is often true for anyone arriving to a new city that might be completely different from a prior place of residence. We got out there, though with the intent of being happy wherever we lived, checked things out and didn't look down our noses at possibilities. Consequently, we have been here for more than a decade now, have made great friends, discovered tons of things to do, and can't imagine a better place to raise our children.

I wasn't going to go point-by-point, but there's so much misinformation in some of the above posts I couldn't leave it alone. Moon Farm (OUTDOORS, no shade, oppressive heat and probably one of the only activities I WOULDN'T choose if they still ran the day camp-most of the equipment there hadn't been maintained or updated in YEARS) is not the only camp here. There are so many options for our kids for activities and summer camps, we had to trim it down and let them choose the one or two things that most interested them. There's the terrific summer day camp program at the Art Center, where different genres and styles of art are explored. There are numerous other art and musical theatre camps at various local schools and studios, and we've got friends whose children have done Camp Invention and just raved about it.

Many of the parks and rec summer day camps are held at the Bookcliff Activity Center (INDOORS), and the outdoor/sports ones have been great for our kids and many of our friends' kids. It's been nice for our children to try out different sports and activities without high dollar price tags or long term comittment. You can add on a swim pass to any of those programs, and it's a great way for the kids to cool off after their sports camps. My younger children also enjoy the free story times, puppet shows and assorted performers at the library, and two big box book stores here.

If you're active in any particular faith or just interested in vacation bible school/day camp, I think I can honestly say I've seen at least one going on every week somewhere this summer. Our kids love the pool, we're not in any gang, nor have we ever witnessed gang action there with any of the mom's groups we've joined for good times with family and friends. I think some people believe what they want to believe it serves their interests, but as someone who doesn't take the safety of their children lightly, I was frankly offended by the comment about the pool and gang violence. It's definitely hot here in the summer-no argument there. I would just take feedback from people who leave town in the summer because they can't deal with the heat with a grain of salt.

This probably won't help the OP much, but anyone else who is going to move here and planning to make the best of it, rest assured, you will find lots of fun things to do.
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Old 07-03-2008, 01:32 PM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,925,448 times
Reputation: 9579
WithoutaPaddle wrote:
with the intent of being happy wherever we lived
You can't go wrong with an attitude like this. I know that when I am sincerely living my life with this attitude, things have an almost magical way of working out favorably. Vice versa, when I get stuck in an irritable mood, I keep finding more things to be irritated about. It's a vicious circle for better or worse depending upon my attitude. From some of the posts I've read on this board, some members seem to be permanently stuck in an attitude that allows them to experience and comment only on the things that are wrong with Grand Junction, Colorado, the USA, the planet as a whole, and the entire cosmos. It's good to read a post like yours with a positive slant.

Last edited by CosmicWizard; 07-03-2008 at 01:41 PM..
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