Grand Junction, Colorado a place for young families?

[WithoutaPaddle]

Hehe-it's worked thus far, NewAgeRedneck, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I have to add, lest I paint an over-the-top, "shiny happy people" picture of Grand Junction, there are certainly those funny little quirks and local 'isms that aren't my cup of tea. You find those everywhere, though. Again, take me with a grain of salt, that's my .02, and more power to those who know that they're happiest where they are, and thus decide to stay where they are happiest.

[CosmicWizard]

I gotta agree. While GJ is certainly not perfect, it has many good qualities that I find enjoyable. To keep my sanity and a certain level of happiness, I find it essential to focus on the good stuff most of the time. I don't deny the existence of alot of crap too. I simply don't give it a whole lot of may attention. The crap exists EVERYWHERE I've ever lived, and so does the good stuff. Over the years, I've learned to shift more and more of my focus to the good stuff. As a result, alot of my bitterness regarding unwanted changes to the environment has been eliminated from my life, but I've still got a ways to go.

[verdalilly]

This place is really boring for kids. I move here as a teen and hated it and moved back several years ago. I have a child and cant find very much for her to do. Most of the activities that there use to be have closed down. Aladins castle, the Doo Zoo, Fun Junction, The roller rink, The ice rink and half of the movie theaters are all gone. There is kids plex and the dinosaur museum and the butterfly house but not mudh else. So good luck if youre trying to move here. Most of us are trying to get out.

[CosmicWizard]

verdalilly wrote:

Most of us are trying to get out.

You obviously hang out with a different group of people than I do. I honestly don't know a single person in my circle who has a desire to leave the Grand Junction area. But we're all acive, outdoors oriented people, committted to making the most of what the area offers. Chances are that you will take your focus-on-the-broken-things attitude with you wherever you go.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by verdalilly

This place is really boring for kids. I move here as a teen and hated it and moved back several years ago. I have a child and cant find very much for her to do. Most of the activities that there use to be have closed down. Aladins castle, the Doo Zoo, Fun Junction, The roller rink, The ice rink and half of the movie theaters are all gone. There is kids plex and the dinosaur museum and the butterfly house but not mudh else. So good luck if youre trying to move here. Most of us are trying to get out.

With the area growing, what would account for the closure of the venues you list? Why would movie theatres close down? What's going on economically that I'm missing? I ask because I'm considering a move to GJ as well. Thanks.

[motoracer51]

Originally Posted by mhouse2001

With the area growing, what would account for the closure of the venues you list? Why would movie theatres close down? What's going on economically that I'm missing? I ask because I'm considering a move to GJ as well. Thanks.

Maybe to tons of outdoor activities that are 30mins or less from your front door? I'd go hiking with my kids before I bring him to any of the indoor place.

Museums are when you make a trip to the front range.

Grand Junction isn't growing - it seems to have stabilized from the decline of the last few years that pretty much everyone went through sans a few cities in the country.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by motoracer51

Maybe to tons of outdoor activities that are 30mins or less from your front door? I'd go hiking with my kids before I bring him to any of the indoor place.

Museums are when you make a trip to the front range.

Grand Junction isn't growing - it seems to have stabilized from the decline of the last few years that pretty much everyone went through sans a few cities in the country.

Thanks, I guess it is different when the outdoors is 'friendlier' than, say, those winters in the Midwest where everyone stays indoors for 6 months. I know the economy in GJ is dependent on the oil industry and that the recent decline has been pretty bad. I'm hoping my visit soon to scout for rental locations doesn't show me a city on the decline. I am concerned about the crime statistics which seem way too high. I also know from reading here that Redlands and points northwest and southwest are the safer, better areas.

[STLCityMike]

A little off the topic of Grand Junction, but on topic for 'boring for kids.' I grew up in a very small town of 653 persons. There was no theater, no amusement parks, no mall (or other shopping), no arcade (but there was a pac man machine in one of the 2 taverns!), no zoo ... all of these things were treats we encountered on rare trips to cities like St. Louis (over 2 hours away). The kids in my home town entertained themselves with baseball, football, riding bikes, playing tag, hide and go seek, building forts, going to the playground at the town school, etc. I did leave the area after college (now in St. Louis). My point - we made the best of what we had, and used creativity to entertain ourselves. We didn't expect others to entertain ourselves, nor complain there was nothing to do.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by STLCityMike

A little off the topic of Grand Junction, but on topic for 'boring for kids.' I grew up in a very small town of 653 persons. There was no theater, no amusement parks, no mall (or other shopping), no arcade (but there was a pac man machine in one of the 2 taverns!), no zoo ... all of these things were treats we encountered on rare trips to cities like St. Louis (over 2 hours away). The kids in my home town entertained themselves with baseball, football, riding bikes, playing tag, hide and go seek, building forts, going to the playground at the town school, etc. I did leave the area after college (now in St. Louis). My point - we made the best of what we had, and used creativity to entertain ourselves. We didn't expect others to entertain ourselves, nor complain there was nothing to do.

Not to divert the thread, but... I grew up in a city of about 160,000 (which now has 80,000 poor souls) and the kids in the 60s did the same things you described: they entertained themselves and had a blast doing it. Over the last 40 years, our collective creativity muscles have deteriorated to nothing. It's a sad state of affairs. I think it's even sadder if a person has raised kids who complain that there's nothing to do. C'mon, even a pile of dirt can be fascinating.

[motoracer51]

Originally Posted by mhouse2001

Not to divert the thread, but... I grew up in a city of about 160,000 (which now has 80,000 poor souls) and the kids in the 60s did the same things you described: they entertained themselves and had a blast doing it. Over the last 40 years, our collective creativity muscles have deteriorated to nothing. It's a sad state of affairs. I think it's even sadder if a person has raised kids who complain that there's nothing to do. C'mon, even a pile of dirt can be fascinating.

Agreed. My playground was the woods behind my house. I would stay out there till it got dark.

Out here it will be the desert. I have 30 acres of trees, and some desert for my kids to play on. We'll have atv's, tractors, target shooting, and other fun stuff to do.