What is the absolutely best/worst place in CO? (Denver: middle-class, cheap home)

[JoLe07]

Worst- It seems to be sort of a common thought here that many of the worst places are towards the SE corner of the state. I agree totally. Stay away from the area that is loosely referred to as the Arkansas River Valley especially and Pueblo (La Junta, Rocky Ford, Las Animas, Ordway, Fowler, etc.). I grew up in La Junta and have several relatives throughout the valley. Don't get me wrong, there are some small benefits in that you can escape from city life for a while. But watch out for living in these areas permanently. There is little intellect, open-mindedness and desire to succeed. As a college student who is fortunate enough to have made it far, far away from my home town, the realization of just how bad things really are in the Ark Valley Area has become real to me. It might be bearable if you're older and retirement age, but if you have children who want to succeed in life...stay away! I can go on for days and make a very compelling argument as to why the area is not a healthy place to live. It's very sad because the area used to be a nice small town when my parents and my parents' parents were growing up, but it keeps going downhill more and more every year...

Aside from that negative rant...

Best- There are MANY nice areas in Colorado on the frontrange, in the mountains, and generally just away from the SE corner. Most of them are more pricey but from my experience, if you can afford it, paying more is well worth it in the long run!

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Nancy Cronk

Love Boulder, Breckenridge, Grand Lake, and so many others.

Vail and Aspen, nice but very snobby.

Greeley is gross by Colorado standards, but compared to where I am from (Detroit), it is paradise.

Colorado is just a pretty great place to be... almost anywhere is better than other states. Weather is awesome, scenery is amazing, people are laid back. The only place I would rather be is San Diego, but the houses here are a third of the price. (We actually compared similar houses and that is no exaggeration, so we stayed here.)

If I won a lottery, I would build a big house on Grand Lake. To me, that area is perfect.

Thank you, NC. That was a pretty nice post. I have a picture of that lake on my desktop right now. I got it from the last time we went camping out there with friends.

I've done some work out in Grand Rapids a couple of times last year and I thought it was pretty nice out there. I drove from there to Chicago and the roads were really nice; get this Coloradoans, three lane highways and no trucks in the fast lane!

[sporty]

First you have to know that wages are quite a bit lower than you would think given that housing is very expensive. Property taxes(at least in Gunnios/Montrose counties) are extremely low is comparison to many other states. I have lived in Arizona, New York, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, and can find no other place with as low of propert taxes. That said, if you want to live on the western slope it will be hard to find good paying jobs. I happen to work as a registered nurse, and i find that my standard of living is pretty decent. I could make a lot more money almost anywhere else, but Colorado has tons of sunshine, almost every type of outdoor recreation, and lots of people are from somewhere else. Very friendly people out here, if you don't like the outdoors, and need shopping malls the western slope is not for you. If you want to live within 30 min. or less of a ski town, you had better be someone with a huge amount of money(seven figures). Keep all that information in mind, and people out here are like people everywhere. You get what you give out.

[CameraGirl]

Hi:

I went to college in Boulder and it's perfect for that. Living in Boulder beyond college is demoralizing. I've known DR's and lawyers who have had to have several roommates to afford it. The cost of living is ridiculous. I read post on here that mentioned the New Yorkers- I kid you not after a few years in Boulder I literally had a New Yorkish accent that picked up from all of them. Boulder is not the ideal dream. I grew up in Fort Collins, which remains clean and cute and a nice college town. But, I have lived most my life in Denver. Denver is great- it is clean, the residents are healthy, educated, tons of cultural things to do and it is a reasonably safe, big city.

The armpits for me are- stinky Greeley and Colorado Springs. The freaking right wing religious freaks in C.S.- just plain ol' give me the creeps.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by CameraGirl

Hi:

I went to college in Boulder and it's perfect for that. Living in Boulder beyond college is demoralizing. I've known DR's and lawyers who have had to have several roommates to afford it. The cost of living is ridiculous. I read post on here that mentioned the New Yorkers- I kid you not after a few years in Boulder I literally had a New Yorkish accent that picked up from all of them. Boulder is not the ideal dream. I grew up in Fort Collins, which remains clean and cute and a nice college town. But, I have lived most my life in Denver. Denver is great- it is clean, the residents are healthy, educated, tons of cultural things to do and it is a reasonably safe, big city.

The armpits for me are- stinky Greeley and Colorado Springs. The freaking right wing religious freaks in C.S.- just plain ol' give me the creeps.

I just spewed coffee into my keyboard. You owe me a new keyboard, CameraGirl. The right wing religious freaks give you the creeps? Colorado Springs really is a beautiful place. Unlike you, I just can't put my finger on why I don't like it. It must be because I'm from Pleblo(sic).

[lovely in linen]

Our family has lived around the state (from Steamboat to Pagosa and many points between!), so here goes:

Best mountain life: Steamboat Springs

Best "real life": Fort Collins

Best place to feel nostalgic about, but to have grown up and moved on: Boulder

Worst: Tie between Craig and Canon City (you choose -- inmates or those waiting to become inmates?)

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by gpraceman

Estes Parks would be a good place to live. Greeley may qualify as the armpit, though there are smaller towns that would also probably qualify.


That assumes everyone wants to live in Boulder. Not! A nice place to go to college, but not to live and definitely not to raise a family IMO.

Estes Parks is one of the nicest places I have seen on this side of Switzerland!!

[Highpointer]

It would appear to me that Boulder would be the best city in which to live in Colorado. Look at this list of awards that Bouder has earned, posted here. Here are some excerpts:

"America's Smartest Cities", ranked #1 by Forbes magazine.

Ranked Best All Around among "Dream Towns" by Outside magazine.

"Best Places to Retire in Style" by Fortune magazine.

"Best City for Cycling" by Bicyling magazine.

“America’s Best Running City” by Running magazine.

"Top Triathlon Town" by Inside Triathlon magazine.

"Place you dream of living" by Backpacker magazine.

"Best Sports Town in America" by Outside magazine.

"The Thinnest City in America" by Self magazine.

"The West's Best City" by Sunset magazine.

"50 Best places to live - best overall city" by Men's Journal magazine.

One of “America’s 50 Healthiest Places to Live” by USA Today.

I could keep going but if you want to see the more accolades, go to this link.

As far as the worst place to live in Colorado, I don't want to specify an exact answer for that, but it would appear to me that the eastern plains of Colorado is the least desireable part of Colorado to live. The plains are flat and not close to the mountains. There are very few jobs in that region of the state and little industry other agricultural-based industry. Many towns in the eastern plains are losing population. Also, if you live in the eastern plains there is a risk of devastating tornadoes, such as the tornado that struck Holly, Colorado on March 28, 2007.

[McGowdog]

Best sports town in America

Really? Well isn't that special (in my best Dana Carvey accent)? I wonder if Nebraska has anything to add to that. I wonder if Duct Tape has any comments. I wonder if the CU Buffs' Folsom Field Scoreboard has any comments.

Granted, I'm kind of biased because I came up watching the Buffs in the late 80's and early 90's. I was a fan. I bled Black and Gold. I suppose there are other sports.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Best sports town in America

Really? Well isn't that special (in my best Dana Carvey accent)? I wonder if Nebraska has anything to add to that. I wonder if Duct Tape has any comments. I wonder if the CU Buffs' Folsom Field Scoreboard has any comments.

Granted, I'm kind of biased because I came up watching the Buffs in the late 80's and early 90's. I was a fan. I bled Black and Gold. I suppose there are other sports.

I think they are talking about the kind of sports you do yourself: climbing, kayaking, etc. It surely can't be talking about spectator sports.