Durango, CO-Farmington, NM?? (Alamosa, Aspen, Salida: for sale, real estate market, condos)

[wkooper]

Hi there!
I am 24 years old and will be relocating to this area later this summer. Any suggestions on where to live? I will be traveling between these to areas every week!! ANY information on these areas would be great!! Life style, weather, shopping, restaurants, anything!!!!

Thanks in advance!!!

Please email me at wkooper20@yahoo.com if you have any advice!

[rybert]

Anywhere near the Animas river is going to be beautiful!

[catman]

Durango is more expensive to live in than Farmington, NM. It certainly is a beautiful area, though.

[onthamove]

dude i LOVE durgano i spent 4 days there on my tour of colorado earlier this may its in the high desert area kinda but at 7k feet is more pines hilly than say grand junction i road 550 through the 14ers i love durango they have a cool downtown and are about an hour fron the big mtns. the pizza hut in durango is killer expensive though buffet here in lex, ky is 7 or something there it was near 9, but i love pizza hut especially eating it and looking at the rockies out the window
best of luck!

[jazzlover]

Durango: Resort town, very expensive. Jobs don't pay very well--lots of yuppies who bring their money from somewhere else. Great summer climate, snow in winter. Lots of restaurants and shopping--much of which locals can't afford--a lot of "normal" commerce or shopping means going to Farmington. Pretty location, but growing too fast--lots of pretty areas being wrecked by sprawl. Relatively safe, but by no means crime-free.

Farmington: Much bigger in population than Durango. Gas field boom town, and has been for years. Trade center for the area. Hot and dry in summer, moderate in winter. "Blue collar" town--lots of transient "oil field" workers. Large Native American presence (mostly Navajo). Housing costs cheaper than Durango, but still pretty expensive. Higher average salaries. Not very pretty or photogenic--lots of sprawl, trashy development, and a lack of owner pride in some areas. Growing too fast, and not smartly. Significant crime issues in some areas.

[Solidwood]

Everybody in Durango-town shops in Farmington. The Animas Mall, Target, Sam's Club are all in Farmington. Durango has Home Depot and Walmart. The mall there has lost larger stores so catalogs are the way to shop....or Farmington. As you may guess the big name restaurants are in Farmingtom, Red Lobster, King's Table, and others.
Price difference between to two towns is 30% and up. Real estate is out-of-this-world in Durango.

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by Solidwood

Everybody in Durango-town shops in Farmington.

Not true. I avoid Farmington as much as possible, and so do most of my friends. Malls are sick and there are better places to buy what you need.

Originally Posted by Solidwood

Durango has Home Depot and Walmart.

And dozens of local stores that carry whatever you might need... I guess it depends on your "need" for "stuff."

Originally Posted by Solidwood

As you may guess the big name restaurants are in Farmingtom, Red Lobster, King's Table, and others.

Chain restaurants? Once again, who cares? Durango has Red Snapper (among others), and you're sad there's no Red Lobster? Durango is full to the gills of GREAT restaurants. Carver's, The Himalayan, Old Tymer's, The Palace, Faclonburgh's, Sushi-tarian, Nini's, Poppies, Guido's, Steamworks... F**k Chili's, f**k Applebee's, etc. Gimme something I can't find elsewhere.


If you want to live in a crap-hole city that looks exactly like every other crap-hole city in America with mini-malls and chains, then by all means, live in Farmington. If that kind of landscape makes you sick to your stomach and you crave something unique and original, then Durango's it.

As for the cost: most of the people that live in Durango are not wealthy yuppies, but hard-working ski-bums, trout-bums, trail-hitters and river rats that live in a place because the place suits their lifestyle. They've chosen to eschew the drudgery and banality of McCities to live somewhere beautiful and fun. We all work and live here with no problems. We've bought houses and have kids and go on vacations and hang out with friends. We shop here, eat here, and play here. It's not that much more expensive than other places.

wkooper, you're making a lifestyle choice. Maybe having as many chain stores and mini-malls as possible suits your lifestyle, and maybe not. Maybe when you're in a town that has restaurants you've never heard of, you get uneasy because the known is comforting but the unknown is "scary." I don't know.

You should probably just visit both towns and see which you like better.

[jazzlover]

colorado native,

I will heartily agree with you with Durango is not as much of a "McCity" like so many others. Unfortunately, it is working hard to get there. As to affordability, I have to disagree there. With a median home price pushing near $400K, it hardly can be called "affordable" by most standards--especially when one considers the income that can be made by most people locally. The "trustifarians" and wealthy retirees--well, they don't have to worry about that. I know literally dozens of Durango natives. Out of all of them, only two still live in Durango. All the others moved out in order to make a living--many not by choice, but by necessity. These are not uneducated, unskilled people, either. The two I know who are still in Durango live in houses that they own outright--inherited from their grandparents or parents. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't still be there, either. Of the non-natives I know in Durango, nearly all of them moved there 25-30 years ago or more, bought their homes then, and have paid them off. They would be the first to say that they couldn't afford to move there now--and most of their grown children have had to leave to live elsewhere for that very reason.

I sincerely hope that Durango's ridiculously overinflated real estate market (Can we say "bubble?") will collapse sufficiently in the next couple of years that it returns to some semblance of sanity. If it does not, Durango will just head farther down the road to being a southwest Colorado version of Aspen--an extremely expensive multi-media cartoon version of what a Colorado town should be.

I can tell you from first-hand experience, the Durango of 40 years ago was, bar-none, the neatest town in Colorado. Then, the "beautiful people" discovered it, and it has been going downhill, in my estimation, ever since.

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

colorado native,

With a median home price pushing near $400K, it hardly can be called "affordable" by most standards--especially when one considers the income that can be made by most people locally.

Yeah, the median is $400K, which means there are cheaper places for sale. I bought one, and I and my girlfriend are in no way wealthy. I work retail and she does social work. Our friends are doing it, too. There are plenty of expensive homes for sale, and I don't disagree that many of the prices are outrageous, but there are ways around it. Condos, townhomes, country life, etc.


The "beautiful people" are here, but not in the numbers you suggest. The bulk of the people living in Durango are working folks. We have our part-time residents and trustifarian brats, just like everywhere else in Colorado.

I generally agree with you, jazzlover, but you do tend to exaggerate sometimes.

[Sockeye]

Originally Posted by colorado native

Yeah, the median is $400K, which means there are cheaper places for sale. I bought one, and I and my girlfriend are in no way wealthy. I work retail and she does social work. Our friends are doing it, too. There are plenty of expensive homes for sale, and I don't disagree that many of the prices are outrageous, but there are ways around it. Condos, townhomes, country life, etc.


The "beautiful people" are here, but not in the numbers you suggest. The bulk of the people living in Durango are working folks. We have our part-time residents and trustifarian brats, just like everywhere else in Colorado.

I generally agree with you, jazzlover, but you do tend to exaggerate sometimes.

The beautiful folks ruined places like Telluride and Aspen. Went thru Durango last summer after a 5 year hiatus and saw dramatic changes. I pray that the equity locusts don't completely consume your town. At least for now, the credit mess has put the kabosh on it, though the very wealthy don't fear these issues, or recessions. If I were to choose a town with real, established community qualities-non resort like- I'd choose Salida, Buena Vista, Paonia, Gunnison, Alamosa, and Monte Vista in a heartbeat over anything around the four corners.