Where is Grounded living in Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs: ski resort, how much, university)

[twilight]

Where would you recommend living: close (not over an hr.) to an airport, hospital, local college, sking, Boating?
I live in NJ a town much like Durango, but more contemporary-an hour from NYC. (we don't like New Yorkers either)
I have visited: Durango, Telleride, Rico, Montros and Gunnison - South West area.

[bashep]

Well, Ft. Collins, Woodland Park, Boulder, Longmont have a smaller town feel. It will boil down to how much you want to spend on a house. Some of those areas are expensive. Also, where you will be working... bashep

[tfox]

Originally Posted by twilight

Where would you recommend living: close (not over an hr.) to an airport, hospital, local college, sking, Boating?
I live in NJ a town much like Durango, but more contemporary-an hour from NYC. (we don't like New Yorkers either)
I have visited: Durango, Telleride, Rico, Montros and Gunnison - South West area.

Do you mean a MAJOR airport, MAJOR hospital, etc, or just any airport/hospital? If it's the former, then you're pretty much limited to the Front Range (i.e., Fort Collins in the north down to about Pueblo/Canon City in the south, including Denver and Colorado Springs) -- DIA is really the only airport that you could describe as truly a large airport, Colorado Springs is smaller. About 80%+ of the population in Colorado lives on the front range, within an hours' drive or so of either Denver or Colorado Springs.

It sounds like you enjoy the Western Slope, and I don't blame you, it's a beautiful part of the state with a great climate, outstanding recreational opportunities. Since it sounds like you want some city amenties you might want to consider Grand Junction. The Grand Junction area has about 100k people: it has a hospital, a university (Mesa State), and an airport with about 19 flights a day. There is a ski resort on Grand Mesa but for more world class skiing you'd probably have to drive to Aspen or down to Telluride. It has a milder, desert climate which is the center of our wine country and fruit orchards.

Durango would be another option -- it has a small airport (about 9 flights/day), a college (Fort Lewis College, associated with CSU), skiing close by, and a fairly mild climate as well.

I should emphasize that Durango and Grand Junction are both smaller towns (Durango much more so), so that's what you'd be moving into. Jobs may be hard to come by in both places, depending on your field.

I hope that helps.