Moving to Grand Junction (Denver, Colorado Springs: for sale, power lines, rentals)

[momm03]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me a lil about this town? My husband is taking a job here (oil) and I just want to make sure its worth ir before I move away from my entire family! Weve talked for years about this move for our kids who both have asthma, and Ive always wanted a smaller town slower paced community,where everybody is friendly and the crime is low. We currently live in a huge valley here in California (w-a population of over 300,000), so moving to a small town sounds perfect to me can anybody from Grand Junction give me any details thanks.

[bluescreen73]

Well here's what I can tell you (and Jazzlover will fill in the other 99%). Grand Junction is the largest town on the Western Slope of Colorado. The population of the whole Junction "metro" area is about 140,000. Grand Junction itself accounts for about 45,000 of that.

The Grand Junction area is/was a prime retiree location because of its mild, dry climate. If allergies trigger your kiddos' asthma you might want to consult a physician before the move. Ragweed's not a big player but dust, cottonwood trees, and sagebrush are.

As others have noted, crime has increased considerably over the last few years with the energy boom in NW Colorado.

Grand Junction reminds me more of eastern Utah than it does the typical image of Colorado. The area surrounding town is a desert with treeless sandstone and red stone hills.

The cost of living in Grand Junction isn't as high as it is on the Front Range, but costs are escalating due to the energy boom.

Others can give you a more specific picture of neighborhoods & locales, but there's your 50,000 foot view.

[delta07]

I just moved away from Grand Junction and it was the best decision I ever made. I couldn't stand what GJ was becoming. Some may argue that progression is inevitable, and they are probably right, but still, I didn't like it (and I'm not an old geezer just complaining about growth). The small town you are referring to doesn't exist there. It is a rather large city now, with big city problems. Crime has become increasingly common, especially on the eastern end of the valley where more affordable housing is. Traffic, congestion, and overcrowded infrastructure were a major issue for me as well. The town has outgrown itself!

Schools were okay, but it really depends on where you will be living. I taught elementary on the eastern end of the valley and there is no way I would want my kids to go to those schools. The oil and gas industry brings in many transient people, and with that comes problems, including their children.

I suppose the one good thing with the oil and gas industry moving into the area is the ease of travel now. It used to be very difficult to get an affordable fare out of Walker Field, but that has changed. I believe Frontier is now flying in there and there are some direct flights to Phoenix and Dallas now. You will still pay more than Denver or Salt Lake, but with gas prices where they are, it will be cheaper than driving to those airports for the lower fare.

[jazzlover]

I have to agree with delta07 and bluescreen73--Grand Junction is nothing like it used to be. Crime is a problem that is growing, traffic--while nothing like Denver--is getting to be a problem, and living costs are getting out of phase compared to incomes. I would no longer call the lifestyle there "slow-paced" or the community necessarily "friendly," especially for working age people--too many transient-type people following the gas boom.

Also, if your husband is taking a job in the gas industry (not much oil activity around GJ) that involves field work--it will likely be some distance from Grand Junction. The production areas are up around Parachute, Meeker, Rifle, etc., and out in eastern Utah. That may mean he is away when he is working (14 days of 12 hour shifts and 14 days off is a common schedule), or looking at 100-200 mile roundtrip commutes if he has a "normal" work week but is still required to be in the field.

Grand Junction has a desert climate, with temperatures in summer often exceeding 100°. Winters are not brutally cold, but temperatures drop below freezing most winter nights, with several days below 0° each winter. Heavy snow is infrequent, but if it does snow a significant amount, it can stay on the ground for some time. The climate is nothing like California.

I disagree with delta07 about air travel. Air travel out of Grand Junction is expensive, and likely to get much more so as the airline "crisis" deepens. I think that will also translate in pretty short order into severe cutbacks in "commuter" flights out of smaller communities--and Grand Junction will be no exception. Most everyone I know in western Colorado now already drives to Denver, Colorado Springs, or Salt Lake City to fly elsewhere in the country.

[CosmicWizard]

I've been in Grand Junction for just over 2 years now. I have enjoyed living here from the get-go and I like it more as time goes on. Since I'm a newcomer here I'm not able to comment on the perceived deterioration that several others have mentioned. If you decide to move here, keep in mind that you would also be a newcomer. Your starting point with Grand Junction would be the way it is NOW, and not what it was in the past. The likely comparison for you, would be comparing Grand Junction NOW to where you are living now.

Jazzlover is spot on with regard to the weather. There are about 2 or 3 weeks in July when it gets hotter than I prefer, and about 2 or 3 weeks in January when it gets colder than I prefer. But it's not even close to being unbearable. Most of the year, the weather is fantastic. I prefer the climate in Grand Junction to that of Southern California. GJ doesn't experience the summer humididy spells that I remember from my years of living in the Temecula area.

Flights departing Grand Junction are EXPENSIVE! Be prepared to dig deeply into your wallet. For certain dsestinations you could take Amtrak...if you have the time for a slower, more enjoyable way to travel.

Plan on renting initially before plunking down the money on buying a house. Give yourself some time to determine wether or not you really want to live here before making a big committment. The housing market, while not tanking as bad as many places in the USA has slowed down significantly. Homes are sitting there with FOR SALE signs on the lawn for a much longer period of time. ( 2 yrs ago you could have have bought a home in GJ for cash, using the profit form the sale of a California home. I doubt you could do that today. Home values in GJ have held quite steady with perhaps some modest depreciation in certain price ranges, while Calif values have plummented like a rock. ) The challenge with renting however, is that rentals are hard to find. Not impossible, but very challenging. I frequently notice a FOR RENT sign, and it's gone 2 days later.

[COflower]

I haven't read the other entries so I am on my own here.

I lived in Grand Junction for 2 1/2 years and I loved it. I still want to move back there and I might just do that if I can secure a place to live.

Anyhow, It was a slower pace of life, that's for sure and I lived in Colorado Springs prior to that all my life. C Springs is pretty slow for it's size, but yeah, if you are looking for a slower pace of life, GJ will give you that.

I am not the doom and gloom about things, I have enough problems of my own that I am not going to poopoo an area or whatever. I loved living there. I used to take my dog up (and I am not a morning person) 25 Road to the BLM land (free btw) at the Bookcliffs to let him run. I would take my moutnain bike (and I hate biking) with us too.

Going up Lands End Road to the Grand Mesa was always one of my most fun trips...especially when I got my truck stuck in mud. Just me and my dog and I got stuck in truck meant for such outings...but yeah, I got the truck out and I was okay.

Hiking around the Escalante Cañon or as others may post canyon...offers you the most interesting walks/hikes as very few people go there (outside GJ west on 50 between Orchard City and Delta).

Then you have Colorado National Monument, a quick trip (if you know the right route) to Moab - yeah, take the one road off I-70 and follow the Colorado River, the other route sucks as there are power lines and it's just ugh...trips to Glenwood Springs, Montrose, Ouray, etc...

Oh man I miss the Western Slope.

I wish I could remember the name of the rental company I went through there. They found me the perfect house and mostly were good people. Jackie was my agent and she was a diamond in the rough. If I can remember the name of the company I will PM you.

[COflower]

I will add a few more comments since I read the other comments:

I will say this, first and foremost: I live in Colorado Springs now and we are 'sposedly the worst place to live based on the fact we have those like Focus on the Family here. Yet somehow, I have friends who are *gasp* pagan, gay, black, hippy, etc...where am I going with this? to tell you that you only make of your current digs (aka your new hometown) what you pull out of it.

Granted I had the luxury oif driving there a lot for my sales job before I decided to move there. I sort of knew what I was getting myself into. I fell in love with GJ the first sales trip out. I just knew it was for me and it's why I wish I could make the move again...right now I can't because of financial issues but I would not hesitate to move back. My other issue is that my dad is getting older and I don't want to be that far from him. My grandmother was in dire health and I packed a bag, fed the kitties and drove back to C Springs in less than a half hour and I know I would not want to do that again. I have a feeling that when my dad kicks the bucket, it's going to be quick so I stay in the Springs, for now.

Oh but goodness, the opportunities in GJ, to be free and without confinement. I mentioned the trips up to the Bookcliffs with my dog. OH MAN, they had to be early morning or it was too hot but he would have such a good time up there he would sleep through to the next day. My trips up to the Grand Mesa (luckily I was in a sales job so my schedule was pretty open) when it was in the 100s it was only in the 70s on top of the Mesa. I had a cell phone back them so I could still get calls but I was in freedom.

I don't think in my entire life of 40 years I had as much freedom as I did living in GJ. I am self-employed so I have a lot of freedom still but, but, living in GJ somehow gave me opportunities that others may not be able to see. I still had to work and work hard but I found the time to get out and have some fun even if it was just me and my dog.

The social life there is a bit slow, even though I lived there in my 20s, I had to seek it out. But through clients I got to know a few others and had a good time. Heck, my brother and his wife came from C Springs and we went to bike on the Colorado and later that afternoon (they stayed in a B&B) we went to see "The Flinstones" because it was 100+° that day. My parents came and I grilled some kabobs (well, Dad did that, I did all the other work) for them and they gave me tickets to Country Jam - which even if you aren't a country music fan, it's fun. My parents were headed to some golf outing in Montrose and stayed here or something or other...

If you have move and your only place is the place you have live, you make do. You just do. You can listen to some of the doom and gloom of the above but I loved it there. I also loved living in Denver, I am back in C Springs and not liking it because my living circumstances aren't where I with they were but that is all financially driven. I am sure that I would not mind it back in the place I was born if my finances were better...but I do remember the subtle things that make life happening and good. I have a lot of those from GJ.

Good luck and I hope you find GJ as wonderful as I did. I had a wonderful time living there as I didn't go in with bad expectations, I made it my home and honestly, if I could move back, I would make it my home again. Funny thing is you can get "Junctionitis". I laughed when I first heard it but from an ex resident, I can safely say I have "Junctionitis".

[jazzlover]

I think Coflower is remembering a Grand Junction that, sadly, is quickly disappearing. The change in the place in the last 5 years has been breathtaking. If oil shale ever takes off on the Western Slope (which, as one who is familiar with what it would take to make that happen, I am very skeptical about) northwestern Colorado--including Grand Junction--will become a resource-development sacrifice area that people who don't have to live there will avoid.

Personally, if I had to choose between Colorado Springs--much as I loathe the growth and overdevelopment in the Springs--and Grand Junction, I would choose Colorado Springs. I like the climate in Colorado Springs much better, and the Springs does have much more to offer culturally, etc. than Grand Junction probably ever will. Colorado Springs also has access to the south-central portions of Colorado, which are less likely to be decimated by resource development than the areas near Grand Junction. I am not opposed to responsible resource development--and even prefer it to the non-productive resort/second home development horse**** that Colorado has embraced of late, but the scale of potential resource development in northwest Colorado is of a magnitude that could completely transform the social/economic/environmental character there into something that no one would recognize.

[mluster]

Hello my husband is thinking of moving to same place and for oil. sos staffing anyhow i need diversity in my life

[delta07]

Originally Posted by mluster

Hello my husband is thinking of moving to same place and for oil. sos staffing anyhow i need diversity in my life

I'm confused. Do you have a particular question about GJ, or did you just want us to know you will be moving there?