Colorado mountain college (Denver, Durango, Rifle: work, health, house)

[ladyscorpian14]

Hi I'm a senior in Highschool thinking of moving to Colorado to attend this college I love the locations of Leadville and Springs valley can anyone tell me more about these area I love the pic i've seen And te minorites population down there to. thanks

[TinajaCo]

Leadville does have a neat downtown area and some neat older homes, but recently it's had tough times. A large part of its population was employed at the nearby Climax Mine, which was closed decades ago, and since the economy has stagnated, and there has been a noticeable decline in the overall appearance of the town in my opinion. There has been on-and-off talk about reopening the mine but there are no plans to do so as of now. But because it has become a comparatively cheap place to live, there has been a recent influx of Hispanic immigrants to the town, who work at nearby ski resorts but can't afford to live closer. I think recent census data showed 25% of the population was Hispanic, and my guess is it will continue to grow for some time.

[Mike from back east]

Lady... do the research... check weather/climate data... Leadville is at a high elevation up in the mountains... gets monstrously cold there... lots of snow... true "high country" territory... long cold winters with tons of snow... a huge difference from FL. As far as your comment on minority populations, I assume you mean illegals. Illegals are not counted in ANY census, but are in every town in the country. I saw them when I went up to ride the tourist train the other year.

s/mike

[Sage Sam]

There are several Colorado Mountain College campuses across the state. Steamboat and Rifle have actual campus' while there are satellite centers as well.

I would look closer at the state universities and community colleges as well.

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Lady... do the research... check weather/climate data... Leadville is at a high elevation up in the mountains... gets monstrously cold there... lots of snow... true "high country" territory... long cold winters with tons of snow... a huge difference from FL. As far as your comment on minority populations, I assume you mean illegals. Illegals are not counted in ANY census, but are in every town in the country. I saw them when I went up to ride the tourist train the other year.

s/mike

Mike is so right! Leadville is one of the coldest places in America. You might as well live in Barrow, Alaska. I would really recommend visiting it first so you can see if living in an ice box if for you. There are many great colleges in western and southwestern Colorado. Id like to recommend Fort Lewis in Durango. It has about 5000 students and is up on a hill. You look out to mountains and you can look down to the city below. Durango also has a mix of races, so whatever race you are, you will feel comfortable there.

[Nadine]

Originally Posted by TinajaCo

Leadville does have a neat downtown area and some neat older homes, but recently it's had tough times. A large part of its population was employed at the nearby Climax Mine, which was closed decades ago, and since the economy has stagnated, and there has been a noticeable decline in the overall appearance of the town in my opinion. There has been on-and-off talk about reopening the mine but there are no plans to do so as of now. But because it has become a comparatively cheap place to live, there has been a recent influx of Hispanic immigrants to the town, who work at nearby ski resorts but can't afford to live closer. I think recent census data showed 25% of the population was Hispanic, and my guess is it will continue to grow for some time.

I just happened upon this post and I know it is getting old but I still wanted to share. I lived in Leadville for 8 yrs. I was young and loved it. But the weather was harsh more so then than now. But it is again starting the cycle again, if it continues it again will be as then. When it started to snow in the fall we did not see the ground hardly until Spring. We would laugh and say thing like don't take a nap you will miss Summer. Believe it or not but Leadville looks better now than it did with Climax was running full bore. One reason is a law enforced that if you own an old historic house you must fix it up. I think they are having a contest to see who can paint the gaudiest colors. But it looks much cleaner and it is trying to call in tourist trade. It is very hard to go from the richest county in the state to----where ever they stand now. It cannot be good. You do see deterioration. I still like Leadville but I don't know about someone from Florida hacking it. There just is not a lot of things for young people to do. Too many hit the bars. I would not recommend. Denver is called the mile city--Leadville is the 2 mile high. Wonderful and interesting history there.

[ReturningWest]

I also lived in Leadville, Yah gotta really really love snow because there really isn't a summer. Kinda a short spring then back to winter.

If your into skiing or snow sports of any kind it might be your place. Keep in mind it's a long way to anywhere. You have to climb over several MT passes to get to Denver. The road to Aspen is closed most of the year so even tho it looks close you must take the "long way around" most of the year.

If you have ANY health problems they will get worse if you live at 10,500 feet. I developed altitude sickness and couldn't take the meds to conteract it. So trips up and down the MT made me sick.

Visit first on this one, and be sure to check out exactly what classes are offered at that school when I was there it was quite small and many were not offered at that particular campus.

The views are spectacular and wildlife is in your backyard.

[SheridanL]

The original poster is from Alaska. Maybe winters won't be so drastic for her.

[CosmicWizard]

Anchorage is pretty mild compared to the Colorado mountains, and it gets far less snow. The biggest difficulty I had with winter in Anchorage was the limited amount of daylight hours. The winter days are quite a bit longer anywhere in Colorado than they are in Anchorage.

[SheridanL]

REALLY????????

Alaska has less snow?? MY BAD!! I really had no idea!!
I thought they had to keep their cars plugged in to battery chargers on the street whilst they were shopping and stuff!

Before I was born, my family lived in Fairbanks and, my Mom told stories of the snow. I am completely in the dark about Alaska.

Why would anyone want to leave the last known wilderness?? Beauty surrounds Alaska for sure!

Can we not get some bennies from the pipeline there??