Considering a life-altering change. Some feedback please... (Denver, Monument: neighborhood, good schools)

[CosmicWizard]

revelated wrote:

is it better to live outside of the big town and travel every day?

That's up to you. Personally, I don't like commuting. I hate driving in traffic, I value my personal time, and I think it is socially irresponsible to consume a limited resource like fossil fuel driving unnecessary miles to and from work. I encourage you to live as close as possible to your work, in a neighborhood that reasonably suits your tastes. If a community further out provides public transport to and from work, then consider that too. Whatever you do, don't base your decision on fuel for 2 bucks a gallon. I don't think that will last too long. Though we don't know what the future price will be, to play it safe, imagine what it would cost to fill up your tank @ 10 bucks a gallon. Base you decison on proximity to your workplace on that amount. That'll give you some breathing room. And even if fuel @ $10 a gallon would not negatively impact affordability for you, remember that affordability is a poor excuse for over-consumption, IMO.

[revelated]

Trust me, I would love to be close to whatever job I might end up getting. However, as narcissistic as it may sound, I can't sacrifice a quality living experience for a short commute. I don't want to be in cramped quarters; I'm dealing with that now. I want space to breathe.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by revelated

Good stuff and what I figured - so let me hit you (or anyone who might know) with this.

Given that most of the lucrative jobs are in the larger towns, and given commute conditions in Colorado, is the better option to just live in the city and deal with it? Or is it better to live outside of the big town and travel every day? I guess the answer to that question will depend on the relative distance between the bigger city and the smaller outskirt ones.

It depends on where the job is. If you get a job in Boulder, you may want to live there or in one of the nearby towns, all of which are suburban in character, as is, to a certain extent, Boulder itself. There are many nice neighborhoods in Denver where you could get some of what you want, and also some close-in suburbs. Colorado Springs is a smaller city, and also has a suburban feel. There are not a lot of small, independent towns out here in close proximity to Denver, Boulder or Colorado Springs. You will see this when you come out here to visit.

I disagree with the poster who said there are a lot of high-paying jobs in Boulder. Boulder has a lot of hangers-on, who don't want to leave after they graduate. They will do practically any job to stay in town. The IT jobs do pay the going area rate.

[Shuffler]

my mind tricked me and I was about to tell you all about Trinidad when I misread your post as "Considering a life-changing alteration..."!

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by revelated

There are three things of utmost importance to me.
....[list][*]Greenery. Trees, grass, that sort of thing. I do like somewhat larger front and back lawns. I also like decent space between houses, if possible.

That's wonderful. Now why are you looking at Colorado???

Reality check. This is what Colorado looks like:





This grass is pretty much the same color year round with maybe the exception of a month or so during a really rainy spring:



This is about as green as a tinge you can expect to get on the natural grasses of the plains:



This is what your BIG yard on the Front Range should look like/ would look like without wasting tons of $$$ and water on irrigation in a climate where it doesn't belong:





And I love it! But "greenery" it ain't.

Here's some of my suggestions of some places where your three criteria can best be met:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/missouri/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/arkansas/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/minnesota/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/west-virginia/

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Here's some of my suggestions of some places where your three criteria can best be met:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/missouri/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/arkansas/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/minnesota/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/west-virginia/

LOL - maybe add Kentucky in there too... that's really green...

[Josseppie]

You can have a nice green yard for not much money on the front range, here is my back yard in the winter. In the summer its green with nice lush trees!




Also, this is a picture of the Pueblo reservoir and how pretty that area is.....

[lalahartma]

Let's see it in the summer, Josseppie! Do you live in the Bosque?

[Josseppie]

I will take pictures this summer, and I do not live in a bosque but I do live by a golf course.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by revelated

OK.

After about 3 years of stress, I am finally getting close to ready to actually take a vacation. My job has a "use it or lose it" mentality about PTO, so I figure I would like to use it this time.

About the title - For years I've considered relocating, and now I'm going to do some scouting to see if it "feels" right. I've been to a number of areas and felt pretty good about them, now I am looking at Colorado with beady eyes.

What I need are some suggestions for places to actually go. This should consist of a nice mixture of the standard tourist spots, neighborhoods, commercial, industrial...basically, if you were introducing Colorado in general to someone new to the United States (which I'm not, but still), where would you guide them?

There are three things of utmost importance to me.

• Reasonably priced, depending on what you get.
• Greenery. Trees, grass, that sort of thing. I do like somewhat larger front and back lawns. I also like decent space between houses, if possible.
• Proximity to everything. If I can get to shopping and work by walking, that would be great, otherwise, low traffic conditions.

I know that's all ambiguous...but I'm really just looking for a starting point. Then my next goal is to select a weekend here soon to go up there, rent a car and a hotel, and just learn the area from the ground up.

Thanks in advance.

This is made for you---AARP had a article in 2003 in their magazine called "The 15 Best Places to Reinvent Your Life" and Loveland/Ft. Collins, Colorado was named number one http://www.aarpmagazine.org/travel/A...es.html/page=2

This area has also been named, on a number of list, as one of the best places to live in these United States. So, maybe this is the place you should go visit; it may be for you.

Livecontent