West VS East CO differences in your opinion??? (Denver, Colorado Springs: safe area, live)

[coltoncity]

Hi! I am wondering what you think the major / important differences are between East and West CO. I was looking at COS area and Durango area.

I have figured for the most part the getting around differences. For travel Denver is so close to COS but Durango going north is a hard drive and a bit isolated from something else in CO like Montrose and Telluride. (It is supposed to be so walkable and easy going though.)

What do you think about attitudes, crime, weather etc?

Very interested in your opinions!

Thanks so much

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by coltoncity

Hi! I am wondering what you think the major / important differences are between East and West CO. I was looking at COS area and Durango area.

I have figured for the most part the getting around differences. For travel Denver is so close to COS but Durango going north is a hard drive and a bit isolated from something else in CO like Montrose and Telluride. (It is supposed to be so walkable and easy going though.)

What do you think about attitudes, crime, weather etc?

Very interested in your opinions!

Thanks so much

Colorado Springs is much bigger. Durango is more connected to the southwest to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It is only about a 3 or 3 1/2 hour drive to Albuquerque. The area still gets Albuquerque TV channels for example instead of Denver although the Colorado government is trying to get it passed for Durango to receive Denver TV too. Attitudes, hmmm, Colorado Springs has alot of conservatives although there are some liberals I understand but Durango would be the opposite, mostly liberals and a few conservatives and they are somewhat underground there. I know a couple who are conservative but wont tell anyone for fear they might be persecuted. Crime, Durango hardly has any. Pretty safe area. I dont know about Colorado Springs, Mike from Back East would know. Weather, Durango is nice with 4 seasons, you can live south of there and hardly have any snow, north of there and you get alot. Again Mike can tell you about CS. HTH.

[coltoncity]

I am wondering if Durango would have as much as COS area or maybe more for teens or things for people to do. I was not sure that many families would live right there ... seems more like a singles 20's crowd? I like the distance to Denver I think there would be so much more to do and be offered being so close to that. I was sure that Santa Fe and Taos should be closer then in Durango. Was I wrong on that? I knew it was more conservative in COS I didnt know if it was open to diversity & middle of the road mind types. Any info helps

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by coltoncity

I am wondering if Durango would have as much as COS area or maybe more for teens or things for people to do. I was not sure that many families would live right there ... seems more like a singles 20's crowd? I like the distance to Denver I think there would be so much more to do and be offered being so close to that. I was sure that Santa Fe and Taos should be closer then in Durango. Was I wrong on that? I knew it was more conservative in COS I didnt know if it was open to diversity & middle of the road mind types. Any info helps

You really need to check out mapquest or google maps to answer your question re:distances.

[McGowdog]

In Western Colorado you sort of feel like you're flowing into the Pacific Ocean and in Eastern Colorado you feel like you're flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Gulf of Mexico of course.

"I knew it was more conservative in COS I didnt know if it was open to diversity & middle of the road mind types. Any info helps "

What exactly does diversity & middle of the road mind types mean? Is that the opposite of "conservative" types? Does that mean Liberal types? Are Liberal types diverse? Are Conservative types not diverse? And where in Colorado do these types live. Do they all bundle together? Do they have like diversity block there in Durango? And do they have like the Conservative Gauntlet there in Colorado Springs? Ewe. That sounds scary.

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

In Western Colorado you sort of feel like you're flowing into the Pacific Ocean and in Eastern Colorado you feel like you're flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Gulf of Mexico of course.

"I knew it was more conservative in COS I didnt know if it was open to diversity & middle of the road mind types. Any info helps "

What exactly does diversity & middle of the road mind types mean? Is that the opposite of "conservative" types? Does that mean Liberal types? Are Liberal types diverse? Are Conservative types not diverse? And where in Colorado do these types live. Do they all bundle together? Do they have like diversity block there in Durango? And do they have like the Conservative Gauntlet there in Colorado Springs? Ewe. That sounds scary.

Well I think and this is just my opinion but two of the main reasons Colorado Springs is conservative is the airforce is located there and they tend to be more conservative and major Christian headquarters are there. There are alot of Christians in Colorado Springs. They have some mega churches too, like the one we all heard about the ex-pastor "gone wrong" Ted Haggard who supposedly now has "gone right", what ever that means. To me, it seems more wrong to lie about who you really are but that is another topic. Colorado Springs would have more to do. It is alot bigger and close to Denver. I would think Manitou Springs near CS would be more liberal since it is artsy and hippie and that usually equals liberal, but I am not sure about that, just would think so. For people who like smaller cities, Durango is a good choice if you are a liberal. Boulder is another liberal city as is Telluride, Aspen and Vail. Anyone notice the more expensive cities are liberal? What is up with that? Any theories? Just curious.

Anyhoo, Pagosa and Cortez near Durango are where mostly conservatives live, Cortez being the most conservative. Grand Junction would be more conservative, lots of farmers there. Denver is liberal but ironically many of its suburbs arent so much so. Fort Collins has a mix. The eastern front range where all the tiny towns are near Kansas like Burlington are conservative, again the rural people and farmers. Hope that helps you out on the areas. A general rule of thumb is mountain resort cities are liberal.

Middle of the road, etc is hard to describe because it all depends on who you are talking to, a conservative would think he is middle of the road but a liberal may too. Each has different meanings. It is better to say "far left", that would be Martin and Charlie Sheen, who thinks the American government brought down the twin towers in NYC with bombs planted in the towers. "Left", that would be most of Hollywood, "middle of the road", supposedly the average Americans but I know a gal who says she is middle of the road but is pro abortion and ant-war, I know a conservative couple who are anti-abortion and for the Iraq war and consider themselves to be middle of the road so see, it is a grey area depending on who you talk too. "Right" would be the alot of the military and "far right" would be people like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc. Again though see, they probably see themselves as middle of the road, so there we go again.

[41Willys]

Teluride walkable? Well put it this way. When driving a car through town "dont blink" or you mite miss it! I wish there was work around there because I'd move there tomorrow!

[coltoncity]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

"I knew it was more conservative in COS I didnt know if it was open to diversity & middle of the road mind types. Any info helps "

What exactly does diversity & middle of the road mind types mean? Is that the opposite of "conservative" types? Does that mean Liberal types? Are Liberal types diverse? Are Conservative types not diverse? And where in Colorado do these types live. Do they all bundle together? Do they have like diversity block there in Durango? And do they have like the Conservative Gauntlet there in Colorado Springs? Ewe. That sounds scary.

I just meant with middle of the road that some things I thhink more conservative and some liberal. And Durango was the walkable city I thought. By diverse I mean different cultures and ethnicities.

[coltoncity]

I_Luv_NM ... I know what you mean it is a new thing that richer areas are liberals. Maybe its the fad or it is that those people are the baby boomers from the 60's that were hippies.

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by coltoncity

I_Luv_NM ... I know what you mean it is a new thing that richer areas are liberals. Maybe its the fad or it is that those people are the baby boomers from the 60's that were hippies.

That sounds reasonable. The baby boomers are getting out of the really big cities and they are generally liberal in very big cities like San Fran and moving to Colorado and they would settle in smaller mountain towns and small cities since they wouldnt want what they are leaving. That makes sense. Thanks Coltoncity for your opinion about it!