Are any mountain towns left that just mostly have regular folks? (Boulder: ski resort, house)

[MountainBound72]

Like the 50 million other people who want to move to the mountains, I am looking for a town that would fit my needs. I have read tons of your helpful posts on this site and have learned a lot. But can't seem to narrow it down enough to plan my scouting trip.

I am looking for a place my kids can go to a public school that isn't ginormous (several hundred per grade is ginormous to me). A school that's big enough to offer football, volleyball and basketball, and either school or club soccer. I do not want my kids to grow up exclusively among the wealthy, which is what it sounds like all these mountain towns have come to.

I really, really don't care about shopping, restaurants, and entertainment.
Of course I'd like a little land with a little (not a mc mansion!) house at the edge of town, again, just like everyone else.

I am looking at Durango, maybe southern Idaho.....Utah???
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you have!!

[MountainBound72]

Thanks. Yes, I get it. I understand people's frustrations with the huge population influx that has been going on for so long.

I guess I was hoping that since I wasn't asking for the shopping and restaurants, or even a certain size, that someone would have a suggestion of some community, maybe not even in Colorado that would work.

What about Pocatello, ID, Logan, UT, or Los Alamos, NM? Anyone have comments on what those places are like?

Thanks.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by MountainBound72

Like the 50 million other people who want to move to the mountains, I am looking for a town that would fit my needs. I have read tons of your helpful posts on this site and have learned a lot. But can't seem to narrow it down enough to plan my scouting trip.

I am looking for a place my kids can go to a public school that isn't ginormous (several hundred per grade is ginormous to me). A school that's big enough to offer football, volleyball and basketball, and either school or club soccer. I do not want my kids to grow up exclusively among the wealthy, which is what it sounds like all these mountain towns have come to.

I really, really don't care about shopping, restaurants, and entertainment.
Of course I'd like a little land with a little (not a mc mansion!) house at the edge of town, again, just like everyone else.

I am looking at Durango, maybe southern Idaho.....Utah???
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you have!!

You have a pretty good handle on the situation in Colorado. There are people in these mtn towns who do normal jobs such as work for the phone company and health care providers, but the vast majority of people living in the most mountain towns are fairly wealthy. I am not talking about Evergreen (though it's a fairly well of burb) and other close-in mtn towns, where people mostly work in the metro area. Nederland, west of Boulder, might work for you. The schools are small, but they are part of the Boulder Valley SD, so they have more resources than an isolated district.

I know less abt the mtn towns in southern/western CO. I've only been to Buena Vista once, it looks like a thriving place, but I have no idea what people do there for a living. Durango has a college, as does Gunnison; my guess is they are major employers in those cities.

[CAVA1990]

I wouldn't recommend Durango for you. The economy is largely tourism based and has many second home owners, which generally means housing is expensive relative to local incomes. I don't know if there's anywhere left in the Mountain West for you as it's pretty much all been carved up by the boomers looking for exactly what you are and then adding on as their wealth increased. You might take a look at somewhere in the Uinta or Wasatch mountains of Utah. Probably best to try places far away from either a big city or a ski resort.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Mountain Bound, do you need to work? That's the big problem if you are looking to move in the next year or so. The economy sucks and a lot of work has dried up.

Mountain towns I'd suggest looking at would be Paonia and Buena Vista/Salida. Others not really "mountain towns" would be Cedaredge and maybe Montrose. Gunnison?

[lalahartma]

Woodland Park?

[AMB8301]

Durango is ok if you can find a job, not many people are hiring right now. Like most mountain towns, there are two main types of people that live here. The ones that work multiple jobs just to live here, and then the wealthy with their second homes. There are in-between people of course, I am one. Hubby and I are natives who were fortunate enough to get into a niche industry that is doing quite well weathering the current economy, but there aren't that many of us.


The biggest employer in the area is the hospital I believe, I do know a fair amount of people employed by FLC, natural gas companies are up there as well. BP has a plant out by the airport and Farmington has a number of them. Jobs are scarse no matter what the field though. Tourism is down, the city is having to make large budget cuts because of it. Same story as in most places.


The schools are smaller, at least in the younger grades. There are 3 in town elem and 4 out of town. Those feed into 2 middle schools and only one high school. There are two new charter high schools that opened up this year and talks about a middle school in a couple years. The schools offer the sports you were talking about.

[catfishing]

Try Casper Wyoming of Rapid City, SD

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by MountainBound72

Like the 50 million other people who want to move to the mountains, I am looking for a town that would fit my needs. I have read tons of your helpful posts on this site and have learned a lot. But can't seem to narrow it down enough to plan my scouting trip.

I am looking for a place my kids can go to a public school that isn't ginormous (several hundred per grade is ginormous to me). A school that's big enough to offer football, volleyball and basketball, and either school or club soccer. I do not want my kids to grow up exclusively among the wealthy, which is what it sounds like all these mountain towns have come to.

I really, really don't care about shopping, restaurants, and entertainment.
Of course I'd like a little land with a little (not a mc mansion!) house at the edge of town, again, just like everyone else.

I am looking at Durango, maybe southern Idaho.....Utah???
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you have!!

Buena Vista, Salida, Rye, Canon City all might work for you although you may have to give up one item on your wish list to get all the others, hard for any town to fit everyone's wish list, though yours is far more reasonable than many I've seen.

[jim9251]

Well Ridgway does...now