Livable Mountain Towns in CO? (Denver, Colorado Springs: ski resort, fit in, daycare)

[parks71]

The only place I can think of that you can get a job and have those views and is affordable is Salt Lake City Utah.

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by parks71

The only place I can think of that you can get a job and have those views and is affordable is Salt Lake City Utah.

I tend to agree. The Wasatch mountains are close by. The economy has downshifted there for sure, but a little better there than a lot of places.

[travelismylife]

I've lived in Summit County (Breckenridge area) for 12 years. It has been the most difficult place I have ever lived. Decent jobs are nonexistent and I don't have one but not by choice. Women are treated as second class citizens. It's a man's world. Guys love it here because they can be carefree idiots and choose never to grow up. If you are educated and female you can forget about finding a job other than one at minimum wage. If you are female, entrepreneurial and educated you can expect to be treated like the scum of the earth. Female physicians have been run out of the County. I worked in Denver and commuted, yes, commuted, on I-70 through all kinds of weather, all kinds of accidents. There are many people here who do that routine. I live here because my husband has a great job and can support me. I spend a ton of time in Denver. There are many couples here where the wife lives in Denver and the husband lives up here. Why you might ask? Because there are no jobs and women are not respected. I pray every day for the day I can get out of this awful place. It may seem like a dream you would like to experience but it will soon turn to a whole different scenario. Every intelligent woman I know who has lived here has left due to no job opportunities for their education level. It is not a place I would choose to raise my children and, thankfully, I don't have any. It is extremely transient due to the ski areas and seasonal employment. Lots of drugs, lots of alcohol and lots of money and trust funders. There is no culture here either except for the good old boys club. If you have money to back you up and a built-in network of friends before you arrive then you can survive in a mountain community. If not, unless you are looking to make your life extremely difficult, look elsewhere. I think the idea of Salt Lake City is a great one as it has a lower cost of living and more jobs, great skiing and scenic beauty. Colorado Springs is also beautiful and right at the foothills. Woodland Park is a nice town with easy access to Colorado Springs and a mountain type of feel.

[sunsprit]

Based on what I've seen over the last few years in SLC, it's no less expensive to live there than the Front Range of Colorado. Similarly, the costs of living/housing in the close-in ski areas by SLC are no less expensive than comparable situations in the ski towns of Colorado.

Either way, unless you have a job lined up that pays enough to allow you to live at the standard you'd like to enjoy ... a move to Colorado or Utah right now could be difficult.

[travelismylife]

The Front Range of Colorado and Salt Lake City both offer JOBS with good wages and you can buy a house for a lot less than in the mountain communities. You can take a bus to the ski areas in Utah from Salt Lake City. You can't do that in Colorado and the traffic to go skiing is horrendous on the weekends. Sometimes it takes 4 hours just to get from Summit County to Denver on Sunday, usually a 1 to 1-1/2 hour drive. I have yet to encounter that in Utah.

[PokerMunkee]

I would so be living in SLC if it wasn't in Utah!

[travelismylife]

At least you don't need to buy a "membership" to go to a bar in Salt Lake anymore. I think the Mormon influence is decreasing a bit.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by travelismylife

At least you don't need to buy a "membership" to go to a bar in Salt Lake anymore. I think the Mormon influence is decreasing a bit.

While the % of LDS population in SLC is now lower than it has historically been, the legal changes to dispense alcohol were a direct result of the folk there realizing the tax revenue (and jobs) potential of increased sales for the Olympics. Pure business logic over religious blue laws ....

But I wouldn't go so far as to say that the LDS influence is decreasing. The outlying areas of the valley are showing significant growth in total population and a corresponding increase in the number of LDS facilities.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by travelismylife

Women are treated as second class citizens. It's a man's world. Guys love it here because they can be carefree idiots and choose never to grow up. If you are educated and female you can forget about finding a job other than one at minimum wage. If you are female, entrepreneurial and educated you can expect to be treated like the scum of the earth.

I am genuinely surprised to read this. Are there other women here that agree with that? As a man, I may not see things as clearly on such matters, so I'm curious as to how many women feel the same way.

[songinthewind7]

I grew up in Colo. Spgs. and am looking to live in Woodland Park in the future and I've read some good replies here but I wanted to make a comment on Ruidoso since I live near the area.
As beautiful as Ruidoso is, the skiing area sucks as there hasn't been very much snow lately. It's not the same skiing on fake snow.

Thanks for the posts on Utah. I've never considered it as it seems like some cult like state but I've seen pictures and it's pretty. I dont know about women being second class citizens in Utah but when I lived in one of the southern states, it's that way. Women are to be in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant and not in a mans world. The men would actually say this alot and the women would just giggle about it.

Good luck to the poster finding the place that's right for you. I'm a mountain person too and love the views.