cities in the SW

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by lookingfortheperfectplace

I am looking to move to Loveland or Fort Collins, Co from southern California. It has been ten years since I have been there. I am looking for a nice middleclass area, maybe horse property. The less snow the better. Can anyone tell me where to stay away from? Where are the ghettos in Colorado?

I'm no too familiar with Loveland but if you are looking at Fort Collins stay south. The northern part is much nicer and you are more likely to find nice middle class areas. Windsor is a great area mostly middle class. Also stay away from Greeley, its pretty safe but several slaughter houses are located there and it smells like pooh. If you want less snow the farther south you go the better of you will be. A great semi-rural area is parker (southeastern suburb of Denver) or areas south and east of there. Some subdivisions lots of horse properties. Be careful though, your in the Denver area and traffic is much worse. Also if you start to look in the Denver area, don't go anywhere north of about Quincy avenue in Aurura. Anywhere you go in Colorado you will get snow but the farther south and east you go the less snow you will see.

[all_along_the_watchtower]

Dan, is there no hospital in Cortez? I'm surprised, it seems a big enough town...

[Dan Corcoran]

Yes, Cortez has a fully accredited hospital and Durango, 45 miles to the east, has an even larger hospital. When I recently had 4 vertebrae in my neck fused, however, I traveled four hours to Grand Junction to find a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spinal surgery.

Similarly, when my wife needed major abdominal surgery last year, we traveled 8 hours to Denver for a board-certified gynecological surgeon. In both cases, my PPO covered more of the bill in the larger hospitals.

While I am very grateful that SW Colorado has two accredited hospitals, I am much more comfortable having major surgery done in places where it is a routine matter.

[Crackerjack]

Someone wanted to know about the smaller good cities in Colorado that I will include are affordable but keep in mind in Colorado, it is just a plain high cost place to live. Colorado Springs, Montrose, Grand Junction, Cortez, Monte Vista, Del Norte, Bayfield, Fort Collins, Greeley are some. For culture: Durango, Colorado Springs. For cheaper place to live: Cortez, Montrose and Grand Junction. For jobs: Colorado Springs, Durango, Grand Junction and Fort Collins. For safe cities: Durango, Montrose, Cortez and pretty much all listed are pretty safe but Colorado Springs does have some gangs and killings. For milder weather: Grand Junction, Cortez and Durango. Shopping: Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Durango and Fort Collins. Education: Durango, Montrose, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins. Medical:Colorado Springs,
Durango (just opened one of the largest state of the art hospitals in Colorado), Grand Junction and Fort Collins. There are more cities then these, these are just the ones I know of myself.

[Vette0324]

Hello,
What is the weather like in Monte Vista? Are the winters harsh? My husband and I currently have property in Westcliffe and it is beautful, but we are both southerners and we are afraid that the winters will be too harsh for us. We love CO, and the gorgeous mountains, but are thinking that perhaps we should sell our Westcliffe property and move more southwest. Do you have any recommendations? You have been so helpful with your posts of the areas that you are familiar with!! Thanks so much!!

Vette

[Crackerjack]

Monte Vista has a population of around 4300 and is a small, quiet little town. It has historic buildings and is a nice little town. It is over 7,600 feet in alitiude so it will be colder in winter but it gets lots of sunshine so it isn't really bad. It also has a dry climate so it makes it better cold wise. It gets about 25 to 30 inches of snow a year. It is more flat then you would think since San Luis Valley area is basically a huge flat valley floor but you see high mountain peaks all around and the peaks are high ones, some over 14,000 feet high. It has over 55 percent Hispanics, which adds to the cultural flavor of the area. It has good schools. It is a safe community; not any murders or anything bad like that. It isn't far from Alamosa and the great sand dunes aren't far away.

If I remember Westcliffe, where you are talking about, it is up near Canon City right? If so, then the winters will be colder in the winter in Monte Vista then Westcliffe. The summers are nice as it hardly ever gets over 90 but mostly stays in the 80s in the day and 40s to 50s at night. Winter, it is on the east side of Wolf Creek so in the dead of winter, it can get below minus 10 to 20 at night but can warm up to around the 30s in the day. Usually though the nights will hover around 0 or to 10 above in the winter but did want to tell you it can get cold at times, again because it is so high up, almost 8000 feet. In the summer there are whooping cranes and sandhill cranes in the area and they have a crane festival there. If you don't mind colder winters with lots of sunshine and excellent summers, it is a nice town to make home.