Send me home, please (Pueblo, Boulder: renting, credit, student loan)

[thinkin about it]

To the meat of it-single white male. I work online for a living. Location is irrelevant for job purposes. I just need to stay in Colorado for a variety of weird and layered tax purposes. Relevant info:

Politics: Very liberal. I don't need to be around hardcore Boulder-ish liberals per say, but a Republican/military stronghold would make me depressed.

Money: my income is between 50-80K per year. I have 40 grand in student loan debt. My credit is non-existent as I'm young, though, so I'll be renting.

Hobbies: I love my dog. I like to eat, but I'm far too peasant-like to use superficial eloquence to compare various wines that taste roughly the same. That is it to say, 5 star cuisine not necessary. I adore fishing, but I don't own a boat. I lift weights. I've been to the mountains and witnessed friends bordering on tears from the beauty and found myself unmoved; I like water. Mountains aren't my thing. Big bodies of water fascinate me. I smoke pot. I don't require a "scene" but, as mentioned above, I'd prefer a social climate with more liberal views on this type of stuff.

Irrational fears: Creepy crawlers of all sorts. I realize this is just something I need to get over. But is the disparity between various locations statewide significant? I've heard the scorpions and centipedes are crazy in Pueblo for example.

If you've managed to suffer through the synopsis of my boring existence, first, thanks! I'm sure it wasn't easy. Finally, can you take me home? Where abouts should I move?


Thanks so much!

[COflower]

Originally Posted by thinkin about it

Hobbies: I love my dog. I like to eat, but I'm far too peasant-like to use superficial eloquence to compare various wines that taste roughly the same. That is it to say, 5 star cuisine not necessary. I adore fishing, but I don't own a boat. I lift weights. I've been to the mountains and witnessed friends bordering on tears from the beauty and found myself unmoved; I like water. Mountains aren't my thing. Big bodies of water fascinate me. I smoke pot. I don't require a "scene" but, as mentioned above, I'd prefer a social climate with more liberal views on this type of stuff....

...Where abouts should I move?


Thanks so much!

Based on the underlined part, it aint Colorado. Seriously, look to a coastal state if you want water...based on your liberal views the Florida Keys or Southern California. Maybe Seattle or down through some parts of Oregon if you don't mind weird fluctuations in temps with high humidity but you aren't going to find large bodies of water here and the few places that offer it, you don't get to enjoy through 5-6 months a year.

[jim9251]

Do what I did. Research, and visit visit visit. Spend a lot of time here. Talk to the locals. As far as bodies of water, I've found bottled water is my new best friend, it's with me all the time, everyplace I go. Or try to find something near a reservoir, or river. Good luck.

[thinkin about it]

Originally Posted by COflower

Based on the underlined part, it aint Colorado. Seriously, look to a coastal state if you want water...based on your liberal views the Florida Keys or Southern California. Maybe Seattle or down through some parts of Oregon if you don't mind weird fluctuations in temps with high humidity but you aren't going to find large bodies of water here and the few places that offer it, you don't get to enjoy through 5-6 months a year.

I really appreciate this dose of reality.


Thank you.

[thinkin about it]

Originally Posted by jim9251

Do what I did. Research, and visit visit visit. Spend a lot of time here. Talk to the locals. As far as bodies of water, I've found bottled water is my new best friend, it's with me all the time, everyplace I go. Or try to find something near a reservoir, or river. Good luck.

Fair enough. I guess you can only go so far without seeing for yourself.


Thanks.

[treedonkey]

It sounds like your only constraints are:
1) Staying in Colorado
2) Being near a decent sized body of water
3) Being near liberals (?)
4) not being overrun by bugs

Well, the first two alone narrow it WAY down... and if weather and job availability are of little or no concern, then I guess you're just looking for the most optimal lakeside living...

IMO, CO's most delicious bodies of water are:

1) Blue Mesa Reservoir
CO's largest body of water, and if you combine it with the other two reservoirs that make up Curecanti NRA, then you're talking over 20 miles of beautiful lake... A virtual ocean in this state but still small by many other states' standards. It's very wild and scenic looking, but it's not close to much of anything, even Grand Junction will be a couple hours' drive by car. Also, being a fairly remote high country lake, it virtually shuts down in the winter. Your swimming season will only be about 2 months long, but the fishing will be great, and doable year-round.

2) Dillon Reservoir - a very scenic lake with great freeway access (right off I70 about 1.5-2 hrs outside denver) and pretty much immediate access to some the largest resort and ski areas. The boating there is excellent in the summer, lots of sailboats out there, with a good size marina at either end. The drawback is that it gets crowded and it's VERY EXPENSIVE to live there because ti pretty much has it all when it comes to CO outdoor rec. Also, it's very high in elevation, so the boating/swimming season will again be very short.

3) Lake Granby - With over 40 miles of shoreline It's second in size only to Blue mesa. the fishing is excellent there, as is boating and, in some areas, in summer, swimming. Although it looks close to Boulder on the amp, it's really not because you have to go around or through Rocky Mtn. NP. This would personally be my choice because it's closer to 'civillization' than Blue Mesa, but it's not as much of a circus as Dillon. But, again, it's pretty high up in the mountains so living there year round could be tough if you're not all that hearty.

Here's a couple other choices:
Pueblo, if you don't mind living in a mid-size city on the prairie would be good, because Pueblo Res. is pretty close by and they will have far milder weather year round. it sure gets windy out there though, but so do the others.

Navajo Reservoir - I've never been there and I know almost nothing about this one. it seems liek a stretch anyways because only about 1/10 of it is actually in CO (the rest being in NM), but it looks like there is a town at the northern end of it, Arboles, and it may have significant;y fairer weather being that far south and west in the state. Looks like it';s still pretty high in the Mtns though, so wh knows. The nearest real city from there would be Santa fe, probably several hours by car.

There are many other lakes in CO but most are small and none are really all that hospitable year-round. If you are really intent on having water-sports year round, you'll have to move to Florida, Southern CA, or, best yet, Hawaii. All of which have some pretty obvious drawbacks.

[80skeys]

There's some large recreational bodies of water around the plains area on the Front range, such as John Martin reservoir and others. You'd probably like those. You probably wouldn't want to live near them because of the isolation (very small towns), but for recreational purposes you could drive there.

Blue Mesa is a very pretty lake (resvr) but the fishing sucks.

[Mike from back east]

DC. Lots of great gals there, major river, the Potomac (pronounced POT-O-MAC) and then there's the Chesapeake Bay, which is perhaps the greatest protein factory in the world, not to mention the Atlantic, being just a two hour drive away and full of fun loving young people (especially Dewey Beach, DE).

From DC you can take the Acela train to NYC for big weekends in the most fabulous city on earth. Just go. You'll love it.

If you're a baseball fan, you have FIVE major league baseball teams within a 3-hour train ride (Nationals, Orioles, Phillies, Mets and Yankees). Can't go wrong.

[2bindenver]

Sorry for the hijack...

I had a lady ask me to come make a presentation to list her house in Centennial off Arapahoe Road, she gave me directions - left on PO to-mac. I said "huh? could you spell that?" P-o-t-o-m-a-c - oh, Po-TO-mic.

I grew up in Potomac, Maryland. I played on the Potomac River.

[bostontopueblo]

Pueblo sounds good for you and I haven't seen any bugs in my duplex... just annoying flies.