Looking for a soft place to fall (Grand Junction, Rifle: real estate, townhomes)

[bumble1157]

Looking for advice where I can move to in Colorado where it is friendly, very scenic, not too expensive, but close by some kind of social life for a young 50'sh single lady who loves walking, horse riding, the four seasons, country but not too far from some culture....any ideas would be very gratefully received...I have always wanted to live in Colorado and it looks like my path is clear to do so.................HELP

[2bindenver]

Montana or Wyoming?

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by bumble1157

Looking for advice where I can move to in Colorado where it is friendly, very scenic, not too expensive, but close by some kind of social life for a young 50'sh single lady who loves walking, horse riding, the four seasons, country but not too far from some culture....any ideas would be very gratefully received...I have always wanted to live in Colorado and it looks like my path is clear to do so.................HELP

As a RE agent, would you be able to find a home for a client with this information, or would you feel you could do a better job (and avoid wasting your valuable time) if they could provide more detailed information on budget, job needs, what kind of home/acreage they're looking for, etc.?

Right now, the best advice we can give you is to avoid the plains on the eastern half of the state, and find something fairly close to one of the cities.

[akamsj]

I just posted a long reply on the Grand Junction area, but for some reason it didn't post. I'll try to rewrite it, but in the meantime, check out the Grand Junction and Battlement Mesa areas. Not sure how close you want to be to a "big city". Grand Junction is about 55-60,000 and has a lot of what you seem to be looking for. I'm going to wait a bit to see if my earlier reply posts, and if not I'll try to remember what I said the first time!

[akamsj]

bumble,

I am in a similar situation as you, although I have been living in Colorado for about 36 years. I have lived in the Rifle area for about 9 ½ years but while I know a lot of people here, I have made few close “friends”. I am 60 years old and have not found a lot to do socially in Rifle, while I know there must be people my age that like to get out and have a little fun, I haven’t found them yet. I’m certainly not ready for a retirement home. There are a lot of activities going on here, and in the area, but I have found that people tend to keep to themselves. I am looking to move closer to a bigger city but by that I’m talking about a population of 50,000 give or take with most of the amenities of the “big city”.

For the last few years I have been researching cities in Colorado. I do prefer mountain towns and the problem with that is a lot of the towns I was attracted to had a higher cost of living and some were an hour or so from a bigger city. That’s why I’ve seriously been looking at the Grand Junction area. The population is about 55-60,000 and there are a lot of smaller surrounding towns. The town is pretty spread out so you can find a home in the city, or on the outskirts and still be close to town. Grand Junction has pretty much all of the amenities you would probably need and has a diverse population with more people of retirement age moving there, but there’s also Mesa State College. It has a large mall and shopping area, a great old downtown area and a fair amount of cultural activities. It is also a great area for outdoor activities. The weather is pretty mild most of the time, although it can get hot in the summer (not intolerable) and it does snow in the winter, but the big snowstorms are relatively rare and the roads are cleared quickly so travel is generally not a problem. Real estate can be higher than a lot of the other areas of the country, but for Colorado, prices aren't too bad. That’s why I like it – fair weather, great people, good amenities, and a small airport so easy to travel in and out of.

I’ve also considered the Battlement Mesa (Parachute) area. It is about 30 minutes from Grand Junction, and has been designed so that there are areas of the community that are for families, areas for those nearing or in retirement (that have townhomes and homes), and areas that are mixed. It’s got a great community clubhouse with planned activities and a golf course pretty centrally located. Nice community feeling there.

Hope some of this is helpful to you and am looking forward to replies from other people who might have insights into other towns I have not thought of.

[80skeys]

around here, "very scenic" = "expensive" so you'll have to make compromises.

[5thIndian]

You didn't say why you want Colorado specifically. I also use this site to look for my soft place to fall and am your age too, but I am focused on CO because I am skier. (btw, skiers are used to giving up a lot for our sport.)(things that bother me the most about CO is dryness, water issues, altitude for visitors which I hope will come) CO is pretty far from FL if you just want scenery and the other things you mentioned. Have you thought of Asheville NC? If I wasn't so into skiing and snow I think I would consider that area. (I have one son who may stay in NC and one who may stay in CO)