Looking for a town with a college and near lakes (Denver: lease, homes)

[awama]

My family and I have been looking at places to move to that there are open spaces for our dogs to go running (whippets) and has a college. I am also wanting to sail. We have been checking out Oregon, but are looking closer to New Mexico since alot of the family live there.

We are hoping to find towns where it doesnt get too cold too.

Any information would be appreciated.

[hello-world]

ithaca? madison? burlington? kinda cold. gainesville? austin? davis and reno are within an hour or so of tahoe. salt lake? anyplace in CA by the ocean? all kinda far from NM, except maybe austin - there's a river and ... some lakes nearby, right? boulder has some lakes people sail on - the "lakes" are more like reservoirs with few trees and not very big, for the most part. let me know if you find this place - sounds pretty good

[awama]

we were looking into cities in colorado?

Anyone know of places in Colorado which have open spaces for dogs to run freely and that there is a college nearby?

[BillRadio]

Originally Posted by awama

we were looking into cities in colorado?

Anyone know of places in Colorado which have open spaces for dogs to run freely and that there is a college nearby?

You might want to define "lake". I lived on Lake Erie for some time and a real lake is something you can't see the opposite shore. There are but a handful of lakes in Colorado, and even fewer near a college. Gunnison comes to mind first, but it is ungodly cold in the winter (-20 many nights).

All the towns with colleges are quite nice: Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, (Denver? sure, but it's not a 'college town'), Grand Junction, Gunnison, Durango. All but the first 4 have wide open spaces, but Gunnison is the only one with a sizeable lake nearby. Boulder has their reservoir and Ft Collins has Horsetooth reservoir.

Fort Collins is really the only one that acts like a college town. Boulder is quite different, but in the other cases the colleges are too small to make a difference in the 'feel' of the community.

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by awama

My family and I have been looking at places to move to that there are open spaces for our dogs to go running (whippets) and has a college. I am also wanting to sail. We have been checking out Oregon, but are looking closer to New Mexico since alot of the family live there.

We are hoping to find towns where it doesnt get too cold too.

Any information would be appreciated.

That sounds like Durango. It is a very friendly dog city, you see them everywhere and even have a dog park just for dogs. There is Fort Lewis College with around 5,000 students or so. There are many lakes in the Durango area - Navajo Lake is the largest lake in New Mexico and it is close by as well as Vallecito, the third largest lake in Colorado, nearby too, as well as many others. You are right by the border of New Mexico and can be in NM in less than 30 minutes. The area is mild for Colorado. You probably wouldnt want to go north of there where the winters are harsher. Just stay in Durango or south of there.

[Colomonter]

I agree that Durango fits the bill the best IF it qualifies as a "city" in your mind. It really depends on the size of town/city that you are looking for.

[5stones]

Grand junction area is better priced than Durango. The lakes are up on the mesa though not in town.

[hello-world]

if colorado's got to be it (and not TX, e.g.), then like i said, boulder might be worth a look. the ft collins, co springs, and durango ideas sound like worthy looks, too. durango doesn't strike me as a "college town", but i guess you're just looking for any college being around, and there is a small college there. i suppose you could check out gunnison, too (western state college is there, and another reservoir's nearby). "lakes" in colorado are going to be quite small/reservoirish or like ponds in much of the rest of the country, for the most part. reservoirs can fluctuate in level significantly - and as water gets short, so should your keel and hey...i'd like to check out navajo lake, myself!

[Nadine]

Originally Posted by awama

we were looking into cities in colorado?

Anyone know of places in Colorado which have open spaces for dogs to run freely and that there is a college nearby?

Pueblo West has a large reservoir and there are homes that are out and away but most,if not all, counties have lease laws about dogs running free. You can take them out and let them run there. But you had better have voice control to call them to you for a lease should someone else be out doing the same. Not supposed to but many do. CSU Pueblo campus is very close in Pueblo. but it is small. There is also a Community college. Colorado Springs has a couple colleges and doggie parks. Many boaters head to Pueblo Res from the Springs. There maybe some small ones there. I am not the best for information about boating and lakes.

[eapdesign]

I'm going to recommend Fort Collins. Great town, close to the mountains. Lots of lakes (Horsetooth Reservoir, Red Feather Lakes, etc). CSU is an excellent college. It's not too far away from Denver if you want to go to the city for the weekend. I explored going to Durango for college and it's nice, very outdoorsy, but it's small, isolated and going over those passes in the winter time is not a fun task at all, and it's about a 6 hour drive from Durango to Denver. I also was not impressed with Fort Lewis as a college.