Best Eco & Family-Friendly towns in Colorado (Denver, Grand Junction: real estate, crime)

[Scanty]

My husband and I are in the very preliminary stage of discussing a move to Colorado. We currently live in suburbia Cleveland and are looking for a much "simpler" lifestyle - meaning that we'd like to give up living on "Wisteria Lane", if you will. The rat-race is rediculous and tired of always looking for the next best thing (ex: video games, bmw's, flat-screen tv's, jimmy choo's). I don't have the desire or energy for it, nor do I want my children thinking that that is what life is all about! First off, we have 3 young children, so great schools are a necessity. Secondly, in the past year we have begun giving back to the earth in many ways - composting, recycling, compostable diapers, re-using, reducing - you get the idea. We'd like to live in a town with like-minded people, as well as a city with those same goals & ideas. We love hiking & skiing. We love 4 seasons, sunshine & dry air (not that we have any idea what sunshine & dry air is like, being from Cleveland). Lastly, we'd love to have a big yard. Soooooo, does anyone have any clues as to which city fits this profile? We don't have a particular city in mind, so any info is appreciated. Thanks!
Scanty

[jazzlover]

Well, not to disillusion you, but if you think you are going to escape suburbia, the rat race, and hedonistic materially-centered people, it probably won't be in most of Colorado. Metropolitan Colorado is no different than any other American metro area in that regard. If anything, the resort areas are even worse--there are plenty of hedonists in those places that have money, and they want you to know it. So, that leaves a fairly small selection of small towns in Colorado that haven't gone down the road to what you say you don't like. Those places tend to have few jobs, often quite a lot of poverty, possibly less than wonderful schools, and often do not fit the stereotype of what "Colorado wannbes" expect for the state. Virtually all of the state has a problem with real estate costs that are still out-of-sync with local incomes. About the only area in which that is not true is in the small agricultural communities on Colorado's Eastern Plains, but that is an area that frequently does not fit peoples' stereotype of what Colorado is about.

Colorado does have some spectacular natural scenery, but it is no socio-economic-environmental utopia by any means. By national measures, many of its communities only have middling crime ratings, if not worse. A couple of the most contaminated Superfund sites in the US have been in Colorado. The Colorado economy has been over-reliant on the real estate speculation and construction industries for years. Colorado state and local government--including schools--face some serious long-term structural funding problems. The state has done a poor job of managing growth--and that mismanagement is going to haunt it for years--if not decades to come. No, the Chamber of Commerce-types and their pumpmonkeys won't tell you this. I'm not sure where you will find what you are looking for, but it probably won't be here. And, if you haven't read some of my other posts to know, I have been working in and traveling to every corner of this state for over 40 years now.

[Jerry Bckr]

You aren't giving people much to go on. What types of work do you do, what price range of housing, etc. Even Denver is "green" in many ways, and I've seen them rate high in national surveys. As far as avoiding the rat race, don't get on the treadmill. Just about every town has people that are trying to live like you are. Do you want to be way out in the sticks or live in Aspen?

[Scanty]

Let's see, I don't want to be in the sticks, however, Aspen won't exactly work I'm a stay-at-home mom and my hubby has his own business in real estate development.... and by "development" I mean rehab. He doesn't take down trees. So, as for avoiding the "rat race", I understand it exists everywhere, but I'm looking at it more as having to work for someone else, large corporate mess. As for a price range of homes, it's tough to say. By no means am I talking $500,000 - but we'd like a little less populated, possibly several acres of land. Hope this is a little more explanatory.

[livecontent]

You want a simple life which to me means a more frugal life. You want to spend less on junk that does not give happiness. You want a large yard. You want fertile, cheap, land with a good water supply. You want a simple town with simple pleasure.

Well, you already have it---stay in Ohio. I grew up in Western New York. You are not going to find big yards with fertile land, here in Colorado. You will find hard scrabbled tough towns on the plains which have minimal water, and you will find phony fluff towns in the mountains or real difficult places to live. You will not find big pieces of cheap fertile land with water, anywhere on the front range.

When I hear Eco-friendly--I laugh. You want to be eco-friendly, live in a small town in the fertile great lakes and learn the lessons of frugality and simplicity from real people, who have been doing it for many years, without the catch words and the "look at me" mentality of many of these Colorado fakes, but who just, everyday, live a good life.

Now, I like Colorado and you would be welcomed here but you are viewing the west with a great deal of delusions brought on by the incessant marketing and hype, showcasing the eco-egos. That is not to say that there are not simple good people here; but they live in the rough hewed towns, farm the land, herd the cattle, mine the mines, and do good jobs in the cities. But you are looking for the idealized glamorous places, but they live their own rat race of competing for reflections of their own self-loved images.

Livecontent

[cbeckmey]

Check our Buena Vista, CO the South Main development is beautiful and reasonable and sustainable. let us know if you move!

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

You have your choice of living in a city where the work is, or living in a small town where there are no jobs. You can't have both. If your husband needs to work, then you need to be somewhere close to the cities on the Front Range, or in Grand Junction. Although as all of us have been saying on this forum, there are no jobs right now. Don't even think of moving if your husband has a job in Ohio.

I suggest that you spend a summer vacation or two just driving around Colorado. Just don't move until the economy improves.

By the way, South Main is a great development, but it is really expensive.

[la junta econ devel]

Originally Posted by Scanty

My husband and I are in the very preliminary stage of discussing a move to Colorado. We currently live in suburbia Cleveland and are looking for a much "simpler" lifestyle - meaning that we'd like to give up living on "Wisteria Lane", if you will. The rat-race is rediculous and tired of always looking for the next best thing (ex: video games, bmw's, flat-screen tv's, jimmy choo's). I don't have the desire or energy for it, nor do I want my children thinking that that is what life is all about! First off, we have 3 young children, so great schools are a necessity. Secondly, in the past year we have begun giving back to the earth in many ways - composting, recycling, compostable diapers, re-using, reducing - you get the idea. We'd like to live in a town with like-minded people, as well as a city with those same goals & ideas. We love hiking & skiing. We love 4 seasons, sunshine & dry air (not that we have any idea what sunshine & dry air is like, being from Cleveland). Lastly, we'd love to have a big yard. Soooooo, does anyone have any clues as to which city fits this profile? We don't have a particular city in mind, so any info is appreciated. Thanks!
Scanty

I agree with earlier posts that the smaller, rural community lifestyles are not a fit for everyone, but some of them may be worth exploring. La Junta is a small community in Southeast Colorado, and probably very representative of many rural communities in Colorado...great quality of life, sound school systems, rich tradition and pride in our towns, etc. As is true in many rural communities, we are finding there are people moving to these towns that can work from home, hence their job can allow them to take advantage of the "more laid-back lifestyle".

Rather than repost here, you might go to could i be your neighbor? on this forum for more information about La Junta. Please keep in mind, that even though the post speaks about La Junta, it is true of most of the rural communities in every part of Colorado.

Finally, Dreaming of Hawaii's suggestion to spend some time driving around Colorado is right on the money. No matter where you travel in this State, you will find beauty, culture, entertainment, and enjoyment.

Good luck in your search.

[RedSoxFanGoingWest]

Originally Posted by livecontent

You want a simple life which to me means a more frugal life. You want to spend less on junk that does not give happiness. You want a large yard. You want fertile, cheap, land with a good water supply. You want a simple town with simple pleasure.

Well, you already have it---stay in Ohio. I grew up in Western New York. You are not going to find big yards with fertile land, here in Colorado. You will find hard scrabbled tough towns on the plains which have minimal water, and you will find phony fluff towns in the mountains or real difficult places to live. You will not find big pieces of cheap fertile land with water, anywhere on the front range.

When I hear Eco-friendly--I laugh. You want to be eco-friendly, live in a small town in the fertile great lakes and learn the lessons of frugality and simplicity from real people, who have been doing it for many years, without the catch words and the "look at me" mentality of many of these Colorado fakes, but who just, everyday, live a good life.

Now, I like Colorado and you would be welcomed here but you are viewing the west with a great deal of delusions brought on by the incessant marketing and hype, showcasing the eco-egos. That is not to say that there are not simple good people here; but they live in the rough hewed towns, farm the land, herd the cattle, mine the mines, and do good jobs in the cities. But you are looking for the idealized glamorous places, but they live their own rat race of competing for reflections of their own self-loved images.

Livecontent

To the OP, I've got to agree with Livecontent here. Knowing the metro Cleveland area (lived there for 2 years prior to moving to CO) you will find the rat race a little more noticeable here. It's nothing compared to major metro areas on the coasts (Boston, NY, DC, LA) but compared to Cleveland it is.

Assuming you'd have to live/work in the front range area, there aren't a lot of places that offer lots with several acres for a reasonable amount of money.

I'm not trying to discourage you - I've been in Colorado going on 3 years now and I don't know that I'll ever leave. It's beautiful. The weather in comparison to Cleveland is amazing (it's 60 today!) I just don't want to you to have disillusions about what Colorado has to offer.

Another poster offered great advice. Come out for a week or so in the summer and do some in-person investigation. I'd recommend a week in the winter to see what that is like as well.

Best of luck. If you decide this is the place for you and your family, I'm sure you'll love the change from Cleveland!