Montrose? (Denver, Grand Junction, Littleton: real estate, apartments, how much)

[taximom]

Hi There,
Can anyone give me some info on Montrose,Co. My Hubby & I just came back from visiting Grand Junction and surrounding area which was beautiful but didn't past Delta. We're looking into moving to a cooler climate that AZ.
Thanks
Taximom

[winglady]

Hi Taximom,

A few suggestions:

1) Do a search on Montrose on this forum. There is a lot of information posted in earlier threads.

2) Tell us more about what topics you are interested in about Montrose. Jobs? Housing? Schools? Entertainment? Climate? Recreation? Clubs? Your question was so broad, it's hard to know where to begin to answer it.

[taximom]

Originally Posted by winglady

Hi Taximom,

A few suggestions:

1) Do a search on Montrose on this forum. There is a lot of information posted in earlier threads.

2) Tell us more about what topics you are interested in about Montrose. Jobs? Housing? Schools? Entertainment? Climate? Recreation? Clubs? Your question was so broad, it's hard to know where to begin to answer it.

Hi Winglady,
Thanks for the reply.
I'm very interested in Entertainment and the Climate year-round. What is the shopping like? Would I have to go to GJ to get my Mall fix? Walmart/Kmart doesn't always do it for me.LOL
Also how's the water? I know it's a strange ? but here where I live in AZ, we have to buy drinking water. Ground water has so much iron in it you don't want to drink it!

[winglady]

Entertainment: We have a remarkable number and variety of performers come here -- although you're extremely unlikely to get a huge name band here. In recent months, the Montrose Arts Council and other organizations have brought performers from the Central City Opera, a world-renowned Flamenco guitarist & dancers, a percussion ensemble, Carlos Nakai (Native American flute), Tim O'Brian (Celtic / Irish), and the Denver Symphony Orchestra will be here next month. We have a local small playhouse, an auditorium with excellent acoustics, and plans are being made for a nightclub/dinner club type of facility.

Shopping: GJ has quite a bit more. We currently have WalMart (no KMart), but Target & Penneys will be opening by October. We have a new mall, but it mainly features restaurants, furniture, a party store, and the like -- no Big Box stores.

Water: Tastes fine to me, although there's a slight chlorine odor when I first turn on the tap. Less than I noticed when I lived in Littleton (suburb of Denver)

Montrose is growing rapidly --- in my opinion (and that of many others), far too rapidly. I'm actually wishing we would NOT get more Big Box stores and the like. I'd rather look at ancient Cottonwood trees growing by the river than huge parking lots and the same stores you can see in every city in America.

[HappyMontrose]

You are correct Winglady,
I have been in Montrose for 25 years, when we only had a couple of street lights and a couple good places to eat.
Our growth is what many begged for at the time and the Time is now.

I love this place and the view of the San Jaun Mountains (Shinny Mountains) cannot be beat!

HM

[jazzlover]

I agree with Winglady. Montrose is growing way too fast. I still have family in that area and the growth is disheartening. I actually was considering moving back to that area at some point, but it's no longer on my "top 10" list--and the rate of growth is the main reason why.

As for the water, most of the towns in the Uncompahgre Valley (Ridgway, Montrose, Olathe, Delta, etc.) get their water from "Project 7," which was built in the 1970's. Water is diverted from the Gunnison River just below Crystal Dam and is tranported to a large treatment plant east of Montrose. So, the water you get in most of the valley is the same, no matter which town you're in. It is treated river water, so they do chlorinate the heck out of it.

That whole area in western Colorado is suffering from escalating real estate prices and relatively stagnant local salaries. If you expect to make a living off of the local economy, it can be tough. That's part of the reason I left the area several years ago. The people paying big prices for fancy houses are almost always bringing their money with them.

[bells]

We are planning on moving to Montrose. Can anyone tell me if the drop in temperature every day affects arthritis? How much snow does Montrose get, and how do the residents feel about newcomers? Will we fell welcome or not? I hear the south side of town is growing. Are there any new apartments there? Thanks for your help, hope to see ya soon!

[CosmicWizard]

taximom

Please be aware that Grand Junction / Montrose is only slightly cooler than Arizona. It's still pretty hot here in the summer time. This summer had 10 triple digit highs with many other days between 95 and 100. If you are coming from Pheonix or Tuscon this would probably seem pretty cool. If you're coming from Prescott / Sedona / Flagstaff it'll be noticably hotter. Montrose is perhaps a few degrees cooler then Grand Junction especially the overnight lows.

good luck in your search....Franco

PS: What was your impression of the Grand Junction area?

[jazzlover]

Today's Montrose is filled with newcomers. The days of most of the town being from "old line" native families is long gone. Compared to many, it's still a nice town, but--as I posted earlier--is growing way too fast and not smartly. I have not read it, but there was a research piece published recently by a group that former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm is involved with that asserts that western Colorado has already grown to a population that--from a resource standpoint--is unsustainable over the long term. I actually think that is true (or will be soon) for the entire state of Colorado. Just because people see a lot of open spaces in Colorado does not mean that the state has the resources (especially water) to accomodate additional hordes. Cheap and plentiful energy, and adequate water (at the time) made development of Colorado possible. Take that away and the state can turn into an inhospitable place real fast.

[coltoncity]

I am trying to decide between Montrose and Flagstaff myself. I can totally understand what Jazzlover is saying in fact in my Colorado visit I talked with someone about the very same thing. It is decievingly green and you feel that there is plenty of water! But in fact it is dry as feeling the global warming like any place. With that said, Anyone have an opinion between the two cities I am looking at?