Most temperate CO medium/big city (Denver, Colorado Springs: appointed, best cities, transplants)

[thisguy]

Hi, I am looking to relocate out of the midwest to a (relatively) affordable, high quality, good economy, good weather place that has some culture and life to it. Colorado seems to have a lot of good rankings in these best cities to live but I am confused by the weather situation.

When I watch NFL games in December I see bundles of snow in Denver (which is high elevation) but when I look at some of the weather average temps in other parts of CO it doesnt look "bad on paper" so my question is which middle/larger cities are the most temperate....not looking for a small town, but good sized, i.e. top 10 biggest in CO for example.

And how are the winters there? I assume Denver must be bad due to elevation but I just assumed all of CO was high elevation, maybe not.

[CSColorado]

As far as cities go we've got Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Grand Junction... everything else is mountain or rural towns. Pueblo is a little lower and very slightly warmer than Denver. Colorado Springs is higher than Denver. I think it's a fluke that it snows on Monday nights for football viewers to see. The winters are pretty long- but mild. Snow melts off quickly in the sun and sticks around in the shade. If you want "culture" you might be disappointed. For "culture" you'll need to look in Denver or a resort town (Vail, Aspen...). I wouldn't brag about any "culture" in Colorado Springs, and certainly not in Pueblo. Colorado Springs is a great place to live, and the climate is really pretty mild. Denver and Pueblo get too hot for my liking in the summertime. We're in the high 80s and 90s now, and Denver and Pueblo are in the high 90s and 100s. There are plenty of days in the middle of the winter that I am comfortable in shorts, but then again every couple of years we'll go for a week straight without getting above freezing.

PS- I don't know of a city/town in the state that I would want to live in that is a lower elevation than Denver.

[COflower]

CSColorado - well said.

C Springs, on average, receives less snow than Denver. Denver actually receives less snow than Chicago (believe it or not).

Nice thing about Front Range (Ft. Collins south to beyond Pueblo) winters is that it can snow several inches over night and by 10:00 am the main streets are melted.

It can be as low as -20° or as high in the lower 70s in the winter.

C Springs still has some catching up to do to get to Denver cultural activites but it's come a long way in the last 20 years. I saw Sting here in 1999. Not bad for C Springs at all. But we get in some Broadway plays, have minor league sports, downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs have a lot of artsy things going on.

As an older single I find it hard to connect with people when it comes to the night life as I am not into meet markets...but for the young and hip or even the young and hippy or down right young and cowboy (OH AND) the young and hard rock, there are many clubs.

Denver is close enough to enjoy things and many people take a run up to Denver to get in some of the things that we don't get down here. It's not a bad drive and have made it many times. Both when I lived there for a while and again since I moved back.

Two hours to the fun mountain towns. An hour and you can go gambling in Cripple Creek or go camping (depending on what part of town you live in of course).

If you are looking for a small town flavor, Cañon City is stretching it's legs and starting to grow but maintains it's flavor. I am actually planning on moving there in 1-2 years depending on my business. It's only about 30 minutes to the very south end of Colorado Springs and oh, maybe 20 to Pueblo. They do have a Home Depot, Wal*Mart but their charm is the Royal Gorge, the historical downtown district and the beauty of the terrain.

Even their chamber calls it the "Banana Belt of Colorado" as their winters are mild but they do get a little snow.

I am currently doing two websites for separate developers down there. I fell in love with Cañon City long before either of them. Since my entire family is in C Springs and my father is pushing 70, I opted to move there soon instead of going back to Grand Junction becasue of their similarities but because they are so much closer.

WOW, that was long. Sorry.

Hope that helped though.

[MidniteBreeze]

I'm originally from Minnesota but lived in Colorado Springs for 5 years. Contrary to the stereotypical Colroado=snow image, their winters are NOTHING like where I came from. I would say we got maybe 1 or 2 snowfalls a year that were bad enough to close or delay school (and even then, it depended on what part of town you lived in!)

When it does snow, it's gone within a day or two. It can get chilly, but coming from a place where it's not really "cold" unless it's below zero, those sunny January days in the 20's seemed downright balmy to me! By February there are often days where it's warm enough to drive with your convertible top down. They actually get most of their heaviest snowfalls in the "wet" season during March and April (those spring snows melt even faster though.)

Summers can be hot, but it's dry, so that helps a lot. Being so close to the mtns., there are a lot of summer afternoon thunderstorms...but they don't last too long. They do get more than their fair share of hail though...and your auto insurance premiums will reflect that!

I'd say the worst part about Colorado winters is they're not as well equipped as we are up north to clear ice and snow from the roads. They don't use salt and just kind of wait for it to melt. Thankfully you only have to put up with it for a day or two at a time, but it's not fun driving on glare ice with a bunch of transplants from Cali and Texas who have no idea how to drive in the winter.

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by MidniteBreeze

I would say we got maybe 1 or 2 snowfalls a year that were bad enough to close or delay school (and even then, it depended on what part of town you lived in!)

In the twelve years I went to school in Denver they closed school twice. Yes there were deleys a few times a year for kids who rode the school bus but it would be for a half hour or so.