Grand Junction or Glenwood Springs

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

And very cold in the winter! Do not believe the chamber of commerce crap about mild winters in GJ.

Cold yes. Definitely.
Mild in terms of snow, especially compared to Front Range cities.

[CosmicWizard]

80skeys wrote:

Cold yes. Definitely.
Mild in terms of snow, especially compared to Front Range cities.

You are absolutely right about the snow. During the 4 winters I've been in GJ there has been very little accumulation of snow. There really has not been much snow at all. I expected there to be alot more. But the little bit that does accumulate covers the ground for weeks on end. During December and January all it takes is an inch or two to trap the cold air in the valleys. When that happens, it's colder in the valleys than it is in the higher elevations. The inch or two that usually accumulates here would melt completely by the next day over on the front range. At least that was the case in Boulder when I lived over there in the early '70s. Fortunately the main roads are usually snow free in a few hours, so we rarely have to drive on snow covered roads...except in the residential areas.

The cold air inversion was even more pronounced over in Moab. The first 3 winters I lived in GJ, Moab was usually a few degrees warmer than GJ, but not this winter. Most of this past winter, Moab was a few degrees colder than GJ.

[datadude]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

Very little crime. Family-oriented. Most of the people around here are married and have kids. It's close to some interesting outdoor activities (Monument, Moab, mountains, lakes, etc.)

What's bad about it is that it is very isolated (4 hour drive to Denver). The restaurant scene is not good (very little variety.) The shopping is not good. There's no nightlife. There's very little in the way of arts and culture. Its very brown and dry.

80skeys, from what I hear from life long GJ relatives and friends, crime has soared there in recent years mostly because of meth heads needing money. Local and the Mesa County Sherriff's Police have their hands filled with robberies and burglaries. You say no?

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by datadude

80skeys, from what I hear from life long GJ relatives and friends, crime has soared there in recent years mostly because of meth heads needing money. Local and the Mesa County Sherriff's Police have their hands filled with robberies and burglaries. You say no?

I say no.

As you said, life long GJ residents remember the old days where there was no crime at all. Understandable if you grow up on a farm. Their perspective is "any crime is a huge increase from none."

For the rest of us who grew up in the average American city, Grand Junction is noticeably lacking in crime. As a whole the town is clean, respectable and presentable.

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

I say no.

As you said, life long GJ residents remember the old days where there was no crime at all. Understandable if you grow up on a farm. Their perspective is "any crime is a huge increase from none."

For the rest of us who grew up in the average American city, Grand Junction is noticeably lacking in crime. As a whole the town is clean, respectable and presentable.

According to City-Data, GJ has averaged a 42% higher rate of serious crime over the past decade than the average American city.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

I say no.

As you said, life long GJ residents remember the old days where there was no crime at all. Understandable if you grow up on a farm. Their perspective is "any crime is a huge increase from none."

For the rest of us who grew up in the average American city, Grand Junction is noticeably lacking in crime. As a whole the town is clean, respectable and presentable.

I agree with sterlinggirl. The crimes stats for Grand Junction are pretty pathetic for a city its size. In fact, the per capita stats found right here in City-Data show that it is about as crime-ridden per capita as a number of the large Front Range cities. In fact, Grand Junction's per capita crime rating is considerably worse than that of the City and County of Denver, which is hardly a crime-free utopia. On the bright side, Grand Junction's rating is better than Pueblo's, but that's not saying much. Sadly, many places in Colorado, and not just big cities, have middling or worse crime ratings. One more dirty little secret the Chamber of Commerce-types and real estate peddlers don't want you know.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

According to City-Data, GJ has averaged a 42% higher rate of serious crime over the past decade than the average American city.

That's why I don't pay attention to those statistics. It doesn't jibe with the experience of living in Grand Junction.

[sterlinggirl]

Grand Junction's unemployment rate is still climbing while sales tax collections are down.

Jobless rate nears 10 percent in Mesa County | GJFreePress.com
Sales, Use tax falls in Grand Junction | GJFreePress.com

[doctorjef]

I have a great deal of affection for Grand Junction, where I lived and worked back in the 1980s. Our HQ was actually in Glenwood Spgs (I worked for Colo West Regional Mental Health Ctr, the GJ affiliate of which is Mesa Co. Mental Health), so I would go to GS for various organizational meetings. GS is real pretty and feels quite alpine but I never really thought it would be a great place to live. The high desert terrain of GJ is beautiful and for a more alpine environment you've got the Grand Mesa just to the east -- the largest flat topped mountain in the world. I used to hike the Colo National Monument west of town almost daily during warm months. I never thought the summer heat was all that bad -- nothing like Austin, TX where I lived for many years. Also there's virtually no humidity in GJ. As others have said, the winters in the valley are typically pretty mild. One of our secretaries used to refer to GJ as being in "the banana belt" of Colorado -- really one of the warmest winter climates in the state. I know the place has undoubtedly lost more of its charm in the last 20 years, though there are no doubt more amenities there now too. Doesn't sound like the restaurant situation has improved much -- it was pretty dreary on that score when I lived there. But you can drive cool places all over the Western Slope. We used to go to the little Episcopal church (St John's) in Ouray on Sundays and then drive up to Telluride for brunch. There's a lot to see all over the Western Slope and it's more truly the West than is the Front Range -- very romantic and remote in many ways.