Moving to Colorado, looking for area near city with shopping and lots of restaurants! (Colorado Springs: real estate, lease)

[christie22]

My family is about to retire this year and we are looking to move out of California to Colorado. My dad has found some great ranch properties, but I'm worried they are too far from major cities! We need to be within distance of lots of restaurants (we dont cook and dont eat fast food) and shopping! Not to mention I still need to work, so I need to find a job! I also have a daughter, so I'm also looking at schools, good clean neighborhoods/areas, things like that. I'd appreciate any help, my dad is only concentrated on a house with some acreage, and he is ready to move NOW! Also, are there any areas that have less snow, (SW, SE, NW, NE) and possibly more sunshine?

[Mike from back east]

Ranch properties are usually not near major employment centers. What sort of work do you do?

Meanwhile, try looking around Canon City or Florence for an area with less snow, milder temps in winter, places with acreage, and not all that far from Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

Your dad should read the "water" thread, as there are a lot of strings attached to water rights and issues in CO; it really DOES matter.

[jazzlover]

A working ranch in Colorado means having a minimum of several hundred to several thousand acres, hopefully with a federal grazing lease on BLM or National Forest. Anything else is a "ranch" in name only.

Don't cook and don't eat fast food? You don't belong in Colorado if you expect to be anyplace else than a metropolitan area or one of the exorbitantly priced resort towns.

There's plenty of stuff on this forum about the dismal job situation in rural Colorado. Go read it. And, double down on what Mike says about Colorado water rights. If you don't absolutely understand that, you'll be a real "sucker" for the real estate people.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

A working ranch in Colorado means having a minimum of several hundred to several thousand acres, hopefully with a federal grazing lease on BLM or National Forest. Anything else is a "ranch" in name only.

Don't cook and don't eat fast food? You don't belong in Colorado if you expect to be anyplace else than a metropolitan area or one of the exorbitantly priced resort towns.

There's plenty of stuff on this forum about the dismal job situation in rural Colorado. Go read it. And, double down on what Mike says about Colorado water rights. If you don't absolutely understand that, you'll be a real "sucker" for the real estate people.

That depends on the kind of ranch they want. Being retired they might just want something for a hobby thus they will not need thousands of acers.

As far as restaurants as long as they live in a short drive to Pueblo or Colorado Springs, as many places are they can move too, they will have access to some great restaurants, cultural activities, and shopping (remember Colorado Springs has the states only 5 diamond restaurant, the Penrose Room at the Broadmore, and Pueblo was in the top 10 for mid size cities for restaurants and cultural activities). In fact I live in Pueblo and eat out more then I eat at home at some fabulous restaurants and rarely fast food, except Dairy Queen as they have great ice cream. I would suggest the OP look in Pueblo, Fremont, and El Paso counties.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

That depends on the kind of ranch they want. Being retired they might just want something for a hobby thus they will not need thousands of acers.

That's not a ranch--it's a ranchette, which really isn't anything except a nice term for rural sprawl. For Rexall Rangers that don't know the difference between a bull and a steer.

[Mike from back east]

There are also plenty of 40-acre ranchettes out in the Peyton and Yoder area east of Colorado Springs.

Christie22 should check out the offerings on realtor.com to get a handle on prices and what it looks like out there.

[EscapeCalifornia]

That whole "we dont cook and dont eat fast food" thing really limits you to the most urban areas in the state. Even the suburbs tend to be lacking in variety of restaurants unless you want to make the rotation between Qdoba, Tokyo Joe's, Chipotle, and Noodles and Co. If you live out where you can get land, you're really going to drive into town every single day and night for dinner? Really?

I think you both (especially your father) need to do A LOT more research into life in Colorado before committing to anything. That includes a few visits at different times of the year. Otherwise you'll be the ones that post back here in a year saying how terrible Colorado is and complaining about the snow the realtor said rarely happened.

[christie22]

Thank all of you for your input! I know my dad's anxious to get out of California and retire but the truth is we dont know alot about Colorado except that it looks beautiful in pictures and homes/land seem reasonable for what you get. (Compared to CA Orange County anyways!) I will look into the water issue, and as for the cooking, yes we eat out at least twice a day. Really. There's so many choices around here I guess I've become accustomed... dont mean to sound snobbish or anything.

I know my dad wants a house with acreage, but my mom and I just dont want to be too far from the city. Thats why I'm trying to find somewhere that we can both be happy!

As for a job, I have a BA in Business, I've done a wide variety of jobs... I will flip burgers if I have too in order to make a living! I have read some pretty negative things on here about job searches and unemployment in CO, kinda bummed there. But I appreciate all you have told me and please feel free to give me any suggestions for me and my family! We have considered Boise Idaho also.

[christie22]

Thanks Mike... I'm trying to find that water thread...

[jazzlover]

Here . . .

Colorado and the West is running out of water . . .