Is a 4x4 necessary? (Denver, Colorado Springs: how much, live, moving)

[petenadi]

I was wondering if a 4X4 is considered necessary, I lived in a mountain community in California and 4X4 was an absolute necessity due to the lack of plowing in a timely manner, a front wheel drive was a good second choice but had some white knuckle moments driving a muscle car with wide tires and rear wheel drive. now drive a PT Cruiser

[2bindenver]

where will you live and how much driving will you do?

We get 55 inches a season on average and have one 4x4 vehicle. I do most of the driving.

The two or three days we are snowed in from a blizzard, nobody goes anywhere anyway.

We have lived here since 1989.

[Crackerjack]

I know exactly why 2bindenver asked for specifics on the location because in Colorado there are so many climate zones and altitudes that we need to know where you are talking about moving or going to but as a general guide;
Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Trinidad, Durango, Cortez and Grand Junction, you don't need a 4x4, you will see cars everywhere in these cities. Aspen, Vail, Leadville or generally any town or city with an elevation over 8500 feet, if would be wise to have a 4x4. It is good to know about passes too. A town might be 6000 feet and you wont need a 4x4 but the only pass to get to the town might be 12,000 feet, so know your passes to the town you go visit or live.

[petenadi]

Ihave been looking at Golden in the alpine area, a little confused though some resources say it's a short distance from Denver but one of the properties says 45 miles to town, does this reflect going up the hill?

[2bindenver]

some of those properties are not in Golden, but use that post office as the mailing address.