steamboat!!! is it a good place to live (Hayden: real estate, crime rate)

[miss72ski]

We are from the UK and are looking at relocating to Steamboat as we visited there last year and have kinda fell inlove with the place. Does anyone know what the weather is like there during the summer months, I know what the weather is like in the winter and thats perfect for us as we love skiing and hope to be able to work in that sector. I just wondered what the summer is like...is it warm as it is high up? Can anyone tell me anything about British coming to live in usa..are we welcomed in jobs or do you think we might find it hard to settle and be accepted!! I have 3 kids and they would all have to go to school so that will be difficult to sort out...do you have to pay for schooling in USA? Also what is the crime rate like? and does anyone know anywhere I can find out details like this.


I am most grateful for anyone coming back with any information

many thanks all!

[Investor80209]

I use to live there it's a great family town. Realestate is going up very fast. Schools are great. You don't have to pay for public schools. If you have kids get them involved in the winter sports program on howlesen hill. Town has been developing fast for the past few years. Warm summers June until the first part of sept. I don't think people care that your from the UK there are a lot of people from other parts of the world that live in steamboat. The only crime I know of was some drinking and driving, which the town is very strict on, so don't drink and drive.. There is good art academy in steamboat. Restrauants = Creekside for a breakfast buritto,caginos for chicken parm, smoke house and double z for burgers and beers. Good luck with the move

[mes3fils]

Originally Posted by Investor80209

You don't have to pay for public schools.

Yes you do pay for schools via yearly taxes...it is the same in any state here.

The only way you would have to pay for school directly, is if you enrolled your children in private school.

HTH.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by miss72ski

We are from the UK and are looking at relocating to Steamboat as we visited there last year and have kinda fell inlove with the place. Does anyone know what the weather is like there during the summer months, I know what the weather is like in the winter and thats perfect for us as we love skiing and hope to be able to work in that sector. I just wondered what the summer is like...is it warm as it is high up? Can anyone tell me anything about British coming to live in usa..are we welcomed in jobs or do you think we might find it hard to settle and be accepted!! I have 3 kids and they would all have to go to school so that will be difficult to sort out...do you have to pay for schooling in USA? Also what is the crime rate like? and does anyone know anywhere I can find out details like this.


I am most grateful for anyone coming back with any information

many thanks all!

As a Brit who has lived in the US since 1995 I can hopefully address your "living in the USA" question. Firstly, unless you already have family living here, you will probably need a job offer before you come here and you will need to get a work visa from the immigration service.* There are a variety of visas you can get such as an H1B which is for skilled workers. I believe this is good for about 6 years. If you get a Green Card (permanent residency) before then, you can stay indefinitely (as long as you don't get deported or leave the country for more than a certain number of days). You can apply for naturalization after 5 years permanent residency. I think all that is correct right now, but there may be changes coming.

*Unless your company relocates you or you have sufficient funds to set up your own company (usually in the millions). I've never encountered any problems about working here such as, "You're taking our jobs away." I think other groups tend to get targeted with that. Finding work might be a problem but it depends on what you do. Some professions are in high demand such as healthcare or teaching. Others not so much. In Steamboat I would imagine the top jobs are also in the tourism/hospitality business? I also think Steamboat is quite expensive to live in but there are small towns outside that could be cheaper - I'm sure other people here are better qualified to address that.

[jazzlover]

Steamboat is becoming your typical hideously overpriced resort in Colorado. That means ridiculous real estate prices--especially if you have to depend on the local economy for an income. I have a very good friend who lived there and ran a business. He left because he got tired of making half the net income that he could in a non-resort town for the same amount of hours and effort. He had a heck of a time finding reliable and decent employees because of the transient nature of the local population. Hayden used to be more reasonably priced and a nice town to boot, but I hear the "resort" mentality is taking over there, too.

I will hear the flames, but if you want something like a "normal" community to live in, there really are very few anywhere in the Colorado mountains. They may be great to visit, but to live there is often another matter. If you look around in the mountain towns, almost no one--either by necessity or by choice--who actually grew up in one of the towns still lives there. That ought to tell you something.