Any input on Frisco, CO? (Denver, Silverthorne: ski resorts, rentals, homes)

[City Guy997S]

I like the proximity to the multiple ski resorts and the cool little down town area. Anything significant I'm missing?

[COcheesehead]

Cold and expensive. High tourist traffic. It’s pretty though.

[interloper1138]

COcheesehead pretty much covered it.

It's a small town, so if you're used to bigger city amenities, night life, etc it may feel limiting at times. Not sure if you've got a family, but that could impact your decision, too. Sometimes the tourist towns really aren't great places to raise a family due to the party scene, noise, etc. I can't speak to Frisco specifically on that matter, though. Just something to consider.

I've only been to Frisco a handful of times, so I'm no expert. Beautiful, incredible outdoor access, but too crowded for my tastes as a place to live. Truly spectacular scenery, though. You've got Lake Dillon, the Blue River, Breck, Copper, the Gores, the Tenmiles, and the Front Range all right there.

[otowi]

Yes, expensive. Make sure you're into a small town lacking big city amenities and that you're up for the mountain climate/altitude.

[katharsis]

You didn't give any details about yourself, but I wouldn't advise living in Frisco year-round unless you have lived in a rural small town before. In Frisco, unless things have changed in the past four years, there is very little to do in the off-season. I worked for a Summit County resort for seven years, and generally speaking, off-season is (or was) October and November, and from late March to very early June (unless the spring skiing conditions are still very good); and you can almost go out of your mind if you are a young person unless you are an introvert or like to drink in local bars. [I now live in a small tourist town in Wisconsin, but as I am an introvert, I love living here, even though here there is very little to do from about November 1 to about June 10 (and almost nothing to do from about January 1 until about May 15) -- so you might experience the same thing in Frisco for about four months out of the year.]

I would suggest that if you have not lived in a rural small town before, that you rent for a year before you decide to buy.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by katharsis

You didn't give any details about yourself, but I wouldn't advise living in Frisco year-round unless you have lived in a rural small town before. In Frisco, unless things have changed in the past four years, there is very little to do in the off-season. I worked for a Summit County resort for seven years, and generally speaking, off-season is (or was) October and November, and from late March to very early June (unless the spring skiing conditions are still very good); and you can almost go out of your mind if you are a young person unless you are an introvert or like to drink in local bars. [I now live in a small tourist town in Wisconsin, but as I am an introvert, I love living here, even though here there is very little to do from about November 1 to about June 10 (and almost nothing to do from about January 1 until about May 15) -- so you might experience the same thing in Frisco for about four months out of the year.]

I would suggest that if you have not lived in a rural small town before, that you rent for a year before you decide to buy.

It would be a 2nd home/seasonal. Annual rentals seem hard to come by in that area.

While I might prefer Montana, Colorado (DEN) is so much easier to get in/out of.

[interloper1138]

As a second-home owner, you'd want to be prepared for potentially higher tax rates and possibly limited options regarding short-term rentals. Not sure of the specifics of what Summit County / Frisco has in place, but it's a contentious issue and the regulations are constantly changing.

But in general, as a place for a second home it seems like a no-brainer if you like the area and the price is right.

[waltcolorado]

Currently there are 39 homes on the STR waitlist https://www.friscogov.com/department...ation-process/

My .02. From a retired persons perspective, I think I would really enjoy Frisco mainly in the summer. Dillon reservoir is a sailing lake and if you like Colorado mountain towns near skiing, hiking, cool small touristy town area and with a just beautiful lake, I think Frisco would be near the top of the list. You would need to like long winters being at over 9000 ft el.

An older retiree becomes more dependent on the health care and I have no idea what options you have in that area but its usually more limited in the mountain areas. We drive though there a few times each summer on the way to Denver and usually time the drive for traffic but that drive can be crowded with all the bad stuff that goes along with overcrowding. Hopefully you could avoid going to Denver very often.. but its nice to have the option every once in a while.

Myself and a lot other people think a place like that would be just awesome for owning a short term rental that helped pay for itself but you got to use when you wanted. But check out the link above, all the more desirable mountain towns are restricting STR's.

[Mike Weber]

We lived one block off Main Street in Frisco for almost three years and loved it as a young couple who were mountain bikers, skiers, and hikers. It is a convenient location central to a lot of the other towns in the county. Without a DH ski area in town, it felt a bit more like a town than a resort. We enjoyed walking down to the nearly constant events that were held in town and loved to walk over for a meal at one of the various restaurants. The lake access was good and the bike paths were great.

On the flip side, it feels like the sun goes down really early in the winter because Mount Royal sits so close to town at the west end of main street. Most weekends during tourist seasons there is a ton of traffic and we would often hide out at our place to avoid the traffic and crowds until the week started again. The cost of groceries and other necessities were higher than in Denver, and we weren't always able to get everything we needed in Summit County, so we had to make regular trips to the Front Range. (This has been somewhat remedied in recent years with more businesses coming to Silverthorne). During mud season we made a lot of trips west to Moab or down to the Front Range to get away from the snow and mud. After living in Frisco, Dillon, and Keystone, we eventually tired of the long winters and moved back to the Front Range.

I often dream of getting a place in Summit County again, and nearly pulled the trigger last autumn, but we would likely only want to be there in the summer and then would probably lease it for six months over the winter.

[Phil P]

In my book, Summit County is a place I'd rather rent someone else's unit than have my own.

The above points about the sun and climate and roads out of town are real things to consider. A lot of people can handle winter ok, like I was fine with Front Range winters, but Summit County is a whole next level of long winter compared to other Rockies towns, largely cause there isn't a quick low elevation spot to escape it.

My vote overall would be Fraser area over Summit County. Even though it's not as sexy of out the window scenery, it doesn't have as many of the downsides of price, congestion, living in a geographical box... Winter Park is an awesome resort. And you can snowmobile / dirt bike up there. Can't do that in Summit county, which is pretty taped off for a lot of activities really. There's just too many people really during peak season in that county. Further west on I-70 is really nice: better weather, has less boom / bust feel, and better mountains, but it's priced to wazoo. Chaffee County is a good spot too for everything besides skiing.

Taos and Red River are awesome too, the town is more happening, musical, and permanent than CO ski towns - the better mix of both worlds IMO, of nature and town life.