retiring (Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: low crime, new home, buyer)

[vnodak]

In a few years we will retire. We are looking for a place in Colorado. We would like good air quality, reasonable housing, low crime, sun, good access to specialty health care, clean, educated people, conservative area, friendly and helpful people, and a place with things to do both in and outside. In considering your answers, remember we are seniors. We could easily afford a three hundred fifty thousand dollar house. We presently live in the Seattle area and are tired of this whole area. Thanks so much for your input.

[Market Mama]

Conservative? Avoid Boulder like the plague (which you actually can catch here by walking through a prairie dog colony). I've lived in the Boulder area for over 30 years, and while I've never actually seen one, the rumor is that rabid foaming-at-the-mouth liberals run wild here.

Please note that air quality is becoming a bigger issue all along the Front Range As for the rest, I'd suggest that you start with the "best/worst" thread on this board. That will give you a good overall picture of different parts of the state.

[Nadine]

My little town of Canon City is just about center of the state. I would suggest it maybe a good place to stay to search for your new home. YorkiesMom is in a small 2 bedroom apt in an apt complex, that can be rented short term. 1 mo 6mo or yearly. You may want to talk to her. Affordable Fremont County is a good place to look thing over. That website was setup to entice the army personal that are being sent to Fort Carson, but it still is a good place to look. PM or e-mail me if you want more info. I don't know if YorkiesMom is checking in but she is from Minnesota and is looking to buy a non rural home. But maybe she can give you a more non biased look at this area. Try PM or emailing her. I think she is checking in altho not posting.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by vnodak

In a few years we will retire. We are looking for a place in Colorado. We would like good air quality, reasonable housing, low crime, sun, good access to specialty health care, clean, educated people, conservative area, friendly and helpful people, and a place with things to do both in and outside. In considering your answers, remember we are seniors. We could easily afford a three hundred fifty thousand dollar house. We presently live in the Seattle area and are tired of this whole area. Thanks so much for your input.

Much of the state fits your list of specifics.

1. Air quality. IMO Denver may be worst due to 2.5 million people, lots of cars, sits in a bowl, dirty air collects over it. A few years ago, some magazine said COL SPGS had best air in the nation. I live here and I agree. Many other cities in CO have excellent air.

2. Reasonable housing. Boulder is really out of your range, mine too. You can find much more affordable housing in COL SPGS, Canon City, Castle Rock, Monument, Fort Collins and many other locales. Boulder is about the highest and much of Denver isn't cheap either. Use realtor dot com to search by town or zip code. I like to have folks look at zip 80920, aka Briargate to see if that looks good to them, lots there for $250k. Living up in the mountains in the famed ski areas is so pricey that I'd not suggest it unless you are an avid skiier or snow man.

3. Low crime. North side of COL SPGS is fine, as are many other cities.

4. Sun. Lots of sun just about everywhere in the state.

5. Specialty health care. Probably Denver has more of this than anywhere in the state. COL SPGS probably a close second.

6. Clean. Most of the state fits.

7. Educated. College towns, like Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, COL SPGS or even Durango down in the southwest corner of the state.

8. Conservative. Boulder has liberal rep, may be more stereotype than truth. Most of the state is middle of the road. COL SPGS has a conservative rep, lots of military here, and many religious groups are headquartered here. Would consider most rural towns to be conservative. Denver is so big that you can find any political calling somewhere.

9. Friendly and helpful people. Most of the state.

10. Things to do both in and outside. Most anywhere along the Front Range or I-25 corridor. Denver is the big scene for culture, arts, shows, music and nightlife. COL SGPS is very near Denver and an easy drive into the mountains or the plains. Golden may be a good spot, an hour or less to most of Denver and not that far into the mountains or to Boulder either.

You didn't ask, but here are some other things to consider. Denver has a well patronized and growing light rail system. Consider Littleton or other stop as a place to center on when looking. Denver has all the major pro sports, but that gets pricey. I like the AAA baseball team here in COL SPGS, best tix are only $9 for front row where you can talk to the players, etc, and tons of free stuff given away all the time, weekly fireworks, etc. Here in COL SPGS we get USAF football and sports at very affordable prices, and it's only 90 minutes to go see the Bronco's play or to see most of anything in Denver.

I'm not a realtor, but I heartily endorse using one in your search.

Use the search function to find the tons of data here in older threads, the search engine has many features and will help you zero in on specific info very quickly. We tend to dislike keying in replies to the same old questions. PLEASE use the search function for things like schools and weather, which are topics we've beaten to death for 1.75 years on this site.

Books like "Cities Ranked and Rated" should be in your local library. It has all of the official data on cost of living, housing costs, crime, weather, culture, education level, recreation, employment, medical care, income level, demographics, etc. This is the book we used and the data showed that COL SPGS was in the top 20 for all categories, amongst 400+ major cities and metro areas. Lots of what you'll read here are personal perceptions, a good source but also everyone is emotionally attached to where THEY live, so treat much of what is in the forums to be anecdotal, not fully objective. A balance of hard data and these personal perspectives will be a decent guide.

s/Mike

[Tom Emmerling]

The Fort Collins area is nice because it gives you easy access to the front range cities. Fort Collins itself is a fairly large town but there are many smaller rural towns all around it. I can tell you that we have a relatively low crime rate here. There is plenty to do also like our hockey team (the eagles) in loveland at "The Ranch" events center, camping, fishing, golf, lakes, etc. For the price you looking in you could chose to live in town or buy an acreage outside the city.

[Nadine]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Much of the state fits your list of specifics.

1. Air quality. IMO Denver may be worst due to 2.5 million people, lots of cars, sits in a bowl, dirty air collects over it. A few years ago, some magazine said COL SPGS had best air in the nation. I live here and I agree. Many other cities in CO have excellent air.

2. Reasonable housing. Boulder is really out of your range, mine too. You can find much more affordable housing in COL SPGS, Canon City, Castle Rock, Monument, Fort Collins and many other locales. Boulder is about the highest and much of Denver isn't cheap either. Use realtor dot com to search by town or zip code. I like to have folks look at zip 80920, aka Briargate to see if that looks good to them, lots there for $250k. Living up in the mountains in the famed ski areas is so pricey that I'd not suggest it unless you are an avid skiier or snow man.

3. Low crime. North side of COL SPGS is fine, as are many other cities.

4. Sun. Lots of sun just about everywhere in the state.

5. Specialty health care. Probably Denver has more of this than anywhere in the state. COL SPGS probably a close second.

6. Clean. Most of the state fits.

7. Educated. College towns, like Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, COL SPGS or even Durango down in the southwest corner of the state.

8. Conservative. Boulder has liberal rep, may be more stereotype than truth. Most of the state is middle of the road. COL SPGS has a conservative rep, lots of military here, and many religious groups are headquartered here. Would consider most rural towns to be conservative. Denver is so big that you can find any political calling somewhere.

9. Friendly and helpful people. Most of the state.

10. Things to do both in and outside. Most anywhere along the Front Range or I-25 corridor. Denver is the big scene for culture, arts, shows, music and nightlife. COL SGPS is very near Denver and an easy drive into the mountains or the plains. Golden may be a good spot, an hour or less to most of Denver and not that far into the mountains or to Boulder either.

You didn't ask, but here are some other things to consider. Denver has a well patronized and growing light rail system. Consider Littleton or other stop as a place to center on when looking. Denver has all the major pro sports, but that gets pricey. I like the AAA baseball team here in COL SPGS, best tix are only $9 for front row where you can talk to the players, etc, and tons of free stuff given away all the time, weekly fireworks, etc. Here in COL SPGS we get USAF football and sports at very affordable prices, and it's only 90 minutes to go see the Bronco's play or to see most of anything in Denver.

I'm not a realtor, but I heartily endorse using one in your search.

Use the search function to find the tons of data here in older threads, the search engine has many features and will help you zero in on specific info very quickly. We tend to dislike keying in replies to the same old questions. PLEASE use the search function for things like schools and weather, which are topics we've beaten to death for 1.75 years on this site.

Books like "Cities Ranked and Rated" should be in your local library. It has all of the official data on cost of living, housing costs, crime, weather, culture, education level, recreation, employment, medical care, income level, demographics, etc. This is the book we used and the data showed that COL SPGS was in the top 20 for all categories, amongst 400+ major cities and metro areas. Lots of what you'll read here are personal perceptions, a good source but also everyone is emotionally attached to where THEY live, so treat much of what is in the forums to be anecdotal, not fully objective. A balance of hard data and these personal perspectives will be a decent guide.

s/Mike

South Colorado Springs should not be elementated as low in crime. There is lots of South colo.Springs that is very high end and yes the crime rate is low. True there is a section that is bad. South Nevada is a hangout for the undesirable.

[vnodak]

Thanks for all the info---very helpfull. It will be a few years before we move but it will be our last and I am checking out all over the states. I keep coming back to Colorado for a reason and that is what you have all said. I think it would be a good fit for us. The only down fall is no Trader Joes and I am a big fan. But then you can not have everything.

[HappyMontrose]

Yes we do miss that place and a Whole Foods ..but we now have a natural market in Montrose.. which has some great stuff..
You can always jog down to Grand Junction and visit Vitamin Cottage.

Well,other than that we have it all, beautiful clear skys , lakes and mountains and it still has affordable housing compared to other places in colorado.

Montrose growth has Leveled and prices have started to come down a bit,which makes it great for the buyer.


HM