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Old 11-09-2012, 07:02 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,601,841 times
Reputation: 7738

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Quote:
Originally Posted by delta07 View Post
My point is, while it can be done, sacrifices have to be made (especially in CO and CA where you are). You aren't going to get the typical sized apt. or house that you would in other areas of the country. Those listings you linked do show you can find housing under $1000/month (which, I would consider affordable). However, they are all very small, mostly studios within the town limits. That might be fine for the OP, but for some, it's a real shocker.
To add to that, as pointed out by the OP, they are married, so that rules out renting bedrooms and roommates and all of that.

Any apartments/condos in or near ski towns under $1200 a month are probably dumps that are nasty and noisy. Having lived in plenty of those I would say it's not worth it.

I would budget at least $1500 a month for a decent apartment for a couple. Sometimes you can land lower rent for signing a lease for a year.
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Old 11-09-2012, 07:55 PM
 
Location: Le Grand, Ca
858 posts, read 1,496,996 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanneroo View Post
To add to that, as pointed out by the OP, they are married, so that rules out renting bedrooms and roommates and all of that.

Any apartments/condos in or near ski towns under $1200 a month are probably dumps that are nasty and noisy. Having lived in plenty of those I would say it's not worth it.

I would budget at least $1500 a month for a decent apartment for a couple. Sometimes you can land lower rent for signing a lease for a year.
Did you look at any of the links I posted?
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Old 11-09-2012, 08:08 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,601,841 times
Reputation: 7738
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xplorer View Post
Did you look at any of the links I posted?
A few. If you can land a great deal, which there are some out there, good for you. In my experience the low end stuff has issues. If it works for you, great.
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Old 11-10-2012, 03:58 AM
 
Location: Colorado
85 posts, read 205,222 times
Reputation: 120
In Summit County (Breckenridge/Frisco/Dillon/Silverthorne) it's possible to find decent 1 BR condos or lockoffs for $900-$1200 a month. Which, while more expensive than most places, isn't completely out of reach for your average couple. The tricky part, like many have already said, is the job market. Permanent, year round jobs are very hard to find. Permanent, year round jobs that pay more than $10-$12 an hour and have benefits are even harder to find. Tourism is the number one industry here, and while the county is packed with tourists (and service industry jobs) from November to March (and to a lesser extent, late June to August), the rest of the time, it's pretty empty.

Denver is a great city, and is two hours or so from the Summit County resorts, so if you insist on living in Colorado, I would suggest you live and work in Denver and drive up to the mountains to snowboard whenever you can. If you're open to other places though, you might want to check out Salt Lake City, which is only 30 miles or so from Park City, UT. Park City is a world class ski area, and Salt Lake is a large metropolitan city that should have a lot to offer as far as the job market goes.
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Old 11-10-2012, 05:01 AM
 
Location: 80904 West siiiiiide!
2,957 posts, read 8,350,058 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xplorer View Post
Are you kidding me? Hundreds if not thousands move to ski resorts every winter to snowboard/ski. They get jobs at the mountain or wherever else and live perfectly fine. I have been moving around ski towns since I graduated back in 01 and have never had a problem. You rent a room, get a job and enjoy your season!
As a single drifter, sure. A person with a wife and kids, not a chance in hell.
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Old 11-10-2012, 09:30 AM
 
Location: Centennial State
399 posts, read 814,761 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanek9freak View Post
As a single drifter, sure. A person with a wife and kids, not a chance in hell.
If someone wants something, depending on how much they desire it, it is possible even if highly improbable. It is not impossible. Honestly cities on the front range and NOT in the mountains is where I would look at. Driving up there to snowboard or ski is a lot cheaper than living up there in my opinion in terms of what you have to deal with up there. Unless you can afford to live up there and maintain the living area (house, apartment, etc), living down on the front range seems like a more plausible idea.
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Old 11-10-2012, 10:53 AM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,601,841 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sobe Itsavized View Post
If someone wants something, depending on how much they desire it, it is possible even if highly improbable. It is not impossible. Honestly cities on the front range and NOT in the mountains is where I would look at. Driving up there to snowboard or ski is a lot cheaper than living up there in my opinion in terms of what you have to deal with up there. Unless you can afford to live up there and maintain the living area (house, apartment, etc), living down on the front range seems like a more plausible idea.
Living on the Front Range is the most realistic thing to do if you want to have a normal life and regular job.

However if you dream about snowboarding and hitting the hill several times a week, it's tough to do. Most people work a M-F work week which compresses the time to go skiing into the weekend with everyone else. And that means traveling up, staying overnight and coming back down and dealing with up to 5 hours of traffic on Sundays. It looks easier than it really is and many people find themselves in the car more than they are skiing. Even if you go on Saturday only, it's at least 2 hours up and 2 hours down in winter traffic and weather and it's a long day for most people.

From what I remember the majority of people that buy seasonal ski passes under utilize them.

It's not impossible to live up in ski towns for years. I did it for almost 8 years, my sister has done it now for over 10, married with children now. But you have to be creative to work out the finances and living situations and dealing with a very up and down seasonal work load. From what I saw, few could manage it for more than a year or two.
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Old 11-10-2012, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Centennial State
399 posts, read 814,761 times
Reputation: 176
Quote:
Originally Posted by wanneroo View Post
Living on the Front Range is the most realistic thing to do if you want to have a normal life and regular job.

However if you dream about snowboarding and hitting the hill several times a week, it's tough to do. Most people work a M-F work week which compresses the time to go skiing into the weekend with everyone else. And that means traveling up, staying overnight and coming back down and dealing with up to 5 hours of traffic on Sundays. It looks easier than it really is and many people find themselves in the car more than they are skiing. Even if you go on Saturday only, it's at least 2 hours up and 2 hours down in winter traffic and weather and it's a long day for most people.

From what I remember the majority of people that buy seasonal ski passes under utilize them.

It's not impossible to live up in ski towns for years. I did it for almost 8 years, my sister has done it now for over 10, married with children now. But you have to be creative to work out the finances and living situations and dealing with a very up and down seasonal work load. From what I saw, few could manage it for more than a year or two.
Lol, yeah. As far as seasonal jobs it's a competitive if not scarce market compared to the jobs down on the front range. If someone has a medical degree or profession they can pursue, most likely a job opening up there will be much more secure in my opinion if it's at a hospital. Back when I was looking a new place to work, I saw some openings for Vail, Aspen, and the towns around Granby Lake (I can't remember the city's name) for the hospital positions. I didn't like the idea of driving up there to work and I'm sure those employers had the same feeling but I never bothered to apply because the pay wasn't really worth the drive in my opinion. Those winding roads get tiresome after a while.

The pay, however, was worth it if I could live up there. But that's not the kind of place I want to live in. And I don't ski anymore.

Last edited by Sobe Itsavized; 11-10-2012 at 11:37 AM..
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Old 11-14-2012, 05:45 PM
 
Location: Aurora, CO
21 posts, read 38,503 times
Reputation: 34
As jazzlover hinted, it's really hard to live close to the skiing in Colorado. Rent in most resort towns are expensive and the wages are pitifully low. Most people live out on the Front Range around bigger cities and then have to take a 4-6 hour drive to get out to the skiing.

Still, you might want to check out Summit County, specifically the towns of Frisco and Dillon. The county gives you a lot of resorts to choose from, including Breckenridge, Keystone, A-Basin, and Vail. If I were going to venture into the mountains for skiing, I would head out there.

Maybe you can try searching Summit County on this forum to see what other people have to say about living in the area. Like I warned, it's very hard to live in a place that has great access to skiing year round. I kind of feel that Utah is better when it comes to accessibility because they have those shuttles from SLC that can get you up to the slopes in an hour. We don't have those same conveniences in CO.
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Old 11-14-2012, 05:55 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,146,426 times
Reputation: 6920
Wow, 3 pages of the same old debate in response to a 3:30am hit and run 19 rep poster from a week ago who gave you almost nothing to go on.
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