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View Poll Results: Best Colorado Mountain Towns?
Aspen 8 5.59%
Black Hawk / Central City 0 0%
Breckenridge 8 5.59%
Buena Vista 2 1.40%
Carbondale 3 2.10%
Crested Butte 7 4.90%
Cripple Creek / Victor 2 1.40%
Durango 12 8.39%
Eagle 0 0%
Edwards 0 0%
Estes Park 6 4.20%
Frisco 1 0.70%
Georgetown 4 2.80%
Glenwood Springs 6 4.20%
Grand Lake 0 0%
Idaho Springs 2 1.40%
Keystone 0 0%
Leadville 3 2.10%
Manitou Springs 7 4.90%
Nederland 3 2.10%
Ouray 11 7.69%
Pagosa Springs 4 2.80%
Poncha Springs 0 0%
Ridgway 3 2.10%
Salida 7 4.90%
Silverthorne 1 0.70%
Silverton 11 7.69%
Steamboat Springs 6 4.20%
Telluride 11 7.69%
Vail 4 2.80%
Winter Park / Fraser 1 0.70%
Other 10 6.99%
Voters: 143. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-05-2013, 05:45 PM
 
814 posts, read 1,150,473 times
Reputation: 981

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Ouray, no question in my mind. Its geography makes it an absolutely magical place, to me. I stumbled upon it when I was researching potential destinations for a mountain-centric long weekend a few years ago. I wanted something a little more off the beaten path, though with plenty of amenities and things to do. Ouray was what I settled on, and it took all of five minutes of being there to fall head over heels in love with the place.
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Old 11-06-2013, 08:11 PM
 
Location: The High Seas
7,372 posts, read 16,015,581 times
Reputation: 11867
I've been to most of them and they're all great. Tonight's pick is Glenwood Springs though. Nice vibe, access to great hiking, rafting, etc...and one heck of a good Tibetan restaurant just outside town on the way to Aspen. Got to try it, if you haven't already!
Will visit friends in Salida this weekend, which has its own charm.
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Old 11-07-2013, 07:53 AM
 
Location: high plains
802 posts, read 984,230 times
Reputation: 635
i couldn't help noticing that some towns are not on the list. i was curious enough
to look up the 2012 est populations (wikipedia) to see if there was a good size mix and there is. i suppose there are other ways to categorize them too. like jazz's "cartoon towns" or not. maybe i'll follow his lead and look into CO economic geography and such things. it might make my CO touring expedition more interesting if it had a theme. maybe sitting on each main st at noon and counting out-of-state lic plates or number of 14'er peaks visible or best non-walmart grocery stores. any suggestions?

6680 aspen
119 Black Hawk / Central City
4564 Breckenridge
2662 Buena Vista
6489 Carbondale
1503 Crested Butte
1183 Cripple Creek / Victor
17216 Durango
6474 Eagle
10266 Edwards
6017 Estes Park
2727 Frisco
1023 Georgetown
9677 Glenwood Springs
452 Grand Lake
1692 Idaho Springs
1079 Keystone
2594 Leadville
5172 Manitou Springs
1478 Nederland
1014 Ouray
1713 Pagosa Springs
748 Poncha Springs
931 Ridgway
5317 Salida
3915 Silverthorne
628 Silverton
12029 Steamboat Springs
2291 Telluride
5253 Vail
944 Winter Park / Fraser
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Old 11-07-2013, 08:29 AM
 
Location: Colorado
2,483 posts, read 4,372,552 times
Reputation: 2686
Quote:
Originally Posted by highplainsrus View Post
like jazz's "cartoon towns"
haha that's a great way to classify them.
The most cartoony ones I've been to are:
1. Breckenridge
2. Vail
3. Aspen
4. Ouray
5. Georgetown

Thats doesn't mean I hate all those towns, but they are cartoony, at least 'downtown'. It's like, if you've ever been to Monterey and seen the big sign that says 'Welcome to John Steinbeck's Cannery Row' in that part of town. And those people have no IDEA what the real cannery row was like… definitely not tourist friendly to say the least. It's not so bad that bad parts of town get built up and made friendly, but it's really silly when they try to use that sordid history to try to draw people in with some sort of romantic attraction. I think Pueblo still has a real sense of its historical self more than just about any other place in CO, (yes I know it's not a mountain town). But look at the result… people go 'eww Pueblo' and rarely go there unless it's for the Rodeo or some street fair. Too bad… people want to experience history and the 'old west' but they won't go to the places where those things are still alive because reality is unappealing to them.
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Old 11-07-2013, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Where the mountains touch the sky
670 posts, read 1,053,107 times
Reputation: 1325
Don't forget to throw in Telluride and Durango on your cartoon list as well as. Not that they aren't pretty places worth a visit or two, but real Colorado they are not.
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Old 11-07-2013, 09:14 AM
 
Location: high plains
802 posts, read 984,230 times
Reputation: 635
Quote:
Originally Posted by highplainsrus View Post
i couldn't help noticing that some towns are not on the list. i was curious enough
to look up the 2012 est populations (wikipedia) to see if there was a good size mix and there is. i suppose there are other ways to categorize them too. like jazz's "cartoon towns" or not. maybe i'll follow his lead and look into CO economic geography and such things. it might make my CO touring expedition more interesting if it had a theme. maybe sitting on each main st at noon and counting out-of-state lic plates or number of 14'er peaks visible or best non-walmart grocery stores. any suggestions?

6680 aspen
119 Black Hawk / Central City
4564 Breckenridge
2662 Buena Vista
6489 Carbondale
1503 Crested Butte
1183 Cripple Creek / Victor
17216 Durango
6474 Eagle
10266 Edwards
6017 Estes Park
2727 Frisco
1023 Georgetown
9677 Glenwood Springs
452 Grand Lake
1692 Idaho Springs
1079 Keystone
2594 Leadville
5172 Manitou Springs
1478 Nederland
1014 Ouray
1713 Pagosa Springs
748 Poncha Springs
931 Ridgway
5317 Salida
3915 Silverthorne
628 Silverton
12029 Steamboat Springs
2291 Telluride
5253 Vail
944 Winter Park / Fraser
as near as i can tell, and allowing for loose interpretation of "mountain",
there are 23 western counties not represented. i don't mean to dis'
the list, cap. this just suggests that "Other" will get a lot of votes
(currently tied for 3rd place). maybe altitude will correlate to popularity.

(Moffat)
(Jackson)
(Rio Blanco)
(Mesa)
(Jefferson)
(Douglas)
(Park)
(Delta)
(Fremont)
(Montrose)
(Saguache)
(Custer)
(Huerfano)
(Alamosa)
(Rio Grande)
(Mineral)
(Hinsdale)
(Dolores)
(Montezuma)
(Archuleta)
(Conejos)
(Costilla)
(Las Animas)
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Old 11-07-2013, 09:37 AM
 
Location: high plains
802 posts, read 984,230 times
Reputation: 635
Quote:
Originally Posted by StarrySkiesAbove View Post
Don't forget to throw in Telluride and Durango on your cartoon list as well as. Not that they aren't pretty places worth a visit or two, but real Colorado they are not.
"cartoon" may correlate to per capita income - the richer the people, the more cartoonish? conversely, the poorer the residents, the more "authentic"?
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Old 11-07-2013, 09:47 AM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,999,002 times
Reputation: 9586
StarrySkiesAbove wrote: Don't forget to throw in Telluride and Durango on your cartoon list as well as. Not that they aren't pretty places worth a visit or two, but real Colorado they are not.

Telluride and Durango are are as real as any places in Colorado, just a different kind of real, a real that appeals to some but not to others.
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Old 11-07-2013, 11:40 AM
 
9,961 posts, read 17,524,172 times
Reputation: 9193
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterprods View Post
haha that's a great way to classify them.
The most cartoony ones I've been to are:
1. Breckenridge
2. Vail
3. Aspen
4. Ouray
5. Georgetown

Thats doesn't mean I hate all those towns, but they are cartoony, at least 'downtown'. It's like, if you've ever been to Monterey and seen the big sign that says 'Welcome to John Steinbeck's Cannery Row' in that part of town. And those people have no IDEA what the real cannery row was like… definitely not tourist friendly to say the least. It's not so bad that bad parts of town get built up and made friendly, but it's really silly when they try to use that sordid history to try to draw people in with some sort of romantic attraction. I think Pueblo still has a real sense of its historical self more than just about any other place in CO, (yes I know it's not a mountain town). But look at the result… people go 'eww Pueblo' and rarely go there unless it's for the Rodeo or some street fair. Too bad… people want to experience history and the 'old west' but they won't go to the places where those things are still alive because reality is unappealing to them.
How'd your list miss Idaho Springs?

And is Ouray really that "cartoonish"? I mean there's some tourist-related businesses, but just about every mountain town in Colorado has a little bit of the tourist trade.

Last edited by Deezus; 11-07-2013 at 12:01 PM..
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Old 11-07-2013, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Colorado
2,483 posts, read 4,372,552 times
Reputation: 2686
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus View Post
How'd your list miss Idaho Springs?

And is Ouray really that "cartoonish"? I mean there's some tourist-related businesses, but just about every mountain town in Colorado has a little bit of the tourist trade.
I skipped Idaho Springs is because I think of it almost as a suburb, and more of a mining town with a built up downtown and it's not especially upscale. So I guess I think of it more like Manitou. I love Ouray but I included it because it has the overall look of something right out of an animated movie or story book. So it's kind of cartoony in a good way. In either case 'cartoony' is not a very specific label, so I was just kind of randomly picking places. Pretty much all our mountain towns are cartoony to some degree except for the ones that are too small, too inaccessible or too plain for tourists to know/care about.
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