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Interesting.
You listed one state that is becoming increasingly liberal, tax happy, and restrictive (licensing laws, gun rights, etc.) with regards to personal and business freedoms (Colorado)...
and then listed three states which don't even have a personal income tax and which are quite nonrestrictive by overall US standards (SD, TX, WY)
Colorado's still pretty middle-of-the-road. We're tax-constrained by TABOR and the gun laws are largely toothless and symbolic. Colorado has its fair share of conservative nutjobs, too - Gordon Klingenschmitt comes to mind. He'll be elected to the state house even though he's a card-carrying extremist wingnut, and if the recent gubernatorial polls are any indication voters are ready to unseat an incumbent governor (a democrat) for the first time in more than half a century.
Texas has no state income tax, but it also has an awful climate (esp in summer), really bland geography, and outrageous property taxes. Did my tour of duty in that humid hole and won't go back in anything but a pine box because Texas sucks.
Last edited by bluescreen73; 09-21-2014 at 09:20 PM..
Cheyenne--and Wyoming, in general--is politically conservative, but not in a "religious right" way, but in a more secular way. Wyoming never was, and is not, a "Bible Belt" state.
As for driving to DIA, I'll take Cheyenne over Colorado Springs any day. Denver to Colorado Springs is a traffic-choked nightmare for the whole distance. Admittedly, the Denver-Fort Collins segment going north is no fun, but that last 45 miles into Cheyenne has WAY less traffic. Either road can turn into a nightmare in a winter storm. If winter driving is a deal-killer for the OP, then Colorado and Wyoming are out of the running.
Unlike Colorado, Wyoming is on solid ground fiscally, and--with its low population, its large energy reserves, and its Permanent Mineral Trust Fund--it's going to stay that way. Colorado will just continue to slide downhill.
One final note: I wouldn't move to any place where having commercial air transportation is an absolute necessity for either business or family reasons. The days of commercial air travel being affordable to the middle class will draw to close within a decade or so, in my opinion. That is an economic reality that no one wants to acknowledge, but it is coming, and likely sooner than most people think.
On paper, it seems like living on I-25 is just... awesome. I'd have to go there to see for myself, but it seems like everything I want to do if I live in the West you'd just hop on 25 and do.
It's good you're coming out to look, because I think you may have the wrong idea about I-25 in northern Colorado. You may be imagining it as a fast, semi-rural interstate of the type that allows you to estimate the time to your destination by dividing the number of miles by 65 or 70. In realty, the section from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs is more often like a traffic-clogged LA freeway where distance should be more accurately measured in hours. And there are few alternatives for some of the routes. I can and do avoid I-25 to go any of the cities including and north of Boulder and Longmont and I get to those places in a reasonable time given the mileage. But once you get into the Denver suburbs, the surface street alternatives (to borrow something else from LA) are poor (think 20 miles of shopping center strip roads with lights at least every half mile).
As for DIA, these long 60 miles or more drives get old very fast, especially in the winter. The one plus is that once you get to the 470 toll roads there is very little traffic (presumably because it costs money). I always breath a sigh of relief when I get off of 25 onto E-470 near the exit to Brighton. And note that one reason DIA has so many good airfare deals is that it's one of the busiest airports in the country. Combine this with the location's climate and you end up with a lot of delayed and cancelled flights from snow, wind, and even summer thunderstorms.
Anyway, there are a lot of good reasons to live here, but if you have to use the airport or drive the I-25 corridor very much, I wouldn't underestimate the problems that the traffic situation combined with the distances and weather can pose.
All in all, I think Longmont might be your best option. You would be closer to DIA and Denver than in Colorado Springs. Also you wouldn't be as dependent on driving since Longmont is in the RTD (metro transit) district.
For your 'diversity' bent... just come to the west coast (and west of cascades)
LGBT or any other flavor is absolutely no issue.
There are excellent places there, and no shortage of water (100" of drizzle / yr) WA is income tax free, OR is sales tax free. Live on the WA border. (White Salmon, WA is a good choice)
For Colorado... Loveland or Berthoud qualifies for Zero Night life and few college kids, but very nice communities, and ez access to recreation and airport.
LGBTQ is fine but I meant more Hispanic, Black, Indian, Asian, etc.
Cheyenne--and Wyoming, in general--is politically conservative, but not in a "religious right" way, but in a more secular way. Wyoming never was, and is not, a "Bible Belt" state.
If winter driving is a deal-killer for the OP, then Colorado and Wyoming are out of the running.
Unlike Colorado, Wyoming is on solid ground fiscally, and--with its low population, its large energy reserves, and its Permanent Mineral Trust Fund--it's going to stay that way. Colorado will just continue to slide downhill.
One final note: I wouldn't move to any place where having commercial air transportation is an absolute necessity for either business or family reasons. The days of commercial air travel being affordable to the middle class will draw to close within a decade or so, in my opinion. That is an economic reality that no one wants to acknowledge, but it is coming, and likely sooner than most people think.
I'm glad to hear Wyoming is pretty secular. That'll be a nice change.
I confess it's been a LONG time since I've done any serious winter driving. It snowed for one day here last year and the entire tri-city area exploded into an apocalypse with cars abandoned every ten feet, etc. It was awful. You may remember that down in Atlanta people were forced to sleep in their cars that night.
The South does not deal with inclement weather very well. But I'm from Indiana and we were a bit... hardier... up there in the winter.
I think I could probably get used to winter driving again. I remember that I was SHOCKED when we first moved to Durham and stores actually closed if it started to snow. In Indiana it's just business as usual unless it's an actual blizzard. I could probably do it again, but being able to work from home now is ideal because we could just stay home until the worst of it passes, I figure.
I'd estimate we'd go to the airport about 3-4 times a year (round trips) and probably never in the winter.
It's good you're coming out to look, because I think you may have the wrong idea about I-25 in northern Colorado. You may be imagining it as a fast, semi-rural interstate of the type that allows you to estimate the time to your destination by dividing the number of miles by 65 or 70. In realty, the section from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs is more often like a traffic-clogged LA freeway where distance should be more accurately measured in hours. And there are few alternatives for some of the routes. I can and do avoid I-25 to go any of the cities including and north of Boulder and Longmont and I get to those places in a reasonable time given the mileage. But once you get into the Denver suburbs, the surface street alternatives (to borrow something else from LA) are poor (think 20 miles of shopping center strip roads with lights at least every half mile).
As for DIA, these long 60 miles or more drives get old very fast, especially in the winter. The one plus is that once you get to the 470 toll roads there is very little traffic (presumably because it costs money). I always breath a sigh of relief when I get off of 25 onto E-470 near the exit to Brighton. And note that one reason DIA has so many good airfare deals is that it's one of the busiest airports in the country. Combine this with the location's climate and you end up with a lot of delayed and cancelled flights from snow, wind, and even summer thunderstorms.
Anyway, there are a lot of good reasons to live here, but if you have to use the airport or drive the I-25 corridor very much, I wouldn't underestimate the problems that the traffic situation combined with the distances and weather can pose.
All in all, I think Longmont might be your best option. You would be closer to DIA and Denver than in Colorado Springs. Also you wouldn't be as dependent on driving since Longmont is in the RTD (metro transit) district.
I don't think I'm underestimating. I looked at the Google driving distance times and added 45-60 minutes for every trip to account for traffic. Even with the added minutes, those times are still fine with me. We live in Durham and it's 2.5 hours to the beach and 4.5 hours to the mountains and 13 hours to drive back to Indiana for visits. With Raleigh/Durham's huge urban sprawl we're used to being in the car in order to get anywhere.
As for DIA in winter, I don't think we'd ever go. I can't imagine anyone risking visiting us in the winter. The possibility of getting snowed in would be too great. My husband would probably travel once a year if that for work, it's a crapshoot if he'd have to go in winter. But our folks would come visit once a year as well, probably always in the late Spring/Summer so we wouldn't be driving to DIA all that often. It's just that no one really wants a five hour drive just to go to an airport.
On paper, it seems like living on I-25 is just... awesome. I'd have to go there to see for myself, but it seems like everything I want to do if I live in the West you'd just hop on 25 and do.
I agree completely with this sentence. But would also expand it to include seeing the western national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes, Grand Canyon etc...). They are all pretty easy access from the I-25 corridor. You may end up like many here getting a small RV so you can tour around and see everything. In addition, when you make friends you will find it isn't uncommon to have a driving trip to Sante Fe, day gambling in Blackhawk, spa weekend at any of the mountain resorts, trip back to NYC for shopping, flight out to the coasts for a cruise, etc. People here are active and educated so they like to be doing things. There are also loads of festivals and activities in all the small towns all summer long. You can find something to do any weekend if your looking for it. And if you locate in the metro area it will all be 20-30 min. away.
In terms of I-25, it is getting worse but if you aren't commuting on it then it isn't bad at all for getting from one end of the city to the other. Also since you work from home you will be able to essentially sit out the winters. The weather forecasts tell everyone when there is a storm coming, everyone cleans out the shelves at the super markets, and many people sit it out at home. Most snowfalls are melted in a day or two. Sometimes we get a big blizzard but because we have warm days all winter long the whole thing eventually melts off. It isn't like the NE at all.
In terms of flying the airlines are super cooperative if a storm is coming. They will let you fly out early with no penalty since they don't want a backlog of passengers when flights get cancelled. You might have to rethink the parents visiting though. The altitude can be hard on people, especially older people who have heart or lung problems. And some folks have to move to a lower elevation for their health.
I agree completely with this sentence. But would also expand it to include seeing the western national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes, Grand Canyon etc...). They are all pretty easy access from the I-25 corridor. You may end up like many here getting a small RV so you can tour around and see everything. In addition, when you make friends you will find it isn't uncommon to have a driving trip to Sante Fe, day gambling in Blackhawk, spa weekend at any of the mountain resorts, trip back to NYC for shopping, flight out to the coasts for a cruise, etc. People here are active and educated so they like to be doing things. There are also loads of festivals and activities in all the small towns all summer long. You can find something to do any weekend if your looking for it. And if you locate in the metro area it will all be 20-30 min. away.
In terms of I-25, it is getting worse but if you aren't commuting on it then it isn't bad at all for getting from one end of the city to the other. Also since you work from home you will be able to essentially sit out the winters. The weather forecasts tell everyone when there is a storm coming, everyone cleans out the shelves at the super markets, and many people sit it out at home. Most snowfalls are melted in a day or two. Sometimes we get a big blizzard but because we have warm days all winter long the whole thing eventually melts off. It isn't like the NE at all.
In terms of flying the airlines are super cooperative if a storm is coming. They will let you fly out early with no penalty since they don't want a backlog of passengers when flights get cancelled. You might have to rethink the parents visiting though. The altitude can be hard on people, especially older people who have heart or lung problems. And some folks have to move to a lower elevation for their health.
I didn't include Yellowstone because it's technically not on 25, but it's on my list of places to go.
I think I would get an airstream trailer and go where ever. I can work from anywhere so that's nice. My husband would need internet/cell phone access so we might have to postpone lengthy trips and use his vacation days.
Interesting about parents visiting. I thought it wouldn't be that much of a problem unless you were seriously physically active (hiking, etc). Just sitting around the living can be a problem, too? Is it like that everywhere? How long does it typically take to become acclimated? We're older (37/38) so our parents are older and retired. They could stay with us for a month or so at a time. Would they be acclimated within a week-ish?
Just sitting around the living can be a problem, too? Is it like that everywhere? How long does it typically take to become acclimated? We're older (37/38) so our parents are older and retired. They could stay with us for a month or so at a time. Would they be acclimated within a week-ish?
Depends on the person and their health. My dad can no longer visit. Last visit was over 10 years ago. He did Ok at first but then later had trouble and his Dr. said no more trips to altitude. Many people handle it just fine but you won't know until they try it and even then from year to year their reaction could be different.
Depends on the person and their health. My dad can no longer visit. Last visit was over 10 years ago. He did Ok at first but then later had trouble and his Dr. said no more trips to altitude. Many people handle it just fine but you won't know until they try it and even then from year to year their reaction could be different.
So this puts quite a damper on the idea of Colorado being a retirement state.
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