What do you love and hate about living in Colorado? (Denver: quality of life, cost living)

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by naturegirll

Our first fall living in Elizabeth (1995), while outside raking up millions of pinecones, a group of 9 antelope (at a full run) crossed over our little 5 acres....I just stopped an watched them in awe, while the doberman hit the ground and flattened himself out like a pancake so they wouldn't see him......

It was the only time I've ever seen them, and it was so very cool......

Pronghorns aren't stupid. When they got wind of the Doberman, they probably crossed your place off of their list. When I lived in Wyoming, th neighbor down the road from me complained that he never saw any antelope around his place. He had three dogs--duh! I didn't have a dog and I had antelope in my yard just about every day.

[naturegirll]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Pronghorns aren't stupid. When they got wind of the Doberman, they probably crossed your place off of their list. When I lived in Wyoming, th neighbor down the road from me complained that he never saw any antelope around his place. He had three dogs--duh! I didn't have a dog and I had antelope in my yard just about every day.

Ha! If they only knew how scared the dog was when he saw "those big things" coming at him at full speed, they'd probably have laughed as they went by.....

Colorado has been quite the education in critters....from the night we went out to the pasture at 12:30 am to see where the crying "baby/small child" was, only to find a couple of foxes frolicking ~ to the nite the elk wanted to cross the street and towered over my little Saturn ~ to the discovery of a crawl space loaded with black widow spiders ~ to the psychotic skunk that circled the house every 7 minutes at 11 pm every nite for 2 weeks....it was always something exciting popping up........

[chamisa007]

I notice that no one has mentioned smog in the "hate" list. i've heard that the smog levels in the front range are some of the worst in the nation. Is this accurate? Doesn't seem so as nobody is mentioning it in this thread.

[jim9251]

What do I love after living here a year:

Being close to family, the scenery, fresh crisp air, snow, the local people, summer concerts in the town park, Olathe Sweet sweet corn, Palisade peaches.

What do I hate:

Dust storms, tourists, insane high prices on car insurance, car registration, gasoline, rent and home prices, people with "money" coming here wanting to change everything.

[naturegirll]

Originally Posted by chamisa007

I notice that no one has mentioned smog in the "hate" list. i've heard that the smog levels in the front range are some of the worst in the nation. Is this accurate? Doesn't seem so as nobody is mentioning it in this thread.

Essentially I had moved from Chicago to CO, so the smog didn't catch my attention as it would most people.....But the Brown Cloud over the front range isn't any better or worse than the Brown Cloud that hangs over Reno, NV ~ except maybe Reno's has more dust and dirt in it's brown-ness.....

[froggin4colorado]

LOVE the culture- I know lots of people say there isnt any, but on the contraire. Everyone has culture. Now that I am living on the east coast, I can't stand this south eastern culture. Colorado has more of a passion for the outdoors in a mountain mindframe that comes with reservation and eco-friendly. The culture also supports a "best for mankind" friendly culture and not like the CYA here on the east coast. People in CO are also very friendly as long as you aren't hurting other people or the land.
It like how the news isn't riddled with double shootings and stabbings, triple shootings/stabbings, and quadruple shootings/stabbings along with extortion, church burnings, and other like news. I love how you read about the Civil war in textbooks and don't have to continue to live in it- it drives me crazy here. I love how CO has very toll roads and how cheap they are! I love how you can go dry camping in so many places. I love CO weather- mild all year. I love the school systems (yea they have problems but not like out here on the east coast). I love how dangerous neighborhoods there are a joke to dangerous neighborhoods out here on the east coast. I love the traffic- far less than out here.

I hate how few mom and pop resturants there are. I hate how few streams and open available land- I wish everyone could have that little piece of heaven with mountain views and a little creek that run through their land. I hate cookie cutter neighborhoods. I hate how others try to move to the area and try and change it. I hate how fall colors lasts for only days. I hate how the drive to Cripple Creek makes me car sick- LOL.

[ragerunner1]

Originally Posted by chamisa007

I notice that no one has mentioned smog in the "hate" list. i've heard that the smog levels in the front range are some of the worst in the nation. Is this accurate? Doesn't seem so as nobody is mentioning it in this thread.

While Denver and the front range can have bad air days, its has significantly improved over the last 10 or 20 years and now is not a real factor, like it was in the 80s. Matter of fact Denver doesn't rank in the top 10 for short-term particle pollution, ozone pollution, or year-round particle pollution. That is probably why no one mentioned smog.

Most polluted US cities
(By short-term particle pollution)
1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2. Fresno, California
3. Bakersfield, California
4. Los Angeles, California.
5. Birmingham, Alabama
6. Salt Lake City, Utah
7. Sacramento, California
8. Logan, Utah
9. Chicago, Illinois
9. Detroit, Michigan

Most polluted US cities
(By ozone pollution)
1. Los Angeles, California
2. Bakersfield, California
3. Visalia, California
4. Fresno, California
5. Houston, Texas
6. Sacramento, California.
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
8. Charlotte, North Carolina
9. Phoenix, Arizona
10. El Centro, California

Most polluted US cities
(By year-round particle pollution)
1. Bakersfield, California
2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3. Los Angeles, California
4. Visalia, California
5. Birmingham, Alabama
6. Hanford, California
7. Fresno, California
8. Cincinnati, Ohio
9. Detroit, Michigan
10. Cleveland, Ohio
Source: City Mayors: The most polluted US cities

[PAtoCO]

Originally Posted by froggin4colorado

LOVE the culture- I know lots of people say there isnt any, but on the contraire. Everyone has culture. Now that I am living on the east coast, I can't stand this south eastern culture. Colorado has more of a passion for the outdoors in a mountain mindframe that comes with reservation and eco-friendly. The culture also supports a "best for mankind" friendly culture and not like the CYA here on the east coast.

Is it really that "Eco-friendly" here? I've only been here a few months, but noticed essentially no one recycles, no emission standards, too many people driving giant suvs. The other day I saw a "monster truck" with black smoke pouring out of it's massive exhaust flying down i25. While the guy had a cigarrete hanging out of his hand. There are all types of people everywhere, but I've seen no evidence of any extra environmentalism here (at least the middle to southern part of the state).

Things that bug me? Besides unnecessary giant SUVs (driven by a single commuter): too many people content to eat at subway or chilis (come on, support local restauranteurs!).

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by PAtoCO

Is it really that "Eco-friendly" here? I've only been here a few months, but noticed essentially no one recycles, no emission standards, too many people driving giant suvs. The other day I saw a "monster truck" with black smoke pouring out of it's massive exhaust flying down i25. While the guy had a cigarrete hanging out of his hand. There are all types of people everywhere, but I've seen no evidence of any extra environmentalism here (at least the middle to southern part of the state).

Things that bug me? Besides unnecessary giant SUVs (driven by a single commuter): too many people content to eat at subway or chilis (come on, support local restauranteurs!).

Essentially no one recycles? Where do you live? Louisville just got single stream recycling last year, but we had optional recycling by trash haulers for years and most of my neighborhood participated. I agree that SUVs are all too popular.

[PAtoCO]

It doesn't matter where you or I live. You merely have to look around and see that schools, businesses, hospitals, etc don't have separate cans for recycling. Also one just needs to google Colorado recycling rate to see that colorados recycling rate is 1/2 the national average. Where I live it costs about $4 a month extra for a recycling canister. One needs just drive around my neighborhood (with homes valued well above the national mean) to see that a very small minority are willing to pay for that service. My point is that I have not seem any evidence that people in Colorado are any more environmentally concious than elsewhere and may actually be less so.