A small, pretty, inexpensive town ro move to in Colorado (Durango: 2015, to buy)

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by wycoyote

So would the job opportunities be any better in Cortez or Delta?

I think having a college and plenty of diverse tourism at least offers more choices. Recall, the OP is in Estes Park where it's tourism and not much else.

//www.city-data.com/work/work-D...-Colorado.html

Industry All Males Females
Accommodation and food services 16.5% (1,214) 16.1% (609) 16.8% (605)
Educational services 13.6% (1,003) 9.6% (363) 17.8% (640)
Health care 8.9% (653) 4.9% (185) 13.0% (468)
Professional, scientific, and technical services 7.8% (577) 7.8% (295) 7.8% (282)
Construction 6.6% (486) 11.6% (439) 1.3% (47)
Administrative and support and waste management services 3.3% (244) 4.9% (184) 1.7% (60)
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 3.2% (236) 2.6% (100) 3.8% (136)
Real estate and rental and leasing 3.2% (235) 2.7% (104) 3.6% (131)
Public administration 3.0% (225) 4.1% (157) 1.9% (68)
Finance and insurance 2.8% (204) 1.5% (56) 4.1% (148)
Social assistance 2.5% (184) 0.6% (22) 4.5% (162)
Food and beverage stores 1.9% (139) 2.0% (75) 1.8% (64)
Repair and maintenance 1.6% (120) 2.7% (101) 0.5% (19)
Sporting goods, camera, and hobby and toy stores 1.5% (109) 2.0% (74) 1.0% (35)
Motor vehicle and parts dealers 1.4% (100) 1.9% (73) 0.8% (27)

I don't suppose that you would notice that most of those jobs are minimum wage or low-wage jobs in a town where a housing prices can easily approach $200 per sq. ft. for even a pretty crappy house (with rents correspondingly priced). And that a number of those jobs tend to be very seasonal.

NO small town in rural Colorado is any great shakes for employment. About the only difference is that the resort towns ALSO have a very high cost of living, especially for housing. People just can't figure out that the combination of "good income-plentiful jobs-small town in the mountains-reasonable living costs" are a bunch of mutually exclusive terms. In Colorado, you're lucky to get one or two out of the list in any one place.

[wycoyote]

I think we will have to agree to disagree - Durango offers a far more broad-based economy than many small towns, especially the two I listed. i'm not going to quibble with you over wages or seasonality as that is exactly what they have been dealing with in EP.

The OP is looking for a rental I believe, not necessarily to buy a house in town.

Also the OP seems to have managed well enough in Estes Park to have some idea of how to get along. There should be some rental opportunities close to Durango, if not immediately in town, which will work. Places like Hesperus, Ignacio, Bayfield, etc. come to mind. There's a lot of manufactured housing out that way and with luck something turns up.

The sensible thing will be to drill through rentals until one can be located and then time that to employment options, retail or otherwise. If it happens great, if not Estes is a dandy spot to be in.

First glance at Craigslist shows a mother in law apt. for $690 in Durango available today, January 4.

western slope apts/housing for rent - craigslist

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by wycoyote

First glance at Craigslist shows a mother in law apt. for $690 in Durango available today, January 4.

western slope apts/housing for rent - craigslist

curious here if you even looked at that M-I-L rental beyond the headline?

it's a 400 sq ft efficiency apartment at the $690 ... that's not even a 1-bedroom apartment.

and specifies that it is FOR ONE PERSON ONLY occupancy.

Hardly the stuff of a two-bedroom SFH which the OP was seeking with boyfriend and "baby on the way".

[Littlekw]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

People just can't figure out that the combination of "good income-plentiful jobs-small town in the mountains-reasonable living costs" are a bunch of mutually exclusive terms. In Colorado, you're lucky to get one or two out of the list in any one place.

Cripple Creek/Victor. CC has about 1,100 people, Victor around 400. The casinos in Cripple Creek have more jobs than they can fill and they don't pay terribly, especially for the hospitality industry. The gold mine offers even more employment opportunities and they are good paying jobs. The city of Cripple Creek and Teller County (Cripple Creek is the county seat) usually have openings as well.

Reasonable living costs? Check. Rents in CC and Victor are affordable. Buying a house in Victor is even more affordable than renting.

I made $15 an hour working the casinos in CC in food and beverage, i.e. restaurants, averaging 50 hours a week (overtime!) My mortgage payment on a house in Victor was just over $400 a month for 1,300 square feet and three bedrooms. This was fairly recently, too. I only left that area two years ago.

They are not "mutually exclusive" terms, they're just a rare combination to find in Colorado. The problem with the OP's wish-list is the weather factor. If they don't like winters at 7,500 feet they won't like them at Cripple Creek's 9,500 feet.

[delta07]

Originally Posted by jessilove

I currently live in Estes Park. It is absolutely beautiful and often sunny, although I would like to live in a less touristy area. I pay $750 a month for a two bedroom apartment, and with a baby on the way, my boyfriend and I are looking for a less expensive town. $500-$650 a month for a two bedroom house or something like it would be ideal. Am I going to be able to find that anywhere in Colorado? I love the mountains, but am not fond of the long winters that come with living at 7500 feet. An ideal location for us would be a small town around 8000-12,000 people with milder winters (around 40° would be wonderful), beautiful landscape (rivers, mountains on the horizon, forests, or hillsides), various job opportunities, good schools, and enough rain to garden but not a whole lot. I have also been contemplating Oregon, as it would be amazing to live near the coast. Any input whatsoever would be greatly appreciated!

I'm going to agree with most of the others here and say what you desire will be hard to fulfill in either Colorado or Oregon. You'll have to decide what's most important to you.

Given your budget and desires, have you considered places in the south? Weather, in the winter, is much milder and you will get some summer rains to help your garden.

[Lugnuts]

Originally Posted by Littlekw

Cripple Creek/Victor. CC has about 1,100 people, Victor around 400. The casinos in Cripple Creek have more jobs than they can fill and they don't pay terribly, especially for the hospitality industry. The gold mine offers even more employment opportunities and they are good paying jobs. The city of Cripple Creek and Teller County (Cripple Creek is the county seat) usually have openings as well.

Reasonable living costs? Check. Rents in CC and Victor are affordable. Buying a house in Victor is even more affordable than renting.

I made $15 an hour working the casinos in CC in food and beverage, i.e. restaurants, averaging 50 hours a week (overtime!) My mortgage payment on a house in Victor was just over $400 a month for 1,300 square feet and three bedrooms. This was fairly recently, too. I only left that area two years ago.

They are not "mutually exclusive" terms, they're just a rare combination to find in Colorado. The problem with the OP's wish-list is the weather factor. If they don't like winters at 7,500 feet they won't like them at Cripple Creek's 9,500 feet.

It also has the only cyanide leach pit in the state which may be limiting property values:

High court to hear cyanide mining case - The Denver Post

[Littlekw]

Originally Posted by Lugnuts

It also has the only cyanide leach pit in the state which may be limiting property values:

True. It never affected me living up there but even without the fact that it's a cyanide leach pit, it is a huge, open-pit mine that is very visible (and unsightly) from both Cripple Creek and Victor. It pretty much borders both towns. But it does create some good paying jobs and if you just set your sights west of the District, the views of the Sangre de Cristos are pretty amazing.

[Lugnuts]

Originally Posted by Littlekw

...and if you just set your sights west of the District, the views of the Sangre de Cristos are pretty amazing.

Fair enough, but that's an awfully big IF. A cyanide leak into the groundwater would be catastrophic to both towns.

[Idunn]

Out of curiosity I took a brief look at real estate prices in Victor. Quite attractive, especially by Colorado mountain standards. Okay, it is a dog-leg of a drive of about one hour ten minutes into Colorado Springs, if maybe Cripple Creek or Woodland Park might have the grocery and other services one might more want on a daily basis. Fine.

THEN I looked at a satellite view of town. That might change the enthusiasm of some prospective new homeowners. What with a huge open pit mining operation adjoining the north side of Victor. Or not all that far from Cripple Creek, either.

Well, location matters. And there is usually some reason for underlying real estate prices, no matter how egregious they may be.

Speaking of location, or if in other states, Oregon can be a more than suitable place to reside within large woods thickly vegetated, with an ample supply of water for the garden (and on one's head as well, often). But as with neighboring Washington state, these two a tale of two worlds. That east or west of the Cascade Mountains (with they more a third world of their own). In temperate weather and rain one will want to reside west of the Cascades. For all its attractions and high home prices (and relative pittance of affordable rentals), Bend, OR is a different enchilada, as residing on the east side of the Cascades and thus within the high dry near-desert of eastern Oregon. If some of it mountainous and forested, with Bend suitably located at the edge of the Cascades. But eastern Oregon as well Washington, being the better part of either state, think a climate more like Colorado's, only with less sun in winter.

And Victor? Maybe best for a miner.

[wycoyote]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

curious here if you even looked at that M-I-L rental beyond the headline?

it's a 400 sq ft efficiency apartment at the $690 ... that's not even a 1-bedroom apartment.

and specifies that it is FOR ONE PERSON ONLY occupancy.

Hardly the stuff of a two-bedroom SFH which the OP was seeking with boyfriend and "baby on the way".

I always figure most things in life are negotiable, if someone offered a bit more maybe the landlord would be amenable.

There was another efficiency apt. listed for $900 in Durango, and a 3 BR home in Cortez for just $800.

It's just a tickler that there is opportunity out there if you are willing to look around and be flexible.

Who knows, maybe they'd like Grand Junction for the better job market. It has plenty of inexpensive rentals.