Colorado Divide: Why some Coloradans are cashing out of the Front Range and seeking their rural happily-ever-after

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Medical resources is of no concern for those of us w/o AFORDABLE USA healthcare (Rural Colorado has some of the highest A(?)CA policy rates in the USA/



Actually... they do it the same way you and I did, EXCEPT a millennial 'couple' will generally have double income. Likely 150k - $200k / yr!!!

I sold my 'nice' $2000 car and bought a sub $100 "beater-car" when I bought my first home at age 19. I was making $1.65 / hour and the house payment was well over 60% of my GROSS income. ($1.65 = ~$3300 / yr income)

Never had a 'double income' (except when I was working 3 jobs (frequently))
Still drive a $35 car (~40 yrs after I bought that first house)

Will likely never have USA healthcare (Even after age 65, the 'subsidy' is too expensive)

I will stay rural, use my backhoe to dig my grave and the dozer to backfill.

BTW: I spent a LOT of time in Walden. Flagler, and Walsenburg. (and many others... Most of my rural Colorado prairie time was spent in Haxtun. Estes Park (home) was actually quite inexpensive to live during the 1960's (most homes were 'summer only').

A Better option for selling CO props and moving rural = SD !!! IMHO
(income tax free), CHEAP rural towns, good access to HIGH $$ energy jobs, available VA care, next door to MT (Sales Tax free). No gonna become a 'trendy / price-you-out' location. (as will be CO (wherever you live). More concerning is the Political 'battleground' status of CO. There will always be much contention and disharmony.

LOL, most millennial are not making anywhere close to $100K a year especially in Denver.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by jwiley

LOL, most millennial are not making anywhere close to $100K a year especially in Denver.

Most American citizens are not making that. Average salary is about half that with two working adults.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

I have a friend back in the Springs who is trying to convince me to move back, and I've been considering it just to be closer to good medical care as much as anything else. However, I would be renting my home and the explosion in the price of rentals in El Paso County is both astonishing and demoralizing. I am picky about the neighborhoods I would want to live in, and it's obvious to me that the only way I'll find what I want (IF I find what I want) is by spending a great deal of time "on the ground" in the Springs and by utilizing the "friend of a friend" network. Even then...

I am tentatively planning a visit toward mid May to check things out, but I don't feel very optimistic at the moment. For people who don't have any special connection with the Springs the way I do (It's where I grew up), there are plenty of other cities in other states where the price of real estate is not astronomical and it's possible to find a decent paying job. Just my humble opinion.

You know, I can't really say if CO Springs is getting better. The job markets getting better for sure, the airports better along with the whole aviation scene, and they've got stuff planned for the Cimmaron area near downtown.

But, it doesn't seem like they are adding bike lanes (they really need to because there's a ton of people riding on roads with 0 shoulders), they definitely aren't improving the roads to keep up with the increased population, crime / homelessness is getting worse, and, like you said, it's moving from affordable to moderately expensive priced.

A city has to keep adding more amenities as people move in or else it goes downhill from a QOL perspective. Denver had a huge push of amenity adds in the 90s and 00s, making the city markedly better, then people came and COL went up to match the improvements, then COL has passed it up as the rate of improvements has slowed down... At least from my perspective.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by Phil P

they definitely aren't improving the roads to keep up with the increased population, crime / homelessness is getting worse, and, like you said, it's moving from affordable to moderately expensive priced.

I mostly agree with your point about adding amenities however I disagree with you the Springs is not fixing the roads they are. The roads were a disaster five years ago now I have seen so many potholes filled and it seems like lots of projects are in the works. Granted it could certainly be better but from my eyes the Springs is trying very hard to fit into its place as a mid size city not a large town.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

I mostly agree with your point about adding amenities however I disagree with you the Springs is not fixing the roads they are. The roads were a disaster five years ago now I have seen so many potholes filled and it seems like lots of projects are in the works. Granted it could certainly be better but from my eyes the Springs is trying very hard to fit into its place as a mid size city not a large town.

Well, I guess you're right, the roads are a lot better from a couple years ago, but that was a strange period. Are they better than 10-15 years ago? I wouldn't say so.

I think the crime and homelessness came in from the outside, so if you would exclude those as CO Springs didn't really cause those problems, they just kind of happened, I'd say there's slow improvement.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by jwiley

LOL, most millennial are not making anywhere close to $100K a year especially in Denver.

Be sure to do the math (as per my post) referring to couples. I hired 6 last yr. <$80k per wage earner. (College new hires) If you are not making $45k as a college graduate you should re-evaluate your career choice. (Consider working as a CDL oil patch driver. ... No college required. ). ~$80k with OT for solo earner. I know more than a few CO residents who work oil patch and come home every few weeks to meet their families.

Lots of options. Very ez... You just gotta put in the time.

[Montana Griz]

:......
"Colorado Divide: Why some Coloradans are cashing out of the Front Range and seeking their rural happily-ever-after"

some of us have 'moved-on' (decades ago) (Not the whiners...)

.......INTERESTING THREAD......some facts, some wishful thinking,.....some absolute Bull Shxt, and a lot of opinions!

Here is my story:...Some 'objective ',....some 'subjective ' and
a lot of "reality"..........N O T E...........95% of what I have to say relates to Boulder A N D, the surronding 50 miles!!!!!!!

First of all, I am much older than probably 98% of the other posters in this thread. I moved to the Boulder area (2.6 miles up Sunshine Canyon) in April 1966 from the northern Midwest.
There were approx 18 homes in the first 5 miles of Sunshine Canyon

road....it was all gravel!
I had a good job alreaady...I had done extensive research regarding Boulder,...the Boulder area, ...and all of Colorado,....I would be working out of an office in my new home and would be traveling 65% to 75% of the time.
I was 34, had a wife and an eleven yr old child, had sold our home in the northern mid west for cash and bought this new home (A spec house) for 50% Down and the rest w/ a 6 % mortgage.
.........(NOTE: I am a sportsman, Hunter and Fisherman, love the outdoors, love the privacy of Living on two acres up a beautiful forested canyon with NO homes on the other side of the road from us, ........and look forward to traveling extensively throughout the several (approx 11 states), states adjacent to Colorado.
..............FAST FORWARD TO APRIL 1980...I am now 48 yrs old.....
In the period of time from approx 1968 to 1980, the influx of people from: NY, CN, NJ, MA & CA., into Boulder and the surrounding Front Range Area .....I M H O, completely changed the former culture and way of life, to a "new and disastrous" set of standards,....again this is my humble opinion.....Boulder and the area that attracted me and my family, had been destroyed.
In April of 1980 we sold our home up Sunshine Canyon (for a significant profit),, moved to a beautiful forested river valley in western Montana on 14 acres with a stream, and one remaining horse and our family dog and my bird hunting dog,....took the next 12 months to build our retirement home
and then worked another 13 years to retirement at 62.
Thank God we left Colorado when we did.......our move to Montana has exceeded our expectations IN ALL aspects.
Been retired now 24 years, and at almost 86, could not be happier, and still am an active sportsman!!!!!

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Be sure to do the math (as per my post) referring to couples. I hired 6 last yr. <$80k per wage earner. (College new hires) If you are not making $45k as a college graduate you should re-evaluate your career choice. (Consider working as a CDL oil patch driver. ... No college required. ). ~$80k with OT for solo earner. I know more than a few CO residents who work oil patch and come home every few weeks to meet their families.

Lots of options. Very ez... You just gotta put in the time.

I know the math, I spent 15 years doing the math for several hundred people. I did not say that there were no jobs making over $80K a year, I said that the average Millennial is not making anywhere close to $100K a year, in fact the average household income in Colorado is $66K a year. So no the people moving out to rural areas due to the COL along the front range are not likely making $150-200k a year.

http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/colorado/

[StealthRabbit]

We're not talking 'average' (note thread title and content).

Stats report averages.... (I.e. useless)
None of us here are average.

Average people do not 'cash out' and live happily ever after in a Rural CO.

1) start your stats with those who are of working age, and living happily ever after in Rural CO. That will remove the elderly and retired and youthful escapees from your bogus stats.

Stars will line up with the correct data set.