Help me find a small, quiet CO town (Colorado Springs: move, metro)

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by otowi

Can you find some time to do some day trips or little weekend road trips? I think you would have a better idea of what you like and don't like if you could really get out there some and see what the different small town/rural areas of the state look like.

Here are some that I personally have some limited experience with -
Lamar
La Junta
Limon
Canon City
Walsenburg
Florence
Penrose
Trinidad
Divide
Florissant
Cripple Creek
Victor
Woodland Park
Crowley
Ordway
Sugar City
Rocky Ford
Swink
Olney Springs
Fowler
Manzanola
Eads
Springfield
Westcliffe
Buena Vista
Rye
Colorado City
Lake George
Hartsel
Deckers
Fairplay
Alma
Elbert

and maybe a few others.

Just my own preferences, if I were going to pick a small town to live in tomorrow of the above I'd probably first look at Elbert and second La Junta. But I'd also, in your situation, look at the Pueblo area probably even before those two - even though those are still Front Range basically you might find the things that you don't like about the Front Range/I-25 corridor don't apply so much there. As for Elbert, I suspect it may someday go the way of Castle Rock and think there may currently be a pretty low inventory of homes. As for La Junta, I know it would be too hot for me in summer but there is a lot of great outdoor stuff around there that are widely missed/ignored by a lot of people so they are still relatively quiet and wild. It's just not mountains.

I agree with this list-also like McGowdog's suggestion of Rye (check out his "Rye Photo Tour thread-real pretty country) Ordway, Rocky Ford, Fowler and eastern towns like Lamar; agriculture cranks their economy-those are not tourist areas. And IMHO the prices for housing reflect that too. U.S. Hwy. 50 is nothing like the interstate, but those communities aren't far from I-25, I'd say 45 minutes to an hour which comes in handy for bulk shopping such as Sam's Club. I will admit that I haven't been through there in the last few years though. And regarding mountains, you can get there in an hours time, my favorite area on hwy. 50 are the small towns of Texas Creek, Cotopaxi, Coaldale, and heh, my favorite town of HOWARD! If you enjoy fishing, you'll love the Arkansas River. Pueblo Reservoir State Park is one of the best parks in the state.

[PalmerDivide]

Originally Posted by TCHP

IMO, the original request is too broad. We need more criteria to help narrow the search. Must it be in CO? What population sizes to meet the expectation? Recreational and social requirements that are needed should be what? Are there weather or altitude concerns.

Anywhere but the I25 corridor is pretty darn broad.

As I refine my search, then the secondary criteria come into play. I run a small business that doesn't need to be at a fixed location. It's easier for the time being to stay in CO, or I would be looking at WY, KS, NE already. I don't mind moving toward those states and may move again in a couple of years, but in the short term it's less hassle to stay in state until I tie up a lot of loose ends. I don't plan on buying a home in the near future, so real estate values don't matter to me. I just need a place where I can find decent rental properties to effect a move. I sold my home almost a year ago, but stayed in the same area by renting a home a few miles away. However, I'm keenly aware that I'm just throwing money out the window at this point ($2200/month for rent) and would like to get somewhere much sane and reasonable. Crime is probably my biggest concern. I don't want to move to town that has a crime problem. I'll be moving in March, so moving into the mountains during prime snow season is probably not a good idea. With my luck, we'd have a blizzard the day of the move anyway. Moving east is easier and I'm fine with living out in the plains. As towns are suggested, I'll investigate and then ask further questions. Knowing where to look is 2/3rds of the battle.

[PalmerDivide]

Originally Posted by hollyt00

Just to piggyback, I'd avoid Falcon- only if you move way out of Colorado Springs. That traffic on Woodmen shocks me. In the short 10 years I've worked for Falcon 49 my commute out to "central office" has seen explosive growth for people who want cheap land. It's pretty much a bedroom community for Colorado Springs.

^ This.

I've lived where I am long enough to have seen this explosion in growth firsthand too. Although when I moved here, Woodmoor/Monument felt pretty isolated from Colorado Springs, it no longer does. The civilization creep up I-25 has been steady and the traffic and population density here now is worlds removed from what it was back then. The problem with all of the communities just 30-40 miles away from the I-25 corridor is that the rental markets there are little different from the rental market here. I have 8-10 weeks before I expect to move, so i'm willing go and visit a few small towns that meet my criteria before I decide. I just needed some help getting me pointed in the right direction. There is a lot of info online once I know which towns to investigate.

I appreciate the suggestions so far. I'll spend a day or two investigating each of them and come back with further questions as I have them.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Thanks for the response and clarification, OP.

So, if I understand your current criteria:
1) low crime (you said was your biggest concern)
2) "sane and reasonable" rent. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
3) not in the mountains
4) in Colorado
5) job not an issue

I think that you've received a lot of good suggestions since you posted four days ago. Given the criteria you just listed, you could do your own internet search and get crime statistics and rental costs on any of these locations. Look at the towns listed in post #12, for example. I'm not sure what else you are looking for from us.

[PalmerDivide]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Thanks for the response and clarification, OP.

So, if I understand your current criteria:
1) low crime (you said was your biggest concern)
2) "sane and reasonable" rent. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
3) not in the mountains
4) in Colorado
5) job not an issue

I think that you've received a lot of good suggestions since you posted four days ago. Given the criteria you just listed, you could do your own internet search and get crime statistics and rental costs on any of these locations. Look at the towns listed in post #12, for example. I'm not sure what else you are looking for from us.

2) Somewhere that $1200-$1500 a month doesn't put me in a sketchy neighborhood(!)

I appreciate the responses so far. It's a good list to start with and it will help me pare things down to a half dozen or so places. If I have any specific questions, then i'll ask them here. I can find almost everything online relating to the nuts & bolts, but people with experience living in a town are always the best at answering what it's actually like.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by PalmerDivide

2) Somewhere that $1200-$1500 a month doesn't put me in a sketchy neighborhood(!)

If you are looking for a one or two bedroom place, those numbers don't even put you in sketchy neighborhoods in the largest Colorado cities, unless you chose a transitional neighborhood to move to (for example).

The fact that you spend $2200/mo now may be indicative of a broader definition of the word "sketchy", however.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by PalmerDivide

2) Somewhere that $1200-$1500 a month doesn't put me in a sketchy neighborhood(!)

I appreciate the responses so far. It's a good list to start with and it will help me pare things down to a half dozen or so places. If I have any specific questions, then i'll ask them here. I can find almost everything online relating to the nuts & bolts, but people with experience living in a town are always the best at answering what it's actually like.

The other question besides what you consider sketchy is, are you seeking an apartment or a house to rent for that $1200-$1500 per month? And how big a house, and do you need/want a garage with it, etc?

We are renting in the Four Corners area of CO while having a house built, and even NOT renting in/around Durango, the rents are high. Depends what you are trying to get. We had a choice between two $1600/month houses. Another one that was $1200/month of similar size and features got snapped up sight unseen by another renter before we could even get here to look at it.

BTW, one of the $1600/month houses was in Durango and the owner was just renting it for a few months. He said it and similar places rented for $2200/month outside of winter. From what I’ve seen, the over-$2000 monthly rates are not limited to Durango or LaPlata County.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by PalmerDivide

As I refine my search, then the secondary criteria come into play. I run a small business that doesn't need to be at a fixed location. It's easier for the time being to stay in CO, or I would be looking at WY, KS, NE already.

...and if you would be willing to share that criteria we can provide even more granularity to your search and save you more time. Maybe you need to be in Limon or Burlington or Sterling or Springfield. Maybe you could get away with Brush, Calhan or Boone. Taking the mountain towns out of it, you easily have a couple dozen suggestions already.

[EastwardBound]

Depends on how rural you need, but I'd look at Westcliffe. We have bought a place down there and planning to sell our house in Loveland to relocate down there sometime this year hopefully. Still very rural, somewhat remote but close enough to surrounding towns, beautiful scenery and most important not a lot people pouring in.

[PalmerDivide]

Just a follow-up and thanks to those who gave me some towns to look into.

I made an earnest effort to find a place in small town CO, but discovered that finding available rentals was nearly impossible. Rental availability seemed to be by word of mouth or local advertising. Short of constantly traveling to visit every small town of interest, there was no practical way for me to keep abreast of new listings, so I gave up. I briefly considered Cheyenne, but it seemed that the high prices of the CO front range were starting to spread up to there as well.

I ended up moving to middle TN (Nashville area) a couple of months ago. I'll miss some things about CO, but with the steady influx of CA/NY/IL refugees moving in and changing the state in ways I personally didn't like, it's probably good that I left when I did.

Thanks again.

Go Broncos!