Future Colorado retirees - need suggestions! (Denver, Boulder: taxes, living, centers)

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by hikernut

Dave is getting a commission from the governor of Kentucky for each person he sends that way.

I recommend Kentucky for a number of reasons:
1. Water. KY has it in myriad lakes. Colorado does not.
2. Water. 40+ inches fall from the sky in KY. Is much less in CO.
3. Cheap land/housing. Just look at eastern KY.
4. Was on the winning side during the War of Northern Aggression.

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

4. Was on the winning side during the War of Northern Aggression.

I thought they were neutral/split.

And how could there be a winning side? It never ended.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Karen H

Thanks, COcheesehead! My son traveled through CO last year with his girlfriend and that is one of the things that they were struck by. There seems to be very little "in between". Either you're in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a city or you are most definitely NOT in the city aka "drive at least 30 minutes to get to even a tiny basic needs grocery store". On one of their road trips, they passed a McDonalds but weren't quite hungry enough to eat so they said, "We'll wait for the next one down the road." Ha! There never was a next one (or any other restaurant for that matter). They eventually had to double back and it wasn't a short trip.

Most of Cheesehead’s citation was taken directly from my post above it, on the previous page. He or she only stated that Grand Junction might do.

[Karen H]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Most of Cheesehead’s citation was taken directly from my post above it, on the previous page. He or she only stated that Grand Junction might do.

I'm so very sorry! I'm new at forums and still learning the ins and outs. Thank you so much for your valuable information!

[HDtraveller57]

We moved to Ft. Collins in 2015 from TN by way of AL (3 yrs). We came from mid-size cities and Ft. Collins seemed small town-ish to us but of course the locals complain about all the recent the growth and increased traffic. It is somewhat of a college town (CSU). The quaint "old-town" area is very picturesque with ongoing renovation and new businesses moving in.

One of the first things we noticed is that there is a very clear distinction between being in the mountains and being on the plains. The hilly terrain of the mountains stops abruptly along the western edge of both Fort Collins and Loveland. Pretty much all of the town and everything eastward is extremely flat. An upside is that bicycling is very popular among all ages. Both towns have some very charming neighborhoods with lush lawns and beautiful landscaping including old growth trees. However, the fairly dry climate means there is not a lot of green in the more natural areas.

We haven't done any fishing but we take our pontoon boat to Horsetooth lake just minutes outside of Fort Collins. It is the largest lake (6 miles long) in the immediate area. There are a couple of recreational boating lakes near Loveland as well but they're not like the larger lakes we were used to back home. There are tons of smaller lakes in the area and in the mountains, as well as, rivers which flow heavily with snow melt during late spring and early summer. Most locals either use belly boats, canoes or inflatable pontoon boats for fishing the smaller lakes. There's also ice fishing in the winter months.

Nearby hiking areas are almost limitless and most offer spectacular views.

The Red Feather Lakes area about an hour north-west of Fort Collins has a lot of small lakes and many people have second homes/cabins there with quite a few permanent residents as well.

Medical Center of the Rockies (highly rated surgical/trauma center) in Loveland and the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins are both part of the UC Health system.

Several newer communities on the east side of I-25 (Windsor, Johnstown) are already exploding with new development and offer quick easy access to Fort Collins, Loveland and the mountains. The Denver airport is about an hour away but I-25 can become clogged during rush hour even this far north of Denver. There's almost nothing between Fort. Collins and Cheyenne, WY just 40 miles to the north and Laramie, WY 60 miles to the north-west.

[Karen H]

Originally Posted by HDtraveller57

We moved to Ft. Collins in 2015 from TN by way of AL (3 yrs). We came from mid-size cities and Ft. Collins seemed small town-ish to us but of course the locals complain about all the recent the growth and increased traffic. It is somewhat of a college town (CSU). The quaint "old-town" area is very picturesque with ongoing renovation and new businesses moving in.

One of the first things we noticed is that there is a very clear distinction between being in the mountains and being on the plains. The hilly terrain of the mountains stops abruptly along the western edge of both Fort Collins and Loveland. Pretty much all of the town and everything eastward is extremely flat. An upside is that bicycling is very popular among all ages. Both towns have some very charming neighborhoods with lush lawns and beautiful landscaping including old growth trees. However, the fairly dry climate means there is not a lot of green in the more natural areas.

We haven't done any fishing but we take our pontoon boat to Horsetooth lake just minutes outside of Fort Collins. It is the largest lake (6 miles long) in the immediate area. There are a couple of recreational boating lakes near Loveland as well but they're not like the larger lakes we were used to back home. There are tons of smaller lakes in the area and in the mountains, as well as, rivers which flow heavily with snow melt during late spring and early summer. Most locals either use belly boats, canoes or inflatable pontoon boats for fishing the smaller lakes. There's also ice fishing in the winter months.

Nearby hiking areas are almost limitless and most offer spectacular views.

The Red Feather Lakes area about an hour north-west of Fort Collins has a lot of small lakes and many people have second homes/cabins there with quite a few permanent residents as well.

Medical Center of the Rockies (highly rated surgical/trauma center) in Loveland and the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins are both part of the UC Health system.

Several newer communities on the east side of I-25 (Windsor, Johnstown) are already exploding with new development and offer quick easy access to Fort Collins, Loveland and the mountains. The Denver airport is about an hour away but I-25 can become clogged during rush hour even this far north of Denver. There's almost nothing between Fort. Collins and Cheyenne, WY just 40 miles to the north and Laramie, WY 60 miles to the north-west.

Thank you, HDtraveller57! Lots of great info in your post, which I really appreciate. I keep hearing the recurring theme of "it's either this or that" meaning the extreme of city/suburb to nothing 100 miles from you, and there seems to be very little in between. Everything seems to be more "gradual" here in Minnesota. You go from the large city to the the inner and outer rings of the suburbs to less and less populated areas and then to complete wilderness. I'm not sure I'll find what we are looking for as a retirement home/state in CO but I'm excited to find out.

I'm hoping there are some accessible spots to cast a line from the shore at Horsetooth or Carter Lake or Poudre as we won't have access to the boats/canoes etc you mentioned. (We will be staying two nights each at FC, Loveland and Pine)

Appreciate the tip of the hat to the medical services in the area as that is an important thing to have access to, especially as we get older.

[Karen H]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

To let the OP know, in the Loveland area there is Boyd Lake, Carter Lake and Horsetooth Lake for fishing. We use to fish for nice rainbows in the No Wake area of Chatfield Reservoir, but we'd be in that area by 9AM. I hooked up our bowrider boat to our Durango while my wife was still sleeping. Spent many a morning, until noon, weekends at Chatfield and a few at Cherry Creek. I'm an "early bird", being that I was partly raised on a farm and spent some years in the Navy.

The lakes/reservoirs along the Front Range are rather small (Carter 1,100 water acres, Boyd 1,700 water acres and Chatfield 1,500 water acres but adding on), but for us, they would be perfect. If you are looking for huge lakes, like Powell, Mead or Havasu, Colorado don't have them. To us, we really miss the freshwater lakes of Colorado...….really. Making plans to leave Florida and move back to Colorado. We will both be retired and in our early 70's next year at the time of our move.

LoveBoating - I think my husband would love hanging out with you. Fishing all day = Heaven. Thank you for the suggestions on the fishing spots. We are very familiar with boat fishing, on many different size lakes here in Minnesota but since this is the first time in CO I'm not sure how we will do, especially not having a boat at our disposal. We already checked into boat rentals and they are too much money for our taste, besides, my husband is perfectly content casting a line from shore. Any suggestions for that particular kind of fishing (In FC, Loveland or Pine) would be especially appreciated!

(P.S. you would probably love living in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes!)

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Karen H

I keep hearing the recurring theme of "it's either this or that" meaning the extreme of city/suburb to nothing 100 miles from you, and there seems to be very little in between. Everything seems to be more "gradual" here in Minnesota. You go from the large city to the the inner and outer rings of the suburbs to less and less populated areas and then to complete wilderness.

When I moved here from a Boston suburb, I was stunned by the exact difference you mentioned.
One foot outside city limits and prairie dogs.

The other shock was lack of water. When I returned to my parent's town (Wayland) in Massachusetts I realized that it was basically sitting slightly above a giant swamp.

[Mike from back east]

Karen, we have an existing thread on fishing, easy to find with our search tool.

Your husband should venture down to just west of Canon City; he can park on the side of U.S.-50, right next to the Arkansas River, and do some fly fishing right on the spot. Put this number into google maps ( 41746 US-50, Cañon City, CO 81212 ) and then look at U.S.-50 from there on west.

[Snickery]

I moved from Minny to Colorado 11 years ago and the idea of fishing and lakes is totally not what I am use to at all!! You fish at a man made reservoir or have to drive to a real lake or stream to throw in a line. Not the land of 10,000 lakes at all just merely as what Colorado is as a high plain desert area with mountains.