Durango, CO (Denver, Boulder, Center: sales, rentals, condo)

[Topo]

Gosh, I really really want to live in Durango...........I am so afraid of affordability it is not funny, what should I do? I cannot afford a place that is over $100,000. GGGrrrr!!!! You know I did see some trailers, or mobile homes should I say in the realtor.com site for under that, can anyone tell me about these? and how do I find a place with a cheap room to rent until I can get established? <<sigh>> LOL

Maybe I have to just admit I can't afford to live there ha? Bummer!

[ALT-X]

Rent an affordable place that still allows you to save money until you can afford what you wish to buy...What's the rush? Don't settle for a trailer/mobile home if that isn't really what you want. You will regret it later if you go that route...

[Crackerjack]

Topo, you can find reasonable places around Durango, just not in the city. There are many more cheaper places to live out around Durango. Durango has so many suburbs and small towns around it and most are much more affordable than Durango. Bayfield is a nice town near Durango and so is Mancos. If you go south, it is MUCH cheaper, but it will get more desert as you go toward the New Mexico border. On the other side, the NM side, it is real cheap there, until you get to Farmington, which is more expensive for some reason. Cortez is really reasonable too, a small city west of Durango.

ALT-X is right too. I would rent for say 6 months to a year and that way you can find a job, find the right area you want to live in, since you can't imagine how many different climates and zones you can live in around Durango from the desert, to rolling green hills, to forests, to the high mountains, in only minutes. Also you don't have to rush, so you can find bargains better.

[Topo]

Do u know where I could find some cheap rent? I could not do anything over $425 for a studio. Also have u seen the mobile homes on realtor.com that sell for under $100,000 do u know anything about these? I have to wonder about them when everything else is so high. I know u get what u pay for, is there something wrong with these mobile homes?
Also, I would prefer not living in a desert, so what town is close to Durango that isn't south .....thanks!

[Crackerjack]

Topo, I went and looked at the mobile homes on the website and they are out in Durango West. That is a forested mountain area west of Durango. It is pretty out there and not too far from Durango. You would be living right next to other mobile homes, but you have your own land, as opposed to renting in a park. I don't know about the mobile homes themselves. It will get more snow out at Durango West than Durango, but not that much more, not like Durango Ski Resort, or anything like that. It is because you climb as you are going up to Hesperus. I saw another mobile home out in Sierra Verde, which I think is out at Lemon Lake. It is pretty out that way, but fairly far from Durango and it gets more snow out there too than Durango. Durango West is much closer.

You can also find condos out at Tamarron, Whipering Pines or the condos out near Durango Ski Resort for under 100,000. It snows a lot up there and it is about 30 minutes from Durango, but if snow doesn't bother and you don't mind driving to Durango that takes about thirty minutes, you can buy a cheap condo out there. The condos out there are also great for anyone wanting a cheap second home to go to Durango Ski Resort.

I would look at Bayfield, Mancos, out by Oxford or close to Ignacio. Ignacio is a Native American Casino town, but you can find inexpensive places out that way. You might also look around Pagosa. It is a very pretty, mountain and pines small city. You can find cheaper homes than Durango out that way. Also you might look into Cortez. It is near the mountains, it is considerably cheaper than Durango. Cortez is not the pines and mountain city you sound like you are looking for though. On renting, you can go to the DurangoHerald website and under classifieds, keep an eye out for cheaper places to rent. Many people and college students in Durango have roommates, which makes it affordable for them, so that is another temporary solution until you find something. Hope this helps out.

[Simmers]

Can someone tell me more about Durango, Co? (I've seen City-Data Info and Pictures and it seems beautiful.)

As far as:
-People there
-Environment; Is it green or mostly desert scene?
-Pace of living
-Housing market; Can you find a nice home for under $300K with maybe at least .5 acre?
-What's the weather like mostly
-Job Market
-Are they accepting of people moving there from other states? (We're from AZ)
-Is it a small family town?

...Looking for a smaller town, green, with outdoor stuff to do, not really night life or college life. Don't have kids yet but plan to in the next 4 years so that's not really a concern right now. Heard from family there that there are natural gas jobs open as far as job market.

Thanks for any help on this!!! Happy New Year!!!

[mariewendan]

Originally Posted by Simmers

Can someone tell me more about Durango, Co? (I've seen City-Data Info and Pictures and it seems beautiful.)

As far as:
-People there
-Environment; Is it green or mostly desert scene?
-Pace of living
-Housing market; Can you find a nice home for under $300K with maybe at least .5 acre?
-What's the weather like mostly
-Job Market
-Are they accepting of people moving there from other states? (We're from AZ)
-Is it a small family town?

...Looking for a smaller town, green, with outdoor stuff to do, not really night life or college life. Don't have kids yet but plan to in the next 4 years so that's not really a concern right now. Heard from family there that there are natural gas jobs open as far as job market.

Thanks for any help on this!!! Happy New Year!!!

We lived in Cortez- about 45 min. from Durango and I commuted to Durango to go to College at Fort Lewis. Durango is a very nice town. The people there are "earthy" and considered "earth muffins". It's very green and has a river. It's beautiful. I'd say the pace of living is very laid back. Housing market is extremely expensive- that is why we lived in Cortez. You can get double the house in Cortez for what you'd pay in Durango. I doubt you'd find a half acre with a house for $300,000. The weather is chilly in the winter and snowy. Beautiful in the spring and starts to warm up. Highs in the 80s to 90s through the summer. And true to Colorado- if you don't like the weather- wait 5 minutes...and it'll change! Not sure on the job market. I think they are accepting of people from other states. Yes, for the most part it's a small family friendly town. Good luck!

[dgoboy204]

Hey Simmers,

mariewendan sounds on target. Durango is a smaller town, very green in spring, summer and early fall (Animas River runs right through the middle of Dgo), LOTS of outdoor stuff to do all year 'round - world class mountain biking and kayaking, for example. Nightlife - yeah some. College life - yeah, the school has about 4-5K students and Dgo pop. in town is about 15K so the school does certainly play a big role in the local scene, but I don't think its the dominating influence necessarily.

Job market: I was recently told by a guy who works in oil/gas that the world's largest known methane gas beds are in the 4-corners region (around Dgo), so the job opportunities in those areas are likely really good -- most of this work is actually based out of Farmington NM 1hr. south, but commuting is definately not out the question. You might want to check out Aztec NM, too (between Dgo and Farminigton).

People and Pace of Living: The people are generally very accepting and friendly. Many backgrounds, races, and lifestyles seem to get along well here in general. Dgo is a tourist destination too, so this ads to the variety of people to be found here. Pace of life is relative to what you are used to -I find Dgo to be getting kinda fast-paced in comparison to what I have known, but still not like a city. Most, but not all, are accepting of others moving in. With the growth in housing, how can we really not be accepting - who is going to live in all of the new housing developments if not people moving from somewhere else .

Weather: we get four beautiful seasons, but we rarely get extremes of any kind.

Housing market - median home price in city limits likely over $400K, but new developments being built may change the housing picture in the near future.

Small family town? Yeah for the most part - the growth of "second homes" is diluting the family feel some I think, but most of the people I know with kids still think its a good place to raise a family - some I've met are moving out toward Bayfield or Mancos. I'm sure grateful to my parents for raising me here ! Happy new year to you, too!

[Simmers]

Thank you very much for the information. Durango sounds great and I will check into Aztec NM too! Do you know if there are any careers available in Durango for IT? I have experience in IT and in banking so I was also considering being a loan broker? Any advice? Thanks a bunch!

[LFults]

dgoboy204,

Since you were raised there, can you tell me anything about the schools? What was your school experience like? How many kids do you know who moved on to college? We are looking at relocating there in the summer and our kids will be heading into 7th and 3rd grade. Just trying to get a feel so we make the right move!