Is Grand Junction A Good Place to Live? (Redlands, Fruita: condo, houses)

[CosmicWizard]

Mike

I still think it would be worth your time to visit Grand Junction. The mental images that your mind creates from reading information and looking at pictures on the internet are likely to be radically different than your experience of being here. Something inside of you feels drawn to Grand Junction. Unless your budget is so tight that making a trip to Grand Junction is out of the picture, you owe it to yourself to spend some time here. Worse case scenario...you hate the place. So what! At least you would know for certain that Grand Junction is not the place for you. Without spending some time here you leave yourself open for thoughts like, what if I'd have gone to Grand Junction instead.

Here's a link to some info in regard to climbing in the Grand Junction area. As a hiker, I often see climbers on the nearby rock formations. I'm not a rock climber myself, so I have no personal rock climbing experiences to share with you.

[SheridanL]

Have you ever done any ice climbing?
They have a very well known place in Ouray (just south if GJ) 3 hours.
Ouray is one of the most beautiful places in Colorado!
Yankee Basin is a "fun" drive, but gorgeous when you get up there!
Cliffs are all around the town with water seeping out! It's a sight for sure!
Hot springs through the town and when you get up to Yankee,...that is where a LOT of Colorado calendar and postcard pictures come from.
I think if you end up in GJ, you'll be visiting Ouray a time or two!

[CosmicWizard]

Good News.....it's closer than you think! The world renowned Ouray Ice Climbing Park is just 1 hour and 45 minutes of driving time from Grand Junction. I must agree with SheridanL that Ouray is one of the most beautiful places in Colorado. The Hot Springs provides a great opportunity to wind down from a busy day on the trails and....just relax.

Ouray is an easy day trip destination from Grand Junction. My wife and I make the trip frequently.

[brightdoglover]

Ouray is stunning.
It's also extremely cold in winter, if the OP was talking about a place to live. A friend of mine lives in Ridgway and says that the sun goes down at 1p in Ouray in the winter due to the mountains being so close and high (and gorgeous).
I get the Ridgway paper. It's often a lot of well below zero.

[SheridanL]

NewAgeRedneck and BrightDogLover,

You are both correct! Ouray is stunning and,....cold as heck in the winter!

I love the website that NewAge posted, btw!! Awesome!!!

I have a thing about websites and live web cams, I spent hours on them while I was in Florida the last year!! Longing like crazy to come back!!!

Now that I'm back....3 weeks to be exact, Ouray is one place I just HAVE to get back to and, pronto!!
I am going to Breckinridge this weekend.....next is Ouray.

I was in Ouray a couple of Thanksgivings ago. BIG storm came .....all the way to Canon and C Springs. I thought it made life interesting but, if one isn't used to it,....well, it's quite grueling!LOL!!

It's amazing how GJ (mild) and Ouray(only 1hr45 min. away,Thanks by the way) are like different parts of the world!!

I wonder though, how does one make a decent living in Ouray? I mean, unless you have an internet business, or something like that, what can you do? It is getting expensive.....darn!! They even have a sushi restaurant now...at least they did before I left in April 2007. I have no idea why I just mentioned that?

[delta07]

Originally Posted by NewAgeRedneck

Mike

I still think it would be worth your time to visit Grand Junction. The mental images that your mind creates from reading information and looking at pictures on the internet are likely to be radically different than your experience of being here. Something inside of you feels drawn to Grand Junction. Unless your budget is so tight that making a trip to Grand Junction is out of the picture, you owe it to yourself to spend some time here. Worse case scenario...you hate the place. So what! At least you would know for certain that Grand Junction is not the place for you. Without spending some time here you leave yourself open for thoughts like, what if I'd have gone to Grand Junction instead.

Here's a link to some info in regard to climbing in the Grand Junction area. As a hiker, I often see climbers on the nearby rock formations. I'm not a rock climber myself, so I have no personal rock climbing experiences to share with you.

I would certainly agree with New Age Redneck. You need to visit to really make the decision for yourself. My opinion is certainly biased, since I am ready to leave GJ. Many people who live here do love it. I forgot to mention in my previous post about the ice climbing in Ouray.

Personally, I am really looking forward to Bend, Oregon. It has everything we are looking for. It is more expensive that GJ, but has a better vibe. Just my opinion again.

[miketheilman]

Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback. I do plan on visting GJ, but not to sure when to do it (spring, summer,winter, fall). I've read that GJ gets extremly hot in the summer, almost untolerable. I never have done any ice climbing, but definently want to have that experience. I'm planning on going to NOLS next year. The WMI training course I'm going to take first is in Moab, so I want to be close, it's 9 days of training. Thank you very much for the link, I have found it very useful. I appreciate all the help everyone has given me. Especially for taking time out of your day to assist in my decision. I would love to move to Oregon myself, but my wife isn't going for it. Thank you again.

[ShellKing]

We lived in GJ for 4 yrs and then made a decision to move to Montrose (65 mi south of GJ). We've been in Montrose for 2 yrs. We wanted to be closer to mountains and in a smaller town. We are closer to major skiing here. Powderhorn is only 45 minutes from GJ -- but only 3 lifts. Telluride is 1hr 15 min away from Montrose. The ice climbing in Ouray has been great for my husband. But this weekend he's going to GJ to do a specific climb in CO Natl Monument. The fly fishing is better/closer here in Montrose. The mountain biking was better in GJ (Fruita) but very hot in the summer. Montrose is cooler than GJ. So, if you visit GJ, you might want to check out Montrose too.

[miketheilman]

Thank you for the input. I'm going to look into Montrose a little bit. I like the idea of moderate weather, versus hoooootttt in the summer. Has anyone ever been to the Red River Gorge in kentucky. If so, i'm looking for a place like that times ten. Thanks again shellking, maybe I'll see you there.

[brightdoglover]

There is no way to make a decent living in Ouray. Period.
Some people seem to have summer businesses (art gallery, crafts, B&B) and then go elsewhere for the rest of the year. Of course, there are the basics of any inhabited area- school, groceries, roads. But basically, there's no work, certainly not anything that could support the cost of housing.
A lot of people work in construction and all, and I think most of it is trophy/luxury housing, which I assume isn't so tied to the general economy. Seems pretty iffy as a plan, though. I was sitting outside the Conoco with a friend who occasionally paints new houses, having a cold drink. Seemed every local man around came by for a cold drink, greeted my friend, and all were coming from construction work (and friend told me that everyone is hurting economically, big time, at least in Ridgway/Ouray).
Ouray is about 8500 feet up. Montrose is about 6500 or less, Grand Junction lower. It makes a huge difference. Once I took my aunt to Ridgway (she lied about having any blood pressure problems) and when she spiked up to 250/150, the only solution was DOWN. To Montrose, where she stabilized.
A geologist used to vacation at the same guest ranch where I went every July. He'd been in every mountain area in the world, and said that the valley there was "the second most beautiful in the world," with the ten 14,000-foot peaks all lined up. I asked what was first, and he said, "Nepal." So I went to Nepal, and lived to report that the mountains there are much bigger, the air much thinner, the men just as appealing in their own way, and the cuisine less appealing. Also hard as hell to get to the mountains! Overall, I prefer Colorado.