BEST/WORST PLACES TO LIVE IN CO?

Hey everyone, I'll be moving from Texas to Colorado in the next year after I returned to school to finish my degree. I've been to Boulder, Denver, Estes Park, Crested Butte, Copper Mountain to ski, but it has been years since. I'm looking for an area that is within reasonable driving distance to hike/backpack/ski that isn't too crazy expensive, if that's even possible. I have some friends in Parker, but I'm not sure if I want to live there. Thanks for the input! Also, do the salted roads in the winter take a big toll on the taco frames?

 

Move to the part of Colorado that's 20 miles down the road from here and you won't miss the drier, dustier parts of Texas at all. You can hike and backpack all you want in the hundreds of thousands of acres of National Grassland and if you want to go skiing, Breckenridge is only a brief seven-hour drive away. There is a lot of pheasant, quail, coyote, mule deer and pronghorn hunting though, or at least was until it stopped raining a few years back. Now the hunting is just that much more fun as it's more challenging. As there is no water you would have a hard time making your Tacoma's frame rust if you tried.

 

Fort Collins area FTW!

 

LOL, paradise!

 

"Best" is quite subjective. Do you have work requirements? If not, then I wouldn't touch the Front Range with a 10' pole. I'd be in the mountains somewhere. Pretty easy to be within all the fun that way.

What's a "reasonable" distance to skiing for you? Once you figure that out, Google Maps has the ski areas and resorts marked (both lifts and runs; oh, and not all are created equal either; may want to figure out what type of skiing is important to you and pick areas/resorts that have those terrain features) and start measuring away from them (if you're wanting to be less than an hour away from them).

 

Since I am able to work from home and then travel from time to time, I chose Buena Vista, CO. There is tons of hiking, off-roading, hunting, fishing, river activities ect all right out my door. Copper Mountain is only an hour away to the north, but there is hardly any traffic to get there. Monarch is just 45 minutes southwest of us, so that is another option as well.
I love having hiking trails, hot springs, off road trails all within 15-30 minutes from the house. Plus the views are pretty awesome as well.

There are a ton of other areas as well, I picked Buena Vista since I already had some friends that lived in the area.

 

Steamboat offers attractive housing costs for a mountain town, not to mention a river right through town to cure your tubbing needs.

 

Where are we talking?

 

Yes, I'm going to have work requirements. Part of where I live will be where I get a job. I would like to be in a decent sized city, at least the size of Boulder, but in the field I'm going into, I should have several options. I'm willing to drive a couple hours to ski, but mostly I want to be in a city that's pretty active, within 30-45 min drive to hike/backpack etc.

 

Essentially, anywhere east of the front range.

 

nice thread! i want to move to CO too. i applied for jobs in Boulder and Ft. Collins. i'm also applying for a job at Colorado Springs but i'm leaning towards the other two.

 

It's a really cool place. Wish I had moved there years ago. Better late than never I guess!

 

i applied for a job in Boulder but didn't get past the online video interview. i'm stoked that the same job opened up again so i reapplied and just got another interview today. i would love to live in Boulder.

 

Can I come live in your garage?

Said noone ever



it's true

 

Yes. Yes you can.

 

^^^ More info needed

 

I've personally never lived there myself so someone else would have to chime in on that. But it's full of hippies and liberals who all drive their prius' around. Pretty place but kind of has a bad rap.

 

It's funny how a the people of a state can get stereotyped. Living in western Kansas, to get to the touristy ski-run part of Colorado one must first drive for several hundred miles through towns filled with down-to earth ranchers, farmers and oil men.

 

Durango! I have a realtor. Doing the same thing. Leave TX.

 

Are you familiar with Austin, Tx? I wonder if Boulder is more liberal than Austin?