bdodsonx

This is my first post - now I need your advice. Recently retired, my husband and I would like to relocate to the wonderful climate in Colorado. We have been enduring 100+ degrees with high humidity all summer here in South Arkansas. Our interests are hiking, biking, watching the wildlife, and perhaps snowmobiling (we've never done that, but it looks like it would be so much fun). We love the mountains and lakes!

We would like to live in a small to medium-size town (15K to 60K population), but be located within an hour's drive to a larger city. We are wanting to down-size but aren't interested in condos or retirement communities. I just read that Money Magazine had selected Louisville, CO as the #1 place to live. Any comments?? We don't have a clue where to start in locating to CO.

Can you point us in the right direction by giving your advice on the perfect place to live in Colorado?

AustinTraveler

You should post your question on this forum:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/colorado/

Placename

How much time have you spent in Colorado? Winter and summer?

Remember, the general advice is to rent in a place for at least a year before your commit to buying anything.

bdodsonx

Thank you both for the very helpful advice.

fmpden

I don't know how or if it is easy to search this site but there was a very long discussion on this same subject about a year ago that would be very help to you.

A number of cities and neighborhood have received these magazine ratings, Ft. Collins, home of Colorado State is often rated high. And some of the old towns around Denver such as Littleton that have been over run by the Denver metro area still have a small feeling and charm that might still be worth considering. Combines a lot of advantages. Probably should just take a couple weeks and do a little driving. Also depending on your political leans there are some areas that might be more attractive to you than others.

DebitNM

We have a home in SW Colorado, equidistant from Telluride and Durango. It is beautiful country with mountains, ancient ruins, skiing, mild temps in summer and winters that aren't awful. You can bike, hike, raft, ski, walk, etc.

Durango is a great town and has just about everything you could want. Albuquerque is a 3 hour drive, not exactly close but BIG city. It is very expensive, be warned, as are many parts of CO.

We live 45 miles west of Durango in a small town [undeer 10,000] and the costs are much more reasonable.

Let me know if you want more info.

bdodsonx

Thanks, fmpden! I don't know how to search for the earlier discussion either, but will see if I can locate it.

DebitNM: I would definitely be interested in more info about your location. Bring it on! lol

bigtyke

I have lived in Greeley, CO the past two years after almost 50 years in the Phoenix area. I love it. This whole region - from Greeley to Longmont to Ft. Collins offers almost everything you could ever want (alright, I admit there is no surfing!). And Denver is just an hour away. Housing is ultra cheap right now.

Windsor, which is adjacent to Greeley, was recently on a best places to live list.

bdodsonx

Hi bigtyke! I'm really glad that you had good things to say about Greeley, because I had read somewhere that the odor from cattle pens is offensive in Greeley. I'll do some additional research on the Greeley area. Thank you!

fmpden

To some that is the smell of money, to others ...... That can be a problem IF the stockyards are in operation and the wind is from the right direction, NE, but that is not the prevailing direction for winds. Right now, the yards are in full operation.

historytraveler

Have a serious look at Louisville. IMO it's one of the better places along the front range.

Sue878

Check out Evergreen, Colorado in the foothills west of Denver.

120aks

I vote for Ft. Collins. It is 60 miles from Denver with all that Denver has to offer and Ft. Collins itself is a great town. My wife and I retired to Colorado in 1999 with the promise we would not be more than one hour from Denver. However, we ended up in Durango and left there three years later. Durango is a lovely town with 60 restaurants but it is very isolated, at least too much so for my wife and I.Also, be sure you are fully aware of the winter weather.

bigtyke

While the slaughterhouse is still in Greeley, the big feedlot is several miles east in Kersey (although there is also another one south of town). And the odor control is excellent. I can't remember more than a few hours of agricultural smell in the two years I have lived here.

It was a worse odor when they used to put in winter lawns in upscale Scottsdale, AZ.

Ft. Collins is nice, but larger than you desire. It is nice having it just a few miles away. Ft. Collins has Col. State U., Greeley has U of Northern Colorado. CSU is the Ag school, UNC the teachers college (at least orginally)

5alive

We are far from experts, but my brother has lived in Colorado for a few years. He loves many parts of it. We stayed with cousins and also visited my brother. We found Colorado Springs to be very friendly and homey--a place where we could envision ourselves living.

My in-laws have moved a couple of times during their retirement. Things that influenced their choices include access to regular doctor appointments, access to emergency service. Their first move, it turned out that despite how cordial as people were at first, they had all lived in their town "forever" and my in-laws were never entirely accepted.

bdodsonx

Wow! You all have given me lots of homework by suggesting so many places to give consideration. That's exactly what I was wanting. Now I'm wondering where we will find the mildest winters...on the front range or to the west near the Montrose area. Mainly, we are trying to escape the very hot, humid summers of South Arkansas. Thanks to everyone for your valuable input.

fmpden

The mildest winters will be further south along the front range. But it also warmer in the summer time so that is part of the trade off. We have lived in the Denver area for the past 30 years and while the memory is fading we still think the Denver winters are milder than when we lived the Chicago area. We can have a couple of bad months -- Dec and Jan. And we get snow and sometimes a lot but generally the next day the sun is out and it is melting. Coming from S Ark any winter probably will be a shock. The sun load with low humidity in the winter can make a cold day very pleasant. And besides, if cold is problem we are only a day drive from Arizona.

bdodsonx

fmpden, You have answered my concern perfectly. In S Ark, we never get "just" snow. It always rains first, the rain freezes which creates a layer of ice, then a few inches of snow falls on top of the ice. This makes driving quite treacherous. Now that we are retired, we can either stay inside and enjoy watching it fall or go snowmobiling. So, are you basically telling me that the further west, the more snow, if you were to go west from the Denver area?

HappyTrvlr

If yuu settle in the Denver area, east of the Front Range range you will get hot, but not humid, summers. You'll need a/c.

bookchick

My BFF has lived in CO for the past 25 years, so I've been out there many times. I'd vote for Boulder, Glen Springs, or Idaho Springs. Boulder has all the cultural advantages of a university town, which I enjoyed, but it's not a very far drive to Denver.

BC