martym

Here's one close to Golden (western metro area)about 20 min from Evergreen http://www.essentialcoloradorv.com/dakota-ridge/

bdodsonx

Dakota Ridge appears to be a nice campground (trees & steam). I appreciate your suggestion, martym.

fmpden, You truly do have our best interest at heart, and I thank you for keeping my thoughts on track. For now, it seems that Evergreen will be a nice place to visit before the big snow season arrives. Our plans have changed so that we are now planning to head towards CO on Sept. 11 (Saturday) to visit as many cities on the front range as possible, including Centennial.

I hope the wild fires west of Boulder can soon be extinguished. My heart goes out to all of the families who have lost their homes. I just heard on the news that 9 firefighters were among those that had lost their homes.

fmpden

So do those living in Boulder. It is bad. The canyons are steep, and they funnel the winds off the divide into some very strong down slope winds. The area is heavily populated with very expensive home and a lot are gone. Part of our problem is that we have had a wet year which means of lot of good under growth and then we hit our normal, dry August. It will be a problem for a while.

Gretchen

Centennial is basically "Littleton", Greenwood Village, and such. It is around the Denver Tech area.

fmpden

Centennial is not basically Littleton or Greenwood Village nor around the Tech center. They are all independent cities but in the same general area south of Denver and a part of the Denver metro area. Littleton is an old farming community on the Platte that was the last rail stop going into Denver. It is the only one with a definite city center and a feel of a town. The current leadership of Littleton is very conservative and anti-growth. There is no center to Greenwood Village or Centennial since both are just urban sprawl that was incorporated into cities for political reasons.

historytraveler

If you have a chance, read bigtyke's trip report on "Pronghorns and Glenn Miller". It'll give you a small glimpse of life along the front range.

Gretchen

OK about Centennial, etc.. They are SOUTH Denver areas.

joto

I've not replied before as I don't think I will have very much useful information about the area, as we have only lived here a couple of years. We live in the SW suburbs of Denver and love it. Not far from biking/hiking/dog walking trails, close to stores, nice restaurants and movie theatres. It is a mixed suburb with apartment complexes, smaller family homes and larger family homes and quite a bit of open space and convenient if you want to go up to the foothills or mountains.. We did consider homes into the foothills, but we thought just too much hassle in the winter, but nice in the summer. I'm sorry, I don't know about RV parks. I hope you find what you're looking for. If you need the name of the realtor that worked with us (he had endless patience) I would be happy to give it to you.

bdodsonx

I enjoyed reading bigtyke's "Pronghorns and Glenn Miller". Watching the pronghorns and many birds would be quite interesting.

joto: It is always nice to hear from folks who are enjoying the Denver metro area. Which city did you choose? I would like to get your realtor's name even though we aren't quite to that stage of relocation yet. I'll tuck the name away for future reference. After our visit this month, we just might need a realtor sooner than I had thought.

Gretchen, Thanks for mentioning Littleton and Greenwood Village. No doubt, I will like all of the area south of Denver.

fmpden, Has it cooled off so much that we should bring winter clothing? Or will a jacket for evenings be sufficient?

fmpden

Don't know about "winter" clothing but certainly would bring long sleeves, sweat shirt, and good jackets. It was 48 yesterday morning. Overnight and early morning can be chilly. We can still have very warm days but the nights cool off quickly and we are in the downhill slide. The fire is still out of control with over 100 homes lost.

wtm003

>

Yes, but also bring along lighter weight clothing. The high today was 85 degrees and tomorrow will be around 88. October is my favorite month as we experience a wide variety of weather. There are days in October that I will wear shorts, followed by jeans and a sweater the next day. Just remember layers, layers, layers and you will be fine.

October is usually gorgeous so while it is probably a good month for a visit, I agree with BetsyG about spending a winter (January - March) here before you decide to relocate.

bdodsonx

Actually, we have moved our visit from October to NOW. We are planning to arrive next week and will definitely bring layers, sweats, good jackets, and summer attire, too. We are excited about the cooler nights and warm days. It should be a good time to enjoy the changing colors of the aspens.

We will plan our next visit to the area as you've suggested to experience the winter season.

I heard that 4 people are missing in the area of the fires. I can't think of a more horrifying time that this one for the residents of that area.

joto

bdosonxd, our realtor was Jack Moran of Moser Real Estate Group (303)379-3080. We moved to Lakewood close to the Littleton line in a nice quiet subdivision. Golden is also another nice town in the area you might like to take a look at.
It seems that the 4 missing people have now been accounted for and are safe. It is a horrible situation for people living out near Boulder and the fire fighters are doing everything they can.

bdodsonx

Thank you for the realtor info, joto. We will visit Lakewood, Littleton, Centennial and Golden along with several others in the metro area.

fmpden

The recent fire might discourage you from Evergreen. The west side of Boulder is under an evacuation alert -- get ready to go on short notice. The winds through the canyons tonight could hit the 90 mph mark and that is not good. If you make any calls here, you need to dial all ten numbers.

BetsyG

One thing you should be aware of, not to alarm you but there are several measures on the November ballot in Colorado which could have dramatic effects for Colorado. If they pass, I would not move here. One would reduce your property taxes significantly, Amendement 60, but consequently it would reduce the budgets of any entity that is funded by that tax. So school districts, public safety, libraries, etc. would be effected. If it passes, I wouldn't try calling 911. The bill requires that the state fill in for the schools, although estimates predict 99% of the state budget would be required for this, so I guess prisoners go free? I work for a local library district & our budget will be cut by 52%. We are very busy, many families, unemployed, seniors, etc, rely on our services. Amendment 61 will reduce the time public projects can be funded to ten years, so a lot fewer projects, no new schools although the population is growing, less employment, etc. Perhaps those bike trails won't be maintained as you would like. Finally the third, Proposition 101 reduces the vehicle tax to $10 annually. Did you want to go to the mountains, driving? Think again, that's where some of the highway maintenance come from.
So, any of you from Colorado here, I hope you are voting NO on these measures.

fmpden

Before pushing the panic button and calling the movers, the probability of these amendments passing is very low if not zero. There is no organized public support (money) for these amendments and massive organized support against. Probably the only issue that both the Dems and Repubs agree on this year -- vote no. In Colorado it is very easy for any group for any reason to get an question on the ballot and every year we have several such questions.

BetsyG

I hope you are right fmpden. I have heard otherwise.

fmpden

Then, what have you heard? Are you not reading the local papers?

Gretchen

Our library services have already been cut by about 50% just due to budget realities--the money is just NOT there. And our system at one time was listed as #1 in the country. Budget realities sometimes trump desires for services no matter how noble.
I would certainly hope that those propositions do not have any rational support. However, the Tea Party movement seems to be rising in colorado. Don't want to get into politics here.