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Colorado monkeys - suggested places to live?

binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,111
1,166
NC
Pre-Coronavirus, I was given the thumbs up from my company to become a full-time remote employee. So Jenn and I are going to hit the road around the end of April/early May, and head west to park ourselves nearer to hiking and a climate that doesn't descend into the the seventh circle of Hell for 6 months.

We'd welcome suggestions for places from people who live or have lived around the area!

We don't have a ton of requirements, outside of it having good internet (I'm a remote IT worker so I can't be fiddling with a crappy connection; it doesn't have to be gigabit but I probably can't do anything less than 50 Mbps) and our intent is to be close to hiking. Since we don't need to commute, we'll probably be avoiding the price hikes of places like downtown Denver, but I need to be within about an hour of an airport (I'll be coming back to the office semi-regularly) and we'd like to be within striking distance of Denver anyway since we've got people we know there.

Looking at monthly AirBnbs at the moment.

Thoughts?
 
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stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,638
9,637
longmont is nice....younger brother lives there....

also lived in gunbarrel/boulder area....that was also nice.

aurora is even a bigger shit hole than when i left....
 
Nick

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
24,145
14,850
where the trails are
binary visions said:
our intent is to be close to hiking.
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1st. awesome!
2nd. being close to RMNP would be great for hiking, but gets crowded in the summer. Estes Park? Crested Butte would offer great hiking/riding and you'd be looking during the rental off season. Someplace between Buena Vista and Salida might be sweet too. Massive mountains in the Sawatch there.
 
Adventurous

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,400
9,016
Crawlorado
I'd pass on the Front Range if I had to do it again, especially if the circumstances allow. And that was before it started really developing into the zoo it is today. The best parts of CO are all in the mountains, and it's becoming more of a PITA to get into and out of them; it would be much nicer to be in the mountains to begin with.

Given the choice, I'd target Steamboat Springs, Durango, or Crested Butte. I think they would provide a much better CO experience than Denver would. If you need to be closer to Denver, even getting up into Georgetown or Evergreen would be better than being down the hill. Hell, even Glenwood Springs would be more ideal IMO than Denver, but it violates your hour to a decent airport requirement.

RMNP is beautiful, and has tons of great hiking, but I think it would be a mistake to park yourself in the Front Range if you dont have to. The trails and parks are just so crowded that it dampens the experience.
 
Montana rider

Montana rider

Turbo Monkey
Mar 14, 2005
1,769
2,231
Adventurous said:
I'd pass on the Front Range if I had to do it again, especially if the circumstances allow. And that was before it started really developing into the zoo it is today. The best parts of CO are all in the mountains, and it's becoming more of a PITA to get into and out of them; it would be much nicer to be in the mountains to begin with.

Given the choice, I'd target Steamboat Springs, Durango, or Crested Butte. I think they would provide a much better CO experience than Denver would. If you need to be closer to Denver, even getting up into Georgetown or Evergreen would be better than being down the hill. Hell, even Glenwood Springs would be more ideal IMO than Denver, but it violates your hour to a decent airport requirement.

RMNP is beautiful, and has tons of great hiking, but I think it would be a mistake to park yourself in the Front Range if you dont have to. The trails and parks are just so crowded that it dampens the experience.
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Y U not prioritizing biking, if not then the longer season of front range towns becomes less of a draw IMO (a la Ft Collins or Golden...)

I used to reside in Hot Sulphur which is likely a bit small for you.

But I do like Grand County in general as it's next to RMNP and close enough to Denver to still head down for "culture" but far enough away to avoid the hoards of unwashed masses, pot shops (NTTAWWT) and brewpubs of the big city.

There is something "strange" up there though in Granby re: rural conservatism in general which is less appealing.

So I'd second Steamboat as being a beautiful area but still centrally located-ish...

If you're talking monocle housing costs I've always thought something down by Telluride Durango would be nice albeit it a little more isolated.

Grand Junction area seems to be a shit show from the outside but again has a longer "season" and is close to Zion Curtain figuratively and literally...

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Montana being full ;) but orders of magnitude mo' better than the 303 in terms of quality of life and miles and miles of relatively empty trails:

Red Lodge with a bullet for hiking.
Bozeman for lifestyles of the rich and famous
Helena for the longer season and more affordable housing.

ETA: if you're doing monthly Airbnb then pick your top 3-4 choices and spend the summer months house hopping in all to see which town had the vibe you're looking for.
 
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stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,638
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Adventurous said:
Given the choice, I'd target Steamboat Springs, Durango, or Crested Butte. I think they would provide a much better CO experience than Denver would. If you need to be closer to Denver, even getting up into Georgetown or Evergreen would be better than being down the hill.
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i forgot about evergreen....loved it when i house sat...

for a middle of nowhere experience....pagosa springs is only about a hour from durango
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,705
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Colorado
Butte is still reasonably cheap and Gunny is relatively cheap (comparatively). Durango is getting more expensive, but farther towards NM and the flats it's cheaper. It's a hard Red area though. Steamboat is more pricey... Aspen/Glenwood Springs are soul crushingly expensive.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,705
7,393
Colorado
stevew said:
i forgot about evergreen....loved it when i house sat...

for a middle of nowhere experience....pagosa springs is only about a hour from durango
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Super expensive right now. Need to head farther out past Bailey to get cheaper. Maybe Fairplay, but that's getting more as well.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,520
7,853
I’d definitely verify internet speed availability out in the sticks.

I’m in the thick of traffic in Denver proper but I have fiber optic to my home.
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,965
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In a van.... down by the river
Oh - and the Glenwood recommendation is a good one, especially if you're primarily interested in a hiking location.

And the Eagle airport is only about 30m from there, which is a fairly "major" regional airport.
 
canadmos

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,750
19,817
Canaderp
How much stuff and animals do you have? Maybe check out a few spot, if you're doing the semi-permanent thing at first.
 
Jozz

Jozz

Joe Dalton
Apr 18, 2002
5,900
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SADL
SkaredShtles said:
Pretty limited hiking ops. But a very nice place, I'll grant ya...
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Indeed if by hiking you mean summiting. But lots of trails in Flag proper with Sedona/desert really close for winter bike/hike. City vibe is quite nice.
 
rideit

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,465
11,630
In the cleavage of the Tetons
Jozz said:
Indeed if by hiking you mean summiting. But lots of trails in Flag proper with Sedona/desert really close for winter bike/hike. City vibe is quite nice.
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The thing I wouldn’t like about (central) Flag is the damn train horn and train noise. I know it is a rail town, but I couldn’t take that every day.
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,111
1,166
NC
To be honest, Colorado is negotiable. Montana or Wyoming are fine if we find a good spot (@SkaredShtles).

If I can find a place with good stable internet, hiking, and not too far from an airport, I'm good.

Only interested in the mountains. I know there's hiking in Flagstaff but we're not looking to live in/near the desert.
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,965
12,892
In a van.... down by the river
Jozz said:
Indeed if by hiking you mean summiting. But lots of trails in Flag proper with Sedona/desert really close for winter bike/hike. City vibe is quite nice.
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Yeah - I assumed @binary visions was looking for mountains primarily, since he asked specifically about CO.

And don't get me wrong - Flag is a great place - I lived there briefly in the early 90's. But I actually moved back to Colorado due to the limited mountainous terrain there.
 
Jozz

Jozz

Joe Dalton
Apr 18, 2002
5,900
7,453
SADL
SkaredShtles said:
Yeah - I assumed @binary visions was looking for mountains primarily, since he asked specifically about CO.

And don't get me wrong - Flag is a great place - I lived there briefly in the early 90's. But I actually moved back to Colorado due to the limited mountainous terrain there.
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For a skier it is indeed not the best place.
 
jstuhlman

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
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Cackalacka du Nord
So you don't like hot summers but are ok with winter? Why not somewhere like Boone?/Banner Elk? Summer temps a good 10+ degrees cooler, less humid, and winters still not bad.
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,111
1,166
NC
jstuhlman said:
So you don't like hot summers but are ok with winter? Why not somewhere like Boone?/Banner Elk? Summer temps a good 10+ degrees cooler, less humid, and winters still not bad.
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Western NC is a better temperature (and pleasant enough, I enjoyed my hiking out there) but I'm really looking for actual, big mountains. And a change of scenery.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,446
16,980
Riding the baggage carousel.
Nick said:
Estes Park? Crested Butte would offer great hiking/riding and you'd be looking during the rental off season. Someplace between Buena Vista and Salida might be sweet too. Massive mountains in the Sawatch there.
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Internet though...... My admittedly limited experience with interwebz in all of those areas is not good. I would DEFINITELY want to research that more if my livelihood was internet dependent.
Adventurous said:
Hell, even Glenwood Springs would be more ideal IMO than Denver, but it violates your hour to a decent airport requirement.
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Aspen and Eagle both are severed by several major carriers. Assuming of course they still exist in 6 months.

Toshi said:
I’d definitely verify internet speed availability out in the sticks.
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Again, :stupid: It's pretty third world as far as internet goes in a lot of mountain towns still






Bend, OR?
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,638
9,637
kalispell or whitefish....

as long as you do not have sprint.
 
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