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Poops McDougal

Poops McDougal

moving to australia
May 30, 2007
1,179
1,241
Central California
I've mentioned this a few times around here, but I think our days in California are numbered. I'll spare you the backstory, but there are only a handful of states in the Western US where I can be licensed without jumping through a ton of hoops. Because of this, I've got a shortlist of states that I'm currently giving suggestive looks to. :brows: Colorado is one of those states, and since it seems that 1 in 3 monkeys lives in Colorado, I thought I'd get some opinions directly from the locals.

What part of the state do you live in, and what are your thoughts on it (weather, politics, schools, cost of living, local culture, etc.)? Any areas that should be avoided at all costs? It's Colorado, so I assume opportunities for outdoor recreation are plentiful, but what do I know?

Any thoughts, comments (helpful or otherwise) all appreciated.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,252
7,696
welcome in advance

I live in Denver proper.

Weather is just fine by me--usually snow doesn't stick around long although the last storm cycle did produce annoying long lasting snow and ice.

Politics: as a state we're solidly blue in aggregate now. Still purple in the sense that there are boomer enclaves here and there, like in Douglas County in particular in @stoney 's hood. We have universal mail-in voting with drop boxes everywhere, which is just fantastic really.

South side of city has a lot of suburban living if that's your thing. I'm in the Central Park neighborhood (rebuilt from what was Stapleton Airport) and in exchange for smaller lots we get in-ground utilities, fiber to the house, and at least in my particular corner of it, good biking infrastructure. I have neighborhood connectors that put me on the Sand Creek Greenway, which leads right to work. Can go the other way on it and connect to the Platte River Trail, which goes through hobo-towns but goes to useful places downtown, too.

Golden is a nice compromise as far as being closer to the mountains but still being within reach of civilization. @Nick and @6thElement are up there and @Full Trucker was before he fled west. Don't know about their school quality. We're in Denver Public Schools proper and my elder kids go to Polaris downtown, which is a wonderful highly gifted and talented magnet school if that's a concern of yours.

Re local culture: I like Denver as it's big enough to have good Thai, a good professional symphony, and good amateur/semi-pro music opportunities (wife plays with Denver Philharmonic Orchestra and I play with Colorado Wind Ensemble).

Outdoor recreation: there's enough in the Front Range to keep me happy. @kidwoo will say it could be better, and, sure it could be, but it's good imo. I tend to ride parks one range further west than most of the maddening crowds, though (Golden Gate Canyon SP in particular), so I'm not elbow to elbow with people at Apex. Skiing is good but try to go midweek if you want no crowds, as the word's been out for a few decades now.
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,146
13,340
Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
Poops McDougal said:
I've mentioned this a few times around here, but I think our days in California are numbered.
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The count is already over for colorado :D


Not really depending on what you need access to work-wise.

Stay the fuck away from the front range/Denverish if you like the outdoors. You can see the outdoors from there like a Palin, but much like russia from alaska, you can't really get there by land. Further south along the front range has some appeal but mandatory militia membership in lieu of HOA fees could be a hassle depending on funds.
 
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stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,597
7,246
Colorado
Douglas County can suck my nuts. Depending on how close to the mountains/foothills your want to be, Jeffco and Boulder County are going to be your go-to locations. If you're okay being further out, but not in Kansas, south-metro isn't too bad. School districts are a biggie here - Cherry Creek is #1 by far and property values reflect it. Then Littleton and Boulder, then Jeffco. I wouldn't want to deal with anything else. Within Jeffco, your best schools are in the Ken Caryl area (see $$ from community support). If I could go back in time when we bought our house, I would have probably gotten a place in Ken Caryl or Golden. Both are in Jeffco, but put you close to the mountains. The further away from Douglas County you get, the more diversity you get as well. Hannah's only interaction with African American people in her life (to date) has been four of the teachers at her school, who are siblings. There is an Indian and Chinese woman too. But that's it. Douglas County is fucking homogenous. It's like South Orange County, with no beaches, and just as many rich white people in their bubble.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,299
16,739
Riding the baggage carousel.
We've talked a little bit about this via PM, but I'll echo most of what @Toshi says. My little enclave here in Colorado Springs definitely is doing it's best to hold back progress politically, but the flood of people moving to CO who can't afford denver has moved el paso county a smidge to the left. Actually quite comparable to your part of the Central Valley with maybe an exception or two. The evangelical contingent still exists, but it has less sway over local politics than it used too.

Cost of living here has doubled in the last decade or so. School quality definitely depends on what part of town you live in. This town has about doubled in size since I moved here two decades ago, if memory serves were now the second or third largest municipality in Colorado. It's certainly more crowded than I would like. That said, I can still get across town in any direction in 30 minutes or less. Decent to excellent riding is anywhere from rideable-from-the-house close to no more than a 45 minute drive. Skiing is not as "convenient" as it is for denver people, but it's also not the I70 shit show on weekends.

Culture is not as diverse as Denver, but it is getting better. Selections and quality of shows at The Pikes Peak Center have improved immensely. The Arts scene has expanded a lot and dining choices have improved, though a new fast food burger chain still illicit an hours long waits on opening day. :rolleyes: Green-ways and parks in town are expanding.

As far as places I wouldn't go, probably not Grand Junction, even though I hate to say it. It's pretty meth-y, and Boebert country, though that's possibly redundant. Pueblo is okay, but I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you were truly desperate. I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Pueblo. It's a dying town and there is a lot of spirit and history there still, but things are pretty rough down that way. Certainly nowhere in the eastern part of the state, a lot of it is just downright gross.
 
Poops McDougal

Poops McDougal

moving to australia
May 30, 2007
1,179
1,241
Central California
sunringlerider said:
If I were to move back, I would avoid the general front range nonsense. But coming from Cali the traffic and whatnot might not bother you. For this hickass it was too much.
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kidwoo said:
The count is already over for colorado :D


Not really depending on what you need access to work-wise.

Stay the fuck away from the front range/Denverish if you like the outdoors. You can see the outdoors from there like a Palin, but much like russia from alaska, you can't really get there by land. Further south along the front range has some appeal but mandatory militia membership in lieu of HOA fees could be a hassle depending on funds.
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stevew said:
pagosa springs...

fuck the front range...

home school if you have to....
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The front range pretty much includes the entire central portion of the state from Pueblo-ish up North to the border, right? I'm not really interested in living in a densely populated area, but I wouldn't mind having relatively quick and easy access to an area like that.
 
sunringlerider

sunringlerider

Turbo Monkey
Oct 30, 2006
3,631
6,402
Corn Fields of Indiana
Poops McDougal said:
The front range pretty much includes the entire central portion of the state from Pueblo-ish up North to the border, right? I'm not really interested in living in a densely populated area, but I wouldn't mind having relatively quick and easy access to an area like that.
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I spent 6 years in Loveland (just south of Fort Collins). It wasn’t absolutely horrible, but much has changed in the 10 years since I have lived there. The FC area is a little more chill IMO but you are a long way from most ski areas if that’s your jam. Heading north and west of Loveland it wasn’t much of a drive to get away from most everyone. RMNP was a shitshow in the summer but what national park isn’t.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,299
16,739
Riding the baggage carousel.
Poops McDougal said:
The front range pretty much includes the entire central portion of the state from Pueblo-ish up North to the border, right? I'm not really interested in living in a densely populated area, but I wouldn't mind having relatively quick and easy access to an area like that.
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It's pretty much going to be one giant mega-city from Pueblo to Cheyenne within our life times. @FSM only knows where the water is going to come from.
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,577
9,588
kidwoo said:
But you started so well with "fuck the front range". Comparing one front range locale as better than the worst misses the original point you made. It all sucks.
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it has better bbq than in denver.......therefore it does not suck as much as denver....
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,597
7,246
Colorado
Poops McDougal said:
The front range pretty much includes the entire central portion of the state from Pueblo-ish up North to the border, right? I'm not really interested in living in a densely populated area, but I wouldn't mind having relatively quick and easy access to an area like that.
Click to expand...
You're in a catch-22 then. Anything West of the Front Range is mountain country and appallingly expensive. You'll be hard pressed to get home owner's insurance depending on where you live as well. Things don't get cheaper until you've cleared to the western Slope, and then you're deep into Boebert country. Like Shane mentioned, it's like the shitty part of the Central Valley and Utah fucked, spitting out a hyper-religious meth den. Starting at Highlands Ranch, which is the nothernmost part of DougCo, the further south you go the more conservative it gets. And not in the Santa Ana > Tustin > Irvine > Newport way, more in the far-right/celebrate Jan 6 way. Going east from Denver-metro it gets cheaper, but you're working your way into KS, which nobody really wants.

If you're looking for things to be relatively spread out, but with actual jobs and good schools, you will be anchored to the Front Range to some extent. The further north you go, the less crowded it gets, but the deeper you get into gas country. There are a lot of wells (including abandoned) right up against residential areas once you get into Longmont and north.

Depending on how much cash you have, you can still get what you want - it's just really expensive. In Ken Caryl and Morrison, the spread out neighborhoods are wrapped around the red stone. Lots are huge and behind the hogback, so you don't realize that Denver is even there, if you don't want to leave. Catch? $2mm+ for a house. Evergreen, Conifer, and the mountains of Golden - all the same but even more. All feed into Jeffco Schools, so you will still be getting into one of the good districts in the state. Once you're out of Front Range, shit falls off a cliff.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,252
7,696
Re diversity: at my elder kids' school there are a ton of Asian, Jewish, Indian(, and white) kids. Funny how that happens when you have a magnet school.

Pesqueeb said:
It's pretty much going to be one giant mega-city from Pueblo to Cheyenne within our life times. @FSM only knows where the water is going to come from.
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johnbryanpeters said:
It will not come.
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This is totally dependent on how forward thinking each city was. Denver Water has a lot locked up:

www.denverwater.org

Water Law

The semi-arid Denver metropolitan area receives an average of 15 inches of precipitation each year, which is about a fourth of what a tropical city like Miami receives. And, while about 75 percent of the state’s population is on the east side of the state, about 75 percent of the water in the...
www.denverwater.org www.denverwater.org
.

About 80 percent of the water in Colorado is found on the West Slope. But about 80 percent of the state’s population live on the East Slope. That division means the growing Front Range needs to move water from the West Slope to the East Slope through trans-basin diversions. Utilities from across the East Slope transfer about 475,000 acre-feet of water from the Colorado River basin to the East Slope each year. On average, Denver Water customers use about 125,000 acre-feet of West Slope water per year.
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Pesqueeb said:
I know that, you know that, my dad knew it 30 years ago, but they keep right on building anyway. :fie:
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Other places have not managed so well:

www.denverpost.com

Turning water into gold

Turning water into gold
www.denverpost.com www.denverpost.com

coloradosun.com

Thornton has plenty of water — it’s just in the wrong place. And that’s a very Colorado story.

Thornton is getting blocked at every turn as drought and unbridled population expansion stretch Colorado water demand beyond the supply.
coloradosun.com coloradosun.com
 
Jozz

Jozz

Joe Dalton
Apr 18, 2002
5,856
7,365
SADL
So what are the other States you're looking into?

Colorado seems fucked up anyway you look at it. :panic:
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,577
9,588
Toshi said:
Re diversity: at my elder kids' school there are a ton of Asian, Jewish, Indian(, and white) kids. Funny how that happens when you have a magnet school.
Click to expand...
i thought magnet schools were associated with school choice and therefore a dirty word...
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,252
7,696
Jozz said:
So what are the other States you're looking into?

Colorado seems fucked up anyway you look at it. :panic:
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Every place has its issues, imo. And Front Range Colorado isn't a bad overall package, really. I like it well enough here to stay.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,252
7,696
stevew said:
i thought magnet schools were associated with school choice and therefore a dirty word...
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you've got to test high enough in the first place to be eligible. that's the secret sauce
 
stevew

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,577
9,588
Toshi said:
you've got to test high enough in the first place to be eligible. that's the secret sauce
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my oldest nephew would probably enjoy it...ouside of about a hour in the afternoon he is at school from about 6:45 in the morning until 8:00 pm during the week...and saturdays...

blame robotics...
 
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