parking is a bitch when you see two street parked eartroamers......
Colorado Monkeys
- Thread starter Poops McDougal
- Start date
maybe i should have done that in that old couples summer home in montana whose phone i borrowed when i had a flat in the middle of nowhere....
trout creek montana is.....quiet...
Oh ya, that too. . .
Yes. The Marshall fire proved that point in 2021. That area had/has a LOT more large open spaces than here and a geographic advantage is that the wind blows N-S in this area, where the main open space and Daniels Park are all south. Up there, they were direct line of the Chinook Winds.
As someone on open space, albeit mid-community, about 1/4 of the houses on the open space around me started cutting back trees around their houses and putting in more xeriscape landscaping since then. One thing I have noticed is that it's newer or younger residents that are making those changes. The old people? Legacy HR Republicans? No changes. Because the environment isn't changing, why the fuck should they change anything?
As for mitigation, the Evergreen/Conifer area is a tinderbox waiting to go. It hasn't been thinned since the beetles went through and there hasn't been a fire in decades. Driving around up there you'll see houses with their decks built around trees. There was a fire in Pitkin Cnty last year where the only thing that saved a huge condo community was the 200', clear cut break they built around the building. That is the definition of mitigation and apparently they are still having trouble getting insurance renewed.
Like I mentioned, getting a place, we'd love to live up there, but the risk is too high. We'd probably end up in Ken Caryl, Golden, or Morrison - because all are further out of fire range as long as you're not up the mountain. Our odds are incredibly low, but I still mitigate for here. Up slope and you'd had to live in a brick fortress with a metal roof having no trees on your property.
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Boy, this thread has taken off since I was here yesterday. I appreciate the responses, and I'll go through them one by one as time permits this morning.
As a Los Angeles resident who just did a short trip to “Denver” recently, it certainly seemed nice enough at first blush. I stayed with a friend in Aurora by Cherry Creek Reservoir. We did a drive up through Boulder to Estes Park and back. Overall, the traffic and homelessness levels were much lower than what I am accustomed to back home. We did a drive around downtown Denver and it seemed like enough of a city that I could move to the surrounding area without a huge culture shock. It was early December and cold but not unbearable (I’m a delicate flower in cold weather).
I’d need to do a different scouting trip to get a better assessment of how I’d really feel about moving there, but it seems to have decent potential.
I’d need to do a different scouting trip to get a better assessment of how I’d really feel about moving there, but it seems to have decent potential.
@SkaredShtles seems to be missing for commentary
Water availability and cost down the road is a real concern, and one of the reasons that we're considering leaving CA. Although, I suppose the concern exists in many places.
My parents live in Texas, so that's a hard no... I am licensed in Idaho, and I know a few people there. It's on the list.texas mostly
Texas? Idaho? Where Californians Are Moving. (Published 2021)
The recall election has resurfaced talk of a “California exodus.”www.nytimes.com
And then going on vacation in durango
If the concern isn’t “where am I getting my water?” it will be “who is taking my water.?”
How's the beer availability in Western CO? Asking for a friend.
What are you looking for, Poops? That's the initial question that needs answering...
Wife and I are kind of tentatively planning to pull a "@binary visions" type thing at some point after the youngest heads off to uni and just check out the country/continent/world.
ETA: That said, I think I'm in a totally different part of life - if I was younger with kids I might still choose the FR. There are a lot of things to complain about, but most of it is "get off my lawn" type complaints having been here too long and seen a ton of change. I mean - it's sunny all the time, the weather is mild for the most part, the recreation is quite nice, as long as you "work around" the usual weekend messiness, and the amenities of a "small" city are nice to have available.
As far as the cost of water - as long as you end up in a location served by Denver Water, the water is criminally cheap.
My comment would mostly be - if I was selecting a place to move to, right now, it very likely wouldn't be the Front Range of Colorado. There are pockets of "maybe" places, but TBH, they're mostly unobtanium at this point due to cost.
Wife and I are kind of tentatively planning to pull a "@binary visions" type thing at some point after the youngest heads off to uni and just check out the country/continent/world.
ETA: That said, I think I'm in a totally different part of life - if I was younger with kids I might still choose the FR. There are a lot of things to complain about, but most of it is "get off my lawn" type complaints having been here too long and seen a ton of change. I mean - it's sunny all the time, the weather is mild for the most part, the recreation is quite nice, as long as you "work around" the usual weekend messiness, and the amenities of a "small" city are nice to have available.
As far as the cost of water - as long as you end up in a location served by Denver Water, the water is criminally cheap.
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I've lived in a few meth-laden hellholes, and I'd take rural meth over urban meth any day of the week. Before moving to our current location, we lived in a small foothill community about 50 miles East. Pretty impoverished and methy, but we lived on 5 acres, so we didn't really deal with any neighbors.
Also looking at Washington and Idaho. I have some East coast options (most of New England), but I'm not looking into them at this time.
I "think" Evergreen is one of the highest risk communities in the country for wildfire. The area covered by "Evergreen" is also fucking huge, we're up in and around that area all the time and comment it's probably bigger than actual City of Denver.
Also, because no one has posted it yet, Colorado is full
Ideally?
- A rural property, at least a few acres with a well with decent production. I'd prefer mountains or foothills, but that all comes down to fire risk and insurance (I am very familiar with this). Won't rule out something flat, but I'd rather not be immediately adjacent to farmland if possible.
- Ultimately, I'd like to be as energy independent as possible. Until then, reasonable electricity and/or propane costs would be nice - which shouldn't be much of a problem coming from CA.
- I don't need to be close to a large Metro area. A few hours away is close enough. However, I would like to be within a 30-60 minute drive of a town large enough to have any groceries or services we may need. A halfway decent brewery would also be a huge plus.
- Good access to trails. Meaning, I don't have to drive 45 minutes to hike/bike/fish/whatever.
- A decent school would be great. As weird as it may be to some, homeschooling is not entirely off the table.
- Seeing stars at night would be cool. I'm led to believe they're still out there, but I'm not sure I believe it.
- I don't mind a little snow, but I don't want to dig my way out every day.
- I'm coming from a place with well over 100 degree days all summer long, so just about anywhere would be an improvement in that department.
The predominant feature of the western slope of colorado is not methy by any means, especially compared to the central valley or most of rural oregon.
sounds like you need a road trip
One that includes new mexico
Where in Idaho would you consideril?
I think it's too red and two ass backward for my taste but individually I get along better with my (Mormon) neighbors in Idaho than in losbozeangeles
I think it's too red and two ass backward for my taste but individually I get along better with my (Mormon) neighbors in Idaho than in losbozeangeles
A road trip is a must, but it'll have to wait until the youngest is a little bit older. I've spent a little time in New Mexico, and there are a few areas I liked. It's one of the states that would require me to jump through a bunch of hoops to get a reciprocal registration, though. If we found the perfect place, I wouldn't let that stop me, but I'm exhausting the other options first.
Normally I'd say ID or WA or MT. There's more than a little snow in all of them however. Pretty dreary most of the winter if you like sky and don't like snow.
Not sure. The people I know there all are in the Meridian/Boise area, and I'm not sure I'd want to live there. Also, the "too red" thing is primarily why I'm looking closer at CO than ID at this moment.
Then why are you leaving california? It's as "blue" as it gets. Which IMO has a lot to do with its issues....
All of that out the window if you have a teenage or soon to be teenage kid of course.
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Perhaps look into Montrose - close-ish to mountains, may still be some "reasonable" rural land available 'round those parts.
This probably exists somewhere in Colorado (although mountains + "a little snow" is going to be tough to pull off!) but definitely not in the Front Range populated regions. And the unpopulated ones are either actual mountains or bordering on farm country.
How do you feel about urban opioid addicts?
It is kind of like a slow zombie vs fast zombie thing.
I mean... That sounds like the southern CO mountains. Salida, etc. It's not appallingly expensive, but not cheap. You can get property, but it will be near a farm, but not like KS. Remote enough, but close enough to a community. It's right on the Arkansas River, so as long as there is snow*, you have water. You should talk w/ @Full Trucker.
Jenn and I are currently pushing ideas around for places to stay similar to Poops. We liked Durango a lot when we were there, but housing prices are definitely on the rise. I really enjoyed our time in Seattle and @Westy could keep me in custom-printed coasters, so that's a plus, but the usual frustrations with traffic and housing costs apply, and 250 days of cloud cover [citation needed] gives me pause.
The Canadian Rockies are amazing but A) you have to figure out a way to live there legally, and B) it's not like Canada is immune to the same things being argued about in this thread - you want some people there so you don't need to drive an hour to find a store where someone knows what an artichoke is, but not so many people that you need to drive an hour to get across town - and you need to find that place without spending $5m for a house (for most of us, anyway - @stoney is fleecing rich old ladies out of their retirement so he can afford it
).
Canmore, AB is great but I don't have a million bucks I can throw at a house. There are pretty places further away from the city (Golden, BC was a really chill town that we enjoyed), but being 3+ hours from an airport when your family doesn't live there is painful.
This thread is useful.
The Canadian Rockies are amazing but A) you have to figure out a way to live there legally, and B) it's not like Canada is immune to the same things being argued about in this thread - you want some people there so you don't need to drive an hour to find a store where someone knows what an artichoke is, but not so many people that you need to drive an hour to get across town - and you need to find that place without spending $5m for a house (for most of us, anyway - @stoney is fleecing rich old ladies out of their retirement so he can afford it
).Canmore, AB is great but I don't have a million bucks I can throw at a house. There are pretty places further away from the city (Golden, BC was a really chill town that we enjoyed), but being 3+ hours from an airport when your family doesn't live there is painful.
This thread is useful.
I think the "trick" is to simply return to the U.S. once every 6 months. I don't believe that there is any restriction to hanging out/living in Canada as long as each stay is less than 6 months. We had friends that owned a cabin on Lake Huron on the Canadian side and I believe that's how they went about it...
No home for you!
Canada Foreign Buyer Ban Starting In January – But Permanent and Temporary Residents Exempt - Canada Immigration and Visa Information. Canadian Immigration Services and Free Online Evaluation.
Canada will ban foreign nationals from buying homes starting January 2023 – with notable exemptions for permanent residents and temporary residents, including temporary workers and international students.
www.immigration.ca
Technically yes, there is no legal requirement that I'm aware of. But I'm not sure I want to hinge my primary living situation on the good graces of the border agents forever allowing me in while I'm doing border runs. It's not uncommon for people doing border runs to start getting turned away in other countries.
It's different if it's a vacation house and you can just stay away for a couple of months, or your natural traveling keeps you out of the country for a while at a time.
Plus, the recent foreign home buyer ban will be a problem. I think there are exemptions for vacation homes - but again, hinging your living situation on being considered a temporary visitor seems problematic to me.
Semi-serious thread tangent:
Could Poops' desired life be found in Europe for a reasonable price? I recall rural Italy paying people to move to their hollowing out country towns. Not sure wrt remote employment, amenities, etc. but something for y'all to ponder and daydream about
@buckoW may have the scoop?
Could Poops' desired life be found in Europe for a reasonable price? I recall rural Italy paying people to move to their hollowing out country towns. Not sure wrt remote employment, amenities, etc. but something for y'all to ponder and daydream about
@buckoW may have the scoop?
Jenn and I are currently pushing ideas around for places to stay similar to Poops. We liked Durango a lot when we were there, but housing prices are definitely on the rise. I really enjoyed our time in Seattle and @Westy could keep me in custom-printed coasters, so that's a plus, but the usual frustrations with traffic and housing costs apply, and 250 days of cloud cover [citation needed] gives me pause.
The Canadian Rockies are amazing but A) you have to figure out a way to live there legally, and B) it's not like Canada is immune to the same things being argued about in this thread - you want some people there so you don't need to drive an hour to find a store where someone knows what an artichoke is, but not so many people that you need to drive an hour to get across town - and you need to find that place without spending $5m for a house (for most of us, anyway - @stoney is fleecing rich old ladies out of their retirement so he can afford it
Canmore, AB is great but I don't have a million bucks I can throw at a house. There are pretty places further away from the city (Golden, BC was a really chill town that we enjoyed), but being 3+ hours from an airport when your family doesn't live there is painful.
This thread is useful.
