Rundown on the North Fork Valley and east Delta County (Thornton: fit in, transplants)

[griff09m]

I've tried to stand up for Grand Junction for a few years now on this forum, but it might be time for my family to move on to a new community. My wife and I both have opportunities coming up in Delta county in the field of education, and I was wondering if some of you guys could fill me in on essential things to know before moving/taking a job there.

The area we're looking at most closely because the job opportunities is Hotchkiss and Paonia. We're also considering Cedaredge, but that's less likely. We've been to all these towns, and we think they're beautiful, but we don't know all that much.

How are these towns different from each other? Are there any factors someone would want to consider before making a move to one versus another? What is the culture like? What are the future prospects for these communities?

We don't have a huge list of demands from a place. We don't shop much and we eat at home most of the time. We're not looking for nightlife and fine dining. We hope we can find a town where people are proud to live there, where we can make a home and spend our careers (we're in our late 20's).

[jim9251]

Small close knit towns wary of outsiders. Paonia is struggling with the closure of the local coal mines, but is a beautiful area. If yall already have jobs lined up, that's 90% of the problem solved. Both Paonia and Hotchkiss MUCH cooler weather wise than Junction.

I would recommend spending time in both, talking to locals getting to know the general vibe of the area. Good luck to you.

[griff09m]

Hate to bump my own post, but I'm wondering if anyone else has any input. I wonder if people are any more wary of outsiders in Paonia and Hotchkiss than anywhere else. I also wonder about the long-term future of the area. My wife and I are in our 20's, and we'd like to find a place to settle down for good.

We have been talking to several friends in the area, but I always appreciate more opinions.

[Littlekw]

I can give you a little insight. I grew up between western Colorado and western New Mexico, the part of western Colorado being the North Fork Valley. My family lived in the North Fork from the mid 1930's until the mid 2000's. I spent a large chunk of my life in Hotchkiss, Paonia and Crawford.

It is a very insular area but over the past 20 years or so there has been a lot of new people moving into the area. As a native of that area, I call it a good thing. The problem is that there are two very distinct factions in the North Fork; there are the old-timers/multi-generational families and the newcomers/non-natives. The two sides haven't always gotten along.

Saying that, as newcomers you can make friends there. It will most likely be other transplants like yourself. Not necessarily a bad thing but it's a reality. Hotchkiss tends to be more wary of outsiders than Paonia since Paonia has gotten more of an influx of new people. Paonia hosted the Rainbow Gathering back in the early '90's and since then I've noticed more of the hippie crowd has discovered Paonia. I technically come from Hotchkiss but I like Paonia a little better. I left the area and have no intention of moving back but if I did, it would be Paonia. FWIW I'm close to your age, in my early 30's.

My family was teachers and ranchers in the area for decades. It's a beautiful area to live but the family income depending heavily on commodity prices. If coal did well, people moved in with their families and the businesses schools did well. If coal, beef, fruit, sheep, etc. prices tanked, families left which caused layoffs across the board. My family had to leave when cattle prices tanked, the coal mines went through a round of layoffs and schools started rifting teachers. It's a sketchy and shaky economy in that area, no job is safe.

I don't mean to scare you off, it's a wonderful place to live. Just make sure you always have a backup plan in place. When the going gets tough, the North Fork residents tend to get gone, especially those that aren't from there.

If you have any more questions, I'll help you out in any way I can.

[Let's Go Here]

I didn't live in the North Fork area but I did live in Montrose for a year and a half. The mentality of the people in Montrose & Delta counties aren't all that different when it comes to transplants - all transplants will be shunned.

I did business with a lot of people in the North Fork area and there's only 1 TERM I can use to describe them - MORONS.

The year and a half I spent in that area was a low point in my life. I moved there when I was 25 and was amazed by the lack of things to do and ignorance of the local residents. Glad I was able to move on.

I would consider looking elsewhere, but at the end of the day it's your call.

[Littlekw]

Originally Posted by Let's Go Here

I did business with a lot of people in the North Fork area and there's only 1 TERM I can use to describe them - MORONS.

As a Hotchkiss native, I would take offense to that but, well, my family left there for more than just economical reasons. My mom is from the east coast and spent 40 years in the North Fork. She was never accepted, not fully. I remember as a kid we were driving into town and the sign says "Welcome to Hotchkiss: Friendliest Town Around." I asked her if that was true and she started laughing. Her answer was an emphatic "No".

It's not a terrible place to live. There are just much better ones in Colorado. I am madly in love with my home state and intend to spend my life here but the North Fork will never be on my radar as a place to live again. There are plenty of awesome people in the North Fork and the scenery is killer. It's just too close-knit of an area to ever make it feel like home.

[mbalmedpoet]

I worked in Delta County several years ago. It's very insular indeed. Unless you have an "in" someone to vouch for you, it's so hard to make any type of friends, or do anything socially. I found that Hotchkiss and Cedaredge were the most difficult in getting anything more than small talk out of anyone. I eventually left the area, too many things and it just wasn't worth it to me.

[griff09m]

That's all very interesting to hear. I know quite a few folks in Montrose and I'm pretty familiar with that town, and my experience has been pretty much positive. I'm surprised to hear such bad things about the North Fork area. I wonder if people would say the same things about Grand Junction, where we've fit in very well, or even little De Beque, where I worked and was accepted pretty readily. I do appreciate the openness, though. Thanks for the responses!

[ChelseasMom]

It is funny to me reading the posts about how people treat transplants. We grew up in RI and then moved to NH. We might as well have come from Mars! We were treated pretty badly by most of the "local yokels". The few that did have social skills had actually left NH and been in other parts of the country and learned social skills and etiquette. Others were "transplants" like ourselves. Keep in mind that typically its a 3-4 hour drive from RI to NH.
Anyway, we have always dreamed of living in CO. We feel that NH hardened us up, we have no expectations of the CO locals and just would like to live in an area that we feel is beautiful and be able to do the things we enjoy.
We will treat everyone (local or not) with courtesy and respect. We will not be forced to give up our social skills & etiquette by anyone no matter where we live--the mentality of the NH locals taught us that!
I think that if you are going to an area that you love, have interests, are self sufficient and self reliant and are not just going to make friends that you will make out ok. Good Luck. May be someday our paths will cross! :-)

[ChelseasMom]

Well we left NH in 2016 and have been living in CO for 5 years! HOW WONDERFUL it has been! Absolutely NO REGRETS! People were welcoming and friendly. NOT at all like NH regarding the attitude! Taxes are so much less compared to the crazy HIGH property taxes in NH (Thornton/Campton area).