mountain cities? (Aspen, Carbondale, Fairplay: home, college, activities)

[bluescreen73]

If I could work from home 100% of the time (and convince my wife) I'd love to live in Fairplay or Alma. Beautiful country up there.

[brightdoglover]

I just talked to a friend who works in Telluride and lives on a high mesa nearby. He said the internet connections is "Third World and spotty" and would not want to rely on it for work. I think that is true in a lot of more remote places, wife aside.

[Christina S]

My mom and step dad plan on buying a tiny home in Fairplay. The home is bigger that a tiny home and i think around 500+ sq. ft so not totally a tiny home buy a semi tiny home? Have seen pictures and the home looks great. They stayed overnight in town last weekend to see how the town vibe was. I believe there is only 1 grocery in town but the prices were high. They say it's about a 20 minute drive to Breckenridge according to the residents. If the buy the house I will drive up to visit.

[TCHP]

My Grandparents lived in Alma and ran a gas station in Fairplay. It was a great place to stay when I was growing up, and is still a very attractive area, but the last 40 years have brought a lot of change to the area, some good, some not so good. I'm always surprised how much population there is in the mountains around these two towns and some areas that are actually fair sized sub-divisions that you don't see when just passing through. Despite that, there is still not a lot of choice for shopping options and yes, prices will always be higher in the more remote areas than in more populated areas. Simple supply/demand at work there.

Small bit of trivia- a lot of people don't remember when Colorado bailed on their Olympic bid for the 76 Winter Games. The proposed bobsled and luge venues were going to be located in the Fairplay area. I don't recall exactly where, but in the neighborhood.

And yes, anyone who can work from home and is considering a remote mountain locale, internet connections aren't stellar when you're surrounded by 13k high mountain peaks.

[delta07]

OP, sounds like others have already chimed in on this, but just thought I'd give my two cents since I used to live in Fairplay and have family that lives between there and Buena Vista. Fairplay is a very small town, as many mountain towns in Colorado are. There are not that many cities in the mountains of Colorado. You definitely do not want to commute from Fairplay to Denver for work, unless you plan to live in Denver during your shifts. My husband is an RN, and while that's not ideal, it could be doable if you were willing to have two places of residency.

Most people that live in Fairplay work in the area, are self employed (and not Internet reliant) or are retired. I worked for the US Forest Service there and my husband worked there in the summer and then Breckenridge as a lift operator in the winter. Even that commute got old for him and he would take a bus.

We actually would love to get back to that part of Colorado if we could, but nursing jobs are pretty much non-existent unless you don't mind doing home health work for low wages.

[attentionspanltd]

Originally Posted by TCHP

My mistake, Heeney is not in Summit County.

Actually, you were right the first time Heeney is in Summit County (Summit resident here) - and so is the Green Mountain Reservoir. It's a few miles South of the Grand County line, and the closest city is Kremmling, in Grand County, just over 15 miles to the North. Silverthorne is about 20 miles to the South, and has the best shopping options. Kremmling is a really small town, and has more limited options.

Heeney is a tiny spot on the map, and consists of a few streets on the shore of the reservoir. One of the most difficult things about living there is that if you have a medical emergency, it takes about 30-40 minutes for an ambulance / fire truck to get there, and once they do, you're still 30 miles from the closest hospital. Summit and Grand Counties have a mutual aid agreement for that area, so EMS crews respond from both Kremmling and Dillon for emergencies; Kremmling is about 10 minutes closer, and their paramedics can usually get there first, but they aren't that much closer. Law enforcement is handled solely by the Summit County Sheriff's Department, which is located in Breckenridge, 50 minutes away. If no deputies are on patrol in the North end of the County (highly likely, because they tend to hang around the most populated areas in the Central and South ends of the County), Silverthorne PD will often run up there to assist them, but again, it's still a 30 minute drive from Silverthorne.

It's a gorgeous area, but very remote. Fairplay would probably be your best bet. It's more populated, and as such, has the best access to public services, dining, shopping, etc. And property is less expensive compared to Summit County, but is just half an hour from Breckenridge, if you're into Winter sports, mountain biking, hiking, etc. For what it's worth, the rumor is that the show South Park was inspired by Fairplay.

Both Heeney and Fairplay are about 30 miles from the closest hospital, in Frisco (Summit Medical Center). If you're looking for work as a nurse, there are a few options: SMC, Breckenridge Community Clinic, and High Country Health Care (locations in Breck, Silverthorne, and Frisco). there are also clinics in Keystone and Copper Mountain which operate seasonally.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

If I could work from home 100% of the time (and convince my wife) I'd love to live in Fairplay or Alma. Beautiful country up there.

Kinda hard to work at home as a nurse, though!

[mick968]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

If I could work from home 100% of the time (and convince my wife) I'd love to live in Fairplay or Alma. Beautiful country up there.

We bought a place near Jefferson (Stagestop off 77) we love it out there we hang out in Alma (SP saloon) and a few places in Fairplay great flyfishing in our property area unbelieveable scenery when not enjoying the solitude and privacy of the cabin if you need anything you pretty much have a drive to do it speaking of hospitals good one in Frisco guess that's the closest? only way I know is recent flyfish trip with buddies one of them hooked self in head with big streamer fly that had to be surgically removed! pretty funny actually positive was I learned where that facility was (in case needed in future)

[alwaysmiling]

Leadville has a hospital I think. In lake county, 20 mins from copper mtn

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by alwaysmiling

Leadville has a hospital I think. In lake county, 20 mins from copper mtn

Maybe or maybe not
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