If I decide to move (Boulder, Grand Junction: insurance, how much, to buy)

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

Old timers in Grand Junction will tell you about “black Monday” an event that happened in the mid ‘80’s. Seems Exxon owned a lot of the oil wells east of town out near Battlement Mesa/Rifle area. They pulled out. House prices crashed. Downtown GJ had boarded up store fronts. The city went down. Some of GJ’s oil town reputation was forged at this time and to some that reputation lingers.

The city has moved on from those days. The number one employer is St Mary’s hospital with 3500 workers. I am sure Colorado Mesa University is close to the top as well and the city has expanded into aviation, outdoor recreation and less oil dependent businesses.


So small cities dependent on a single industry can be at risk if that industry has a shake out.

Do a web search on this date-------May 2, 1982--Exxon project in Western Colorado. Lots of articles with lots of people sharing stories on this.

I was working in New Mexico when I heard about this, in fact the next day I got a Rocky Mtn. News out of the paper stand at the Sands motel in Raton where I was staying. It was ugly. At that time the oil shale project crashed , Exxon pulled out, and slowly but surely the economy went into the toilet. And it stayed there for about a decade. Yes, decade.

There were hundreds of homes that were advertised by HUD in the Grand Junction Sentinel classifieds. They were weekly listings for years. By 1988 a title over the weekly HUD listings said "Any Reasonable Offer." I know, I bought my place around that time. Those homes were going to get moved no matter what.

When you draw your first unemployment check your next move should be to---just move. Mesa County was in trouble and sowas the towns of Rifle, Silt, Newcastle, Battlement Mesa, and Debeque. It took a long time for the area to get back on its feet. And back then, keep in mind when you get on unemployment, you draw for 26 weeks and no extensions.

[wilberry]

DURANGO, PAGOSA SPRINGS, nice places where the money is no object and Moutain living is

[Exwyocowboy]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Western Slope. Grand Junction or Durango areas.

Gunnison if you can handle the cold

[Kathy884]

Originally Posted by suzco

A challenge to the folks at C-D with whom I interact.

i'm thinking about where/whether/why, should/shall I move.

Without further immediate input from me, with what you already "know" about me, making all the assumptions about me you make, what would you say: should I stay or should I go. Literally, not metaphorically.

As a start though, I'll emphasize that I feel physically great in Colorado and in all locations in mountain west and southwest. (Escaping snow is not an added value.)

Where do you suggest I live?

I'll just share our experience when we were having some of the same questions in case this gives you any food for thought.

We seriously considered moving back to Colorado. DH recently retired (We did our looking before he retired). I have an a portable IT job and can work from anywhere I want. We used to live in Denver (Washington Park area) in the late 80s and loved living there way back when. Where we live now is nice and feels like home after 30 year (and our wonderful son lives in the area too - love that) -- main complaint are hot humid summers, but we have wonderful springs and falls with long periods of great weather. Anyway after looking around Colorado and other places it really hit home how great a situation we have where we are, and we decided to stay put.

Some of our observations: Colorado is a heck of a lot more expensive (and this is considering normal inflation) than is was in the late 80s. For us bang for the dollar was a consideration. It's not a money is no object situation. DH is already living off of retirement savings; I'll be doing that eventually too. We'd be putting way more money into housing if we moved or doing major downsizing. As we are older, we spend more time indoors and appreciate our lovely little house that has all the space we need for our family and hobbies. And all the great space that I have for a home office is sure a plus when you work from home full time.

I forgot how dry Colorado was too.

Denver has way more traffic and congestion than it did in the 80s too. We don't have connections there now either. Moving back there would not be like moving back home. Where we live now is home. Although, OMG those mountains are sure great and almost call me sometimes lol. With the congestion, though, the reality is that day trips to the mountains are best during the week vs. weekends. I do though get tons of PTO, so week day trips would be very doable.

We found a perfect house in Evergreen (a more remote place not all that far from the Denver metro area) in our budget, but realized that those darling little places in the mountains are a little too remote for us and would have more snow in the winter than we would want.

For a more remote place and not needing to worry about jobs, Salida, CO looked pretty darn cute (in the valley - so milder than the surrounding areas in the winter, hospital in the area, a little less touristy than some of the mountain towns, etc.) But we realized that we like city amenities of a larger metro area.

Colorado Springs looked like the best fit if we were to relocate to Colorado. If we had family out there or needed a job and had a great job to move to out there it looked like a perfectly fine place to move to (It's gotten more popular and expensive FYI vs. when we were looking too a few year back). Without family and connections there already though, and given that we have no need to move for jobs, staying put just felt like the right choice. Sometimes looking elsewhere is what you need to do to really appreciate what you have (Maybe that's not the case for most people, but that was true for me). We are staying put in our lovely little neighborhood with a home we love close by to great city amenities with 30 years of connections.

We still in the back of our minds have those dreams of living in the mountains, but when we seriously looked, those dreams and what we envisioned it might be like vs. reality were a mismatch, and it wasn't a choice that we thought made sense for us.

Side note: We have vacationed in Durango/Telluride before (skiing), but have never been to Grand Junction (heavily discussed as a place people like living in other posts on this thread). We aren't looking any more at real estate or other places to live when vacationing, but lol (our next vacation we are doing will be to Moab, UT - a place we've never been before and it's an hour and 45 minutes from Grand Junction. We'll be there late April / early May. I'm more into forest and trees than rock formations, etc. but it will be very cool to visit some National Parks that we've never been to before.)

[suzco]

Originally Posted by Kathy884

I'll just share our experience when we were having some of the same questions in case this gives you any food for thought. . .

Thanks, Kathy.

And thanks to all of you who've responded so far - exactly the kind of stories, insights and suggestions I'm hoping to hear.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Kathy884

.... Sometimes looking elsewhere is what you need to do to really appreciate what you have ...

Put on those ruby red slippers, we all have a pair, tap your heels together three times, and repeat ... there's no place like home ... there's no place like home ... there's no place like home ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooM-RGUTe2E

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Put on those ruby red slippers, we all have a pair, tap your heels together three times, and repeat ... there's no place like home ... there's no place like home ... there's no place like home

I think that is crap.
I was born in Hartford, CT. Hartford is now a decaying dump.
I grew up in upstate NY, northern NJ and Boston suburbs. Long Winters, muggy Summers, bugs, decaying infrastructure.
Why would I ever go back "home" when I can enjoy: mild Winters, dry Summers, bug-free, and newer infrastructure?

[twowilldo]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Put on those ruby red slippers, we all have a pair, tap your heels together three times, and repeat ... there's no place like home ... there's no place like home ... there's no place like home ...

I dunno. I'll take those ruby slippers and give it a try; I would love to come back to Colorado.

We upped and moved over 2 years ago to SWFL and honestly not a single day has gone by when I still don't long for my non-humid, bug-less home where I lived the first 60 years of my life. I was skeptical over retiring and heading to the Wrinkle Rancher State... and wanted to rent before buying... unfortunately that didn't happen (long story).

With family still there, I am setting up a seasonal rental for next Summer (Western Slope). I can get away from this dreadful humidity, hurricane season anxiety (give me a blizzard any time, no problem) and see my kids, mom and brother. Hopping on a jet and flying 4 hours to DEN only to spend a few weeks at a time just isn't enough for me.

Your observations are great, you recognize your direction. Now finding the location? Dunno. Put your stuff in storage and spend time in different places, in state and out. I think it will be evident over time.

[DOUBLE H]

Suzco, another area that doesn't get talked a lot about is the Rye, Colorado City, and the Westcliffe area in southern Colorado, west of Pueblo. Small towns yet if you need the Sam's Club, WalMart, Safeways, etc. stores, you are only 30 minutes away from Pueblo.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

Suzco, another area that doesn't get talked a lot about is the Rye, Colorado City, and the Westcliffe area in southern Colorado, west of Pueblo. Small towns yet if you need the Sam's Club, WalMart, Safeways, etc. stores, you are only 30 minutes away from Pueblo.

Thanks for that suggestion - that's an area that I've never really spent time exploring.

Anything appealing about Trinidad environs?