Small towns with big charm close enough to bigger city for major services (Denver: renting, house)

[brightdoglover]

Montrose and Durango aren't small towns, they are small cities. I think Montrose is up to 31,000 people now (just looked the other day). Salida is pretty small.

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

Montrose and Durango aren't small towns, they are small cities. I think Montrose is up to 31,000 people now (just looked the other day). Salida is pretty small.

Anything < 20k is small to me. OP said he wants a good hs. I didn't realize Montrose grew that much.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

Anything < 20k is small to me. OP said he wants a good hs. I didn't realize Montrose grew that much.

Ridgway, 27 miles away from Montrose, is tiny- about a thousand people and had an excellent high school.

[StealthRabbit]

LaPorte, NW Ft Collins (if you can afford it) will keep you close to services and close to Mtns. Your kids could gain WY residency after HS and get very affordable excellent college in nearby Laramie. Snowy Range is a very nice mtn area, about an hour from NW Ft Collins. Poudre Canyon 10 min west. Buckhorn 20 min west. Downhill skiing is far. XC is near.

Canon City and Woodland Park keep you close enough to CoS for airport and shopping and venues. It is nice to have a 1 hr headstart on the Denver residents fleeing to Mtns. (Either area.... Ft Collins or CoS.)

If you can secure jobs, and deal with cold and wind.... WY and SD are no income tax states without the crowds and political battlefield of Colorado.

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

Ridgway, 27 miles away from Montrose, is tiny- about a thousand people and had an excellent high school.

I've been to Ridgway, Ouray, etc.,very nice area. Just ? how ppl earn a living other than ag., tourism.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

I've been to Ridgway, Ouray, etc.,very nice area. Just ? how ppl earn a living other than ag., tourism.

There are increasing numbers of people who work remotely here.

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

There are increasing numbers of people who work remotely here.

Is the internet that good in the area? SIL is 100% WFH but is in greater Boulder metro.

[brightdoglover]

Yes, I think so. My neighbor works from home "for a big company in San Francisco" and doesn't have any problems. I forget the name of the service but people do work from home doing software and such.

[Melanzana92]

Ouray County did just get a nice connectivity upgrade.

I assume internet service in the towns has been good for a while now, but over 2021 they had fiber installed from Montrose down to Ouray via Loghill Mesa, to connect rural areas. Can't speak for the rural valley along Hwy 550 between Ridgway and Ouray, but for Loghill you used to only have satellite internet until last fall. Unfortunately the quality wasn't very good at all, like maximum speeds of only a few Mbps down.

Now I just tested the internet up on Loghill and I'm shown 222.3 Mbps down, 192.3 Mbps up. At home in Leadville I get about half that (which is still plenty fast in my opinion). I'm not sure how much of the county was just connected but they definitely brought it to Loghill Mesa and the area along Hwy 550 between Ridgway and Ouray. I imagine the connection made existing broadband in Ridgway, etc. even faster.

Also worth noting that I use Google Fi for phone service and it was absolutely terrible/nonexistent all over Ouray County until last month/December 2021 when we came to visit, and I noticed I now have great LTE throughout the county.

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by family first

Looking for a friendlier state that won't be taxing the heck out of people's incomes or eventually retirement incomes.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if Colorado is that state.