Affordable houses in Rangely??? (Denver, Grand Junction: for sale, employment, theater)

[DAXhound]

Would appreciate the good and bad of Rangely. Would it beat SE Colorado.

[interloper1138]

You're really casting a wide net! COCheesehead might have some info for you since I believe he's the only forum member that lives relatively 'close' to that region. I've never been up to that part of the state before so unfortunately I can't help you with specifics.

What is your ultimate goal? A cheap house in rural Colorado?

[bluescreen73]

That's my old stomping ground (somewhat). DOUBLE H will know Rangely a lot better than I do, but I do know it is/was a big area for O&G exploration for a long time. The scenery is prettier than the Arkansas Valley.

It's around an hour and a half to Grand Junction via CO-139 over Douglas Pass. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. It has the big hospital (St. Mary's) and the biggest airport for that part of the state. It's also the big shopping/dining hub for Northwestern Colorado.

Meeker is the county seat of Rio Blanco County. It's about an hour east of Rangely on CO-64. That is one thing that will kind of suck if you need to do any business at the courthouse. It sits in a very pretty area just west of the Flat Tops Wilderness. Pioneers Medical Center in Meeker has a fairly highly-regarded Orthopedic Surgery center for a small town.

Dinosaur National Monument, Browns Park NWR, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and Grand Mesa are all within a couple hours of Rangely.

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

That's my old stomping ground (somewhat). DOUBLE H will know Rangely a lot better than I do, but I do know it is/was a big area for O&G exploration for a long time. The scenery is prettier than the Arkansas Valley.

It's around an hour and a half to Grand Junction via CO-139 over Douglas Pass. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. It has the big hospital (St. Mary's) and the biggest airport for that part of the state. It's also the big shopping/dining hub for Northwestern Colorado.

Meeker is the county seat of Rio Blanco County. It's about an hour east of Rangely on CO-64. That is one thing that will kind of suck if you need to do any business at the courthouse. It sits in a very pretty area just west of the Flat Tops Wilderness. Pioneers Medical Center in Meeker has a fairly highly-regarded Orthopedic Surgery center for a small town.

Dinosaur National Monument, Browns Park NWR, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and Grand Mesa are all within a couple hours of Rangely.

How is the Mormon Factor? I was also a bit interested in Meeker. Thanks!

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by DAXhound

How is the Mormon Factor? I was also a bit interested in Meeker. Thanks!

I'm not sure how big they are in Rangely. Craig, where I grew up, has a Mormon Church with several hundred congregants. C-D's data doesn't break religion out by congregation type. You just get Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, None, and Other. I'm guessing Mormons, JW, and Seventh-Day Adventists fall into "other."

FWIW - the Rangely Mormon Church has a Facebook page. It has 39 followers, and they haven't posted anything in 6 years - so there's that.

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

I'm not sure how big they are in Rangely. Craig, where I grew up, has a Mormon Church with several hundred congregants. C-D's data doesn't break religion out by congregation type. You just get Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, None, and Other. I'm guessing Mormons, JW, and Seventh-Day Adventists fall into "other."

FWIW - the Rangely Mormon Church has a Facebook page. It has 39 followers, and they haven't posted anything in 6 years - so there's that.

Is it Craig that will be adversely affected by a large power plant closure?

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by DAXhound

Is it Craig that will be adversely affected by a large power plant closure?

Yes. The power plant and the coal mine are a large part of the city and county tax and employment base. Hayden, the next town east of Craig, is losing its power plant, too.

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

That's my old stomping ground (somewhat). DOUBLE H will know Rangely a lot better than I do, but I do know it is/was a big area for O&G exploration for a long time. The scenery is prettier than the Arkansas Valley.

It's around an hour and a half to Grand Junction via CO-139 over Douglas Pass. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. It has the big hospital (St. Mary's) and the biggest airport for that part of the state. It's also the big shopping/dining hub for Northwestern Colorado.

Meeker is the county seat of Rio Blanco County. It's about an hour east of Rangely on CO-64. That is one thing that will kind of suck if you need to do any business at the courthouse. It sits in a very pretty area just west of the Flat Tops Wilderness. Pioneers Medical Center in Meeker has a fairly highly-regarded Orthopedic Surgery center for a small town.


Dinosaur National Monument, Browns Park NWR, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and Grand Mesa are all within a couple hours of Rangely.

bluescreen73 has pretty much covered all the bases here. Just a couple additions--

It's a town of 2300 or so, it had very little people live there until maybe WW-ll where it became an incorporated town. It has decent medical services--Rangely District Hospital. Several doctors live in the area. It has a couple mom and pop grocery stores plus a Dollar General. For car parts there is a NAPA there. For a small town I like the area, and bluescreen73 makes a good point on the county seat as it is about an hour east of town.

Rangely's altitude isn't a lot higher than Grand Junction but the area has a good old fashioned winter, much like Meeker and Craig. I got on Realtor.com a while ago and saw several houses for sale from 80,000 and up. I met a couple at a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert a few years ago at the Avalon Theater and they said they really like living there. They plan their shopping around an event like that and they pretty much get a room for a night or two as they do their bulk shopping at Sam's Club and other shopping at Target and Mesa Mall.

Colorado 13 is a 2 laner and is generally maintained pretty well by C-DOT. Douglas Pass has a few tricky spots in a snowstorm, one in particular has a hairpin curve.

All in all it's a nice enough town. Like all small towns though, it isn't for everybody. Hope this helps!!

[COcheesehead]

Meeker would be my choice by far. It’s the gateway to the beautiful Flattops and has many outdoor things to do. There also seems to be more money in town to keep things looking good. The economy seems more diverse, medical, tourism, government. Drive down valley and check out the ranches. Spectacular. Cute downtown, good restaurant options, weekly rodeo in summer. Ripple Creek Lodge does nightly family style cowboy (cooked outside) dinners in season and is a fun place to stay or eat. There is also a nice wine bar/cheese shop in town called Blanco Cellars. My wife and I visit every year and enjoy it. It’s small town at its finest. Houses are likely to be more expensive than Rangely. We always considered Meeker as a hidden gem in the state.

Rangley is out there, in many ways and depends on the nearby oil and gas infrastructure for survival. There is also a small community college with a noted dental hygienist program. The town comes across as kind of poor with little in the way of services or food options. South of town is a national historic district, Canyon Pintado and that is worth the effort to get there. Many Native American historic sites. There is a famous recording silo in town https://tanksounds.org/

My hygienist in GJ went to school there and for entertainment/food/shopping they drove over the pass to GJ. 90 minutes each way. Not fun in winter.

[DOUBLE H]

^^^^ Meeker is a nice area. It's also through the roof on prices. I checked out Zillow and Realtor.com a while ago and I didn't see anything less than $500,000. And I've already stated that Rangely has homes starting at $80,000 and up. Cocheeshead does list some interesting things to do around Meeker. I got to know the area a tad more because a few years ago I-70 was closed for a few months due to the rock slides. And to get from Denver to Grand Junction was going through Meeker from Kremmling from Silverthorne from 1-70.