bedroom communities around Durango? (Cortez, Pagosa Springs: houses, school, subdivisions)

[Mr_Dove]

I just recently learned what a "bedroom community" is. It is a town, usually outside of a more expensive community, where local residents who work jobs with averages salaries tend to live.

Looking at the map only Mancos and Bayfield seem close enough to commute.

We really love isolated communities that are further from the city (but not too far). It's not a requirement though. Our current home is 1200 people and we're about 20 miles from any shopping.

Are there any communities north or south of Durango?

[delta07]

Originally Posted by Mr_Dove

I just recently learned what a "bedroom community" is. It is a town, usually outside of a more expensive community, where local residents who work jobs with averages salaries tend to live.

Looking at the map only Mancos and Bayfield seem close enough to commute.

We really love isolated communities that are further from the city (but not too far). It's not a requirement though. Our current home is 1200 people and we're about 20 miles from any shopping.

Are there any communities north or south of Durango?

Have you tried the search function on the forum? There are tons of posts about living in Durango and the communities around it. I'd start there first.

[NW Crow]

Ignacio, southeast of Durango, has about 700 people in town.
The Hermosa area about 10 miles north of Durango is unincorporated but has a cluster of development at several different price points.
If you don't mind small unincorporated areas, you could look at Red Mesa SW of Durango along Highway 140 or Bondad about 18 miles due south on Highway 550. Or Oxford, about halfway between Durango and Ignacio. Or the Hesperus area about halfway between Mancos and Durango.
If you have money, you could look at property on the west shore and north of Vallecito or up LaPlata Canyon (west of Durango) near Mayday.
Or you are willing to live further out, check out the Town of Dolores.
Or Arboles, southeast of Durango, on the Navajo reservoir.

There are plenty of bedroom small or large subdivisions, too many to list.

[Let's Go Here]

The population of La Plata County is about 35,000, a good chunk of which is unincorporated. The majority of folks who work in Durango live in the surrounding area because the town is too expensive and too congested. I know a handful of folks who commute from as far away as Pagosa Springs, Cortez and Farmington, NM as well.

I've never experienced it, but from what I understand, the morning and evening commute from to and from Bayfield is brutal year-round. The majority of the highway is 2-lane, including a 2-mile "wildlife detection zone" where there is no wildlife fencing and multiple vehicle-deer collisions every week.

Tell us more about yourself (family size, housing wants, etc.) and we can give you more pertinent information.

[CAVA1990]

Bedroom communities are usually residential suburbs or exurbs of heavily commercial/industrial big cities. Seems funny to hear that used in the context of Durango.

[parfleche]

I would choose Mancos 25 minute drive to Dgo no lights easy drive if you can do the icy winter roads. coming from Ignacio or Bayfield or the mesa is now a major PITA with all the lights trafic and subdivisions. Moved to Montezuma county 17 years ago,best move I ever made.Durango is nothing more than in my way going to jobs,25 min to get there and 20 more to get through the dam mess heading north .Hwy 550 and 160 is the most congested in SW Colorado.Glad I left that area.

[AMB8301]

If there are children involved, this adds an entirely different dynamic. I too would choose Mancos over Bayfield and I did previously do that but children had us driving so much to Durango that we ended up back in Durango. The commute over 160 West moves a lot quicker then the commute to Bayfield. Mancos is a smaller town and in a different county. Like others mentioned, most houses in La Plata county are in the country rather then in-town. The farther out you go that is not centered around a small town (Mancos, Bayfield), do keep in mind bus ride lengths, school zoning, those types of things again if there are children. Another option but not a town, is some of the popular rural subdivisions, Durango West I and II or Edgemont and Edgemont Highlands along with numerous smaller ones in the valley. There you would have paved roads, snow plowing taken care of in the winter, some houses feel more rural then other. We lived in one of those subdivisions for years, it was quiet and with our particular house backing to green space, it lived like we were in a more country setting then what we actually were and were 7 miles to Durango.