Glenwood Springs Area- Churches, etc. (Aspen, Carbondale: 2015, rentals, house) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

whitneyelyse · 03-05-2014, 10:25 AM

Hello!

My husband and I are considering a move to Glenwood Springs after he is done with school in May 2015. We are going to be out there for him to interview and us to check on the area the end of August/ beginning of September. One thing that is important to us is that we find a church when we move to the area. I would love to check out one or two services during the 2 weekends we will be there in hopes to get a head start on the search. My husband was raised Catholic, but I am not Catholic so we have been attending bible based type Christian churches in the areas we have lived. We are looking for a church we can really get involved in and be a part of the community. Any suggestions for churches or suggestions of activities to do while we are in town would be greatly appreciated. I am a very social person so I am looking to get connected quickly. Also, if anyone just wants to give a general positives and negatives for living in this area, that would be appreciated too.

Thank you!

ELCO5280 · 03-05-2014, 02:48 PM

Love Glenwood Springs we've vacationed there every year since I was a kid- you of course have to check out the hot springs pool and the Glenwood Caverns. Churches I would have no idea but I have family that used to live up there. Do know that Glenwood is increasing becoming too expensive to live. Vail and Aspen have forced some middle of the road wealth to the outskirts and Glenwood is one of the locations they've called home. That has thus forced a ton of blue collars out of Glenwood and further west near GJ. So hopefully it's a decent paying job to afford the location.

Littlekw · 03-05-2014, 02:56 PM

I remember as a kid going to Glenwood Springs for church groups with family and other church members. From what I remember (I don't know if it's still the same), Glenwood has a very active Methodist Church. It used to network a lot with other churches in the area. Might be worth checking into.

whitneyelyse · 03-06-2014, 07:21 AM

Thanks for the advice. ELCO I have been to the pool once (5 years ago we did a very short trip to the area in the winter. The pool and the X games was like the only thing we did due to traveling and time restrictions.) it is great, but I have not seen the caverns and will be sure to check it out. I am aware of the increased cost of living and that is part of the reason it is not a sure thing yet. Thank you for the heads up, it is definitely a shock when moving from Indiana. We have some family in this area that can help us get established, but the family is catholic so that is why I don't really know anything about the christian churches in the area. The job is actually in Basalt, but Gleenwood seems to be a little less expensive because it is about 20 minutes further from Aspen. They say there are no more millionaires in Aspen because the billionaires have run them out. It is CRAZY expensive.

We don't know what the job will pay yet, but we are expecting it to be at least $20,000/yr more than he would make in Indiana. Even with that extra $20,000 I am not sure how we would ever be able to buy a house in the area. It seems like the minimum price for something ok is $350,000 and that is for something pretty small with no land and probably needs some TLC. If only the job was in Glenwood Springs I would consider living west of there where housing is a little cheaper, but it would be a long commute for my husband. Right now I am more thinking of it as a cool adventure that could turn into something permanent. We always have the option to move again if everything is just too expensive.

Littlekw, I am not really opposed to Methodist or even Baptist or Presbyterian if they have the right kind of environment. I don't have a problem with Catholic either, but I'm not passionate enough about it to convert and I don't think I would feel at home if we attended and I didn't convert. We normally find that the Christian/ non-denominational type churches fit us best. I really like our church now because they aren't afraid to preach all of the truth of the Bible even if it could offend someone, but they also do it with compassion and not hate or judgement. Since I am very social I would want to get plugged in with a bible study and other opportunities to make close friends right away.

Dogmama50 · 03-06-2014, 08:09 AM

Don't discount living in Basalt or Carbondale, GWS isn't that much less expensive when factoring in commute time and gas.

whitneyelyse · 03-07-2014, 06:38 AM

Dogmama, I'm not really familiar with the area, but it seems like if you lived in Carbondale or Basalt you would be going into Glenwood Springs for anything you need. Is this correct?

Although we are from rural towns in Indiana where the closest grocery is 20 minutes away, we have lived near conveniences for the last like 8 years when we went to college and after. It is nice to not have to plan a 20 minute drive just to get something you need. That is part of the reason I was thinking Glenwood could be better too. That and the fact that when I look for rentals Basalt and Carbondale have very little selection and it seems like we would get a lot less for our estimated $1500 rent budget.

The area is different from what I am use to. The towns have small populations, but there is a lot of businesses for the size. I guess that is partly due to tourism and the fact that nothing is close by. A town that size in Indiana wouldn't have nearly that many businesses, but most of them would be in reasonable driving distance to a bigger town. Plus they use the land for farming rather than commercial.

Dogmama50 · 03-07-2014, 05:05 PM

Basalt has Whole Foods, City Market and a number of local shops and restaurants, it's has a nice downtown area and then another development named Willits, both walkable, safe and nice communities.

Carbondale's downtown is very cute, there is also a City Market in the area as well as some shops. Blue Lake is between the two and a nice neighborhood.

GWS has Target, Walmart, Petco, Pier1, BB & Beyond and Lowes, a nice downtown area but it is a bigger community with some less desirable areas. It's a nice town to visit, I go there for my shopping trips from Vail but it can get busy with tourists and traffic and to me lacks a small town feel.

Since you mentioned that you are a very social person I suggested Basalt and Carbondale, our neighbors there were wonderful, I worked in a boutique downtown and had a great sense of community there. There isn't a lot of inventory right now for rentals, when ski season is over people start moving and do so up until about October.