Another "Retire in CO" thread... (Denver, Grand Junction: HOA, homes)

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

The interesting thing that jumps out to me in your post is Buena Vista was supposed to be in Colorado’s banana belt - not at 71’ of snow - same as Ridgway. That’s a lot of snow. Give me the Grand Valley - Grand Junction, Fruita and Palisade bringing it home at 16” of snow.

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

I guess I could check a couple more sources to verify accuracy.

It is strange, because Salida is near, and about 900' lower, but much less snowfall, at 43" vs 71".

Anyone from Salida/Buena Vista that can confirm the snowfall differences from personal experiences?

[pikabike]

I did not live in either town but went there many weekends for years. I was very aware of elevation due to my annual seasonal push for aerobic fitness at increasingly higher elevations, up to and including 14ers. The elevation and location difference in that salida (look up the meaning) does make a difference in snowfall.

Same holds true for even smaller elevation changes in smaller geographic pieces. Exposure to typical storm fronts also matters. Microclimates exist in many places, ones that outsiders and even longtime locals might not have noticed.

This kind of piecing parts of the Perfect Place Puzzle simply does not lend itself to accurate assessments in those magazine ratings. Even touring in person can be misleading to an extreme. Nobody knows what is perfect for you except YOU.

[davebarnes]

Berthoud is a suburb of Boulder and Fort Collins. Not in the mountains.

I would look at hospital coverage for each. I think you will eliminate some.
For example, the nearest hospital to Paonia is 30 miles away in Delta.

[brightdoglover]

OP hasn't mentioned general vibe, if such a thing can be quantified in any way. Political/development attitude/population type of people.

[interloper1138]

I lived in Salida for two years and have commuted there for the past four. I have coworkers that live in BV. BV consistently gets more snowfall than Salida. It’s closer to the mountains than Salida and is 1000 feet higher in elevation.

[LHS79]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Berthoud is a suburb of Boulder and Fort Collins. Not in the mountains.

I would look at hospital coverage for each. I think you will eliminate some.
For example, the nearest hospital to Paonia is 30 miles away in Delta.

Not even close- Berthoud is its own town on 287, in between Longmont and Loveland.

[StealthRabbit]

And... Berthoud is the "Garden spot of Colorado", so says it's greeting sign for the last 60+ yrs.... But... It is on the front range prairie, not a great spot for a log home.(tho I built several near berthoud / Carter lake.

Always worth a look if proximity to airport is critical.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by pikabike

I did not live in either town but went there many weekends for years. I was very aware of elevation due to my annual seasonal push for aerobic fitness at increasingly higher elevations, up to and including 14ers. The elevation and location difference in that salida (look up the meaning) does make a difference in snowfall.

Same holds true for even smaller elevation changes in smaller geographic pieces. Exposure to typical storm fronts also matters. Microclimates exist in many places, ones that outsiders and even longtime locals might not have noticed.

This kind of piecing parts of the Perfect Place Puzzle simply does not lend itself to accurate assessments in those magazine and website Best Places ratings. Even touring in person can be misleading to an extreme. Nobody knows what is perfect for you except YOU.

Thanks for the input.

So, what was the goal of your aerobic training? Was it to be able to comfortably climb the 14ers?

I fully understand that we won't find the "perfect place" for us from websites, or even from the helpful people in these forums. You are correct - "nobody knows what is perfect for you except YOU." And, in the end, since we won't be able to visit every town in CO, we'll never really know what "perfect" is. But, for now I'm using the info I'm gathering (websites, forums, pictures, YouTube videos, etc.) as a starting point to get info on towns/areas that might interest us enough to go visit. Then, we'll visit a bunch of areas to whittle down our short-list. Then, probably spend more time in each of those areas. Then, decide on one or two that we're really interested in. Then, start talking to a Real Estate agent about finding a home. I'm sure I'm missing some steps in there, but you get the gist. It's a process to find a good fit for us. Some people know exactly where they want to live, and just have to be convinced to do it. We're convinced we're going to do it, and just have to find where we want to live.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Berthoud is a suburb of Boulder and Fort Collins. Not in the mountains.

I would look at hospital coverage for each. I think you will eliminate some.
For example, the nearest hospital to Paonia is 30 miles away in Delta.

Thanks for the input.

Hmm, I must have missed that info about Berthoud, or just didn't look that closely. It's on the list because of the number of votes, and the fact that it's smallish in size and relatively close to RMNP (~1hr). But, I might strike it from the list if it's not near the mountains.

I do have a column for hospital coverage, but haven't gotten to that research, yet. 30 miles from hospital could mean 40 minutes, or it could mean almost 2 hours, depending on roads. I did say we'd like to be relatively close (~30 min). So, that's on the list of things to research, yet.

[EricBabula]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

OP hasn't mentioned general vibe, if such a thing can be quantified in any way. Political/development attitude/population type of people.

General vibe...

Us: We're decent people (I suppose everyone thinks they are!), who enjoy the simple things: family, nature, the mountains, a beautiful sunrise or sunset, good friends, good food and drink, camping... We haven't been ones to buy lots of toys. Rather, we used our money on vacations. We do enjoy visiting other countries also, learning about the people, cultures, etc.

Town: We would like something on the smaller side (small-town feel) - maybe less than 10,000? We'd probably not live in town, but rather on the outskirts, away from the noise. As stated before, we want to hear the sounds of nature, not the sounds of traffic/city. I like the idea of having a nice downtown that we can walk around, meet and greet people, with a nice hang-out spot that the locals use to socialize. Kinda the way jim9251 described his life in Ridgway, hanging out at the local park, etc. We like the artsy and music scene, and good, fun restaurants with good food and drink and good people to eat and drink with! I KNOW we can find that!! We do not need 5-star restaurants (or hotels, for that matter, when we vacation!).

Tourism: Again, we wouldn't likely live right in town, regardless of where. Let's use an example: Estes Park. Though Estes Park is one of the more touristy towns, and we would rather not deal with tons of tourists, we could make it work there. If the right house came along, remote enough from the town and the tourists/traffic, we would consider it, just to be near RMNP. So, I know some of the towns on my list are definitely more touristy than others, we could make it work if the right house came along in the right location.

Weather: We are not really ski people.....yet. I don't see us doing a lot of downhill, but may take up cross-country skiing. I don't mind the snow, but my wife doesn't really want snow for 8 months out of the year. It's not necessarily the amount of snow during winter - it's more the duration for her.

Jobs: As of now, we do not intend to work for a living in our retirement.

Political: Hate to even bring this up, as it might cause a problem. Let's not get into a political argument, agreed? We are liberal, but have lived in a conservative suburb of Milwaukee, WI since 1992. We have good friends who are conservative and good friends who are liberal. We feel we can get along with most people, and don't mind having intelligent, respectful conversations regarding politics.

Religion: We are Christian but not avid church-goers.

Does this help?