Considering Move to Evergreen (for sale, hair salon, insuring)

[DanBev]

It is kind of amusing to read these posts,we lived in Conifer in Aspen Park in 1971,was mostly summer homes,it snowed on our camper at Chief Hosa Campground on Labor Day.We stayed there while looking for home.
Evergreen was just starting to build homes,where the post office is now was a hot dog stand'
Hiwan and El Pinel were just getting started,Wahkeny was already there.
Just a note on Aspen Park the US Mountain Division trained there.
Governor Lamb would not allow Winter Olympics in Conifer,a lot of history in the area.We still have book on Conifer.
We lived across 285,Coney Island Hot Dog stand,there were 5 homes there.The hot dog stand came from Colfax.
In 1973 our son pen palled with Allen Phipps unknown to us and he had us as guests at Mile High Stadium,he sent us memento's etc.thru 1988.

[himain]

Roads can be downright scary to drive on even in non winter months. Internet issues. I70 can be a total nightmare

[daprara]

just me but
i would NEVER consider a mountain home at this time. Risk of wild fire. Secondly the proptery is worthless if the well dosnt perform goes dry. you need clean portable water 365/24/7 halling it in is not an option.

Living in the Evergreem city limits might have its traid off(s):
improved fire protection
municiple water gas utilities
options for RTD into Denver
improved internet (work at home)

i owned mountain homes since i left college. 1995 i sold and moved out for the above reasons

good luck

[Indigo Cardinal]

Originally Posted by DanBev

It is kind of amusing to read these posts,we lived in Conifer in Aspen Park in 1971,was mostly summer homes,it snowed on our camper at Chief Hosa Campground on Labor Day.We stayed there while looking for home.
Evergreen was just starting to build homes,where the post office is now was a hot dog stand'
Hiwan and El Pinel were just getting started,Wahkeny was already there.
Just a note on Aspen Park the US Mountain Division trained there.
Governor Lamb would not allow Winter Olympics in Conifer,a lot of history in the area.We still have book on Conifer.
We lived across 285,Coney Island Hot Dog stand,there were 5 homes there.The hot dog stand came from Colfax.
In 1973 our son pen palled with Allen Phipps unknown to us and he had us as guests at Mile High Stadium,he sent us memento's etc.thru 1988.

I just got back from viewing a house in that area (I won't be buying it, can't afford it, but it's in a style that I love and they were having an open house, and I needed to get out and do something on the cheap, so that was my thing today.) I was the only one there--the realtor mentioned there was a price drop because they need to move (still out of my price range, even then, so nope). The house was lovely (if it were in my price range, the temptation could be overwhelming).

I did ask him about the insurance for fire in that area, and he said it wasn't as much of a problem there as in other areas. I also mentioned commuting was probably an issue in winter, and he said that they (whoever's in charge) were great about clearing off 285 since so many people have moved up that way now. He also mentioned the internet in that area is good, since so many of the people there work from home. I didn't challenge him on any of the points, because 1.) I admittedly don't know, and 2.) Since I'm not buying the house, I saw no need to do so. (If I were, I'd let *my* realtor look into that and give me the low-down on it, and take his advice.)

I didn't think the drive there was all that bad--it seemed slightly hilly, at most. Back down was a bit different, there were some 5% and 7% grades, but those didn't seem as bad as say, I-70 going up to Genesee. But granted, I was doing this drive on a late summer day, 70 degrees, and mostly sunny. Wintertime with snow and ice could be a whole different thing.

*Would* I move up there, if the opportunity presented itself? I really don't know. It's beautiful, and tempting (I lived in a small mountain village in Germany years ago and loved it, and having to drive a half hour for shopping or theaters didn't bother me, but admittedly, I was much younger then.) However, nowadays, I don't much like shopping, and I prefer to wait for movies to come out on streaming rather than go to the theater, so there's that.

I would have to say that I would have to think very long and very hard about such a move, myself.

[Parnassia]

I lived near Bailey for several years and often drove around the Evergreen area. Even looked at a couple of houses there...briefly. Didn't like the lack of defensible space closer in to town (wildfire). The prettiest log home won't be pretty if its a heap of ashes. Wondering whether the current approaching fire WILL turn it into a heap of ashes is worse. Dependable long term water definitely needs to be considered. Town is crowded and touristy especially on weekends. Found many of the folks were too full of their "Evergreen cachet" for my taste, but maybe that matters to you. As others have said, you may find most of your life is down in Denver and that's far enough away to be a PITA, particularly in winter. But, commuting via RTD bus is very doable. I never drove my car into Denver if I could help it. If the vehicle I'm in is going to take out an elk, I want it to be a lot bigger and belong to someone else.

[whoisjongalt]

I'll try to put it nicely, but the people saying the snow is 8-9 months a year have no idea what they are talking about. You'll probably get some snow from late October/early November until March/April. Evergreen is THE nicest place to live within commuting distance to Denver. It's less than 2000' feet higher than downtown Denver and is basically 10 - 15 degrees cooler than the brutal heat in the summer. Yes, it does get more snow, but usually not a massive amount and it can be gone in a few days. I lived near there (Indian Hills) when I first moved to Colorado and loved it. I was planning to buy a house in Evergreen but ended up on the west side (Green Mountain area) which is only 15 minutes from Evergreen. Sometimes I regret not just moving there instead. It's really only "touristy" in the summer and most of the houses are away from the downtown area anyway.

[COcheesehead]

Average snowfall in Evergreen is 103 inches.
Average snowfall in Denver 56 inches.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

Average snowfall in Evergreen is 103 inches.
Average snowfall in Denver 56 inches.

The foothills do get much more snow than Denver or the close-in burbs do. Where we lived for 15 yrs, south of 285 but at similar elevation to Evergreen/Conifer, we routinely got between 2x and 3x as much snow. The snow season also lasted about two more months. It depends partly on the exposure of the home. Ours was in a microclimate where convergences could create some winter hllishness. Slight variations in where fronts clashed could make the difference between getting only wind and flurries or getting DUMPED on. Sometimes the more northern foothills got it and we did not, and sometimes the other way around. Very rarely, Denver would get walloped but we did not.

If you like wild variations in weather, CO the medium- to high-foothills and mountain regions will deliver in spades.

Coming from IL, the OP shouldn’t have trouble adjusting to cold temps. But steep terrain and winding roads in snow could be problematic, especially with the focus on kiddie activities. Our area was definitely undoable as far as things such as “community playgrounds” or even just small courts for basketball. Flat ground, hahahahahah, no such thing.

[vunderbar]

30 inches of snow fell on Evergreen in mid March of this year. There was snow in late May as well. It's not unusual to have a decent amount of snow in Evergreen by mid-September. Fact is, residents of Evergreen DO have to contend with snow a good 8 months a year. That snow may be sporadic and interspersed with lovely warm sunny days. But most residents keep their shovel handy almost year round for a reason.

[Winterraven]

Hi there. I recently moved to Evergreen from Barrington Hills with two boys ages 12 and 14. They are now starting 7th and 9th grade here. I'm more than happy to chat with you via PM and share everything I learned from our three year move process. I would recommend that you get your information from people who live here as it is a very specific and quirky place that requires local knowledge. While this forum was somewhat helpful, my best sources of information were people from the area together with our incredible realtor. The one thing I would warn you about is to be prepared to spend a lot more than what you spent in IL. We had to double our budget but ended up finding an amazing place in a great location on over 10 acres. Happy to also share what we have learned about the local schools and how we made our decision as to where to send the kids (you can apply to different schools within or outside the district here).