Good day CG's, my wife and I are contemplating moving to Colorado, Utah, or Arizona and want to know what areas any of you like. We have been doing searches online for various info but nothing beats word of mouth. We want to be close to the mountains, not so much the desert areas. We are looking at moving in a year or two. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

I love Colorado.

I am in Pueblo, and that might be a bit too much in the plains for you. Colorado Springs is the next city to the north. About an hour north of Pueblo and an hour and change away from Denver. Colorado Springs has a lot of military folks around, with the Air Force Academy and Fort Carson close by.

Pikes Peak is about half an hour outside of town.


Castle Rock is about 45 minutes north of Colorado Springs, and that is where I would like to live. A bit closer to the mountains, so it feels like you are getting away from it all a little more, but there is still good shopping and food around.

There are other towns around there like Parker that seem real nice.

If you really wanna be IN the mountains, and a little bit off the grid, Alamosa is nice. Not much to do, but it is a nice little town.

I've only been to Utah once to ride dirt bikes in the Moab area. I camped there, so I did not see civilization. The first morning I woke up, and left the tent, I watched the sun come up over the rock formations. Just about brought a tear to my eye, it was so beautiful.

But anyway, Colorado is great! Let me know if you need any more details!

If you dislike the humidity in Michigan, you won't believe the difference in Colorado. 100 degrees feels hot, but tolerable. Unlike even 85 with high humidity. I simply cannot tolerate humidity any more. I went back to PA in July after I'd only lived here about ten months, and thought I was gonna die!

I'm sure CSS996 will chime in from Colorado. I went to college there, lived in Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Just a fantastic place to live.
Don't discount a place like Reno, I've been here 24 years. I'm up in the foothills where it's cooler in the summer. Ten minutes to Lake Tahoe.

What kind of weather do you like best? Big difference between Utah and Arizona.
What recreation are you looking for?
Here you can ski in the morning and ride a dirtbike in the afternoon. Go kayacking, hiking/camping in the mountains, do the boating thing at 5 large lakes, go to the air races, balloon races. 4 hours to Napa Valley.
No income taxes here either.

The grass is always greener.... I live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and would love to move out west but my business is here. I'm sure if I moved out west, I would ask myself "why the hell did I move again?".

Good luck on your decision.

Excellent answer and your spot on about the humidity. That gives us some points of interest to look at. I live in a rural town and like the space out here.

I was born and raised here, Michigan is nice. Lots to do if your into hunting and fishing, which I am not. Winters have not been kind to the snow skiing and snowmobiling enthusiasts. We want to choose were we live instead of living by default. My wife's best friend is moving to Oahu, Hawaii in two weeks and it has us thinking. BTW, want to have a giggle, google rent in Oahu, LOL, wow.

Thanks :thumbright:

Edit: Reno, sounds cool. Gonna give that a serious look as well. I did not know about difference in weather between Utah and Arizona.

'Grass is greener' will keep it real. thanks.

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Ha, I moved from Pennsylvania to Colorado where CSS996 is to go to school. Moved back to Pa. with my first engineering job and thought " What the hell did I do". Spent the next 5years trying to get back out west.

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I don't know - I've heard the cops are tough there...



On a true note, though, my buddy moved to Vegas two years ago from Chicago and loves it out there. My cousin is going to Utah on Friday to go mountain biking, too, so I guess it's a great place for that. I've driven through Colorado and what a great scenic place. I could see myself living there.

Keep us posted on your decision, because we're having a party at your new place.

Matthew

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Ah,Pa. 98 degrees,98 percent.

The humidity here yesterday was 7%.

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Yeah.... F that!

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www.visitrenotahoe.com

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Hell, they don't even film that here. We don't have palm trees lining the streets.

Hummmm, does resemble some of the cops here though.

Haha, that's true. They do shoot some of it in Torrance, Cali - I thought I saw bogus on there one episode.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reno_911!

Matthew

I tried Tuscon out for about 6 mos and hated it. It was very well developed but its still desert.
Financially feasible (wages vs housing), but it never cools off at night, some real screwy laws. Felt like I was living in the twilight zone in a little corner of the world. Phoenex is another LA thats even hotter....Ive heard Scottsadale and some surrounding areas is very nice, a little cooler with mountains but have never been there .

Spent a winter in Aurora and Denver, Co. Wasnt bad. Seemed really well developed (this was many years ago), Im just not a snow person. If you like mountains and such its there.

Keep looking, theres something for everyone out there.