Colorado people...

So...Ryan and I have been talking recently about potentially moving to Colorado in a couple years. Nothing set in stone or anything, but Ryan's always wanted to live there, I've never so much as visited.

So I'm looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ryan seems pleased with the amount of VW dealerships in the Denver area, and if I'm still working for Chuck & Don's, well they have five locations and counting around Denver. Hopefully I'll be college gratutated by then though

I don't know that I have a whole ton of specific questions, so really I'm just looking for anything and everything. Ryan looked into it and I guess the cost of living is about the same for Minneapolis and Denver.

Oh, I do have a question! How many tornadoes do you guys endure every year?

(You don't want to know how long I looked for this gif.)

BUT OMG IT WOULD BE AWESOME IF YOU MOVED HERE.

*ahem*

Colorado is pretty amazing - I've lived here for 18 years (9 in Buena Vista, 1 in Durango, 4 in Pueblo, and 2 in Colorado Springs). Best things: lack of flea/ticks, lots of dog friendly places, lots of places to train, hiking, scenery, winter/snowboarding, fall/color change/cool weather, camping.

Worst things: Winter/snow/ice/driving to work, tourists everywhere, HOT HOT HOT in the summer (especially on this side of the mountains).

Keep in mind that these are all my opinion. I'm not sure about the tornado thing - you hardly ever hear about them touching down in/near the big cities though. They mostly stay farther out east where it's nice and flat. I did find these statistics: Denver Colorado Tornado Risk Grade.

The absolute biggest draw to Colorado? Stuff like this.

OverWilliamsPass by taqroy, on Flickr

AlpineTunnelOut by taqroy, on Flickr

TamichiPass by taqroy, on Flickr

If you want to visit I do have a spare bedroom. And am fully willing to ferry you around Springs/Denver. Just sayin'.....

Edited: Because I can't do math and also to say that I vastly prefer Springs over Denver. Partially because I am a small town girl at heart and Denver is ENORMOUS and partially because I hate driving in Denver so much. Anecdata ftw! But if I were you I would look at both places - can't hurt.

My in-laws (FIL, MIL, SIL and her kids) live in Denver and we've visited them several times. It's beautiful, and I really like it, BUT - if you have any allergies, stock up on your medication. They were miserable out there and all of the in-laws said the same thing.

I love Colorado and I've always ALWAYS wanted to live there. My question though is does CO have an insane wind season at all like New Mexico? That was my only major hate with NM. Really really bad wind seasons.

I've been to CO a few times and have to say I much prefer the springs to Denver... Denver really is huge, too huge for my taste personally though I'd imagine there's more job opportunity in Denver (just a guess based on population and size).

But the mountains.... Ohhh the mountains. *dreams*

Tim has tried to convince me to move to Colorado forever. We even did a trip out there a couple of years ago. I don't think I could because of the lack of deciduous trees. Yup, I'm really that picky. I want woods, I want trees (not pine trees). Tim has a few friends that live out there who actually moved there from Minnesota, they seem to enjoy it.

Spring time can get REALLY windy. I hate it. It's actually a million times better here in Springs than it is in Buena Vista or Pueblo but it still sucks. I haven't experienced the wind season in New Mexico so I can't really compare to that. I know in BV it lasts from March to May usually - here in Springs it only seems to be from March to April and it's much milder.

There are hugenormous aspen groves in the mountains. Like this:

And they're seriously about 12 inches apart - it's crazy. We had to pack an elk out through a grove like that once, I came close to clotheslining myself about a million times. Not. Fun.

For the most part we do just have scrubby little pines or enormous ponderosas though. I love visiting places that have deciduous trees, I'm always amazed at how GREEN everything is.

Depends on where you live. If you're west of Aurora, pretty much none. The Eastern plains get it all.

You should so move here!

The Denver breed ban is hideous. Otherwise is gorgeous in parts and boing(see: like Nevada & Oregon) in others.

Move to Oregon, come on, we have a coast line.

And the green is what it comes down to. I'm spoiled by Minnesota's greenness.

Depends on where you live. If you're west of Aurora, pretty much none. The Eastern plains get it all.

You should so move here! I've got a friend in one of the local VW clubs I can introduce you guys too and there are a number of C&D's around here.

Okay, I'm gonna be the oddball out of those who live in Colorado, as I don't really care for it.

I love love love the mountains. Love them. If I could live in the mountains, I would probably live here forever.

That, and the lack of severe cold, is really the only thing that I like about CO. There are like, no trees, except in the mountains. City runs into city runs into city. You seriously don't know where one ends and the next one starts. It is freaking HOT. Dry heat isn't fun. Be prepared for allergies you didn't know you had. HUGE spiders and snakes.

I grew up in Michigan. Hubby and I decided to try ourselves out here just for the heck of it. We've been here about 8 months. We decided to move back in May. Haha.

I do love all the places to take the dogs to hike. And it is quite dog friendly here. Back home, I remember I could take the dogs into TSC and Family Farm and Home. Here, they can go into Jax, they can go into Lowes, Home Depot, and several other places.

I don't particularly care for Denver. Too many people, too much going on, and the driving is terrible. I have only been to Springs once, so I cannot give an accurate account on that except that it is really pretty. I live in Fort Collins, and I actually quite like it. You are about a 10 minute drive into the mountains. It is a little more rural as well. It is a college town, though. Close proximity to CSU, though that can have it's upsides if you have animals, as they are well known for their veterinary programs. A lot of the vets here work with the college. Also, you are about 20 minutes away from my favorite place ever in CO, which is Eagle's Nest. There is also a super nice hiking/biking trail, and a super secret kind of private dog park thing that is way fun.

The wind is bad in the spring. Here, it kicked up at 5:00p on the dot and went all night from May to late June. Tornadoes I don't think are a huge concern here, but wildfires. They are pretty bad... We almost had to evacuate.

I <3 Steamboat Springs, and if I were to live here forever, I would move to Kremmling. OH! I will miss seeing all the free range cattle.

Sorry this is so long. Pictures to make it better!





High Park wildfire. Started like 10 miles from the campground driveway.


Part of the Burn zone in Livermore.




In Kremmling.

Stupid phone...anyway, yes, trees. Here around the Denver suburbs (Littleton, Highlands Ranch, etc) there are more deciduous trees because landscaping. There are also a ton of cottonwoods, which turn a bright yellow in the fall. Aspens can run the gamut from yellow to deep red apparently. But like Taq said, we're not exactly known for being lushly green--this is technically a high plains desert.

The wind can get nasty sometimes, mostly in the spring, but it's not a constant thing. You just sort of get used to it and learn to carry a brush in your purse.

The Denver Co. BSL sucks balls, but Denver Co. is actually really itty bitty. Most of the bigger, surrounding counties are pretty lax on dogs.

I like living around the Denver metro area (i am so not suited to living in the actual city) because you're smack dab in the middle of the state. It's equidistance to Fort Collins and CoSpgs. Less than an hour to the huge peaks in the central range. Tons of stuff going on all the time. Public transportation!

I don't have a ton to add, but be prepared for the tornado drills. My friend recently moved here from Florida, and for three months, she thought she was going insane and hearing things when they sounded. Eventually, one interrupted our conversation and I said something like "God, I hate those drills." She was like, "YOU CAN HEAR IT TOO?!" :rofl1:

I love it here. I like being near a big city but having lots of escapes to nature. (Denver's not even that big.) Summer can be hot as hell, and BSL is dumb, I know. But it's actually a really dog-friendly city.
Someone mentioned tourists, and that's definitely true. If you don't like being around too many people when you're out in nature, go on a weekday or during an off-season for a particular attraction.
Here are a couple good reasons to come to Colorado:

I didn't know you were in CO!

I have thought about moving to Colorado one day in the future. I'm not sure if I ever will, but I've always wanted to. There's some good sized oil companies out in Denver that I've thought about looking into. But I don't see myself moving for at least 4 or 5 more years if ever.

Oklahoma's kinda boring. There's not much to do here and not much hiking opportunities. I'm pretty terrified of moving out by myself so far away in an area I know nothing about though.

I'd love to live in Colorado, save the nasty BSL!

Colorado is a great place to live. It is hot in the summer and cold in the winter- and majorly dog friendly. It doesn't get super windy like NM, I grew up in NM and it is similarly dry but not as windy or hot.

Negatives- expensive. Not super easy to find jobs.

Positive- everything else. It is gorgeous, the air is clean (other than the occasional fire, lol!), and there is a lot to do. It has a fantastic music scene and some great museums. I would definitely recommend the Botanical Gardens and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Major cities-

Fort Collins: College town, home of CSU, which is one of the best vet schools in the country. Very agricultural, but also very "collegey". CSU is more of the farm type school, as opposed to CU in Boulder. Near a lot of good dog stuff- herding trainers/shows/agility and there are some amazing dog businesses up there.

Boulder- very liberal, most people refer to it as the hippie town. Tons of shopping, beautiful campus (CU) and the whole town is very pretty. Also- it is the home of the world's largest Subaru-only repair shop (You will see Subarus EVERYWHERE! They are the unofficial state car of CO). Pearl Street is a must see for anyone who loves cool little shops and good food. Near Golden, home of Coors Beer and also near Red Rocks.

Denver- Obviously some of the best stuff in CO is in Denver. Coors Field, Mile High Stadium, the Pepsi Center- and downtown has some of the best concert venues and bars that you can find. There are lots of great restaurants and a lot of cool vintage stores. The Denver Center for Performing Arts is wonderful and has a beautiful theater that is pretty famous called the Buell. Also near there is the Colorado Convention Center that has some cool events.

Colorado Springs- Also has a college, but it isn't very large. Colorado Springs is famous for the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, the Olympic Training Center and the Air Force Academy. Manitou Springs has a lot of fun touristy type things to do like the Cog Railway which goes up Pikes Peak, and there is a great zoo called the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Near CO Springs is Pueblo which has the Colorado State Fair.

Any other questions? I know this state like the back of my hand

I don't know a whole lot about it... but my uncle lives out there and I've been probably been 6-7 times over the past few years. I LOVE it. The weather has always been gorgeous, the scenery is just awesome. I do always get congested at first, and often a bloody nose. I think it's just sooo dry, I'm not used to it. So wake up blowing my nose like crazy every morning and my lips get super chapped, LOL. When I went skiing, I was so winded and out of breath walking up our hotel steps because of the altitude.

But yeah overall I've loved it EVERY single time. Not sure I could see myself living there or not though. I didn't know it got so hot? That actually surprises me. The lack of humidity would be awesome though.

I've been through CO and Denver a few times. Not much to say other than I love the scenery and absolutely hate the traffic in Denver.

I wish I could move the mountains a little more north. This area of Montana is pretty flat. And terribly windy.

BTW, how is the area set for VW dealerships?