What's wrong with Colorado?

So I'm a east coast native born and raised in Pennsylvania and thinking of starting fresh.

In Colorado now visiting and it seems like paradise.

A little south of Denver I visited a junkyard and the cars are rust free. Pulled some parts from a 91 domestic like it was only a year old. (yes there is some rust, but I'm from NEPA)

Craigslist Denver, boulder etc are filled with SO many awesome sub 2k vehicles. Not just cavalier's.

Pikes peak hill climb, pikes peak raceway, High plains raceway, active scca regions. Big mountains and people driving around in lifted muddy 4wd's. Lots of people on bicycles. Saw someone on a dual sport motorcycle with knobby tires mud and a shirt and tie in traffic.

Whats not to love?

Altitude has its effects and there is 85 to 91 octane..Haven't seen 93 or 94. Also noticed the fiance's honda has CA emissions equipment, is that mandated? Are there bad e-checks? turning into CA? Can I put a flathead v-8 in my C4 if I'm that demented?

Also noticed people are paranoid drivers, heard the police are notorious for being generous with minor infractions: 5mph over tickets, not stopped for a full 3 seconds at a stop sign, no left turns with double yellow etc. Speed limit 75 and everyone seems to be driving 60-65??

Whats the good and bad? Worth the move?

Cost of housing is my biggest complaint and why we are looking at relocating down to Texas. The market tanked so if you are in a good position to buy a house now would be the best time.

Avoid Denver and Arapahoe county if possible. Jefferson county has the cheapest taxs.

Traffic sucks. Onve you get out town if your not doing 10 over the limit your going to get ran over.

Just got back from HPR. NASA ran a three day weekend with a 3 hour enduro today. Sweet track with lots of elevation changes.

We have HPR/PMP/PPIR/Lajunta raceway and NASA RM hits Motorsports park Hastings in Hastings Nebraska.

I love it here and moved here from south west Iowa when I was in my ealry twenties. Now that I have a wife and kids the cost of living is really getting to me. If I where still single I wouldnt be looking at moving. However there are a lot of other places just as nice where housing is 40-50% less.

oh and boulder sucks. Unless you are one of those poeple.

Answer: Denver. It's Colorado's Austin, but with a lot more sway over how the state is run. Boooo.

Osterkraut wrote: Answer: Denver. It's Colorado's Austin, but with a lot more sway over how the state is run. Boooo.

Care to elaborate? I'm from the north east, not familiar with southern analogies. Is this like a NY state governed by NYCity officials? I feel they ruined that state. I have not discussed politics with anyone from this area.

Cost of living does seem pretty bad. But I have also been considering Massachusetts. Job prospects are good no matter where I go. For now. In healthcare field, hospitals everywhere...

I don't think I can do Texas weather. I need snow sometimes.

We are looking at austin Texas. The dealerhsip really wants me down there and the housing prices at least in north austin around the Round Rock area look pretty good compared to here.

I heard south Austin is just like Boulder Colorado. Uber liberal and pretty wierd.

CaptainSpaulding wrote: We are looking at austin Texas. The dealerhsip really wants me down there and the housing prices at least in north austin around the Round Rock area look pretty good compared to here. I heard south Austin is just like Boulder Colorado. Uber liberal and pretty wierd.

Make sure you can deal with the traffic!!! Austin traffic is bad around the rush-hours.

I spent a week in Austin recently. It seemed like a cool town, but the traffic is rediculous and the street layout is absolutely the worst I've ever seen.

And I lived in Atlanta!

CaptainSpaulding wrote: We are looking at austin Texas. The dealerhsip really wants me down there and the housing prices at least in north austin around the Round Rock area look pretty good compared to here. I heard south Austin is just like Boulder Colorado. Uber liberal and pretty wierd.

Just sayin'

daytonaer wrote: I don't think I can do Texas weather. I need snow sometimes.

You have to get pretty far south in Texas before you're guaranteed not to get snow.

ultraclyde wrote: I spent a week in Austin recently. It seemed like a cool town, but the traffic is rediculous and the street layout is absolutely the worst I've ever seen. And I lived in Atlanta!

+1 -- Austin and ATL seem to have the worst traffic I have ever seen.....makes the traffic here in DFW seem not so bad.......at least we have mutiple routes to take N-S and E-W. Austin doesn't and ATL have all the roads suck during drive time......

Poor guy, asking about Colorado and gets a bunch of opinions about Texas.

Not that I have anything to add.

Absolutely nothing is wrong with Denver. I freaking love it here. I moved here from Ohio last July. So far best decision we have ever made. MY housing is actually cheaper here (I rent). Best damn place on earth.
Here is a tip though stay the hell out of Aurora. Don't live there don't go there. It is like the armpit of Denver. If you like normal life live in the SWD if you like hipster yuppie crap live in north Denver. If you are still here go down to 16th street mall you will never want to leave. I freaking love it here. You really cant go wrong making the move.

What about Colorado Springs?

Turbo.

Miata?

Definitely Miata - where do you think the world headquarters of Miata performance is?

Keep in mind that Colorado is not restricted to the "front range" - all that stuff on the NE side of the mountains like Denver. There are some very cool towns in the mountains with a more relaxed attitude. You'll also find that emissions tests tend to be restricted to the big city as well. Wanna put a flathead in the C4? Go for it. You're stuck with 91 octane fuel though. It's not quite as bad as California gas, but still not great.

The track situation is pretty shallow. We lost a bunch of tracks a few years ago. Pueblo, HPR and PPR are pretty much it.

One warning, though. If you move to Colorado, you are required to buy an old Subaru or a Toyota pickup truck. Also, six months after you arrive, start complaining about all the new arrivals that are spoiling the state.

If you think Austin's traffic is bad you need to visit Houston. On second thought stay far away from Houston. While I haven't been caught in Austin's rush hour in a few months it wasn't bad at all. Dallas is worse, Houston or L.A. are THE worst and Fort Worth is one of the best.

For rush hour in Fort Worth I slow down from 70 to 65. Now that's cool!

I am not a big fan of Colorado. I have relatives there and it's one of the stinkiest places I've ever been. There are feed lots everywhere where they cram cattle nose to tail and don't let them roam. The stench is unbearable.

In the winter Colorado is the ugliest place I've ever been too. Everything, including the houses are poop brown. You see some white and a few evergreen things up in the mountains but the vast majority of the state is monotone.

I love Colorado, at least the parts I've visited.

...That is to say Grand Junction Colorado, home of Flyin' Miata world headquarters. Beautiful area of the country, seemed to be a good mix of hippy / artisan / laborer / rich guy personalities.

It's my #1 choice for homesteading after the zombies come.

daytonaer wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: Answer: Denver. It's Colorado's Austin, but with a lot more sway over how the state is run. Boooo.

Care to elaborate? I'm from the north east, not familiar with southern analogies. Is this like a NY state governed by NYCity officials? I feel they ruined that state. I have not discussed politics with anyone from this area.

Pretty much. Or the disparity between urban southern Pennsylvania and the north western parts.

I loved Colorado but I was there during the summer. The locals around Silverton told me they had 256 inches of snow the previous winter (1994). Ummm, no thanks.

I had an employee who grew up there, he said the local economy makes it difficult to get ahead. His words: the only way to be a millionaire in Colorado was to bring 2 million with you.

carguy123 wrote: I am not a big fan of Colorado. I have relatives there and it's one of the stinkiest places I've ever been. There are feed lots everywhere where they cram cattle nose to tail and don't let them roam. The stench is unbearable.

I'm guessing you've only visited the part of the state that is really Nebraska and Kansas under different branding. Get into the mountains.

Silverton is a hard-core place in the winter by just about any measure. Did the locals mention how many days of the year they were cut off due to avalanches? There's also not much employment other than tour guiding there. It's not a good example of the Colorado economy, it's basically a gold mining ghost town that gets a delivery of tourists once a day for two hours on the Silverton-Durango train.

It's good around here - we can visit the snow (there's an 11,000' mountain on the edge of town and we're spoiled for skiing without the lift lines) but we don't have to live with it. This photo was taken on January 1st - and the skiing was pretty good in the mountains. Those cliffs in the background are red, not poop brown

My Brother moved from Pittsburgh to Vail, then Boulder. Never saw anything wrong with Colorado, and I would agree.

Oh, and being in shape is contagious here. In Ohio I was fat and happy now I'm busting my ass to get in shape. Just to do it. There are also like 300+ days of sun No bullE36 M3 there really are 300+ days of sun here. I berkeleying Love this place.

I've been in Colorado now for 11 years - wouldn't live anywhere else. Random comments:

The higher the altitude, the lower the octane requirements, so that's one reason why our fuel is somewhat lower octane than other, lower areas,

Snow - depends on altitude and what directions the storms come from. Montrose, about 30 miles north of me, is around 6000 feet and doesn't get much snow at all most winters. I'm at 8700 feet outside of Ouray, and during the 11 years I've been here, my annual totals have varied between 92 inches and 230 inches. Last four years have averaged 196. The only predictable thing about Colorado weather is its unpredictability. In 1995, I think, I was covering Pikes Peak for GRM on July 4th and we got blown out by snow - even Colorado Springs had snow on the ground on the 4th that year.

As Keith said, if you're a Miata person the answer is Grand Junction - around 5000 feet IIRC, nearby mountain country, nearby red rock country (Colorado National Monument), and a great Kart track (and FM). Yes, you can see Elvis in Junction - really!

Jeff Foxworthy did a series of "You Might Be from Colorado if..." one-liners, and they are all true.

Your wardrobe might need some tweaking if you land in one of the smaller towns - in the winter you'll often see folks in down vests, cutoffs and hiking boots. In summer you may use a lighter vest and flip-flops.

Dead on about the need for a Subie or Toy 4WD, preferably with a kayak on the roof. Even if you aren't a kayaker.

I have a picture of my wife (a rare Colorado native, not an import) at the top of Engineer's Pass. Flip-flops, shorts and a fleece vest

The lower octane fuel works great for naturally aspirated cars, but us with the turbochargers still need the good stuff