I'm a 22 year resident of CO and Denver. Live the typical boomer lifestyle, live in nice home in suburb and work downtown, kids graduated from college and on live on their own in town.
To me, our growth was above average for many years with people from CA, IL, & TX moving here. Sure, marijuana legalization had some effect, but my county (Douglas) has been on the fastest growing counties ilist n the nation for a long time. In my opinion, home appreciation is more due to lack of proper planning from communities and local governments than the legalization 2.5 years ago. My kids have no chance to buy a home in the near future here and I worry about that.
One aspect of the legalization is the impacts on other business that isn't discussed much. These grow shops and dispenseries can afford to pay more than average and it's hurting mom and pop businesses such that they cannot keep or find good workers. This has hit especially bad in the food and restaurant industry where it's near impossible to find back kitchen staff, e.g. dishwashers and food prep. These people can make $20+ per hour working as a "budtender" instead of the $12 per hour in the food industry. Same for the construction industry.
Not sure where this will all lead in the future. It's been the topic of many social meetings with my friends. We love living here and feel it's a great place for retirement but it's going to be a interesting to see how it plays out.