MRG
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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If locals here treated Texans poorly there wouldn't be much town. During tourist season they outnumber locals.
Move to Colorado?
- Thread starter BigMoneyJim
- Start date
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
We spend 2-3 weeks in CO every Sept (except this one, of course) and have never felt we were treated poorly.
Hermit
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
That is especially true in the southwest quarter of the state. It's not that far from Texas, but much cooler in the summer. Also good skiing in the winter. I don't think the Texas license plates outnumber the Colorado plates, but there are a bunch.
I'm not too sure about that. Purgatory seemed to be a particularly popular spot for Texas plates from what I remember. And I can remember days when I sat next to a Texan every time I rode a lift.
Well, now I've got the idea lodged in my tiny mind, so time to start thinking about where to go in January.
Well, now I've got the idea lodged in my tiny mind, so time to start thinking about where to go in January.
WyomingLife
Recycles dryer sheets
If your lives revolve around windshields and license plates, please don't come here. Ever.
Stay in Colorado.
Stay in Colorado.
MRG
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Fourth of July weekend and Presidents day weekend(on a good year). We just stay home.
I like Colorado, a lot. I lived there for 6 months and enjoyed it. Regarding place to live, there is no free lunch. IMO family is the first priority.
Colorado in general is growing, which means infrastructure will be stretched and taxes need to be raised to accommodate increasing population. This applies to the cities of note such as metro Denver, Boulder, Springs, Ft Smith. Many of the newcomers to CO are from California and Washington (Seattle area).
Political climate as noted needs to be considered, whether that will be an objection to you or not.
Away from the cities of note, local economies are seasonal and based on tourism, not a positive IMO. Weather is extreme, mainly as regards snowfall and cold (mountain areas). Road closures are not unusual. That might be, or might not be, an objection to you. Living in Texas, you may be accustomed to severe weather, such as hurricanes.
Eastern Colorado is a dry, near desert, plain. And not particularly pretty, IMO.
To me, Colorado isn't a place to live, but rather a place to visit often. Again, using the family-is-most-important rule. I have no family in CO. If I had 6 generations and two extended families in Colorado, it would make the most sense of any place in the world to live.
Colorado in general is growing, which means infrastructure will be stretched and taxes need to be raised to accommodate increasing population. This applies to the cities of note such as metro Denver, Boulder, Springs, Ft Smith. Many of the newcomers to CO are from California and Washington (Seattle area).
Political climate as noted needs to be considered, whether that will be an objection to you or not.
Away from the cities of note, local economies are seasonal and based on tourism, not a positive IMO. Weather is extreme, mainly as regards snowfall and cold (mountain areas). Road closures are not unusual. That might be, or might not be, an objection to you. Living in Texas, you may be accustomed to severe weather, such as hurricanes.
Eastern Colorado is a dry, near desert, plain. And not particularly pretty, IMO.
To me, Colorado isn't a place to live, but rather a place to visit often. Again, using the family-is-most-important rule. I have no family in CO. If I had 6 generations and two extended families in Colorado, it would make the most sense of any place in the world to live.
timo2
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I wouldn't worry about being from out-of-state in Colorado. Everyone else there is from out-of-state. And Colorado is not any different than other tourist areas in the western mountains of North America. There are always some people resentful of 'outsiders', but they are easy to ignore, and they themselves are probably not natives to the area.
I've lived in both TX and CO and visited back and forth with out-of-state plates. Only once did I ever have an issue, back in 1982 when I was driving in Colorado with Texas plates. Some guy flipped me off, apparently for being a Texan. But when he passed me, he had New York plates!!. So it was not a Colorado person at all causing the trouble.
But when I've had to move anywhere, I've always changed plates quickly, as you never know about people. Local criminals in some areas of the world target vehicles with out-of-state plate and also rental cars.
Regarding locals and tourist interactions: One time I spent quite a while working in Yukon, Canada, and local people I knew were sitting in their front yard (away from the tourist zone) drinking beer. A tourist came by and started taking their photo, so the locals dropped their pants and mooned them! So pick your tourist area, and there will be stories of visitors being treated differently.
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hanginthere
Dryer sheet aficionado
Im getting vibes that you really want the conveniences of the big city but just not the climate, or the concrete jungle views, or the traffic. But guess what. I lot of other ETs want the same thing and they end of turning it into what they left. Even though your an introvert you seem to want to remain closer to your kin and close friends. Thats good. What will you do if they need help or you do if your 2000M away? I still live in my home town in LA and my worst complaint is the horrendous heat. I'll never learn to like it. I've back packed a lot in ARK and eastern OK is also nice. I'm always amazed at how many weekenders are from DFW. I wished I could have purchased a condo in Hot Springs back in 09 when RE crashed. Could have bought one for a steal. You can still find areas closer in the hottest months. Hell i've even thought about driving to Nova Scotia just from say July through September to escape the worst. Read Hermit's post again and keep this in mind. Close big city+beautiful scenery+pleasant climate+moderate weather= THE LEFT. I have a friend whose company here bought out a big company in Denver that was in financial trouble. They about drove him crazy. Spoiled yuppies(no museums, no bagel shop etc.) He had to entertain one divorced lady who was looking for schools and she complained to his friend, a school principal about the "racial" dynamics in the South. The point is you can take long breaks, even for months, w/o totally pulling up roots.
COcheesehead
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I like the Texans in Colorado. They seem to respect and appreciate what we have here.
Out-to-Lunch
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
That was in the Before Times!
He did specify recently. I suspect Texans are viewed with more suspicion now than they were in, say, 2019.
davebarnes
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You can write that CenturyLink bought Qwest.
timo2
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That was in the Before Times!
I have to defend my former domicile here, since I very recently left. And I have lived in both States, and DW is from Texas. I never noticed Colorado views towards Texans changing. It's always been a mix of opinions, with no consistency either way. Plus there are a heck of a lot of former Texans living in Colorado. Like most places, people just want to live their lives in peace and don't really care where people are from. Perhaps Texans are a little more hyper-sensitive these days, rather than Coloradans changing?
Out-to-Lunch
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Did you leave subsequent to, say, May 2020?
timo2
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No. It's been a couple of years, but I'm close by in NM. By the timing, can I surmise that this has some correlation to coronavirus and the 'off modum subiecti' of m*sk compliance? If so, I can understand that. I do know colorado residents that called the police on tourists in Vail for not wearing the unmentionable facial attire. So that is going on. My BIL from San Antonio is visiting Vail next month with his wife, so I'll have him report back.
Out-to-Lunch
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Yes, that was my implication. I should be very quick to note that I have no idea if that is the cause -- simply my speculation!
oscar1
Recycles dryer sheets
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https://www.amazon.com/How-Retire-H...1598665801&sprefix=How+to+reti,aps,176&sr=8-1
Retirement is more about relationships, friends, and experiences than what you are looking at out your window. It takes years to build up enough experiences with people to eventually call them friends or trusted advisors. Be careful moving away and having to start that all over again.
Retirement is more about relationships, friends, and experiences than what you are looking at out your window. It takes years to build up enough experiences with people to eventually call them friends or trusted advisors. Be careful moving away and having to start that all over again.
COcheesehead
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Moving doesn’t mean you have to give up your friends.
davebarnes
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I love living in Denver, Colorado.
Climate—no bugs. It is quite dry.
Real estate taxes—typically 0.5% of market value. Senior discount at age 65 if 10 year ownership.
Income taxes—less than 5% and $20K of pension/SS is excluded.
Government—competent and honest. [mod edit]
Restaurants, museums, trails. Some people even get excited by all the sports, but not me.
Climate—no bugs. It is quite dry.
Real estate taxes—typically 0.5% of market value. Senior discount at age 65 if 10 year ownership.
Income taxes—less than 5% and $20K of pension/SS is excluded.
Government—competent and honest. [mod edit]
Restaurants, museums, trails. Some people even get excited by all the sports, but not me.
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Katsmeow
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OK Several things. To research go to City-Data forum. You want to look two places. First, there is a retirement forum. It is a general retirement forum but people do often ask about what is like to live in a particular locale. This tends to get an older demographic than the general forum. Then, go to the Colorado Forum and go to the Colorado Springs forum.
A few years ago we lived in the Houston area and were deciding where to retire to. We actually ended up not too far from where you live now (we are in NE Tarrant County). I considered moving out of state but my research at City Data made me determine that the place I was considering (not Colorado) was not a good idea. One issue was that medical care where we were considering wasn't top notch. I would be flying to LA if I had a serious health condition. I don't, but things change. This is something to consider. How many medical schools are in the state. Do people graduate and go elsewhere for residency because there aren't good options in the stay. If you need a transplant are they available in state or do you need to go elsewhere? How are they on cancer care? And so on.
Texas is not so great for the pre-65 ACA crowd. It is better than nothing. Colorado is probably better though about insurance than Texas is. We don't know what will happen to the ACA suit. If it gets overturned I seriously doubt that Texas will really do much to protect anyone with pre-existing conditions. Colorado or Washington is probably more likely to do so.
I would suggest that you rent when you first move. We were going to do that for at least 6 months. That way, if you hate it you feel like you aren't financially tied. Also as you live in the area you may learn more about it and where you want to live.
For someone living where you live now, you hare reasonably close to pretty much everything. Irving is in a great location to give you access to stuff in both Dallas and Tarrant county. I am not sure that Colorado Springs will give you that kind of coverage. That may be OK but just think about it. Another option to moving, if you haven't done this, would be to just rent an Air BnB (or similar option) for a month or so and see how much you like there area before moving.
So we ended up staying in Texas, albeit moving from the Houston area to DFW.
A lot of people from Texas like Colorado. I never considered it because I don't like cold or mountains. And, I like having everything available close by so anything smaller than Denver would not have suited me.
This (at least a month). Rent first, if you are considering buying. Renting also lets you know your neighbors.
We lived in CS for 3 yrs (manitou 1 yr and then off 21st st. on constellation near Cheyenne hs) and really liked it. Worked near AFA north entrance.
Other good options: Woodland Park (not hot like the springs can get), Salida or Buena Vista, Basalt (near aspen) or Carbondale -- those were some of our favorite places. Had family in Basalt and used to make the Independence Pass drive frequently.
[mod note] Multiple posts were removed discussing mail in voting that were unrelated to the thread topic. That is a politically charged issue, and when it does come up, needs to be addressed carefully so it pertains to the thread subject and doesn’t lead to off topic debate.
Hermit
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I got a bad case of frostbite on Independence Pass one 4th of July weekend. I was on a motorcycle along with my wife and not prepared for heavy snow. We are talking about Colorado so you always need to be prepared for foul weather in the mountains.
COcheesehead
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Anywhere over 12,000 ft, as is Independence Pass, should be respected.
GravitySucks
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Stopped for dinner at a Bar/Restaurant in Wyoming.
Someone walked in a half hour later and said he sees a NY plate in the parking lot, probably here to tell us how we're doing it wrong. His buddy replied, At least it's not a Texas plate. I bought them a beer and he introduced me to Pendeltons whiskey.
I like Wyoming a lot. Thought Laramie would be a nice place to land. I remember standing in snow past my ankles and that was the only part not getting eaten by mosquitoes my first visit to your state. (Medicine Bow in July.)
