[theDarkSide]

Don't come to the PNW.  You won't like it.

These are not the droids you're looking for.......

Let's all move to Noti!

It's too small for everybody! 

But that's the beauty of it Denny.  The more people who move there, the better the chance for a Walmart, Target, maybe even a Dunkin' Donuts if your lucky 

[kmccaf]

Hey Phil,

Have you considered any of the college towns in the Midwest? Some places that might fit your criteria: Madison, WI, Urbana, IL, Iowa City, IA.

I live in Champaign right now, and they do NOT allow chickens, the bastards, but I lived in Urbana for a long time, and it sounds like your kind of place.

In Urbana however, you can have chickens, it has plenty of upper-middle class neighborhoods. The neighborhoods where professors live are particularly lovely. You are 1 1/12 hrs from Chicago, and we are supposed to get high speed rail connecting us, but who knows when that will happen. We get a great amount of culture, have wonderful places to eat, and a lot of diversity. There are a lot of nice parks throughout the county that have lakes or rivers to kayak in. Obviously it is connected to Champaign which has a great little Brewpub, and many other great features.

Oh, and Urbana has an amazing farmer's market. I could go on. But, I love living in a vibrant college town.

Best,
Kyle

[punatic]

Don't come to the PNW.  You won't like it.

These are not the droids you're looking for.......

THAT is the beauty of living in a place surrounded by a 2,700 mile wide moat.   

[denny]

Don't come to the PNW.  You won't like it.

These are not the droids you're looking for.......

THAT is the beauty of living in a place surrounded by a 2,700 mile wide moat.   

But for me, that's also the downside.  My sister lives on the big island, and previously on Kauai and Maui.  I love HI, it's absolutely gorgeous, but after about 5 days I start feeling claustrophobic and want to get back to where I don't feel so confined.  Yeah, I know it's crazy....

[punatic]

Your sister lives here on the Big Island?  Cool!

This is the BIG island.  As big as the State of Connecticut.  No island fever here. (Puna District is bigger than Kauai).

[phillamb168]

Reviving the thread... For you Coloradans, how necessary is it to go to Denver, from Ft Collins? How worried are you about climate change affecting the area? Wildfires, drought, etc? Being 8 hours from Yellowstone sounds pretty awesome, but of course the Yellowstone Caldera can be cause for concern (?)

[nateo]

Reviving the thread... For you Coloradans, how necessary is it to go to Denver, from Ft Collins? How worried are you about climate change affecting the area? Wildfires, drought, etc? Being 8 hours from Yellowstone sounds pretty awesome, but of course the Yellowstone Caldera can be cause for concern (?)

My wife lived in Ft. Collins before we got married. She'd go to Denver for a concert or two, but otherwise it's not necessary. Ft. Collins has good restaurants and grocery stores. It's pretty self-contained. But Denver's only an hour away so going for an afternoon it's unreasonable.

[phillamb168]

Reviving the thread... For you Coloradans, how necessary is it to go to Denver, from Ft Collins? How worried are you about climate change affecting the area? Wildfires, drought, etc? Being 8 hours from Yellowstone sounds pretty awesome, but of course the Yellowstone Caldera can be cause for concern (?)

My wife lived in Ft. Collins before we got married. She'd go to Denver for a concert or two, but otherwise it's not necessary. Ft. Collins has good restaurants and grocery stores. It's pretty self-contained. But Denver's only an hour away so going for an afternoon it's unreasonable.

If you had to choose between the two, which would you go with? They all seem pretty awesome. Is there a rail link between Ft Collins and Denver?

[morticaixavier]

Reviving the thread... For you Coloradans, how necessary is it to go to Denver, from Ft Collins? How worried are you about climate change affecting the area? Wildfires, drought, etc? Being 8 hours from Yellowstone sounds pretty awesome, but of course the Yellowstone Caldera can be cause for concern (?)

If yellowstone goes, and you are in the western half of this continent, it won't really matter where.

[thebigbaker]

I live in SE Centennial (SE burb of Denver) and have some friends that live in Ft. Collins.  They only come down a few times a year for concerts, ball games and visit friends.  We go up a couple times of year to visit and the drive is about 1 hr like Nateo mentioned.  There is no rail system between Denver and Ft. Collins.  Actually, there's no rail system connecting Denver and any other city (Boulder, Colo. Springs, etc...).  The light rail system in Denver is nice and we use it when ever we head into the city for games, concerts and the GABF.  The are currently working on expanding the system to other parts of the city and Aurora. 

I personally couldn't say which I like better, since I've never lived in FC.  I asked our FC friends and they like both equally.  I don't think you could go wrong in either place.  Longmont, between FC and Denver is a nice area too.

[a10t2]

Have you considered Albuquerque? It seems like it would hit most of your high points. Santa Fe would be great, but I think real estate down there is nuts.

The Denver area has a lot going for it, but every time I'm there it seems like I spend about half my time in the car. Urban sprawl AND no public transit off the major corridors. Might not bother you if you're telecommuting though.

Maybe Golden? Decent-sized city with a nice walkable downtown area, and right at the base of the Front Range. Plus you'd be a stone's throw from Leadville.

[Slowbrew]

I live in SE Centennial (SE burb of Denver) and have some friends that live in Ft. Collins.  They only come down a few times a year for concerts, ball games and visit friends.  We go up a couple times of year to visit and the drive is about 1 hr like Nateo mentioned.  There is no rail system between Denver and Ft. Collins.  Actually, there's no rail system connecting Denver and any other city (Boulder, Colo. Springs, etc...).  The light rail system in Denver is nice and we use it when ever we head into the city for games, concerts and the GABF.  The are currently working on expanding the system to other parts of the city and Aurora. 

I personally couldn't say which I like better, since I've never lived in FC.  I asked our FC friends and they like both equally.  I don't think you could go wrong in either place.  Longmont, between FC and Denver is a nice area too.

My younger brother and his family live in Longmont.  Seemed like a nice town when I was there a few years back.  My brother, at one time, seemed to be spending a large amount time at Left Hand Brewing.  The company he was working for was called Left Hand Networks and was named after the brewery the founders spent all their time in.  8^)  Lots of techy people their, even after IBM shipped all the jobs overseas.

Paul

[nateo]

I only lived in Denver and Boulder, my wife lived in both, plus Ft. Collins. If/when we go back to Colorado, we want to go back to Denver. It's nice for a biggish city (not much crime, pretty clean, lots of stuff to do close to downtown). It's big enough to have almost anything you could want, but small enough the cost-of-living isn't exorbitant.

The light rail in Denver is great. They're working on connecting Boulder via light rail, and a multi-use path too. It was funded by sales tax, and with the economy tanking I'm not sure what happened with that.

The buses aren't bad either. A few bus lines are sketchy (like the 15), but there's another line that runs like three blocks away that "normal" people (not crackheads) use. So there's a bit of learning curve if you want to use public transport. But with 300 days of sunshine a year, a bike or hoofing it is the best way to get around Denver. I lived downtown and worked in Aurora the last time I lived there, and it was faster for me to ride my bike to work than drive. I doubt I put more than a thousand miles on my car in a year, and that was mostly to go skiing or hiking in the mountains.

I truly hate driving, and traffic, and parking, so I'd say live in Denver proper (City and county of) or live in Ft. Collins. If you end up in the 'burbs or Longmont, you'll spend a lot of time in your car, and the traffic in Denver is awful at peak hours.

Fort Collins is a typical college town in most ways, though food and beer are especially good there. If you like living in a city, go to Denver. If you're rather live in a town, Fort Collins is better.

We just spent Thanksgiving up in WI, so I'll put in a plug for Madison. Similar to Fort Collins, but kind of in-between a city and a town. If I had to stay in the Midwest, I'd be fine living in Madison.

PS - Since you'll be drinking a lot at all of the wonderful breweries, being within walking/biking distance, or being able to take public transport is important. I knew a lot of people who've gotten DUIs over the years. CO doesn't mess around with that, unlike MO where I'm pretty sure everyone is drunk all the time. I only know one person who got arrested for biking under the influence, but apparently you don't have to consent to a breathalyzer if you're on your bike, so they got hauled downtown, but then let off the hook.

[punatic]

Reviving the thread... For you Coloradans, how necessary is it to go to Denver, from Ft Collins? How worried are you about climate change affecting the area? Wildfires, drought, etc? Being 8 hours from Yellowstone sounds pretty awesome, but of course the Yellowstone Caldera can be cause for concern (?)

I think you would be better served to be more concerned about the end of the Mayan calendar.

If Yellowstone blows, living in Paris won't be safe.  IMHO, if Yellowstone blows, being as close as possible to Yellowstone is probably the best scenario.

[hopfenundmalz]

Carl is right, when that one blows, it doesn't make much difference where you are.