Good to know. We did the North Rim camping a few years back, and we loved it up there. Strange mix of desert and green mountain. I could get used to seeing that in my back yard! How's the hunting up there? Fishing?

True, Prescott is also a rad place and closer to PHX. Tons to explore in Northern Arizona, cooler temps than PHX, and they get snow in the winter.

Was just looking at some quick property prices in Prescott, looks affordable for large lots. I am sure after a road trip, I could find something 100+ acres, for a good price.

Do some research about land fraud in Arizona and go back to the 1950's.

A lot of the politicians got their money from Arizona land fraud. Keep in mind a lot of the desert is reservation, especially in Northern Arizona. A lot of Southern Arizona (Ajo, Yuma) is owned by the military (guess where I was stationed after I came back to the states).

Gun laws are pretty liberal in Arizona. There is a saying that if you dont have a gun when you get there they will give you one. Heck you will need it if you drive on the 51.

Crime is not that bad, compared to Detroit or LA. There is another saying I recall- Come to Arizona on vacation, leave on probation. The legal system sucks.

Wheeling in the desert is pretty cool neat. Sand is a very different type of wheeling, get advice or take a lot of water. Take a lot of water anyways.

One place I liked but closer to Phoenix is Verde Valley. It was kind of redneckish and I seemed to fit in there but we never lived there.

There are some great companies there that you can make a good living at. I worked for Intel for 7 years before moving to Colorado. I did 9 years with Garrett Turbine Engine company (now Honeywell) and 9 years with US Foodservice. All great companies and there are many more.

We left because of 3 reasons- crowded, crime and heat.

Again good luck with your decision.

Spot on right there ^^^

Yeah, I remember when title companies were letting the same property be sold over and over several times but lately it's mortgage fraud by companies like AIG, Bank of America and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Also Senators Glenn and McCain are crooks who were part of the notorious Keating Five who were part of the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s but then what politicians aren't crooks?

They're all crooks. But that's for another discussion.

I'll keep that land business in mind though. Would hate to find out the land I buy belongs to someone else who bought it at the same time as me!!

St George UT is a great up and coming place, like Kid said, not far from lots of good stuff, Bryce, Zion, Las Vegas.

'Small towns' in Colorado are really on two extreme ends of the spectrum:

1.) Truly isolated communities like Paonia with not many job opportunities, so you have to scrape by to survive.

2.) or luxury resort towns like Aspen, with pleny of jobs but none of them pay enough to actually live at the high cost of the area....so you have to scrape by to survive.

Which is why 90% of the population lives in the Front Range, which is just like any other major American urban corridor, except it is relatively close to the mountains.

I lived in Florida from when I was 6 months old to 18 years old. Came out to Colorado for college and love it. Winters can get cold, but then again they have 50+ degree days too. Spring/summers are awesome. I do miss the beach but the mountains are just as fun with more to do. Take up fly fishing, hunting, wheeling, camping, winter sports, or all of the above, its all available.

As far as driving in the snow, I haven't driven in a blizzard yet (haven't had that many the last two years), but I have driven in some snow and its not too bad with practice. Just don't wait until you need to be somewhere to try driving in snow, just like learning anything. Go somewhere that isn't busy sometime, and just drive until you feel comfortable. Find an empty parking lot and find out what your car can/can't do in snow/ice. They do keep the roads pretty well-plowed though.

Denver is PACKED, but further out in the suburbs aren't bad, or a place like Boulder or rural parts of Colorado Springs.

Denver's music scene is unbelievable. Plenty of concerts, from big names to local bands.

Don't know much about Arizona other than visiting the Grand Canyon, but I've heard some good things. I just loved CO from the first time I visited, so I made it a second home.

Move to Albuquerque, NM! You will have the best of both worlds. We get all 4 seasons and just in just 3-4 hours and you can be in AZ,CO,TX,UT! You can be out of the city limits in any direction in just 15 minutes to 4x4 shoot guns, mountain bike, or do whatever you want. Heck I can go from my house to over 10,000ft in elevation in less than 45min. If land is what you are looking for live in Tijeras just 7 miles away from Abq and the National forest is at your back porch. Great skiing and snowboarding is as close as Santa Fe. I really try to avoid Santa Fe at all costs though. People think NM is the hot desert but they have been fooled!

Hey Ridefast, any chance you work for Intel?

No, but I live about a mile away from there! Maybe I should get a job there and just ride my bike to work.

Intel is the best company I ever worked for. I only left them because they closed the Colorado fab and I would not relocate.

Thanks for all the great input everyone. It is good to hear all the differences in opinion and takes on different ways of living. I am looking forward to the Spring time to make a road trip. With a little luck, I may even have a new 4Runner to break in!