Move to Colorado or Arizona?

[ridefast]

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!

 

[Desert Fox]

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?

 

[ridefast]

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.

 

[Desert Fox]

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

 

[BeachWagon]

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!

 

[vlafrank]

It's worth more than a thought.....

Worth a shot!

...it's worth a phone call. Call Ruger's HR department and ask them outright. That's what I'd do. She may need a green card or a work permit, but I really have no idea.

 

[cacoghill]

colorado

I love it here in Colorado, I moved here about 10 years ago from Amarillo, tx, and would never leave, I live in western slope area, winters are mild and summers are not bad, I can drive to the east and go snowboard or to the west to Moab in winter time and do anything that I want that is outdoors. love it here

 

[michael88]

Arizona Vs. Colorado. This is a great debate! Let's see; lived in Cottonwood for 8 years and loved it. Close to the outdoors, in between Flagstaff and Phoenix. Open range all around. Lived in Glendale(suburb of Phoenix) for 16 years and hate it. Best thing is that Cabelas is down the street and shopping for anything is easy. You can carry concealed without a permit and carry locked and loaded. The driver's here on the west side suck. Well, the snowbirds. Hot as hell during the summer. I I lived in Oregon for 10 years. Loved it! Portland was awesome. Everything was close but easy enough to get out into the mountains. Hated the rain though. And I've been to Colorado many times. Colorado Springs is AWESOME! Have friends that moved from Arizona to Colorado Springs and now I plan on moving there or back to Oregon after college. The gun laws are stricter in Colorado. you must take a hunting class before applying for a hunting lisence; must have a CCW for concealed weapons,etc. You make more money in Colorado and cost of living is a little bit more than Arizona(depends where you live in Colorado) Sales tax in Arizona is over 8% in Arizona. I would recommend Colorado or Oregon over Arizona. Oh Oregon is very comparable to Germany! And Portland just rocks! I used to fish both the Willamette River and Columbia River when living there, along with Molalla River for the steelhead. And the hunting in Oregon is Fabulous! The wine and beer flows freely up there, but hard liquor you have to buy through state controlled liquor stores(they are closed after 6pm and on Sundays). Arizona, you can buy all the alcohol you want at your local store.

 

[downpour11]

Arizona, you can buy all the alcohol you want at your local store.

And as an added plus, they have drive through liquor stores!

 

[cacoghill]

Co

im in western slope area of Co, and I love it, im from tx, been here 10 years, and will never leave, in western slope its not that big, and you are with in driving distance of anything that you could want to do. even Moab, Utah. winters are mild so you can snowboard and gold or hike, or mountain bike all in the same day. and western slope is a vastly growing area. you said that you work off shore, sounds like drilling, im in the oil and gas industry and there are plenty of jobs to be had if you are experienced... something to think about.

 

[T4R5280]

Colorado hands down.

 

[amalik]

Colorado hands down.

... 3 years later?

 

[Wingsuit]

Well heck, enuf has changed in three years in case the OP hasn't made up his mind. Or if he moved lets hear it. My take on it, is that if like to smoke pot go to Colorado, but move when you gave kids they they won't get stupid from pot. And Phoenix area has one kidnapping per day, on average. So be careful if it's Arizona.

 

[No Name]

"My take on it, is that if like to smoke pot go to Colorado, but move when you gave kids they they won't get stupid from pot."...

You do a bong before you typed that?

 

[Paddo]

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!

Yeah I'm curious. What'd you end up doing? I'm in Phoenix, by the way.

 

[jpachard]

I lived in Prescott and Flagstaff. Both have a good vibe but finding descent employment can be very challenging. I worked for Ruger and as a GTAW welder with multiple certifications and skills they wanted to start me at minimum wage... Once I had a degree(engineering)it still can be tough since everyone wants to live there. That being said if you find a job for your other half there then all is good. Best of luck, it's an amazing part of the world.

Cheers, James


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AKmoney]

This is a cool thread. I'm personally eyeing Arizona as a longer-term, post rat race and/or retirement destination. I presently live in Southern California (OC).

Back in 2004, a friend of mine and his wife (DINKs) decided to take a year-long sabbatical, sell their house in OC and move to Golden, CO, the western burbs of Denver up in the foothills of the Rockies. They chose Denver for a few reasons: Good access to outdoor activities not only in CO but the greater western USA, reasonable costs and large enough metro area to eventually find white collar employment (he's a software engineer, she's a beancounter/MBA). They only lasted a year in CO before moving back to SoCal. He wrote a massive, 4-page list of reasons why living in Colorado sucked compared to California. It's a funny read to an outsider like me but I imagine it'll ruffle the feathers of the average Coloradan. Take these FWIW, don't shoot the messenger... I personally like Colorado.. at least to visit

Winter too long (8 months, oct-may, if there’s snow on the ground then it’s winter in my book)
Dry air cracks skin, knuckles, lips, furniture (hand lotion = ineffective band-aid)
Annoying sinus, nose, throat issues from dry air
In-house humidifier helps, but again, only a band-aid
Can’t leave house door open like in CA, too many bugs
Can’t grill food outside like in CA, too cold and/or windy most of the year
Daily temperature profile steepness renders warm day highs less meaningful...yeah, it’s 70F..from 2:04pm to 2:37pm

Altitude
No matter how adapted, you can never approach your athletic ability nearer sea level
Cars lose power (25-40%), less fun to own/drive (trivial, but i’m a car guy, just another downside for me)
Vehicles continuously salt/dirt encrusted, pelted by rocks/gravel, accelerated depreciation, increased ownership costs
vehicle dmv/insurance much higher than CA (weather induced mostly, hail, more slick raods accidents, etc)
hail damage likely (to both house and cars)
rock damage, new windshields inevitable, eventually

I thought these were kinda hilarious:

narrow minded people? most Coloradans perceive CA as hell, even though they've never lived there or eve been there. they all blindly [and wrongly] assume that our lives must have been miserable there.

attitude of "...but if you buy enough equipment then you can:
- mtn bike in winter
- jog in 20F ambient temp
- snowshoe comfortable
- whatever...
yes...but what's the point? it's no fun by the time you look like the Michelin Man

 

[Gunslinger-13]

This is a cool thread. I'm personally eyeing Arizona as a longer-term, post rat race and/or retirement destination. I presently live in Southern California (OC).

Back in 2004, a friend of mine and his wife (DINKs) decided to take a year-long sabbatical, sell their house in OC and move to Golden, CO, the western burbs of Denver up in the foothills of the Rockies. They chose Denver for a few reasons: Good access to outdoor activities not only in CO but the greater western USA, reasonable costs and large enough metro area to eventually find white collar employment (he's a software engineer, she's a beancounter/MBA). They only lasted a year in CO before moving back to SoCal. He wrote a massive, 4-page list of reasons why living in Colorado sucked compared to California. It's a funny read to an outsider like me but I imagine it'll ruffle the feathers of the average Coloradan. Take these FWIW, don't shoot the messenger... I personally like Colorado.. at least to visit



I thought these were kinda hilarious:

Glad your friend moved back to Cali. Hoping the rest of the commiefornians follow Him back and quit effing up CO.

California is great, except for the politics, the taxes and the majority of people that live there who just happen to be completely bat shit crazy and and constantly Push the limits of what full retard means...

It's sad to see what Cali has become. And what it's transplants do to
The places they invade.

Your friend sounds like the exact type of person that makes
Coloradoans loathe transplants. Good riddance!

^And that's the super nice safe spacey version of what I'd like to say!

 

[AKmoney]

It's sad to see what Cali has become. And what it's transplants do to
The places they invade.

I'm actually curious why you think this. Most people who move out of California do so because they don't like what it's become (or becoming) and they share the same political philosophies as the places they move to. My friend who gave Colorado a go leans pretty far to the right (anti-tax, pro-2nd Amendment, etc.).

 

[RedSled]

It's kind of funny how some small minded people think that by having someone from Cali. Move to there state it up sets the whole system, when in fact any changes to the system is brought on by there own representatives. Just like any where else in life, if you can't get along with someone, then don't hang out with them, but hate breeds evil.