>My wife and I are considering moving to Colorado. Mainly just for the
>hell of it. Any of yall have opinions about CO or live there, etc?
>I'm just looking for general opinions/advice.
>
>Both my wife and I are programmers, so I figure we shouldn't have a
>problem securing a job before we move out there.
>
>Any feedback is appreciated.
Last year my wife and I moved from Colorado to New Hampshire for quality of life purposes. We lived in Colorado Springs for 1 year and Denver for 2. While we greatly enjoyed the hiking and outdoor activities for which Colorado is famous, we discovered that living there was not all it was cracked up to be. For example, all the major hubs for employment are along the front range: Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. All of these places are basically hours from the famous parks. Living in these cities is just like living in any other urban area but without, unfortunately, the charms and quaintness of the east coast cities. These cities just sort of sprall all over and are chuck full of shopping malls and cars. It is the natural beauty of Colorado that attracts most people, but you won't see much of it living in the places that one must in order to work.
If you and your wife could obtain a job where you could work from home, then Colorado might be really enjoyable for you! You could then reside in some of the more pleasant locations like Steamboat Springs or Telluride or Breckenridge. These places are beautiful but do not have much industry.
As for the people of the state, my wife and I found them to be, for the most part, extremists. Colorado Springs, for example, while possibly the prettiest city on the front range, is home to Focus on the Family and has the largest number of churches per capita than any other city in the US. They are very fundamentalist there. There are also several military installations in the Springs area. Visitors tend to joke that the city is made of "military and missionary". We prefer a live and let live environment and have now found that in New Hampshire. Have you visited Colorado? If not, I'd highly reccommend it. Be sure to visit the non-tourist areas as that could be where you'd have to move. We plan to visit Colorado soon ourselves for my wife and I agree that its a great place to visit. We just didn't like living there.
Dave L.