Colorado?

We are planning to move to Colorado, but we don't know where to start looking. Maybe you guys can help? We are lookin for affordable, low crime, good education, and a decent brewing community. I would like to live close to some breweries/brewpubs, and good beer stores. Any suggestions?

Colorado Springs is where it's at.

Once I sell my property in Texas I'm moving to northern Colorado. Berthoud to be exact. It's a small town about 45-60 min north of Denver. Lots of agriculture in the area, good schools and great community from what my parents tell me. There are a bunch of breweries in the area as Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Ft Collins are all less than a 30 minute drive.

^ this. The Boulder area is amazing.

I know that online reviews, and statistics aren't always reliable. As far as the internet is concerned, Boulder is expensive and the crime rates are pretty high. Any thoughts on this? Aspen looks nice, but the cost of living there must be ridiculous!

Colorado Springs

I live in Colorado Springs and generally like it. That being said, with the exception of the largely liberal political climate I love the boulder, Longmont area and the beer scene is generally superior in quantity and I would almost argue quality but we do have some pretty descent local brews and a great establishment in brewers republic that brings in Colorado brews from all over the state.

Just about anyplace in the Front Range will put you close to breweries, lots of home brewers, and homebrew shops.

As was mentioned, Boulder has a very high cost of living. The commuter towns of Longmont and Lafeyette are more affordable but still have a great brewing culture.

Metro Denver is large and certain areas are more affordable than others. No real brewpubs in the Southwest suburbs, where I live but within 20 minutes there is a great selection. Perhaps the world's largest liquor store is 10 mins away from my house.

Going south, Castle Rock has a great brewpub and killer beer store.

Going even more south to Colorado Springs, there are some fantastic breweries and stores. The population is quite a bit more conservative than Boulder

Towards the north end of the Front Range, Fort Collins and Greely are both good choices. Ft. Collins has many outstanding breweries as well as one of the best beer bars in the country. It is a college town. Greely is less expensive and does tend to smell of cattle. A smaller college town but more affordable.

Going into the high country does have it's own challenges and rewards.

Please feel free to PM me for more details. 35 yr resident. Moved here from NJ and wouldn't live anywhere else.

Roaring Fork valley man! Between Glenwood Springs and Aspen on highway 82! Ive lived in Colorado for 14+ years and this is the best.

I'm surprised to hear there is such a crime problem in Boulder.

Castle Rock is also a cool little place. Used to travel that area when I was working for my old employer. Col, S. Cali, Alaska (all of it) and Kauai. I'd move to Colorado Springs or Anchorage (Eagle River area) in a heartbeat if I wasn't tied down here.

Alot of people seem to like colorado springs, and boulder alot. The both seem pretty expensive to live in though. I'm thinking maybe Longmont since it's in the middle of it all, and doesn't seem to be as expensive. We love the mountains and want to be as close to them as possible.

I have friends who live in Broomfield. It's sort of in between Denver and Boulder. It's a little too rural for my tastes but it's very nice. I like their neighborhood a lot and there's a Cheeky Monkey very close. It's within 10-15 minutes of Longmont, Boulder and Denver. I love Fort Collins but I don't know if I would want to live there. I would be too fat from all the beer. Colorado Springs I could take or leave. Greely stinks, literally stinks.

i looked a little closer into colorado springs, and it doesn't seem to be as expensive as i thought. but, how's the jet noise there? here in virginia beach, it's ridiculous. it'd be nice to move away from that. how about schools? my girl will be attending school in a couple of years, and i would like to think ahead. any opinions on the school districts in these areas? bike friendly?

A lot of this also depends on what you're looking for in terms of culture. A place like Colorado Springs is in general very conservative (Bible Belt-esque) whereas Boulder is very liberal (think Berkeley, CA). You can find decent outdoor scenes most places along the front range and in the high country. Colorado Springs is affordable, but it's also very sprawled out. Parts of town can be biked, but depending on where you end up living it could be a long ride to get to anything.

edit: Also saw your question about jet noise. Peterson AFB is pretty far out east, so you don't really get much noise from that unless you live out there. The Air Force Academy is mainly small propeller planes used for basic flight school which you probably won't notice.

As a guy who grew up in the mountains of Colorado, went to school in Denver and worked in Colorado Springs each area has it's good and bad. In the mountains things are very pricey but it is beautiful. They pay you up there with sunshine, expect to probably work 2 jobs and live in a small place.

The cities (Denver, Colorado Springs, Ft. Collins) are far less expensive and the weather is milder. Denver is a great place and has a lot to offer, but just like any big city there are better areas than others. If you are an outdoors person id look in the Lakewood area as it is closer to the mountains, if your a city person look near downtown.
Colorado Springs is interesting, it is a melting pot of military and far right wingers. It has a large army base, a couple airforce bases, Norad, and the air force academy.
Boulder is a hippie college town, super fun to visit but I don't think i'd call it home. Northern and eastern colorado are agriculture ranching areas, i wouldn't go there unless you are looking for the cowboy experience.

As far as brewing throw a dart at the map of Colorado and you'll either hit a brewery or a home brew store. Beer is everywhere

Javier25 said:

i looked a little closer into colorado springs, and it doesn't seem to be as expensive as i thought. but, how's the jet noise there? here in virginia beach, it's ridiculous. it'd be nice to move away from that. how about schools? my girl will be attending school in a couple of years, and i would like to think ahead. any opinions on the school districts in these areas? bike friendly?

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You have the municipal airport, Shiever AFB, Peterson AFB, and the AF Academy all in Col Springs. Shiever is a major DoD/AF operations hub but it doesn't have a runway. The AF Academy is far enough outside of town that you won't notice the air traffic or noise. Peterson and the Municipal airport are probably going to be the major source of any air-related noise, but I never really gave it much thought while I was there. Manitou Springs is a nice area as is anything around Palmer Park (at least to me). The best part is that no matter where you are, you'll always have a pretty decent view of Pike's Peak and/or Cheyenne Mt.