Questions about Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico

[MountainMan]

Alright, after years of arguing about what a crappy state Washington is, I finally got my wife to look elsewhere. Right now, Boise is tops on the list followed by Missoula, Cheyenne, Casper, Denver, Santa Fe, Phoenix and Reno.

Now I am finding a bit of information on all those locations but the most conflicting stuff is regarding Colorado. Does anybody have any good links they use for research when they are looking at different areas of the US?

[Rockntractor]

If I had a redo I would go to New Mexico.

[fettpett]

well Ginger lives in CO so she's a good source

[Zafod]

Arizona for sure bud. I will never leave this state!!! Have beautiful parts all over this state.

[Gingersnap]

What do you want to know?

Politically, Denver and Boulder are left-wing and the city policies reflect that. Denver and Boulder are sanctuary cities for illegal aliens (although fewer illegal aliens can afford to live Boulder). I no longer live in Denver but there are some nice neighborhoods there if you like city living.

Most of the rest of the state (outside of places like Vail) leans right. Colorado Springs is more to the right (and very beautiful).

Most of the population lives in the Front Range corridor between Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. We have over 300 days of sunshine a year, when it snows on the flat, it melts in a couple of days (usually), and we have cooler summers than a lot of the country. There are few bugs. Mountain communities are somewhat colder. The Eastern Plains is mostly like Kansas or Nebraska until you get with 50 miles of Rockies and then it's much higher, drier, and more chaotic in terms of weather. The Western Slope is milder.

Colorado skews younger, skinnier, and more athletic than most of the country. Everybody seems to bike, ski, hike, hunt, raft, ride horses, camp, or climb - pretty much anything outside of water stuff. There are no navigable rivers in Colorado.

We have football, hockey, baseball, and basketball.

Prices are generally higher than in some states, including property prices but taxes are a little better. Crime is mostly confined to the criminals themselves but everybody (outside of Denver) seems to shoot so that might be part of it. We are just about the most bike-friendly state although you will want a good granny-gear. Cars don't rust here. Traffic is pretty awful in the city.

Ask me anything. :D

[noonwitch]

I'm a Michiganian, and always will be. I haven't traveled extensively, but I visited Colorado in 1981 to attend Young Life camp in the Collegiate Peaks area, which is about an hour west of Colorado Springs. It is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It was not near any big cities, so I would imagine that the area hasn't changed that much in the 30 years that have passed. The nearest town was Buena Vista.

[Gingersnap]

I'm a Michiganian, and always will be. I haven't traveled extensively, but I visited Colorado in 1981 to attend Young Life camp in the Collegiate Peaks area, which is about an hour west of Colorado Springs. It is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It was not near any big cities, so I would imagine that the area hasn't changed that much in the 30 years that have passed. The nearest town was Buena Vista.

Aside from Denver itself, there are no "big" cities in Colorado by Midwestern or East Coast standards. Now, the Front Range is fairly well populated but most of that is suburbs and exurbs that have hubs - there's really no inner city or hipster downtown areas outside of Denver and Boulder. There are a growing number of art districts in the suburbs and exurbs. Virtually all of the housing projects from the 60s (there weren't many) have been torn down now.

People who don't live in Denver seem to prefer a lot more open space and recreational access and we've resisted duplicating the failed downtown Denver model in most communities.

[jendf]

What kind of information are you looking for?

What's nice about Arizona is we don't have landslides, earthquakes, tornados, or blizzards.

We also don't have much rain which can be a bad thing for our drought. When we do it's usually a fast-moving monsoon storm or a freakish hailstorm like we had in October.

And people tend to get snappish in August when it's 115+ degrees. But we're all quite pleasant in December when the rest of the country is bundled up and we're still wearing t-shirts and shorts.

Politically, our local politicians actually acknowledge that there is an illegal alien problem and are trying their best to get it under control. With absolutely no help from our fearless leaders in Washington.

A lot of entertainers hate our state which I personally think is a huge selling point.

We are hosting the MLB All-Star game in July.

[Zafod]

What kind of information are you looking for?

What's nice about Arizona is we don't have landslides, earthquakes, tornados, or blizzards.

We also don't have much rain which can be a bad thing for our drought. When we do it's usually a fast-moving monsoon storm or a freakish hailstorm like we had in October.

And people tend to get snappish in August when it's 115+ degrees. But we're all quite pleasant in December when the rest of the country is bundled up and we're still wearing t-shirts and shorts.

Politically, our local politicians actually acknowledge that there is an illegal alien problem and are trying their best to get it under control. With absolutely no help from our fearless leaders in Washington.

A lot of entertainers hate our state which I personally think is a huge selling point.

We are hosting the MLB All-Star game in July.

I am never moving out of AZ. EVER

[BadCat]

I've lived in all three of those states. Arizona has the best politics, but I liked NM the best.