I love the politics in Texas, but Colorado keeps calling me. I chuckle when I hear potheads say they want to move to Colorado then deny the actual reason(just be honest) but I've had the bug since about 2010. I can't get enough of the mountains. I can make a rural piece of land and an RV happen but I'm honestly not sure about employment. I'm not college educated but I figured not smoking would give me some security if I have to work for someone. The wife is a teacher and I haven't found what job prospects would be like for her yet. If the housing market stays up, We want to sell our house this summer.
[This message has been edited by Fiero2m4Fastback (edited 11-26-2018).]
The economy here (so far) is great, so finding job should not be a problem. Politically speaking....the state is a mess. We just elected a horrible POS as governor and the Dems now control the senate, house and governor. They want to tax, tax and tax some more, which may affect our booming economy in the near future. Luckily all the big tax bills failed at the polls.....we do not like being overtaxed here. It helps that we have TABOR (tax payers bill of rights) which means any new tax proposal must be voted on by the public. That hasn't stopped new "usage fees" from popping up, but TABOR has saved us many, many times from crazy tax increases.
If you are democrat and like how California is run then you might like the direction Colorado is headed....we are fast becoming East California.
All that said...I like Texas (I lived in Dallas for a couple of years), but Colorado is so much nicer. The mountains alone are worth the move. One caveat.....our roads suck and people can't drive in the snow, so beware!
At present, I live in Colorado having returned from Oregon four months ago. Much of what has been said is my opinion as well. Despite this, I am a native Texan and prefer to live down there because of my extended family in Southeast and Central Texas and no state income tax. Colorado is colder than TX as is Oregon and I am accustomed to heat versus cold plus I am pushing 81 years and prefer warmer climes. We've had three small snowstorms here in Denver in a two month period since I moved back.
If I was younger and still had my wife, we'd probably have returned to CO. Education opportunities abound but be careful of private schools. I know from experience. If I had it to do again, I think I'd settle in Colorado Springs or somewhere in El Paso County away from "the Springs" as it is known around here. I lived in Black Forest, north of the Springs despite its higher property taxes. We lived in Black Forest for more than 12 years and only moved to Oregon because my wife wanted to be near her extended family.
I'd advise that you drive or fly up here and look around at what is here and check statistics including taxes, salaries, crime, (or lack of it) cost of living. Spend five days or a full week to see for yourself.
I've lived in Colorado for 51 of my 62 years, and I second pretty much everything mrfiero said (sounds like we're in the same part of the political spectrum). IMO, socially/politically the state has it's problems, at least in parts. Denver just today passed an ordinance approving the creation of a "safe injection site" for illegal drug users (I'm in a suburb myself but personally I think it's a bad idea). However you feel about this and other issues, it's an indication of how the state is going. But it's certainly not all bad by any means. Our four major sports teams are usually respectable, broadway shows and big music acts of every genre show up with regularity, if you like any/all mountain activities - skiing, hunting, fishing, camping, cycling, more - it's probably better here than anywhere else.
What areas are you looking at - Denver metro area, north, south, undecided? Looking for more rural or urban? Denver is landlocked by suburbs and can be expensive for housing, but recent growth in surrounding areas has been explosive in all directions. Colorado Springs is working on revitalizing its downtown and is growing as well. As far as employment, the market is not bad here. Unemployment is below the national average, but job growth is occurring so they're not hard to find. I have one nephew who's a high school teacher and another who's the AD at a rural high school and they've not had any trouble at all finding positions. Not sure what starlightscope means about private schools. Like anything, there are good ones and bad ones (and at least one terrible on I'm aware of). But my son and daughter went to private schools from pre-k through grad school and I'm glad we chose the schools we did. As for the public school districts, there are good ones and bad ones too. Cherry Creek Schools are supposed to be very good, as are some DPS schools. But Aurora is suspect, and Adams County District 14 is considering hiring outside management because of it's history of poor performance. We have a wide spectrum of [insert any topic here].
Bottom line is, you can probably find anything you want in Colorado, if you look in the right places. The state government is indeed messed up, and will get worse if the governor-elect actually accomplishes the issues he ran on but fortunately he has no plan so damage may be limited. Apart from that, like starlightscope says, you're best bet is come look for yourself. You'll probably like what you see.
Colorado is emulating California, that in itself is enough of a reason to avoide it. (Just my opinion.)
Yeah, I lived in the "Springs" for a while but, wouldn't go back. Colorado has become much too liberal for me. The terrain is pretty but so is a lot of the rest of this rock we call home. Your choice, call it like you see it.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-29-2018).]
