Moving in a year. Reno vs Colorado Springs vs Denver suburbs

LopeHunter

LopeHunter

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Am close to retiring. Housing prices are not a concern nor is the job market. We will spend 30 to 90 days overseas each year so can avoid those months while healthy enough to travel. I enjoy a nice meal at a restaurant on special occasions. Decent medical facilities are a plus with some "old age issues" specialists available.

Have spent winters in Scottsdale and summers in Portland. Will sell both homes and buy a home in one of three cities: Reno, Colorado Springs, Denver suburb such as Golden.

For any of you with knowledge on any of the above cities, what would be your Top 3 reasons to move and Top 3 to avoid?

I have some bonus points in NV and Preference points in CO. In Colorado could immediately, upon achieving residency, have 100% odds on good elk, deer, pronghorn and bear hunts plus 10% on moose and Bighorn ewe. In Nevada, no real locks to draw with my points.

I no longer mountain hunt (picture below from a decade ago) or solo backpack hunt but can manage okay on an outfitted hunt on horses into back country. I can day hike hunt as well but not very deep and no way can pack an elk out anymore. I like to turkey hunt. Duck hunt. I enjoy fly fishing but have not done so for a decade. I enjoy day hikes. Riding horses. I don't ski anymore.

Steep stuff below.JPG

Reno pencils out to provide about $1,000 to $2000 more a month of post-tax cash flow, mostly due to having no state income tax. That is not life-altering for us. I think of Reno as Scottsdale but 20 degrees cooler each month plus snow and forest fire smoke.

Colorado Springs is about twice the size of Reno and a bit more conservative. Near Denver if want to spend a weekend in a big city. More snow than Reno.

Denver suburb has tons of non-stop flights via DEN including 14 countries plus pro sports teams but air quality varies from good (Golden) to bad (Aurora) and have 3 million neighbors including some which have issues society is struggling to address yet those folks are drawn to Denver with its outreach services.

I will be happy in any of these three cities.
 
air quality is bad everywhere, from Golden TO Aurora. if you live within 15-20 miles of the I25 corridor air quality is shit. we're one of the worst ozone metros in the country.

i look at reno on the map and wonder why you would choose anything in the denver bubble over that. this place is becoming stressful to live in.

i dunno. i'd stay away from denver metro if you come here. go springs, but it's getting crazy down there too.

Reno looks nice in pictures and on the map.
 
LopeHunter said:
Perhaps is a relative conservativeness.

Voting for Biden 2020:
Colorado as a state 55%
Denver suburbs 58%
Colorado Springs: 43%
Click to expand...
My guess is that there is a substantial amount of folks voting for the green party candidate from Colorado Springs that isn't reflected in your numbers. Again, just a guess.
 
Denver has the best airport access by far + medical care of all your choices. In terms of medicine UC Health is #1 for Emergency Medicine, and Pulmonology Critical Care. Golden side is better access to the mountains, Aurora is far better for food assuming you like a variety of options and have pallet beyond over priced yuppie restaurants. SE Aurora with access to E-470 and C-470 is actually better than you would expect at being able to leave the city. That might be my choice over golden, but to each their own.

Colorado Springs is decently close to Denver so you enjoy a lot of the benefits, still it's a PITA for MD appointments and you can't uber to and from the airport. Depending on where you want to go in the mtns it's either closer or further away. I'd say closer to the kind of hunting you want to do.

Denver: Positive, Travel/Healthcare/Food Negative; Traffic/Traffic/Air Quality because of traffic

Colorado Springs: Nice Sized city/Outdoor access/Close 'enough' to Denver amenities Negative; Still Traffic/Food is meh

Reno: Honestly haven't lived there, but they have an academic hospital it's close to great outdoors stuff.

Not a ton of turkey/duck opportunities in any of those places... I mean you can hunt for those animals, but you would have a much better experience hunting out of state.

Of those I'd probably pick Reno, but we likely have different metrics. For you I'd go with Colorado Springs.
 
Denver has world-renowned healthcare. I like Reno a lot though. A lot of people think of it as a mini Vegas, but that’s not really the case. There’s a lot of cool shit in northern Nevada.

I have some friends that pooled their money and bought a nice place in Golden, and it is really nice there. Expensive, but not any more than Scottsdale.

I don’t know much about Colorado Springs
 
LopeHunter said:
Reno pencils out to provide about $1,000 to $2000 more a month of post-tax cash flow, mostly due to having no state income tax.
Click to expand...
1661542900004.png

Looking forward, Colorado's Front Range is projected to grow by nearly 70 percent to reach a population of 6.3 million residents by 2040.
Reno is currently growing at a rate of 1.45% annually and its population has increased by 2.95% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 264,165 in 2010.
 
Last edited:
buckbull said:
My guess is that there is a substantial amount of folks voting for the green party candidate from Colorado Springs that isn't reflected in your numbers. Again, just a guess.
Click to expand...
Top 5 vote getters in the county where Colorado Springs resides:
REP Donald Trump 53.5%
DEM Joe Biden 42.8%
LBR Jo Jorgensen 2.5%
GRN Howie Hawkins 0.3%
UAF Kayne West 0.3%
18 more 0.6%
 
LopeHunter said:
Top 5 vote getters in the county where Colorado Springs resides:
REP Donald Trump 53.5%
DEM Joe Biden 42.8%
LBR Jo Jorgensen 2.5%
GRN Howie Hawkins 0.3%
UAF Kayne West 0.3%
18 more 0.6%
Click to expand...
I couldn't care less about politics when it comes to places to live.

If Wyoming was the most liberal place in the U.S. I'd still live here for the hunting. Same way that its the most conservative, don't really care, I live here for the outdoors.

Its hard for me to believe that people actually use conservative/liberal as a litmus test for living somewhere.

Probably about last on my list of importance, right up there with the color of the street lamps.
 
Of the three options I would choose Golden. I lived and worked around there for a while (granted it was over a decade ago) and really enjoyed it. I've never been to Reno but nearly took a job there a few years ago, but was turned off by the heat/extremely low precip. I like me some weather.

But one thing you don't mention is family. At this stage in my life I would go with whatever one is closest to the family members I'm least annoyed by. And for me that is Golden.
 
Oh and I forgot to mention that if you like a good microbrew, definitely Colorado.

You don't list Fort Collins as an option? I like that town a lot (a lot more than Golden or any other Denver suburb, or Colorado Springs). Not just for the beer but...it's a consideration...
 
YukonGold said:
Oh and I forgot to mention that if you like a good microbrew, definitely Colorado.

You don't list Fort Collins as an option? I like that town a lot (a lot more than Golden or any other Denver suburb, or Colorado Springs). Not just for the beer but...it's a consideration...
Click to expand...
I have relatives and friends there. Don't hate Fort Collins. Boulder seemed more interesting when was there for a graduation and two years later for a wedding.
 
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