relocating to Durango

robatnordic · 05-22-2007

The wife and I are considering moving to Durango from Summit. We have been putting a kid through school at Ft. Lewis, and have found our selves drawn there more and more. The housing prices are favorable (compared to Summit) and there are some job oppurtunities for us. Is it as tight a community as we are led to believe...are there pitfalls that we are not seeing...We are the stereotypical mountain folk, work in resort industry. Play hard at rafting, snow sliding(alpine and nordic) single speed mtb, dogs etc. And Slightly left of center. Thoughts?

El Flaco · 05-22-2007

I lived in Durango for 7 years, and I miss it often. I had to come back to the Front Range for school, work and to be close to family, but Durango always felt that it had a tighter sense of community than a lot of other mountain towns that I've spent time in. I guess my measure of what makes a small community great is: what number of native sons and daughters go back to raise their children in the communities in which they were raised? It seemed to me that Durango keeps an inordinately high number of them, as I see from the folks that I knew when I lived there in the 90's. I would not mind raising my children in Durango at all; career nonwithstanding, and not taking into account the distance from the rest of my family up in this area.

You'll find that your recreational activies are more even than in Summit; the access to the desert offers longer fall / spring activities, and pretty long boating and skiing seasons.

As far as the population political slants, the town of Durango is left of center in the city limits, and grows increasingly right as you move further out.
Enjoy it- it's a great area and a great community.

possumturd · 05-22-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by robatnordic

The wife and I are considering moving to Durango from Summit. We have been putting a kid through school at Ft. Lewis, and have found our selves drawn there more and more. The housing prices are favorable (compared to Summit) and there are some job oppurtunities for us. Is it as tight a community as we are led to believe...are there pitfalls that we are not seeing...We are the stereotypical mountain folk, work in resort industry. Play hard at rafting, snow sliding(alpine and nordic) single speed mtb, dogs etc. And Slightly left of center. Thoughts?

I like it down there. I wish I lived there. MTB,SKI,BOAT till yah puke.

My sister lived down there for about 5 years. Never really got in the groove. She said her neighborhood was really transient with people moving in and out and claimed they were not friendly. Couldn't handle all the tourist either and grew weary of driving over mountain passes as she shuttled her daughter to gymnastic meets. She always seemed bemused

by not loving such a beauifull setting. She lived in Durango west which is like a little burb thing outside of town. I think she would have liked it better if she lived in town or out on a piece of land.

She moved there from a very remote farm town in South Dakota where the pace was like ssslooooow. I think the culture shock was to much. Then she moves to Reno and tells me how much she likes it and I am like WTF

I have a friend who likes it down there as well but says his allergies kill him in the fall when it gets dry as a sheep's a$$.

mania · 05-23-2007

pitfalls: 1. housing is ridiculous, but sounds like you have that covered. 2. boating season too short. 3. town gets crazy busy in summer. 4. long drive to idaho.

otherwise pretty good. stop by 4 corners when you get into town and say hi. -d

mvhyde · 05-23-2007

They have a surprisingly high number of good places to eat with great food. The community is very tight and 99% friendly, the other 1% is just too drunk to care. Boating season is short, but still good. Job market sucks, but there are some decent high-tech jobs around. Mercury Payment Systems, Verint, etc. Schools are good. Housing sucks compared to Denver, but then it is a resort/tourist town and still cheaper than Summit County. Overall, it is a great community for raising kids. Tourists come and go, the off-seasons are nice. My wife, son and I are moving back there in about 5 years.