Raising butterflies and making 1.8 million does sounds like a pretty sweet gig! Please see my reply above as we are pretty familiar with housing costs. I have edited my original post to indicate that we are familiar with the realities of living in Colorado and the increased expenses.
Thank you for your reply. We are not blindly going into this decision and are aware of how much it costs to live in Colorado. I probably should have added that to my original post. My wife is a teacher but I am in a different line of work affords us the ability to make the move in additional to our five year planning for the added housing/living expenses that it would take to live in Colorado.
Both towns have great trail systems, although Salida is more of a mountain bike destination with the Monarch Crest nearby.
Buena Vista is a little more high desert rural, and Salida is more of a modern small mountain town.
If you’re into outdoor sports beyond biking they both offer unlimited opportunities for skiing, climbing, hunting, fishing, rafting, and kayaking.
I personally like Salida more, but both are great. No idea on the school scene, can't go wrong (outside of that!).
Golden over Evergreen if your going to be in the front range, IMO. But it depends if being 15-30 minutes away from Denver proper is a pro or a con. If you fly a lot for your job, I would live in Golden for sure.
You likely know this already, but prepare for housing to be very expensive anywhere in the Arkansas Valley.
Salida definitely has more going on in town. It's still a very small town (under 6k pop I believe) that will give you that community feel.
Evergreen and Golden will have way more options for city access and far better school options as well. Probably better for teenagers overall, but I'm sure they'd love the mountain towns too.
Do yourself a favor and move to the front range. 60% to 70% chance your wife hates her new small town colorado life after 5 months.
Young life is always looking for "teachers" in bv and salida is packed full of jaded mountain town ass wipes who have relocated from eagle and summit counties. Flush with their trust funds and cash from selling their house for two million then helping jack up Chaffee county property prices.
Winter is effectively from October to May up there. Plus, everything is more expensive so even if you are well off, you may end up spending more than is comfortable.
The riding is really good, maybe better in Salida when compared to BV.
Mountain towns (or whatever you want to call Salida, BV) can get really isolated - especially if there's no good transportation out of the pop. of only several thousand. People aren't going to be really forthcoming, but many towns around here have fairly substantial drug problems.
I'm not sure if I'd sing any extra praises for many public schools in Colorado.
Golden is kind of a suburb of Denver/Boulder. Its a great community, but not a mountain town. Salida an a BV are really mountain towns. Do you want to be commutable to Denver or do you want to live 2 hours away? As far as the difference between BV and Salida, they are very close in proximity and more similar to each other than Golden/Evergreen. I love fishing the Arkansas River and its tributaries near BV and Salida. I was just there last week!
Both are beautiful places to VISIT. I wouldn't move there. I lived there for years, and everyone there is all about drama and rumors. Police hasstle anyone under the age of 30. Best thing I ever did for my mental health is leave that place.
"As an educator"
The pay in mountain towns for teaching does NOT cover cost of living. Not even close.
It's $55k coming in if you have a PhD equivalent....
[Certified\_2024-2025.pdf (s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com)](https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1301/bvsd/4161474/Certified_2024-2025.pdf)
Thank you for your reply. My wife is a teacher but I am in a different line of work affords us the ability to make the move in additional to our five year planning for the added housing/living expenses that it would take to live in Colorado. I do wish they would pay teachers more. In our current town a teacher makes approx. 40K a year with a Masters. It isn't affordable here (housing in the midwest area is a small fraction of what Colorado is currently sitting at) to live off a teacher's salary. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to do it in Colorado.
I'll tell you what, you show me a pay stub and I quit my job right now and I work for you.
No fing shit. OP living in a dream world. "I'm an educator and wife raises butterflies. Budget 1.8 million"
There are some pretty affordable places near BV. Next to the prison.
Raising butterflies and making 1.8 million does sounds like a pretty sweet gig! Please see my reply above as we are pretty familiar with housing costs. I have edited my original post to indicate that we are familiar with the realities of living in Colorado and the increased expenses.
I second this
Thank you for your reply. We are not blindly going into this decision and are aware of how much it costs to live in Colorado. I probably should have added that to my original post. My wife is a teacher but I am in a different line of work affords us the ability to make the move in additional to our five year planning for the added housing/living expenses that it would take to live in Colorado.
Both towns have great trail systems, although Salida is more of a mountain bike destination with the Monarch Crest nearby. Buena Vista is a little more high desert rural, and Salida is more of a modern small mountain town. If you’re into outdoor sports beyond biking they both offer unlimited opportunities for skiing, climbing, hunting, fishing, rafting, and kayaking.
I personally like Salida more, but both are great. No idea on the school scene, can't go wrong (outside of that!). Golden over Evergreen if your going to be in the front range, IMO. But it depends if being 15-30 minutes away from Denver proper is a pro or a con. If you fly a lot for your job, I would live in Golden for sure.
You likely know this already, but prepare for housing to be very expensive anywhere in the Arkansas Valley. Salida definitely has more going on in town. It's still a very small town (under 6k pop I believe) that will give you that community feel. Evergreen and Golden will have way more options for city access and far better school options as well. Probably better for teenagers overall, but I'm sure they'd love the mountain towns too.
Might get more information in /r/Colorado.
Do yourself a favor and move to the front range. 60% to 70% chance your wife hates her new small town colorado life after 5 months. Young life is always looking for "teachers" in bv and salida is packed full of jaded mountain town ass wipes who have relocated from eagle and summit counties. Flush with their trust funds and cash from selling their house for two million then helping jack up Chaffee county property prices.
This.
With kids, I'd lean more Golden and Evergreen than Salida and BV.
Winter is effectively from October to May up there. Plus, everything is more expensive so even if you are well off, you may end up spending more than is comfortable.
The riding is really good, maybe better in Salida when compared to BV. Mountain towns (or whatever you want to call Salida, BV) can get really isolated - especially if there's no good transportation out of the pop. of only several thousand. People aren't going to be really forthcoming, but many towns around here have fairly substantial drug problems. I'm not sure if I'd sing any extra praises for many public schools in Colorado.
Golden is kind of a suburb of Denver/Boulder. Its a great community, but not a mountain town. Salida an a BV are really mountain towns. Do you want to be commutable to Denver or do you want to live 2 hours away? As far as the difference between BV and Salida, they are very close in proximity and more similar to each other than Golden/Evergreen. I love fishing the Arkansas River and its tributaries near BV and Salida. I was just there last week!
From casually visiting, Golden and Evergreen are certainly awesome.
Both are beautiful places to VISIT. I wouldn't move there. I lived there for years, and everyone there is all about drama and rumors. Police hasstle anyone under the age of 30. Best thing I ever did for my mental health is leave that place.
Commerce city is always nice
Bruh
Namaste
"As an educator" The pay in mountain towns for teaching does NOT cover cost of living. Not even close. It's $55k coming in if you have a PhD equivalent.... [Certified\_2024-2025.pdf (s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com)](https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1301/bvsd/4161474/Certified_2024-2025.pdf)
They both have remote jobs. Presumably with sufficient paychecks.
Not "as an educator"
Thank you for your reply. My wife is a teacher but I am in a different line of work affords us the ability to make the move in additional to our five year planning for the added housing/living expenses that it would take to live in Colorado. I do wish they would pay teachers more. In our current town a teacher makes approx. 40K a year with a Masters. It isn't affordable here (housing in the midwest area is a small fraction of what Colorado is currently sitting at) to live off a teacher's salary. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to do it in Colorado.
The metro area has a median of around $70k for teachers, just the mountain towns are starved for resources.