Places in Colorado that fit my criteria? (Denver, Colorado Springs: transplants, neighborhoods)

[songbirdsmile]

Hi, all. Curious if there are places in Colorado that meet the following criteria:

1.) Experiences a true autumn - cool temps in October and November (even better if it starts in September), low humidity, abundant fall foliage

2.) Starts feeling like spring by March (I don't mind if it still gets some snowfall but would like things to be in bloom, sunny weather, etc)

3.) Regardless of the season, experiences lots of sunshine, not frequently dreary or overcast

4.) Historic, beautiful architecture

5.) Politically conservative or moderate

6.) Within a half hour of a major airport (preferably Denver or Boulder; I will be traveling to San Diego fairly frequently)

Thanks for any suggestions!

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by songbirdsmile

6.) Within a half hour of a major airport (preferably Denver or Boulder; I will be traveling to San Diego fairly frequently)

This one limits you to Denver plus some if its suburban areas. Boulder, and most of the west-side suburbs, are more than half an hour from the airport. Well, I guess you can check to see if there are any good flights from Colorado Springs to San Diego. If so, that would be another alternative.

From a weather perspective your wishes are largely met in Denver. Fall colors will be limited to trees planted in city parks, as there's not enough precipitation to support naturally occurring forests in the area. There only uncultivated trees you'll find are the occasional cottonwoods growing next to streams.

The most interesting buildings will be in downtown Denver.

[bluescreen73]

There's really only one major airport in Colorado, and that's DIA. Other airports may only fly to San Diego seasonally (if at all).

30 mins from DIA limits your choices significantly.

March and April are still heavy snow months. Things don't start to really bloom here until mid-late April.

Some of the older neighborhoods of Denver have historical architecture. The prices are high, and the areas will be fairly liberal.

Downtown Littleton, Parker, and Castle Rock have small pockets of older architecture The latter two are more conservative. All 3 are outside your 30 minute window to the airport.

Fall foliage is not abundant anywhere on the plains where Denver and Boulder are. You will have to travel into the mountains for that.

Areas east of I-25 and north of I-70 tend to be more plains (fewer trees, lots of shortgrass prairie).

The southeastern part of the metro (Aurora/Parker) is a mixture of prairie and very light coniferous forest depending on locale.

[kyle19125]

OP, check out Idaho Springs. The only downside from your criteria is it's an hour to DIA versus 30 minutes. Another option slightly closer to DIA is the town of Golden.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

OP, check out Idaho Springs. The only downside from your criteria is it's an hour to DIA versus 30 minutes. Another option slightly closer to DIA is the town of Golden.

I-70 between Idaho Springs and Floyd Hill is undergoing a major, multi-year rebuild, too. Traffic will get much worse before it gets better. On Sunday Afternoons, traffic coming back down the mountains into Denver can be gnarly, as can traffic going into the mountains on Friday afternoons/evenings and Saturday mornings.

[NW Crow]

Fall foliage in CO in the mountains starts earlier (in September) than almost anywhere else in U.S. and is done earlier too (depending on location could be early to mid October). Got to be right elevation to find aspens, which will turn golden, possible orangish but not red. Maybe some red along lower river valleys, ranch planted or escaped.

Fall foliage in lower elevation towns will be up to a couple weeks later starting and might last a little longer. Can get some red where Maples and some other species are planted.

Only place in high Rockies that get a lot of red that I know of is east of Salt Lake City. They have a lot of native rocky mountain Maples in a few places.

March may or may not have much snow but check the temps. It will generally still freeze at night in March. Highs could be 30s to 70s but the average in March for Denver is about 50. Likely not what you'd call spring, though it may often be sunny and Coloradans might call it spring or near spring if they are tired of winter.

High 40a / 50s can be excellent days, unless one requires 60s or higher to be satisfied.

The earliest spring will tend to be places like Pueblo and maybe Grand Junction. But I doubt you will consider them.

Typically Denver has 155 night freezes per year. In mountains more to way more. Warmup might be fairly quick (unless cloudy), but if you go outside in morning it is likely freezing or near freezing to start in March.

Colorado get spring and fall but compared to most places, they are short seasons.


OP doesn't mention preferred place size; but if you don't want to be super close to Denver and want smaller sorta near cities, you might consider places like Lafayette and Louisville or further north. For historic architecture, you either want to live in downtowns / oldest parts of town or visit downtowns.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by songbirdsmile

Hi, all. Curious if there are places in Colorado that meet the following criteria:

1.) Experiences a true autumn - cool temps in October and November (even better if it starts in September), low humidity, abundant fall foliage

2.) Starts feeling like spring by March (I don't mind if it still gets some snowfall but would like things to be in bloom, sunny weather, etc)

3.) Regardless of the season, experiences lots of sunshine, not frequently dreary or overcast

4.) Historic, beautiful architecture

5.) Politically conservative or moderate

6.) Within a half hour of a major airport (preferably Denver or Boulder; I will be traveling to San Diego fairly frequently)

Thanks for any suggestions!

Simple answer, no.

1, 2, 4, and 5 don't fit the area around DIA, which #6 mandates. The weather isn't really close to that in any of the area around DIA. And the area is more boring part of Denver to be honest, it's an industrial belt out on wind swept plains that gets hailed on all the time. There's generic suburbia there that's somewhat affordable for Denver, but it's not inspiring.

I looked up where flies to San Diego direct and you have Provo UT (which actually fits a little better than Denver) or Taos NM (though it's $500 tickets on a little jet). Taos actually fits your weather description better, about a 3 weeks earlier spring and later fall and there is actually a lot of foliage. There's also tons of historic architecture (oldest structure in the US actually), but you gotta want to be in a little arts town that's kind of off the grid a bit.

The other areas that might be worth checking out would be like Prescott or Payson AZ. Not sure on the foliage it's probably more scrub oak, but the weather fits good, it's conservative, and PHX is a super easy flight, though it'd be a further drive to the airport.

[davebarnes]

Colorado Springs.

[RosieSD]

Take a look at Reno or Carson City, both in Northern Nevada.

They'll meet most of your requirements.

I know they're not in Colorado, but your post history shows you're considering many other places in the West, just thought I'd toss them in the mix.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by songbirdsmile

Hi, all. Curious if there are places in Colorado that meet the following criteria:

1.) Experiences a true autumn - cool temps in October and November (even better if it starts in September), low humidity, abundant fall foliage

2.) Starts feeling like spring by March (I don't mind if it still gets some snowfall but would like things to be in bloom, sunny weather, etc)

3.) Regardless of the season, experiences lots of sunshine, not frequently dreary or overcast

4.) Historic, beautiful architecture

5.) Politically conservative or moderate

6.) Within a half hour of a major airport (preferably Denver or Boulder; I will be traveling to San Diego fairly frequently)

Thanks for any suggestions!

Hmmm, 1 and 2 are possible but not wholly consistent. It does start to cool in September and into October and November. But sometimes we get big snowstorms in October and sometimes its 60* for Thanksgiving. For spring, warm temps are common in February while March and April often have some of the greatest snow accumulations, along with warm temps, along the highly popular I-25 corridor. This unpredictable behavior is often a very frustrating point for a number of people who transplant here that expect sooth, consistent, transitions between the seasons.

3. This is a reality of living in CO. In fact, hats and sunscreen are often recommended because we sometimes get too much of a good thing.

4. CO is a young state comparatively speaking, so our historic architecture is usually limited from 1870 to 1920.

5. There are numerous places like this outside of most metro centers. Even the suburbs of Denver tend to be more center to conservative as you go out from the center of the city. Colo Spgs is often held up as a conservative stronghold. While it certainly leans that way overall, its central and west sides lean liberal. These areas are also where its most of its historic housing and architecture is located.

6. Within 30 minutes of major airport depends on how major you desire. DIA is the biggest International Airport in the state. There are many other regional airports that link to it and the Colo Spgs Airport does have a large number of direct flights to a large number of places but is subject to airline's financial whims on when they add and subtract these flights. Currently there are numerous flights to San Diego. Will it remain that way for the next decade, I don't know.

Lets also add in that it is extremely dry here. Sinus issues and the need to moisturize skin are common. This is due to the large amount of sun and the high altitude. Less atmosphere contributes to drying effects of sunshine. Regular sunscreen use will need to become a habit. Its also breezy to windy most the time as well. Since I grew up here, I only seem to really notice when there is no air movement or its pushing over 20mph gusts. However, there is almost always a breeze or light wind of some sort. This also tends to weird out some transplants.