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Colorado Retirement
Not everyone wants to retire in the South. With stunning scenery,
the Rocky Mountains and more than 300 days of sunshine per year, Colorado makes
an ideal retirement destination for anyone who enjoys four seasons and
outdoor recreation. Summers can be hot, but there is virtually no
humidity. In the winter, it can snow a little or a lot, but
typically, it snows one day and then melts the next, often under a
crystal blue sky. Once home to buffalo herds, fur
trappers and silver miners, Colorado's modern residents are educated,
environmentally-aware and appreciative of the beauty in their state.
Seniors considering Colorado can choose from a city
retirement or a country retirement and most everything between.
Denver offers big city living. Mountain towns offer plenty of
recreation, including some world-class skiing, and a slower pace. Colorado Springs and Fort Collins
offer a small city lifestyle. Small towns on the eastern plains
provide rural (some might say desolate) small town living, far from any crowds.
Boulder is an oasis of liberalism, and Fort Collins has been cited as
one of the most livable cities in the country.
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Fort Collins
Anyone considering a retirement in a
pretty, healthy, mid-sized and growing city might want to consider Fort
Collins, Colorado. This college town is gaining recognition as a
great place to live, for people of all ages. Situated on the high
plains north of Denver, but with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop, the city
enjoys four distinct seasons, but each one is enjoyable and
"usable," meaning that there are few days of the year you need
to stay indoors, unlike other locations where it can sometimes be too
cold or too humid to venture outside.
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Fort Collins was founded as a
military outpost and stayed one until Colorado State University
(then Colorado A&M) was established in the 1870s.
Today, CSU is Colorado's second largest university system and
brings an eclectic mixture of people to the area. With a
population of about 100,000, Fort Collins is a nice compromise
between small town and large city. There are plenty of
amenities here, from art galleries and theater to hiking in
stunning Rocky Mountain National Park. For
serious shopping, dining or theater, Denver is just 60 miles to
the south.
Growth management is
taken seriously, which keeps skyscrapers to a minimum (no one
wants to block the mountain views). This attention to city
planning should keep Fort Collins a livable city well into the
future.
Housing prices have shot up within the last few years (as
they have most everywhere), but condominiums and town homes are
less expensive and available. Rental units are usually
taken up by students. Overall, the cost of living is slightly higher than the
national average.
Poudre Valley Hospital, with 250 beds, is here. Major
health care facilities of all kinds are in Denver, about an hour
away.
Colorado Springs
This mid-sized city is located an hour south of
Denver and sits at the foot of truly majestic Pikes Peak (although
a mining company has left a very visible scar on the
mountain). Colorado Springs has seen tremendous growth in
the last 20 years, but it still remains a livable city. It
is one of the most politically and socially conservative cities
outside of the South, so retirees might want to keep that in mind
(the Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, NORAD and Focus on the Family
are located here). Cost-of-living is right at the national
average. Health care is quite good. There are
shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and everything else one would
expect to find in a city this size. Colorado Springs also
has many tourist attractions (a few of them might be called
"traps"), including Garden of the Gods, the Cog Railway
up to the top of Pikes Peak, Cave of the Winds and
others. The weather is fairly typical of
Colorado. Winters can be cold, with or without much snow,
but the sky is blue most months. Summers are dry, sometimes
hot, sometimes not.
Go Retire Now, a partner of
Webwerxx.
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