Canon City

Does anyone here on the forum live there? I'm looking to relocate and would like the skinny on the area.

Thanks,
Gary

talk to slim, he pretty much grew up there climbing...

Thanks. I'll hope he chimes in.
gary

damn, shoulda known hardcor would throw me under the bus like that...

anyway, canon city... where do we begin? i'm assuming you will be bringing your own gal. the pickings are pretty slim down there.

pluses -
great climbing nearby
good mountain biking (no crowds)
great kayaking
close to monarch (probably my favorite ski area in CO)
really, really cheap to buy a house
there's a good group of bike riders down there who are really cool to hang with.
the french restaurant
decent mexican food
great weather
not as congested, traffic wise, as other front range cities

minuses -
a complete and utter absence of attractive/intelligent single females. and i am NOT joking in this department.
your first trip to walmart you will realize that there is some sort of shortage of chromosomes. whoa, the humanity! as jim carrey put it in some movie, i can't remember which one.
the tooth to tattoo ratio is on the 'lean' side
the people are not on the 'lean' side
tons of cops, and even more that think they are cops
the huge prison industry brings in a lot of people with kids that you probably don't want your kids to go to school with.
not a whole lot going on for employment, aside from working at the prison, fast food, or the gas station.

i'm guessing you are a physicist, electrical engineer, or electrician?

any other specific questions? i can obviously ramble on all day about this topic!

slim wrote:...anyway, canon city... where do we begin? i'm assuming you will be bringing your own gal. the pickings are pretty slim down there.

Get a compass and draw a circle with a diameter of 150 miles from there and you can essentially say the same thing.

ahh slim,

i knew you out of anyone would have the most useful information
on the place... and would speak truthfully about it! :)

howdy folks, welcome to canon city, home of the super max!

supermax, canon city

Hehehe thanks guys. Actually I'm married in California with kids. My wife is super hot and super intelligent, so I'll be out of the mix there...

I'm an operator/instructor at a nuclear power plant right now. The move may end up being more along the lines of buying property now and renting it until I retire. Then move there. But I was only looking at climate when I settled on the "banana belt" of the state.

The tooth to tattoo issue, the Super Max, and other social issues are things that I needed to find out before I get too deep in research. Don't get me wrong, I like some tats but lost teeth need to be confined to (male)hockey players...

Ideally I'd like to find some arable land with clean water that I can grow a mini farm on. Is there anywhere else in the state that is mild in climate but with a little less tattoo/tooth issues going on?

I'd love to move to Boulder but I simply can't afford it. Longmont is nice too, but I'm reading that the climate in the valley around Canon is just very unique and pleasant..

gary ohm wrote:Ideally I'd like to find some arable land with clean water that I can grow a mini farm on...

I don't know if California is the same, but there are serious water right issues here in CO, and, specifically, Canon City.

Educate yourself thoroughly and be careful. People WILL take advantage of your ignorance regarding this issue.

I'll chime in here. I don't know if Canon City is the spot for arable land and a mini-farm, it's pretty dry with some really low quality soils. I live in Boulder now and the Boulder Valley is much better suited to grow things in than the area around Canon City. Also, being from the NE, the winters in the Boulder Valley are NOTHING, so if you're looking for a mild climate, don't let the folks from Canon City tell you that the Boulder/Longmont region is a harsh climate, just because they don't get below 50 all winter (Man I love Shelf Rd.) I'd also check out Nederland, seems like there is a lot of farming going on that way, Lyons, and Longmont as you mentioned. All these places will likely be pricier than Canon City, but it's also more well-suited for what I think you're looking for.

Lyons is a pretty good choice for settin' down roots. It's 11 miles from Boulder, it's still tiny, and it now has Oscar Blues brewery. Super close to Rocky Mountain NP and you can climb in the St. Vrain valley for local stuff in addition to Boulder.

Maybe try looking at the Western Slope of Colorado. Ridgway, Montrose, Delta, Grand Junction, and quite a bit of other smaller farming/ranching communities.

My map for "Western Slope of Colorado" just says "Here be dragons."

JLP has some good advice here - i was going to chime in on the Western Slope cities mentioned above by saying that they are fairly similar to canon.

Thanks again guys. I'll look more closely at Longmont. I don't need metheads or rednecks. Well, I can stand a bit of redneckism, but not too much.
My bro-in-law lives in Longmont now. I had no idea about the water rights. This is more of exactly the sort of thing I need to find out before I take such a huge plunge.

The winters aren't a concern for me. I grew up in northern Wyoming. It's my Kalifornia born and raised wife that has issues with it. Plus I'd really like to grow as close to year around as possible without having to resort to heated houses.

JLP and others, where in the state is NOT predominantly methheads and rednecks?? I can't afford Boulder (not that I could get any farmable land anyway). I need to look more into the water issues too.

THANK YOU!!!

Look into the Durango area, include Farmington NM

gary ohm wrote:JLP and others, where in the state is NOT predominantly methheads and rednecks?? I can't afford Boulder (not that I could get any farmable land anyway). I need to look more into the water issues too. THANK YOU!!!

er, wait, huh? did you really believe him gary?

His advice on taking the road trips around the state is good though.

Try Buena Vista--moderate, in the BB, river and climbing right next door, and if you ski, it's only a short jog up Monarch Pass to the ski area.

Well.. Alamosa, near me has lots of ag lands, but a lack of water. Cheap land and a college though.

remember, Canon also has a Women's max facility

Shit.. montrose makes Alamosa look happening

I noticed a remax sign just south of the Sand Gulch camp ground the last time I was down there. This would be the best location for climbing, not sure about farming. It looks like lower down canyon where the vineyard is located might be a better spot. The canyon bottlenecks and the river is right there. Anyway here is the listing: remax.com/property/94347099…

Anybody got a half-a-mill burning a hole in their pocket?

Upon further review this is not the land for sale near sand gulch and menses.

Regarding water rights, I have a friend who's an organic farmer in Canon. If you would like, I could give you his number; He'd be happy to give you some info on that issue.

Ian70 wrote: er, wait, huh? did you really believe him gary?

Not entirely. Though the fact that a prison is right there makes me very leery. Taking road trips is a great idea. We're heading to Longmont this Spring and I am hoping to set up a sight seeing tour while there. I'd like to make a number of road trips to different areas. I looked at Durango several years ago. The cost of living there seemed almost what it was here in California. That's part of what I want to get rid of.

JSM I sent you a PM