Grand Junction CO, your thoughts?

Hey there everyone,

I am hoping you could give me your opinions on living in Grand Junction Colorado. I'm interviewing with a firm there and have never been to the area or the state for that matter.

How's the climbing for a fat ass like myself that trad leads only .8's?

What's the local culture like?

Backpacking and other outdoor activities?

Rental properties?

Pretty much anything you can tell me about the area would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

Just moved here from the Boulder area for work in April.Not a bad place.Rents are lower,traffic is casual. Rifle is an hour away. Unaweep Canyon has lots of climbing. Moab is an hour and a half. Colorado National Monument is cool.Lots of mountain biking,rafting. The town itself seems to be experiencing a very low key culture war-the somewhat redneck old guard is being challenged by the influx of outdoor sports oriented (perhaps more progressive?)newcomers.There also seems to be a push for tech companies to move here. Except for my "associate" still being in Bouldeyville, I'm feeling pretty good about it.

You can't sleep in the Walmart parking lot... At least that was the officer's reason for waking me up at 6am.

I've spent little bits of time in a lot of different places in Colorado and Junction is on the list of places I could live. The list of places I couldn't is much longer.

there's currently a terrible influx of effete Boooooouuuuulllllderites but otherwise Grand Junction is pretty great.

just kidding. let's go climbing Joe?

Couldn't have said it better Joe. Lived in Junction all my life. Junction is a awesome town with tons of outdoor opportunities. Just have to deal with the redneck older crowd conflicting with the hippie outdoor crowd. If you need climbing buddies to go slay 5.8s so hard in unaweep let me know.

Max Supertramp wrote:there's currently a terrible influx of effete Boooooouuuuulllllderites but otherwise Grand Junction is pretty great. just kidding. let's go climbing Joe?

effete? This is why I stopped posting on mp. I thought this was obvious. I just moved here, thought I could comment on this without any need for bullshit.What's your real name "Max"?

Junktown is the best climbing town in Utah!

Junktown? It that slang for Grand Junction?

Living in Grand Junction would be a good bet, as it has easy access to the aforementioned areas, and alpine areas to the East. A very low-key place, and has quality mountaineering shops, and good food too. Unaweep is full of nice sandstone blocks accessable amost year round, and can be driven to in 15 minutes, making it a nice after-work bouldering area.

I live here. The town itself is gross, uncultured, lacking good food, etc.

The property is affordable and the outdoor opportunities within 3 hours are fantastic and are the reasons I moved here.

The people are polite and there is a ton of local ranch raised beef, pig, sheep, dairy, etc. We are in the agricultural belt of CO and there is plenty of fresh produce. There's also a ton of good rafting/kayaking/mountain biking/camping/climbing/hiking/skiing/hunting,etc.

But I must reiterate, if you like city living this place is not for you, you don't move to Junction for Junction, you move here for what's around Junction.

If you get serious about moving here message me and I'd be happy to talk to you in person. If you move here I can show you around a little and point you to where the fun is outdoors.

Junction isn't too bad of a city. The best part is the proximity to the western slope which if your into winter climbing can't be beat in Colorado. Also close to Moab and the creek to name a few.

I've tried living there before never had much luck finding work though. The town is much smaller than most and in my opinion is kinda trashy. These reasons wouldn't stop me from living there though. Rentals could be pretty cheap.

Chad Miller wrote:Junktown? It that slang for Grand Junction?

The nickname is "Grand Junkyard"

Ryan N wrote:Junction isn't too bad of a city. The best part is the proximity to the western slope which if your into winter climbing can't be beat in Colorado. Also close to Moab and the creek to name a few. I've tried living there before never had much luck finding work though. The town is much smaller than most and in my opinion is kinda trashy. These reasons wouldn't stop me from living there though. Rentals could be pretty cheap.

The rental market is tighter than you'd think and people here don't bother too much with a lot of the standards when it comes to renting that are enforced in more populated places. It's much better to buy here, you can get 1500 sq ft with a 2 car garage in good condition for 130-170k. 250-300k buys you a very nice house with land.

Ryan Williams wrote:You can't sleep in the Walmart parking lot... At least that was the officer's reason for waking me up at 6am. I've spent little bits of time in a lot of different places in Colorado and Junction is on the list of places I could live. The list of places I couldn't is much longer.

Not to detract, but why do cities not allow this anymore when walmart clearly could care less? FWIW, my new trick is to post up in an apartment complex parking lot in a guest space. Been getting away with it in places like Santa Barbra and Monterey to name a few, I'm sure it would work in the junction.

Ryan N wrote: Not to detract, but why do cities not allow this anymore when walmart clearly could care less? FWIW, my new trick is to post up in an apartment complex parking lot in a guest space. Been getting away with it in places like Santa Barbra and Monterey to name a few, I'm sure it would work in the junction.

Santa Barbara and Monterey are unlikely to have our transient population. We've got parks taken over by meth addicts that are here until it get's too cold then move on. Junction has a massive drug addict population. Granted, they seem harmless and I've never felt scared but I doubt we'd want to encourage more to come here. Google "Grand Junction & ACLU" we just got famous recently.

Had co-workers who lived there when I was in UT, so I spent a lot of our off weeks (7on/7off schedule) basing out of their house in Junction to hit the climbing/biking/etc.

I'll echo what others said, the surrounding 3-4hr area is mind blowing with high quality outdoor rec opportunities. It pretty much has it all. That's why you move there, not for the amenities or ambiance of the town itself.

Town has a surprising lack of basic culture..like your std ethnic food you can get in almost any city of similar size. Downtown seemed tiny for a town of that population. Definitely had a feel of a lower-income, blue collarish town. Could be way different these days,my experience is from the late 90s/early 00s.

I'd be stoked to live there vs most places in the country.

I moved here 12 years ago after being on the road for 12, I saw the potential, and since that time I have watched this town really progress from it's redneck backwater roots to a true recreational paradise. My only wish would be we were a little closer to better skiing, but Powerhorn does get a lot of snow and For the Colorado "B team" it's really pretty good.

While still a touch culturally retarded, you cannot beat the two hour circle around this town, East, West, North and South; there are cool destinations in all directions all seasons, and they're close. Bring you Mountain Bike cause the biking here in phenomenal.

If you make the move and you are looking for a place one of our renters is moving out on July 26th.
www.facebook.com/12thstreetgarage

I travel to Palisade (15 min east of GJ) quite often and really enjoy it for the little town it is. If you're looking for small town living near the area I would really recommend Palisade or Fruita. In my experience you miss out on some of the traditional GJ problems but still live within easy access to the basic amenities of a regional center. They also distill some kick A$$ bourbon there so that's a plus.

I've been here a year, and my only complaint is the poor air quality in the winter.

Other than that, I concur with the above observations. I'm planning on staying.

Airbiscuit wrote:I moved here 12 years ago after being on the road for 12, I saw the potential, and since that time I have watched this town really progress from it's redneck backwater roots to a true recreational paradise. My only wish would be we were a little closer to better skiing, but Powerhorn does get a lot of snow and For the Colorado "B team" it's really pretty good. While still a touch culturally retarded, you cannot beat the two hour circle around this town, East, West, North and South; there are cool destinations in all directions all seasons, and they're close. Bring you Mountain Bike cause the biking here in phenomenal. If you make the move and you are looking for a place one of our renters is moving out on July 26th. www.facebook.com/12thstreetgarage

If I get the job I'd love to rent your place. PM with the rent and particulars!

fwiw- stayed in the GJ walmart pkg lot for a night last October (2013) with no hassle. maybe because we were in a camper? we were not the only folks camping.

I really like GJ, for the rec. when I retire I'll probably spend some time in the area.