Anyone Here?

[stromboli]

2 things wrong with Colorado: the road system is terrible, highly in need of repair and upgrading. And I can't afford to live there. If I could, I would. Awesome state.

[Poison Tree]

Oh, btw, if you drive through Loveland on a Saturday you will likely see street parking with Ferraris and Lambos parked side by side with Land Rovers and various Jags thrown in for good measure. Ritzy town.

I think this is the first time I've ever heard Loveland refereed to as "ritzy" and I've lived just south of it for something like 15 years now. I'd also strongly object to Loveland being described as "pretty much one city" with Boulder and Denver--Loveland and Fort Collins are growing more and more together all the time, but (at least on 287/College) there is "permanent" tax funded open land in between.

I do have to agree with you about the roads, though. They tend to be terrible. Thanks to the "taxpayer bill of rights" it is almost impossible to get the needed funding for them--don't want to think what they would have looked like if Referendum C hadn't passed.

[stromboli]

I think this is the first time I've ever heard Loveland refereed to as "ritzy" and I've lived just south of it for something like 15 years now. I'd also strongly object to Loveland being described as "pretty much one city" with Boulder and Denver--Loveland and Fort Collins are growing more and more together all the time, but (at least on 287/College) there is "permanent" tax funded open land in between.

I do have to agree with you about the roads, though. They tend to be terrible. Thanks to the "taxpayer bill of rights" it is almost impossible to get the needed funding for them--don't want to think what they would have looked like if Referendum C hadn't passed.

Yeah but remember I'm coming from Utah, so I'm talking about a comparative situation. I really love Colorado. If I had the money, Estes Park would be my dream to live in. Just a beautiful town and really laid back and unpretentious.  While I was there in the summer- pre landslides, etc. I was really bummed out by the roads. Utah by comparison is much better, about the only good thing to say about the state. I went back in October to my daughter's wedding after the debacle and couldn't believe the difference. Mamas Rose's restaurant which is right on the Big Thompson river, was wiped out by the flooding- It was my daughter's choice to cater the wedding, and it didn't happen. Sad. If you get there, a highly recommended Italian eatery.

Made the mistake of thinking there was a Walmart in Golden. Yeesh. Roads were bad and totally packed and the whole town is the Coors brewery, damn near. Loveland, Westminster, all the towns around Denver are well kept and clean and very livable. But we drove through Loveland on a Saturday and there were Ferraris and Lambos parked there and Jags and you name it, so to me that is ritzy. Beautiful town anyway. You're lucky to live there.

[Poison Tree]

Beautiful town anyway. You're lucky to live there.

Thanks. I haven't been up to Estes in years. My parents went up since the flooding, but I get motion sick easily and could barely manage to stomach the roads when they were in good shape. I'll be really curious to hear if the town's tourism recovers this summer.

[stromboli]

Thanks. I haven't been up to Estes in years. My parents went up since the flooding, but I get motion sick easily and could barely manage to stomach the roads when they were in good shape. I'll be really curious to hear if the town's tourism recovers this summer.

We were there last in October of 2013. Had to take a very circuitous route to get there. Even then the town was pretty busy, so if the roads are fixed hopefully they'll snap back. Wow, couldn't believe the damage. Saw one pile of just uprooted trees that covered an acre easily, a mass of quite large trees that either plugged the rivers or scoured them out. The town itself didn't look much damaged, but the roads in and out were really torn up.

We stayed 2 nights at a hotel that overlooked the Big Thompson up near the North gate of the national park. The river was quiescent, but you could see where the banks had been overrun and the damage done. It would've been pretty frightening to the hotel owners.