I am as well a Colorado native, it’s absolutely heartbreaking to see how this state has lost its friendliness,morals,values and respect,now it seems the bulk of the non-native people only think of themselves, and have no respect for others and to other peoples property
I'm not a Colorado native but i've been here 43 years & I whole heatedly agree with you. It is so heartbreaking 😭. Never would or did i think it would ever get like this.
@@cynthiaryal2089 I live in the North East, we see the same thing with idiot progressives from Massachusetts and Connecticut flee their states because they've turned them into shit holes and they show up in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and start turning our states into shit holes. I don't know where these people plan to go after they've ruined their new home like they ruined the old one.
I agree politically however Colorado isn’t over populated there’s plenty of wide empty spaces. It’s just that everyone is trying to be in the same place instead of expanding
Colorado native that left last year. I grew up in Colorado, loved Colorado, never planned to leave. However between the wildfire smoke, the horrible traffic going to the mountains, and the feeling of California... it was time to move on for our family.
Legalizing drugs and liberals ruined Colorado. High taxes, high rent, high crime are the results. It's an unfriendly state now! Yes legalized pot made it unfriendly.
Folks just can’t get on board with these United States of America theme. I feel you though, I’ve been in Florida for over 30 years and I’m out of here, just as soon as I’m retired. I believe there’s a song called Paradise by the Eagles that sums it up. I found my little corner then everybody else did. What are you gonna do?
My wife was born and grew up on the western slope. The last couple of times I visited I was astonished at how crowded it had gotten, and how rude and aggressive people were in stores and on the roads.
Yep, this is the marxist teachings in our schools, the main idea is entitlement to everyone else's property (cause private property is considered bad). And the idea that there is no God, that mankind is actually his own god, and that each person is supposed to police everyone else, hoping to instill moral behavior without God. What nonsense!
I've driven through most states, and Colorado is top 5 in terms of terrible, rude drivers. I guess it makes sense since most of them are Californians (the worst drivers in the country).
As a 4th generation born in Colorado all the locals are moving out. Transplants have completely changed the values and politics of the state and along with that have come increased crime traffic and homelessness. My wife and I will be sadly moving away once we have the money for a house. It breaks my heart but the Colorado I grew up with no longer exists
Sixth generation native here, I couldn’t agree more with you. We were better back when we were still a Red state, but of course Liberal transplants are hell bent on transforming wherever they move to into the hellscape that they’re running from. Wyoming sounds nicer by the day.
I feel the same way, I'm thinking North Carolina or Texas, I will always be part of Broncos country though. Feels like 75% of people who live where I'm from aren't even from here lol.
The California Exodus to Colorado in my opinion is what caused everything to go up in price. I was stationed at NORAD which is located in Colorado Springs for ten years. I retired and decided to stay there. I bought a home for 123, 000 in 1993 it's now over $519,300. I remember Californians buying homes cash and paying way over the actual appraisal. Within a few years homes were becoming scarce and prices crept up fast. Use to be mostly conservative but again the Californian ideology turned it into another California. They were running from a state that till this day oppresses it's citizens and now Colorado is turning into a mirror image of their former residence. It's a shame, such a beautiful state but I don't want to live in a place where my personal values are not respected.
Tell that to everyone in conservative states that isn't Christian, white, straight, and anyone who'd rather smoke a little weed instead of poison themselves with alcohol. Blue states don't make being conservative illegal, but red states make being liberal illegal.
@googlenazicompany5935we’re complaining about the Californians because they’re shite bags and bringing their funky politics. The money is only a part of the problem but people with money are leaving Cali partially because of their awful government, then come to Colorado and do the same
The high cost of living, declining quality of life, loss of open space, downtown overrun with homeless addicts, and shift from libertarianism to progressivism are among the reasons we are leaving as soon as possible.
That’s precisely why I’m about to leave, nearly impossible to afford a place entirely on my own without having a roommate (something I’m not privy to), plus violent crime escalating in the cities that often go unreported now (many of the homeless not only routinely harass people for handouts but will even assault and not even women with children are safe from these types of confrontations). Stricter policies like those we’ve had before our transition into a Liberal stronghold would ease a lot of these interactions, but I don’t see that happening in the near future.
I've lived in CO all my life, it is sad that I will likely be chased out by democrat voters who fled CA and brought their garbage progressive ideas to ruin another state.
As a Colorado native, it's fallen in to the grasp of those who ran from something they didn't care for (or so they thought) and have turned it into where they came from.
It's happening everywhere. People are not raising their offspring to have manners, be polite, or treat others with kindness or consideration, just how to be greedy and selfish. If people want others to be better they should raise their kids to care about others at an early age.
they're running from the messes their policies and politics created and going to states that have been governed by right leaning people, so the taxes are lower, cost of living is lower, etc. Then they swamp these places but bring the toxic politics and policies that created the mess they left behind and the cycle begins again. They also don't have the same values, are narcissistic, rude,, angry all the time, etc. I am native Californian and left 58 years. I'm in Wyoming now and the difference is staggering. People are happy, polite, helpful.
We're perfect white middle class trump voting Americans and we don't want to be within a country mile of the rest of you. So leave our country, but yes you have no where to go, but that is your problem. Don't come to us with your problems. We're nice people, were perfect, we help our selves to your land.
I’m a Wyoming native, and have seen a large influx of people moving up here from Colorado. I have no issue with them. Many of them moved here because modern day Wyoming is much like what they said Colorado “used to be”. Most of the people I’ve encountered that moved here from Colorado just want less people and a simplified life. It would be sad to leave your home state, because of radical change. I’ve never been in that situation being in Wyoming my whole life. However, we are starting to see a sudden boom down in Cheyenne. That hasn’t really trickled up to Casper and Gillette just yet, but our housing market has never been more tight and inflated all over the state. The popular towns of Wyoming literally have nothing left for sale or rent. We’re seeing more influx of people moving here, many from Colorado and Washington.
Better keep that shit in check. If someone doesn't fit in, let them know and drive them out. Being nice to the parasites that ruined Colorado will get you exactly what we got.
I think that's everywhere though. Everywhere has increased dang near 50% in price since pre-covid. And more people able to work remotely makes Wyoming attractive to some. But our mountain states are still the best. Whatever you look for you'll find. I find being nice to someone first, gets that in return. Just so many people stuck in their phones we're forgetting how to be people.
I am a native that left 4 years ago. We could no longer afford being there, and affording it brought extreme stress. My parents sold out and moved, because they couldn't afford the property taxes and my step dad had respiratory problems. Elevation affected him more than air quality. My oldest and her family also moved due to affordability reasons. 4 years later, we are all better off financially, my step-dad has recovered some quality of life, and we have hope. Best decision I ever made was leaving. It took a couple of years to adjust mentally, but now I'm settled and never want to go back, except to visit.
I loved the 1990s. Moved out in 2019. And my state of mind, stress and resulting happiness rebound got so much better. This time next week, I will be hiking in South America, and not in commuting traffic on I-25.
Good to hear you are all doing well. Would you mind sharing where you went? I'm wondering where things are more affordable that a Colorado native might like.
Did you move away from family? And if so, how has that been, being far away? We are looking to leave NY for same reason, but extended family and parents are big deal to us.
@@bryang3044 I left California and everything and everyone I knew, over 20 years ago. It has been hard at times, but it was the right decision. I can’t live without freedom and common sense.
@@painmt651 , thanks for sharing your experience. I feel that while there will be hard times, there will also be tons of "ups". If you don't mind me asking, what have been some of the positives? Freedom, less taxes, and more value for my money would be top ones. I'm sure I'd grow even closer to my wife, since we would be relying on each other more, being away from all fam. I'm sure we would meet people who share our values which would be nice.
Native here. All of these point to Denver and the front range. I'm from Western Colorado and most of these issues are not factored in. I love how everything west of the Continental Divide is never mentioned. Like we are not even a part of the state.
But even Gunnison, Buena Vista, and Salida are being overrun by the rich, woke, liberal garbage. I grew up in Colorado, went Western State in Gunnison, wouldn't live there now.
As someone who was born and raised in Colorado, I agree. Colorado used to have its own culture. We all cherished the same beliefs in our state. You would get shamed by any of us for littering or vandalism, especially in the mountains. Not anymore. There is trash everywhere. And you would think we were a state full of gangs with the amount of graffiti. The policies are all straight from California now, too. We should have never legalized pot. It started there and never stopped. I used to hope everyone would go home so we could get our beautiful state back. I'm not sure that's even an option anymore.
@@dandonnelly6498 I think OP raises some good points; because of all the pot a lot of young adults who move here aren't well.. Respectful? 😹 It seems like the ones drawn here for the outdoor and sports culture aren't the same ones attracted to CO these daus
Obviously, people smoked pot. How do you think it was legalized here first? We petitioned for it at the capital on 4/20 for years. The problem isn't that people smoke pot, the problem is legalizing it made a lot of outsiders come to the state. Which changed the culture in Colorado. I'm not a boomer, I am a millennial. And both have a lot of people who smoke pot.
Colorado native, born and raised. Aside from some traveling and brief stints in other states for work, I've lived in Colorado most of my life. My wife and I moved away from CO in August due to the rapidly rising housing costs and the deterioration of safety and cleanliness. I think we could've held on a bit longer, but we have young kids now. We were paying ridiculous rent for a terrible apartment with consistent water damage, roaches, mold, and homeless people literally camping in the interior hallways of the building, right outside the doors to individual apartments. Broken windows were frequent and trash ubiquitous. And it wasn't just our apartment. Traffic has gotten worse, people more atomized, and the cities are utterly filthy. Wildfires have been ridiculous the last few summers (especially the Superior fire last year). But homelessness has by far been the craziest issue, it's utterly exploded. Denver's always had a homeless problem, but driving through Denver now, it's just blocks upon blocks of tents. Boulder is getting pretty bad too. There's even an open space (field) I would drive past on my way to work off Highway 36, near the AMC Promenade that had a couple of tents set up on it, and over the course of a year those couple of tents expanded into a little settlement in the middle of a field the suburbs. A couple that I'm friends with that still lives in CO were paying $1600/mo for an apartment in Broomfield a year ago. When it came time to renew their lease, they received a notice that the rent would now be $2200/mo. We now live in a rural area out east and I miss my mountains and aridity, but it's been worth it. Much better place to raise a family (chickens and a garden too!). Colorado is becoming the new California
"Colorado is becoming the new California" True but it's been happening for 30 years, I remember going skiing in Colorado in high school and the locals talking about it c
What a ridiculous comment. Why would you rent an apartment that has water damage, roaches, mold, and homeless people camping out? Filthy City, Like you're living in a village in India? Do you write your silly stories for fun or does someone actually pay you?
That is what you get in the cities. If you go to pretty much any smaller town it's a much better environment. But the people that want to live in a city that's congested with traffic and too many people are not the types to move to a small town.
I was in Denver two years ago. I couldn't believe how dirty and the number of homeless zombies walking around. I hadn't been there since 2009. What a difference...so sad.
Just like everywhere else, homelessness increased beginning in about 2019 because of COVID. Remember Covid?? Because of the cost of housing, there was already a homeless problem there. Unlike more right wing states, Colorado has initiated some rent controls and they are building public housing hand over fist. Permanent solutions over playing the blame game.
I lived in west Longmont and didn’t realize how bad it was because it was the same in my bubble on the good side of town we avoid all that stuff drove around it to do business for entertainment we’re super active it’s just normal to try to not be around it but I as shocked it changed over night and I didn’t realize it and we’re not greedy or selfish we help people all the time but we live ok and deserve it I’ve worked overtime as long as I can remember when I realized it I just drove around to the bad areas for hours and I felt bad I didn’t notice but it wasn’t because I don’t care it’s worse in Oregon and I give at least a pack of cigarettes away a day usually more and some are grateful and some think your done and will keep holding there hands out until you stop giving and I’ve gotten mad at some of them and they don’t care but it’s mental illness mostly
Denver is way better than SF. We love outdoors, really missed the mountains in CA, but don’t want to move back. And we recently began to think about moving to CO (Denver or Boulder), and found out it’s like CA in certain way. Sign
I moved to Colorado at the beginning of 1981. The Front Range has become one long suburb from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. It’s crazy expensive, crowded, polluted - you nailed it on the air quality. The homeless problem is no joke. They freeze to death during the winter. After moving around the country to find a place to retire, I moved to Ohio (surprising?). I was able to buy a place to live!
Oh my. If that is big for you definitely don’t want to go out of Ohio or Colorado. From Fort Collins to Denver is still half the size of Seattle metro sweet heart
As a Native I feel fortunate to have grown up in Colorado. It’s the most beautiful state. But now to many people have moved in and changed the landscape, and the culture. It’s only going to continue to get more expensive. I hope the beauty and natural resources will somehow be preserved. I love going back to visit!
@@kingkoy5450 I heard people from every state make the claim their a native of whatever state. Only the shallow narrow minded thinking of the modern uber sensitive lefties has warped the word .
I'm from Colorado, born and raised here, but I'll be moving later this year for trade school. The insanely high cost of living is utterly Ridiculous now! The middle class is truly vanishing from this state. I've known several people in the past 3 years (who were middle class) move to other states because they got priced out of living here. So nowadays everyone here is either very poor or ultra-rich. The poorer people all crowd up into apartments with at least 5 other roommates so that they can afford to live out here. All the ultra-rich yuppies live close to the ski resorts and resort towns like Vail or Aspen. Many of them are quite snobbish and rude, especially when they're driving. Colorado's a beautiful state and I'm grateful I was raised in it back when it was pristine, peaceful, and less crowded but it has changed in a lot of negative ways since then, its cost of living being the biggest problem in my opinion.
Yep! And then they fight affordable housing at every turn, even when Vail is telling it's residents that the employees that run all the lifts and bars and hotels literally have no place to live
Destroying the middle class is a big goal to usher in feudalism, this is a World Economic Forum agenda and it's happening worldwide in order to usher in socialism to all western countries, so there will only be the rich and the poor. The huge inflation occurring is manufactured to push people into poverty and homelessness....it's all by design by the UN and WEF. The millions of illegal immigrants is by design to overwhelm the system to bring it down, it's all been planned for decades.
@@johnpruett5258 nice insight. I know a couple of months ago Denver got flooded with illegal immigrants from South America. Denver was helping the illegals but doing nothing for the homeless population, US citizens
I worked in Colorado more than once and I also lived in Metropolitan Denver for about a year and left in November of 2018. My main reasons for leaving were cost of living, overcrowding, homelessness and too much widespread methamphetamine. The only way to avoid tweakers( AKA meth heads) it's to avoid public transportation, grocery stores, parks, hiking trails, Etc.
We had little drug problems until legalized pot. Drug addicts abound, pot leads to other drugs, now meth heads, pot heads etc. Rents went up, traffic sucked, we were promised a part of all the $ they were making off pot...residents saw zero. Pot cures zero, only wastes your time, $, life, lungs, relationships.
I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, and we used to hike and really enjoy the mountains a lot. Colorado was an amazing place to grow up anytime prior to the 2000's. Overgrowth and over building everything everywhere has completely ruined the state. Everything is private property, and no one has respect for the wildlife anymore. I moved 5 years ago, and the family that are still there hate what has become of Colorado.
I am a native and Colorado has went through some drastic changes in the last 10 years. The worst is the cost of living is ridiculous. You better have a great job and make sure you have a place to live before you come. The one thing not talked about in this video is TRAFFIC. OMG the traffic. Streets were not built for this volume and they are all under construction. Its horrible!!
It’ll change. People moved there for lifestyle and not work. Once their jobs go away in a recession, you’ll have a ton of people leave to where they came from.
Yeah traffic is terrible, and most of the roads are not in very good shape. I live in Northern CO, it's bad enough here. It's even worse when I have to go to Denver.
The traffic is terrible because there aren’t great alternatives to driving. Its too car centric for such a high population. It’s unfortunate they had the opportunity to make something great with all the recent growth but they just built more parking lots and shopping centers.
People moved in and changed everything into what they were leaving. Then the rest of us either left, or were effectively kicked out from being unable to afford the cost of living. I am watching the same thing happen in the 4 corners region all over again. It's kinda like what is happening to the world at the moment.
Its Happening everywhere. Crime makes people move from Ohio - other family memebers came from Georgia. But now there are no homes that you can afford, no place if you have animals, and we are looking for housing that we can all afford. I have lived in Las Cruces, NM for 35 years. My home is big enough for the time being, but we have now added family and pets, and there is nothing for rent that anyone who has an average job can afford. I'm older, but homeless, crime, and the high rents make me scared. So I guess I'm ok with the extra family. We can all take care of each other. But cars are now getting old and I don't want to get a new car - it costs more than my fixed income! This is just a terrible time - everywhere!
I'm a Colorado native that recently moved out. Growing up and up until my 20s the state was laid back, affordable, and the people were great for the most part. That all has changed in the last decade, and the state resembles California now more than it resembles what it used to be. The people are rude and selfish for the most part now, and yes, the politics have become insufferable. I moved to Wyoming and my only regret is not moving here way sooner.
Hello from Cheyenne! When my boys graduated (from Nebraska) the oldest settled in Colorado and enjoyed his job and lifestyle there (engineer & snowboarding) his little brother (8 yrs younger) would go out every Christmas & spring break to enjoy the mountain lifestyle, snowboard, 4 wheeler, motorcycle with big brother. He graduated college and moved out right away - that was 5 yrs ago and now they both want to leave. I kept saying "move up here to Wyoming" it's not infested with California crap
The way they dealt with the pandemic ran us out fast. The contrast of what we had in 70’s and 80’s to what it is now is depressing. I’m a nurse. The cost of living was skyrocketing but my pay wasn’t.
Utah wasn’t crazy masks & lockdowns, then I visited Colorado & NM and was shocked how they were handling the pandemic. Was like night & day, I never went back.
I moved there at 20, was a volunteer firefighter and worked in restaurants. Moved there for mountains and adventure and what not. Now I tell people you get to see the mountains on your way to your 2-3 just to even afford it. Moved back to Missouri and can rent a house for what I was paying to share an apartment.
@@Chris-sf7ug the cost of living always seemed higher in Colorado for it being the same amount of rural as Missouri with pockets of population density. I looked into the construction wages out there and they were not comparable to the cost of living so it's a typical blue state keeping the poor subdued
I think one of the issues people have regarding politics, is where decisions are made for an entire state, based on the needs of the densely populated city where the state governments is sometimes run from. For example, the issues plaguing Denver are very different from the issues plaguing Fort Collins. Yet, it seems politicians will often make decisions on what's best for those densely populated cites, with little or no regard on how it will impact more rural cities.
I agree but it goes both ways. Rural red states making decisions on behalf of the major metropolitan centers like Houston/Dallas Texas or Milwaukee Wisconsin (I could go on with the list but you get the idea) causes harm to those cities as well. State politicians of both parties are just power hungry and want to control as many people as they can.
Just like Illinois, the corrupt Chicago politicians F everything up and have been doing it for decades. The ignorant citizens of Chicago are so easily manipulated, they keep voting for the same thing
You ain't kidding. I had a place on knob hill, el rancho. Knobs hill doesn't exist anymore. They flattened a mountain to fit a Walmart shopping complex, and a 4 lane road.
@Dickabod_Crane Rural dwellers who want to mine their own business meanwhile city slickers push their degeneracy and rampant corruption on everyone else with more laws and regulations that solve nothing.
Colorado has priced itself out being an affordable place to live. I had to leave when my rent went up 64% in one month. The sprawl around the cities has also gotten out of control. I'm a Colorado native.
I applied for a transfer to the Denver area twice. Once for an officer position and once for a Supervisor position. Both interviews went well but I was not offered the positions. Thank God! In retrospect, I dodged a bullet. Finished out my career in Arizona and retired to South Carolina. God bless Arizona and Sourh Carolina. Love both states.
I once vowed that you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming out of Colorado. I wanted to live the rest of my life there. Sadly the cost of living skyrocketed, my daughter was diagnosed with asthma, and the cold aggravated my joint pain. We moved to the South and it was the right choice for us. But 7 years later, we STILL miss Colorado terribly.
I am not sure the Colorado you left is still there. Lived in Parker 2006 to 2012 and loved it. It was changing while we were there, but we really noticed the change when we went back to visit our kids and friends. The kids, who weren’t living anywhere near Denver, moved out last year, too.
isn't it a shame that a place that is made wonderful by one group of people can be overtaken by another and turned into a cesspool? I see this happening over and over, all the best places in this country are being ruined by people from California . They should not be allowed to move out of their own shitpile they have created.
I'm a Washington native -- once voted the "most culturally similar" state to Colorado. We have a lot of geographic similarities as well. It's just nowhere near the place it used to be. It's so crowded, and so full of unintegrated immigrants who don't respect nature. Pretty sad stuff.
@@taoiseachjager9643 I certainly hope not. I live in Idaho and care for this state. Idaho for the most part would be one of the last states to sink, should it do so. That would mean the whole country would be going under.
I've living in Colorado my whole life, along the front range. Honestly the cost of living is becoming unrealistic, kinda sad. Feel like I'm being pushed out of my own state.. Hate to say, I attribute it mostly to people moving from California, Texas, and Florida.
@@kevinstreeter6943 Are you serious? Why don't you try Googling the water shortages in CO and the west. Spend some time reading the facts - they're everywhere.
@@johnjenkins7497 I was being brief. Of course, not all fresh water. The Platte, Arkansas, and Colorado originate in Colorado. They hold so much back that none of the Arkansas River flows into Kansas.
I was born in Los Angeles, but lived in Arizona most my life. I drove from Phoenix to Milwaukee and Chicago and back in a big loop around the country in my early twenties. Colorado was beautiful. I went through the Rockies and was quite surprised when I got out of them to the east and all of a sudden it was flat. I was in the plains just like that. I wasn't even sure I was still in Colorado. It remained basically flat the whole rest of the trip. I wasn't really aware of how flat most of America is, it was weird looking around in all directions and not seeing mountains anywhere in the distance like I was used too my whole life. Here in AZ we're getting a lot of people from Colorado moving here and they say Colorado is ruined compared to how they remember it. Politics is what I hear the most complaints about.
I was born and raised through 7th grade in Colorado, on my retirement I considered moving back there, but with the current political climate there there is no way I’ll move back!
Once you get past the foothills there isn't a hill until Kansas I would say. But this place is awesome. Coming from a large city myself, I think this is just typical growing pains of a city honestly. But the rest of Colorado is NOT like Denver.
@@livingindenvercol "Typical growing pains" are happening a lot these days in democrat controlled cities. -Skyrocketing crime! -skyrocketing homelessness -more highway deaths from drug legalization
I’m a 6th generation Colorado native. I love my state to the core, and I wish all the outsiders would leave. They’ve changed and ruined the state. I’d like to see it heal.
Too bad bro! I’m from DC and I shoplift from Walmart and use the youth discount to pay barely nothing for public transportation and exploit the high wages relative to the cost of living that I pay living outside denver. 🖕
There are still some hidden gems to be found in Colorado where it's like you've gone back in time. People are friendly, it's safe and no ,I won't tell you where they are.
When reading your comment, all I thought was, please don't mention the hidden gems! Thank you from another native that hates what this state has become. It's sad Cheers
Wildfires have always been an occurrence in this state, before the mountains became developed the indigenous people and even the early homesteaders always built small so they could pack up and leave to avoid them. Wildfires were and are integral to the mountains, serving to burn out all the beetle-kill and allow for new growth. After development came to the mountains, these fires were no longer allowed to run their course, so now the beetles go unhindered, killing off more trees than ever before which also sets the stage for even larger and more destructive fires.
That's why I prefer to live in the inner suburbs of a city. Not nearly as much fire danger, plus fire stations are usually nearby. And inner suburbs are usually walkable.
My wife and I left Colorado a few years ago. I moved there but my wife was born and raised. She wanted us to move because of high taxes, rampant homelessness, out-of-control drug use, and it's extremely expensive. My wife was telling me that maybe 10 years ago they had none of those issues, then the Californians moved in and it all went to hell.
moved here 11 years ago from ohio and voted against the pot thing, even though at the time i smoked. i knew what it would mean. its gotten worse. ive had to move too a low income area just to afford living a normal life. i havent been able to afford a vacation in 5+ years, and crime in this neighborhood is scary. literally neighbors getting broken into at 4 in the morning having swat outside on loudspeakers waking everyone up has happened a couple times in the last 2 years. multiple cars smashed or stolen for no reasons, the list goes on.
Wow. I’ve lived in Chicago since 1976. It’s a hell hole. I didn’t know it was this bad in Colorado. At least people in Chicago were nice in the 80s now everyone is rude and nasty. Your lucky if you don’t get shot.
Same thing is happening in Montana now. They run from the hell they've made, and then do everything they can to ruin our good places too. We need a wall around california.
We moved to Colorado due to a military transfer in 1990. Stayed after retired. Moved into the mountains west of Colorado Springs in 2000. The cost of living is still a concern but we are isolated from the craziness of the bigger towns.
It's funny, because I just moved to Colorado from Texas for some of the reasons mentioned here, the weather, and the politics...But I always wanted to live in the mountains and get away from the intense humidity the South is known for. Everyone here seems to forget you don't have to live in a metro area, there are plenty of smaller towns and cities with better deals on housing and ample job opportunities. Cities are always dirtier, have more crime and violence no matter where you go due to population density, if you don't like that, don't live in one. And it's really rather disappointing the attitude that some people have about transplants, that seems to be colored with a particular kind of political bias.
That's because sadly you're forced to work and live in the cities with the least industrialized areas Colorado has: I did the math and the areas from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins are more crowded than Long Island, New York
@@stathinfection the isolation would be the only thing I'd say gets to some people myself included. six month long winters with feet of snow aren't for everybody and seasonal depression is another animal entirely
I’m 65 and lived 60 of those years in Colorado and left last May and we left because: 1) politics 2) to expensive 3) to many months of snow and cold 4) to many people moving there. Saw many acres of good farming land being used for houses, apartments, and businesses. Not the same state I grew up loving.
@@iHadJusAboutAnuf Yes and no. Colorado population density is only 58/mi2. New Jersey is 1283 and Florida is 417. Snow was always part of life in Colorado and was never a big problem. Actually, it was kind of fun to be snowed in once a while. Colorado is neither cheap or expensive to live. I lived in Denver for four years and moved because Colorado has unstable economy, but I missed people. That was a long time ago and I'm sure that people are not the same. Of course this can be said about any place.
@@lesp315 I’ve been educated just fine but thank you for being concerned with my education. I was numbering my points meaning there was 4 reasons we left Colorado. If you lived in Denver you’re most likely a liberal and would no doubt think it was great. It was a beautiful and wonderful state when I grew up and has changed drastically thanks to liberals moving there. It’s not a great place to retire. Our taxes on a medium sized house on a small lot were $2,500 and insurance increased to $2,000.
@@lesp315 BTW: I lived on the front range 40 miles north of Denver and the influx of people has made shopping and traffic crazy. It’s wonderful if you like to live like that but we chose not too.
"to many months of snow and cold" ???? Uhm, go try living in ND. Only way you avoid winter and cold is move south until you reach the equater, otherwise you are going to find that there is always a little snow or cold to deal with in the winter in most places. In ND it can snow in Oct and not go away until March or April, and I have seen it down to -45 f. In the Springs, you get a little snow now and then, but usually gone in a few days and back to above 40 for a while. It's one of the few places I have been where I can ride my motorcycle pretty much all year long. Now traffic, that's a whole other story, and I can tell you, people just do not know how to drive ANYWHERE in this country. But that goes hand in hand with politics and govt. They let people get drivers licenses when they shouldn't be allowed to leave a cell nor breed, and all so govt has job security. Bad drivers keep cops, judges, attorneys, docters, nurses, hospitals, towing companies, insurance companies, car manufacturers, car repair shops, etc etc etc, employed and making TAX dollars. Think about it.
I feel very grateful that I grew up in Denver in the 1960’s and in the ‘70’s I lived in Boulder. It was so fun, Denver was a Cow Town with ambitions and Boulder was big with the counterculture who, coincidentally bought all the real estate they could get their hands on. The writing was on the wall and as the decades passed it was painful to see farmland disappear and big boxy buildings go in. The whole Front Range is now about 200 miles of town. During the 1980’s was when I saw things changing in a way that I was really uncomfortable with because Colorado is still, when all is said and done, high and dry. The whole state is prone to drought and with forests overgrown and badly afflicted with pine beetle it is likely to have more wildfires and those fires will be hotter and more disastrous. I lived there for over 50 years and from reading the comments I know that many others have the same sorts of memories as I. I left Colorado in 2007 and now live in a small town in Northern California. It’s not exactly where I want to be but I’m nowhere near as frustrated as I was in my home state. Thanks for the memories Colorado, I still love you but I just can’t live with you anymore. 😢
We love u to bro. I want CO to improve I mean COS is improving but we have lost our free speech bc of Club Q. Oh wait the shooter was “non-Binary” I want to go away from any liberal. COS is conservative and unfortunately it’s gonna start booming
Boulder was nice in the 70's!! Lived in Colorado from '73 to '80 the summers were so lovely. Been an Oregonian for 43 yrs now. Our once sleepy college town is no more which is just a crying shame. 🥺💔
I lived in Ft Collins from 1967-1978, the population of FC was around 25K? Hardly recognize the state now and the traffic on the front range is frightening. The music scene in the 70’s was as good as anything found in LA. Water to me is the biggest issue now. New water hookups are the same price of the lot on new construction.
I've been in Colorado for almost 20yrs. and throughout that period I have always considered Denver to be a safe city with for the most part decent people. After legalization, I realize just how crappy people are everywhere else. Transplants brought their horrible manners and selfish attitudes and turned this town into a stressed out, hate filled city where you need 3 jobs just to pay rent.
my son and his fam moved to Denver and after their storage unit burned their belongings found themselves downtown in hotels etc before they finally got things situated and got a house. while in the downtown area my son and daughter in law have been attacked, beat up and robbed multiple times. both have been hospitalized after they got curbstomped. it is not like i remember it from the early 90s and even then i did not care for downtown Denver.
Denver (like many cites) is Democrat-run liberal...same as Boulder and Pueblo. Consequently, these Blue Cities (nation-wide) share the very same negatives. Personally, I've lived in Colorado Springs (COS), the ONLY 1 of the 4 major CO cities that leans conservative (60-40?). Am in West TX now, but looking to move back to COS when (IF) the mortgage interest rates go down big-time. Higher house prices I can handle...that is, if they're not artificially inflated as I'd not want to be underwater in my new home right up front. But the 4% or so higher interest rates currently (and the feds looking to raise rates again) compared to 2 or so years ago make a way larger monthly mortgage pay't than I want to pay, even if "doable" (but barely). So here's hoping by late 2025 (or January 2026) I CAN move back there -- to the Springs. -- BR
@JV Riley Well, thieves "respect property" when it's theirs I guess -- when they take (steal) property from someone else. ;-) As for car thieves in Denver, they jus be keepin it 100. -- BR
@JV Riley Thanks, but when (if?) I'm able to go back to CO, it will be where I was before: Colorado Springs. I COULD have gotten either land or land with a house on it outside the city out in the country around Colorado Springs (or maybe even Woodland Park, CO) -- and that would have been clearly cheaper -- but I wanted to be in the city vs. the country...not in the center, or anywhere near downtown, but on its outskirts. That's one reason for looking at the Banning-Lewis Ranch area of the Springs (with new construction growing out East towards Falcon, CO). But as I said, I won't be going anywhere for a while: Am here in TX for the next 2.5 years or so. BTW, I'm an Army (Vietnam) and Coast Guard veteran, so I was a soldier and sailor both. ;-) -- BR
@@grantgoldberg1663 I strongly disagree. The only reason people fled to this state was because of legal weed which reflects the total absurdity of the War on Drugs. Had it just been legalized nationwide this crazy near 15 year period would never have happened. Everyone came here rich and poor to escape persecution for something benign and harmless. Unfortunately, our selfish and easily fooled society can't make sensible and fair laws so we have constantly have one crisis after another.
My husband and I moved to CO in 2019, but then moved back to the Midwest last year. We almost lost our home in the Superior/Louisville fire and I was pregnant with our second baby at the time. So we decided that we needed to move somewhere where we could afford to live AND not have to worry about losing our house to a fire. We miss mountains horribly.
I remember that fire - ugh! If I recall right, it was moving slowly south. I was afraid it would reach my old neighborhood, since a young couple just bought my house in Arvada.
We're retirement age and sold our three bedroom house in Englewood Colorado for 440k and bought a three bedroom house in Port Charlotte Florida for 272k. We love it here even after taking a direct hit from hurricane Ian. No damage to our house but a month without electricity. All the neighbors pitched in to help each other get through it.
That is how it should work. Neighbors helping one another. I want to think that happens in times of tragedy and disaster no matter the state. I’m in Missouri but Grandparents and now my parents live in Florida most of the year in retirement. They are in Venice now. We were in Naples forever but it got to populated. I will live there someday most likely.
Denver native here... ALL of my family which is massive is from Colorado, but a lot of family members have been pushed out by the more well off yuppies. While they come in here acting rude and bullying everyone on the roads and in public with no care for anyone else... I remember Denver when everybody was super kind in public and on the roads. I miss everyone smiling and saying "Hi" to each other... It is different now and it is frustrating. To be honest, I have always been a protector of the innocent, and these days I feel like I have to discipline grown men literally about once a week for putting the public in danger. I really hope i don't mess with the wrong person in a sense, but in another sense, none of yall are goin to come in my city acting like that while I just sit and watch. I am working so hard to be able to stay here and honestly: I probably won't be able to afford a home on my own (I am good at what i do in my career, but if you seen the process of buying an average home here these days: its absolutely insane) I need to hurry up and find a wife to be able to squeeze in this housing market so i can stay in the city that I love and grew up in...
@@bearsmartdurango Well the demon-rats have really worked miracles in the country. Funny all the large demon-rat cities are absolute hell-wholes, war zones. 3rd world toilets.
@@ErickChurch-gz4jn - Thats because all their $ goes to bailing out the poor, uneducated, inbred, govt tiTt sucking residents of Red States. You know.... Trump supporters.
I have dual citizenship (Mexico/USA) and I have lived in Colorado for 52 years. I love it here but it’s getting too expensive to survive. My retirement and I are headed to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It is a beautiful area and my American dollars go a long ways there. It’s very temperate there. Rents run around $550.00 to $750.00 dollars for a nice apartment. Gastronomical Nirvana too.
Mexico has massive gang wars and polluted everything… corrupt government and borderline 3rd world country. There is a reason it’s so cheap to live there… gooood luck with all that.
Leaving after 18 years. You’ve outlined most of the issues I would agree with. Las Vegas gets a bad rap, but Denver is worse in just about all of these categories. I will miss the beautiful mountains. I won’t miss the traffic and poor infrastructure.
The weird thing is they say that other places are worse and no disrespect to the facts but since Colorado is more expensive than Arizona, Denver being the-and I'm guessing probably higher-7th most expensive city in the US, aggressive driving probably being the 2nd worst in the country now, homelessness is exploding, crime is starting to get slightly worse than California rate wise, houses and apartments that are near California expensive-groceries as well-larceny in Colorado being some of the worst in the country, Colorado having not only the highest altitude in America but having some of the harshest weather, you can compare the cost of living being as bad as in California, Florida, all the most expensive states in the US and with all that being said I see so many commenters stating that other states are worse than Colorado and if I am seeing something different when I do deeper research then they have to be lying unless I'm wrong which I would absolutely love to see proof of me being wrong but having all of this said there is absolutely no excuse for people to brush these issues under the rug like it is something trivial: realize that our issues of cost of living are some of the worst in the country and we have to stop pretending that it's no big deal in Colorado because it is unless I would like to see proof of me being wrong besides for California and only a few other states
I'm from Golden and I left because I got tired of being discriminated against because I'm a Viet Nam Vet. And in 1985 I participated in a survey where we went to lower Denver by the train station to talk to the homeless and found 72% were vets. We were about to get alot of them into the VA hospital and the old soldier's homes. By the way I emigrated to Australia were Vets are honored.
@@haseo8244 I would certainly hope so. So there are no more homeless veterans on the streets anymore? By the way my beautiful home town of 10,000 is now just part of the the slab greater Denver. A change for the worse.
Years ago I moved to Colorado with the intent to live like people from Colorado. We weren’t there to change anything. We didn’t move to bring ideas from our state there. We moved to live the way they do. That place was ruined by everyone’s opinion from other states. We couldn’t take it anymore and relocated.
I lived in Colorado for 16 years. The last year I was there. I ended up having to deal with cancer. And started thinking about my mom getting older and I didn’t wanna have my younger sister taking care of her by herself. Plus the cost of living. So I ended up moving to North West Wisconsin. I cried, as I was driving out of Colorado.
I left Colorado to Florida in 2014 as I was taxed out of my property. My taxes went from just over 2k to over 17k in the 15 years I lived there. I built my own house on 50 acres. All my neighbors did the same and some of these people's families had been living there since the early 1900's. What happened was all the idiots from Cali arrived and bought their policies with them...jacking up the taxes. The homeless problem is getting worse every year. And it is also driving up crime like crazy.
It’s not the people from California!! They left California because they didn’t like what was happening in their state which they most definitely didn’t vote for!!
Briggs, I'm surprised you didn't touch upon the fact that Colorado has the highest rate of car thefts in the US. Had that happen to a couple friends of mine, and I couldn't imagine myself in that situation. It was definitely a factor in me eventually moving out to New Hampshire.
Yo there are SO MANY car theives. Prob 75% of my friends have had their cars stolen and I used to work with a former car thief who told me how the whole system works. Lots go up to Boulder and steal college kids cars when they are parked outside a college party. Theyll go inside a party where everyone puts their keys into a bowl and theyll just take a few keys out the bowl and walk out to the street and hit the unlock buttons and then take 3-4 cars at once
A 40-year native here. After the insurance business where I was working closed, I tried for 18 months to find a similar position at another insurance company and I couldn't because they were all hiring from out-of-state. So I tried finding anything with remotely similar pay - couldn't because of all the out-of-staters taking moving in and taking the jobs. Finally found a job in the mid-west and have never looked back. I thought Colorado was the end-all, be-all but, man, I don't miss the crime, the traffic and overcrowding, the poor schools, the pot-smoking homeless on every corner, the sky-high rent, the rude angry people. You can have your scenery, I'll take what I've found elsewhere.
I am a seventh generation Colorado native. I grew up on my families ranches working cattle and going to the rodeo every week. We skied in the winter and enjoyed everything about the outdoors. I was born and raised in aspen and had to move to grand junction in 2019 when I wanted to get a place of my own but couldn’t afford it even with two bachelors degrees under my belt. My then boyfriend now husband followed because he was sick of having to have multiple roommates just to pay his bills. We bought a home here in Grand Junction in October and now we are planning on moving to another state. I never thought that I would leave but when my family had to start selling off pieces of the ranch just to pay the property tax and this fall actually sold the ranches (what was left of them) with the hopes of finding a better life somewhere else in the state because they can’t make ends meat anymore my husband and I decided that enough is enough and we have to move to find a place the aligns with our values and we can afford and I hope we can find it. My family raised cattle and dairy cows and so many locals were really sad to see us go because of the quality of products we raised. But when prices go up and the government bails out other programs instead of farmers who are putting food on the table for so many Americans it’s a truly sad day. We would stay if we could but it isn’t worth the stress.
So sorry to hear that, that's just plain heartbreaking. Hope you and your family can find another great place to place y'all's roots. As a former Texan, have to say that we unfortunately send our worst to y'all's state, feel guilty even though I moved to Wyoming. Think Weld County or even southern Wyoming would have a place for y'all? Hope things work out, God Bless.
I moved from Palisade Co in 2019... Bought an unbelievable home, top of the hill, rural with a town close by... Show Low AZ... Same exact situation... Could not afford with cash to buy a home in Colorado ANYWHERE!! $109,000... Appalachian front porch, metal roof on one acre and a third... Planted 12 fruit trees and am not quite in the thick of fire danger here... Point is I spent that whole winter of 2019 looking for a better place to live on my computer until I finally found this one... At one point I was even looking at an old, renovated schoolhouse built in 1921 in Kansas... Place needs A little work, but I put a woodstove in and fully intend to die here... Completely and totally happy here... Grand Junction is a nice area, but then it's in Colorado... Snowflake and Taylor is just up the road too... ARIZONA ROCKS!!!
@@job999 I worked 24 years of public school in Colorado... 90% of ALL STUDENTS were from MEXICO... Just saying... It is an observation... Can only imagine what it will be like in 2025... Free everything... Most do not pay taxes and HALF ARE SELLING HARD DRUGS!! This is a FACT!!!
I am a true native , been here 68 years. All of what you say is true but if I could leave tomorrow number one reason I’d leave is the population has doubled like in the past 10 years. It is so over crowded and with many very rude and despicable people. I loved Colorado but the people moving from other states they don’t like are bringing all the baggage with them to Colorado. Traffic is out of control.
Completely agree with this video. Over the past ten years the state went from being a great place to live and raise a family to now being too expensive, overcrowded, high crime rate and homeless everywhere. You used to be able to enjoy everything the state had to offer however now you have to go to a neighboring state to fish, hunt, camp and basically enjoy the outdoors. I-25 has become Main Street from Ft Collins to Colorado Springs with every town in between being connected with the outrageous growth along the interstate over the past five to ten years. The crime rate has definitely increased with the population growth even in the small town we've lived in for the past fifteen years. I won't even mention the politics because it's like every other blue ran major city and state, a shitshow and the overall reason for the decline of major cities in our country. We have given up going to downtown Denver due to all of the above mentioned and its very unfortunate and we along with so many others plan to move from this state.
Political party has nothing to do with it. The problems in Colorado were caused by too much rapid growth and corporate greed. If you want severe poverty, go to any red republican state and you will see severe poverty. So stop blaming democrats for the problems that they are trying to solve.
Please name for us the big cities run by Democrats that haven’t become zombie infested trash pits. I can’t think of any offhand because that’s what they do. Democrat policies are destroying our once livable Colorado. We aren’t renting or paying an overpriced mortgage so we’ll stay here and watch it burn
It’s not just about being around people that share your same views. It’s about being around those that have opposing views and then getting you to pay for it with taxes and regulations.
I left CO about 3 years ago. The state has turned to crap. It's gotten crowded, polluted more crime and don't even get me started on all the homeless people. So happy I left for a better life. Although, I do miss the beautiful women of the mile high city.
I moved from CO to MS in 2015. A lot of these reasons go hand in hand. The political landscape effects most issues. Cost of living, home prices, homelessness, crime and employment are all effected by government policies. Like mindedness isn’t really the issue, it’s the policies. The low cost of living and low regulatory statutes in MS have allowed me to build a successful business and live a pretty comfortable life.
"Low regulatory statutes"? 🤔 What are you doing that you don't want anyone else to know about? Dumping chemicals? Cutting corners? Pinching your secretary's bottom?
Born and raised in Colorado. I left because I just didn't want to be one of those people that never explored and left their hometown. I can't afford to go back. The cost of homes is insane. If you live in the front range access to the mountains is just literally a traffic jam all times of the day in all seasons. Calirado has ruined it for sure. I miss what it used to be. I don't have a problem with growth, but it grew without a soul and grew only to the highest bidder and it shows in the communities along the Front Range. It makes me really sad.
I live in one of the suburbs of The Denver Metro area. The homeless issue has gotten to the point that nearly every major intersection has someone panhandling for money. I used to work in the Denver downtown area back in 2008. The homeless issue wasn't too bad then, but I have to have my arm twisted behind my back to get me to even think about driving downtown now much less ride the lightrail into downtown. Homeless doing meth on the trains.
After watching this all I can do is shake my head. I moved out of California to escape many of the issues people leaving Colorado face. I considered moving to the Denver area from San Francisco but ultimately decided to move to the midwest. Although I didn't wind up moving to Colorado, I have family and friends who did move there and it's sad that it is becoming another California. Washington, Oregon, and Nevada are in a similar state of affairs. I think Texas is the next new California based on what I saw when I was down in Austin and Houston.
The problem is that people leave these places, but never leave the poisonous mentality behind. They take it with them, they spread it like a plague. If it was up to me. You'd be forced to stay in cali and fix it!
It was already heading that way 30 years ago when I went to Colorado School of Mines for engineering. It blew up almost overnight in the early 90s, everything since has just been spreading cancer.
Austin used to be great, but Californians & other libs have ruined it. It used to be exactly what its motto said,...Keep Austin weird. Its lost its culture. Now theres such a disgusting arrogance to it
I lived in Colorado for nearly four decades. Just my take: The weather was not too cold, in fact, it was too hot when I left in 2018. In the 1970s and 80s, it was beautiful dry heat with a nice rainfall every day for about 30 minutes. Temperatures maybe a few days in the summer above 90 degrees ... well, that's summer now with fires. After marijuana was legalized, there was a HUGE transient population that moved in with no new plan of infrastructure to handle this, such as housing and highways, and wages minimal. Try to go "Up The Hill" which means the mountains ... forget it. Bumper to bumper. Crime was pretty bad by the time I left, even in the suburbs ... no different than anywhere I suppose. Moved to a small town in the Midwest, boring as hell but safe. I miss the the olden days of Colorado, especially free live music, a place to be outdoors nearly year round, and the people.
One factor I think you missed is that with housing prices so high all the sudden, a lot of folks could take the equity from a home sale in CO and buy a house free and clear in certain places. So technically the high cost of housing but the other side of it. Also, eff the wildfire smoke. It was never like this when I was a kid.
I lived in Denver (South Aurora) from 1995-2020. Plenty of sunshine, but pollution is a problem. Cost of living is horrible and it has become over crowded. Good video
I wanted to move to Colorado when I got out of the Army… my wife wanted Florida and she won out… I hated it at first but in the long run it was a great move…
Maybe someone should look into just what kind of people are moving into Colorado as the productive people move out. We had a family that left the Gold Coast area of Florida and moved to Colorado. Had been evicted from many houses/apartments they rented and were constantly in trouble with the authorities. They thought of Clorado as "Weed Heaven" As soon as they got to Colorado Springs, the girlfriend posted that she was appalled they had to establish residency for one year before being eligible for financial assistance! They had to (GASP) get JOBS in order to survice a year before latching onto the government teat!! Trading a family of stoners for working people is not what any state wants or needs! Of course, we were glad to get rid of this Parasite Family!
Speaking of FL it's a smaller state with a much larger population but all the leftoids here in Colorado complain about overpopulation. Probably because it's a democrat state that doesn't allow housing to be built to keep up with demand.
Social media, weed, COL, and lackluster employment options outside of the military/gov account for most of Colorado's downfall. All of which I dont see anything being done about in the foreseeable future. Social Media and drugs are too profitable in this country and it speaks volumes to this govs priorities. .
I've lived in Colorado for most of my adult life and this pretty much nails it. For most people here, the Colorado they knew before 2000 no longer exists.
I’m a 4th generation Coloradan and I love it here, but all the inflow has made housing costs so high that I’m worried my kids won’t be able to buy a home here. So, please publish more videos like these so people think it’s awful here and stop moving here. Also, I hate that the mountains have gotten so crowded. Anybody reading this, be prepared for bad traffic and thousands of people cramming into ski resorts and Rocky Mountain National Park. You really should go try out Utah or Canada.
So true. I have a 35 yr old son, who is a hard worker and always been employed. He has rented the same house for 10 years and only able to even do that with a roommate and a great landlord who hasn’t raised the rent. I was able to buy my first home in my early 20,s. It is so frustrating. I hate that it has gotten to be so unaffordable.
These days we have to go camping starting on Thursdays to really even get a spot. And going skiing, unless we're staying up there we're not taking the day trip anymore. But, we both know this is the best state to live in still. :)
Colorado native here too. I left Colorado in 2019 mainly because Colorado just wasn't Colorado anymore. I lived 4 blocks west of Denver in Lakewood. The crime in my neighborhood was virtually nothing, but go the 4 blocks east and you were in a territory where summer nights were filled with the sounds of gunfire, sirens and the police chopper overhead. I mean kids used to still play ball and ride their bikes in the street without parents having to worry, the year before I left. The politics, rampant rise in out of staters coming to get the legal weed, and the feel of my home being invaded by undesirables we're my main reasons for moving to the south. I miss my state, I miss my friends and I miss my mountains, but with what Colorado has turned in to, I'm happier where I am and won't be going back. The drug addicts can have it.
That's bad. I enjoyed my summer internship in 1992 in Lakewood when I routinely hiked or jogged the local area. It was a very pleasant summer as a recent college graduate working in CO. Many engineers from the Denver Federal Offices nearby (e.g. NREL on East Colfax, EPA, etc.) lived in Lakewood. It was a nice, affordable area - ideal at the time. That is disappointing it has since changed.
I lived at 88th and Wadsworth for many years, then left CO in 2021 to live closer to my dad in WY. My neighbors in my old hood told me that there was crime picking up south of Pomona Drive. I lived just north of the high school. A friend of mine lives across 88th Ave in Kingsmill, and the house next door to him was shot up in the middle of the night, not that long ago.
@Vinsanity I'm moving to Seattle soon from Colorado I was just in Seattle I didn't really see homeless like people always describe I hear Portland worse 2x and Seattle has more to do then Denver tbh not much to do in Colorado outside hiking and it's landlocked and dull brown and flat looking outside the mountains
@@scorpioguy94 well i have lived here my whole life and we have some of the best ski resorts in the entire world, so it's not just hiking just saying. I don't know what you mean about Seattle having "more to do" though it's basically the same things to do here lol. Yeah it's next to the pugent sound but that's not exactly the ocean.
I was born in Colorado. Lived there for 28 years. But I wanted to see another part of the country. And when I went back to Colorado after three years, I could not believe the changes. It's terrible now. Too crowded. Too expensive. People moved to that state and then ruined it. They ruined what they moved there for. It's really sad.
Most places with good jobs are expensive. Colorado has something most places don't have, the Rocky Mountains. So yes its expensive. My friend just sold a house he owned for less than two years and made 450,000. I love Colorado and really don't understand all of the crying. Yes, the front range is busy. It's a big state with many places to live, especially now that many can remote work.
@@jennylynne4414 I am neither. I am just looking at from the prospective of jobs and it’s scenic beauty. My wife is from Texas and her hometown looks nothing like it did when she grew up. Lots of opportunities will do that. My small New England town looks pretty much the same as it did thirty years ago. No jobs no expansion. I do remember what the front range looked like forty-five years ago and yes its certainly changed. That how things go. You can always go to places like New Mexico or Wyoming, places that pretty much never change or grow. Just think how the Native Americans feel. We took everything and ran it down.
I left in '78 and moved to Oregon. Went back 10 years later and didn't recognize my old neighborhood it had grown so much. Always thought there would be water shortages eventually.
When I got out of the military in 2018 and moved back to Colorado I didn't recognize my home anymore.. it's super sad to see what it's become. All the Colorado natives that actually respect our home state are leaving in droves and can't even afford a decent home there. I moved to Wyoming a few years ago and never looked back.
Hello from Cheyenne WY! I moved out here from Nebraska and '04 working for nursing agencies and got a nursing license in Colorado in 2009 and loved working down there and I went all over the Front Range out to Sterling and up to Estes Park and would vacation in Vail. I had a blast and my kids eventually moved there after they graduated school from Nebraska and now the oldest one can't believe what Denver has become and he wants to leave something bad. I know we're having an influx here in Cheyenne from Colorado and California I just hope it slows down and doesn't get any worse. If it does, I'm either moving to Saratoga or Thermopolis!
I lived in metro Denver for 43 years, and decided in 2020 that it was time to move, and moved up to Wyoming in '21 to live closer to my elderly father.
Still staying here. I understand why people are leaving- I can’t give up on here. Just have to believe these mountains will restore everything in time. ♥️🙏🏽 breaks my heart Old CO culture is dying.
@Soldier4JesusChrist yes, many old Colorado families believe these mountains are sacred, spiritual, and protectors of this land. Is that a problem? Lmfao can’t imagine being mad over a simple phrase.
I lived in Colorado from 1987 - 1991. I loved every minute of it. But someone lied to me about Oregon so I moved here and I have regretted every minute of moving away.
Oregon was a total shithole with a corrupt government statewide. The cops are predators and the schools steal kids. Colorado isn't much better anymore. I can tell you that life in the south has been amazing. We opted for louisiana. Plenty of work, amazing food, water & woods everwhere, a great night life and the folks here are finest kind. As this is coming from a guy in a mixed marriage, LA is the least racist place we've ever known. Oregon was 2nd place to California when it came to racial prejudice. I'll dance in the street if the whole west coast from mexico to canada slid in the sea
I was born in boulder, lived in Longmont until 2019. I left because of cost of living, and the huge influx on transplants that completely changed the feel of the place. I miss the mountains, but now you have to book an appointment to go to RMNP weeks ahead of time. We used to go on a whim all the time when I was a kid. That type of thing is happening to all the neat spots. So yeah, I don’t miss it that bad anymore.
Back in the early 90's my kids loved the 'snow' mountains...now if I never see Colorado again my world won't end...it's amazing how folks will flee the conditions of their home state, move to another, and then continue to vote for the policies that ruined their home state...an appointment to visit the RMNP...? to heck with that...
@@PetuniaIii-pd1ww You need an appointment to go to RMNP because of all the out of staters visiting the incredibly limited infrastructure up there. Blame social media more than anything, as everything is "for the gram" now.
Get your facts straight RMNP instituted the Timed Entry pass during Covid as did many other NPS units. It was a way to limit overcrowding . Yosemite did it as well . Ever drive into the valley or thru Estes to Fall river entrance on a summer weekend ??. The big benefit was it alleviated the crowds, so each Park's Admin decided to continue it in high season. Sure one had to plan a bit more per arriving at their time slot which btw was not hard lined enforced if you were a few mins late etc. So back to the issue of 'weeks ahead of time" During the timed entry periods - it was not every day of the year it was a seasonal timeframe AND ANYONE can enter the park from 6am to 7:30 am or after 5 or 6pm. So you just have to plan ahead or wake up early. While its true many of us locals could not go in at the drop of a hat moments notice but who wants to in summer when those tourists are packing every inch of it. The majority of park users loved the system because you no longer had masses of people crowding the main roads and trails thruout the park. RMNP is not the only area in the state that has majestic 14'ers and loads of trails and alpine valleys .
I'm sorry to hear you were born in boulder. Those of us that don't live in one of the big cities of Colorado consider boulder to be a big boil on the ass of Colorado.
@@PetuniaIii-pd1ww Rocky Mountain National Park. The last time I went there with in 2012 and it was so overrun with people you didn't even feel like you are out in the mountains it was so "urbanized & commercialized" you felt like you were in fake mountains! That's why I still live in Wyoming!
I’m a 45 year old native of Denver, lived here my entire life. Denver is ruined: traffic, violent crime, homelessness, drugs. It’s not safe anymore. You can’t go to the mountains either because it’s overcrowded and bumper to bumper traffic is absolutely nuts. Taxes are through the roof and people are freaking everywhere. If you move here you better like crowds of people, traffic jams, high taxes and expenses, drugs and homeless people and crime. Good luck, I’m out. So sad how a once nice place to live was ruined.
I just left Colorado after living there for 11 years. The Denver metro area is plagued by homeless encampments. Yeah, maybe there’s not some kind of huge homeless population in Saguache or something, but don’t play it down. It’s gotten so much worse over the past few years. When I worked in Capitol Hill they had to shut down a park because of heroin needles and feces. I’ve seen people ODing while walking in to work. When I worked for the public library years before, we were trained on how to use Narcan. Denver even tried to ship some of their homeless population to a neighboring city (Lakewood near the Fed Center) because it was getting so out of hand.
@John Irby Houston is tied with Detroit for the dirtiest town in America. I live in Dallas, DFW and Houston have exponentially more trash than Colorado. Denver has become a little nasty, but compared to the metroplex or H- town? Not even close.
I have family in Denver, Colorado and I moved there a decade ago to work with them. I loved the big sports teams, football, basketball, and baseball. I left right after they legalized weed. I saw an overnight change in cost of living and out-of-state druggies moved in. After legalization, I saw a 30% jump in my rent costs and at the same time they were requiring that you opt-in into health insurance which the family based company could not afford. I could either choose food or health insurance but not both. It might be pure conjecture but its seemed many people that I knew were battling drug addictions which tore many families apart. I miss the big sports games, but dont miss the crime and dirtiness of the city. I still visit from time to time but happy to drive back home.
The homeless portion is an understatement and so is the crime. I'm a native and I dream about the day I can leave. People are fkn selfish here and there is a major lack of respect.
The weird thing is they say that other places are worse and no disrespect to the facts but since Colorado is more expensive than Arizona, Denver being the-and I'm guessing probably higher-7th most expensive city in the US, aggressive driving probably being the 2nd worst in the country now, homelessness is exploding, crime is starting to get slightly worse than California rate wise, houses and apartments that are near California expensive-groceries as well-larceny in Colorado being some of the worst in the country, Colorado having not only the highest altitude in America but having some of the harshest weather, you can compare the cost of living being as bad as in California, Florida, all the most expensive states in the US and with all that being said I see so many commenters stating that other states are worse than Colorado and if I am seeing something different when I do deeper research then they have to be lying unless I'm wrong which I would absolutely love to see proof of me being wrong but having all of this said there is absolutely no excuse for people to brush these issues under the rug like it is something trivial: realize that our issues of cost of living are some of the worst in the country and we have to stop pretending that it's no big deal in Colorado because it is unless I would like to see proof of me being wrong besides for California and only a few other states
Native 5th generation Coloradan. This state has really gone down hill. What has really done it for me is the skiing situation. Too many people moved here for the skiing and the one road to all the ski resorts (I-70) and the ski resorts themselves cannot handle the volume of people. Thus creating a traffic nightmare (usually 4hrs Denver->Summit County on the weekends) and horrendous lift lines at all the resorts. It’s not even fun anymore to ski here. I’m also not pleased about the crime and homelessness situation in and around Denver. No one goes to Downtown Denver anymore since it’s literally overrun by homeless camps, literally in the heart of the city! It’s so sad.
I use to like skiing in Durango, small mountain, but no lines, hardly any traffic. Not sure if it's still like that, I'm not a huge thrill seeker so that mountain sufficed for getting a bit of skiing in.
I left Colorado for Wyoming over the summer. I have a 2 story house with a yard and basement and garage in a lovely neighborhood for significantly less than I was paying for a crappy, tiny old house less than half the size in a bad part of town. The traffic was endless and worse than NJ where I grew up. The romance of Colorado wore off very quickly, and I'm much happier in my quiet town just one state north. The only thing I miss is the restaurant options, and I can deal with that.
@Sujo I was in Greeley, the exact opposite of Hawaii, so it does not take much to figure out why I left. I found myself exhausted by the busy streets and constant development. Wyoming was calling my name for a while and the wind and cold is worth it. I find it adds to the charm out here, honestly. Plus the constitutional freedoms were very attractive. I couldn't agree more that Fort Collins to the Springs are literally just one big city. It's the state of NJ just dropped into the middle of what is otherwise a beautiful part of the mountain west.
@Dennis Collins I'm self employed, but there are a LOT of blue collar jobs out this way for people seeking employment. Rent varies, but I would say it's kind of average. It's not super cheap like West Virginia or Alabama, but it's no where near as overpriced as Colorado or New Jersey.
I first moved to CO in 1986. I struggled hard to exist in challenging economic conditions. I sacrificed to hold on to my house through recessions. I worked hard and benefitted from the tech booms. But, also got steamrolled when there were no jobs in the early 2000s. Unchecked stripmall development, neighbors that put up a huge fence destroying my mountain views after 20 years in my home, and declining wage effectiveness were the nails in my coffin. I had enough. We had some amazing time. We're going expat to make the money last longer.
We lived in Colorado for over 20 years and loved it when we first moved there. Over the last 10 years the state slowly deteriorated. Crime, less personal freedom, questionable election policy, downtown Denver became unsafe. We got out of there last fall and are so glad we did. Briggs you may say the crime and homelessness isn't that bad and it may not be in comparison to the worst areas. 20 years ago crime and homelessness was barely an issue at all.
I moved to denver for a year after i got out of the army. 2011-2012, and the med card changed to rec use. After that, the flood gates opened and the policy favored the transplants. Buddy of mine tattoo'd COLORADO NATIVE across his chest and i didnt realize what a single policy change could do to the culture of a place. This is interesting to study.
Recreational weed was the turning point here. Even the small towns far away from the front range. I’ll just say it like it is, small town folks don’t like outsiders coming in and trying to change things. Really wish there was a way to go back in time.
@@lukasrael1211 The small town folk are not as provincial as you may think. The smart ones are open to new people and more money injected into the local economy. Whether they like it or not it's a free country.
same, i moved there after the army in about 2015. I miss hiking the front range and seeing the small mountain towns but other than that i dont miss it at all, every time i drove through denver or pueblo i had to be on high alert to not get hit by a stoned or drunk driver, not to mention the traffic and road rage
Weed made Coloradans dumber and Coloradans become dumber even faster because of weed. Hey don't foreigners, y'all voted for left crap and more than foreigners but y'all don't wanna talk about that huh :)
I would like to see a study on this as well. As someone living in a state that doesn’t have recreational or even medical cannabis I am interested to understand the link between legalizing an already widely used drug, and increased crime, property taxes and homelessness. Seems like allowing a black market to flourish creates more crime
@@dj012001 Used to work on a ranch on the Eastern Plains, really wish I would’ve stayed there. Took me a little bit to adjust to the dead silence, I was born and raised in North Denver so I was much more acclimated to quite a bit of noise (I can sleep through loud parties and trees being cut down…right next to my room), once I got used to the silence, it was an amazing experience. Hardly any development, clean air and skies clear enough to see every star, I worked to earn my keep and I would love to get back to that.
The poor rubes that are worse at a capitalism and Californians are eating their lunch 😢 Sounds like you’re just bad at the game you claim to love. Loser boy
@@SaraH-uu9et People have been claiming this here in Utah since the 70s and it’s always factually wrong. Utahs population growth is always internal from large families reproducing and never moving away.
Its going to be the same way in a few years, the amount its gone downhill the past 10 years is crazy as someone born here, we will be moving when we can afford it
All the Californians have been moving to Colorado since around 2010. They are bringing their garbage progressive politics with them so CO will be no different than CA or OR in a few years.
I left in 2015 and the day I left I was stuck on I-70 for almost 3 hours between 270 and 225. I was supposed to stop by Montebello to see some friends one more time before I headed out but they were already at work by the time I made it to chambers rd exit 🙃either way it was the longest slowest traffic jam in my life to date
We just left Colorado after 20+ years. Best decision we've made. Here are our reasons: 1- Politics 2- Homeless people 3- Air quality 4-Cost of things 5- Weather (the state will run out of water soon) 6-Entitlement attitude
I moved to Colorado 5 years ago and am headed back to Vermont. Dry climate, proximity to family, and traffic/overcrowding are my reasons. Access to mountains is challenging if you live along the Front Range, especially if you seek solitude. Colorado is a beautiful state but not home for me.
Same. Lived in CO for 5 yrs during the legalization of MJ. Left and went back to northern VT. Much better but do miss Denver sports and restaurants. (mountains are beautiful too) Will visit though!
I am as well a Colorado native, it’s absolutely heartbreaking to see how this state has lost its friendliness,morals,values and respect,now it seems the bulk of the non-native people only think of themselves, and have no respect for others and to other peoples property
Much less any respect for environment.
as a non native, i have no clue why anyone would mive here and not enjoy being a nicer person. i have. the culture is so friendly.
Colonialism anyone? The funny thing is that the outa-staters are probably California progressives who are colonizing Colorado.
I'm not a Colorado native but i've been here 43 years & I whole heatedly agree with you. It is so heartbreaking 😭. Never would or did i think it would ever get like this.
@@cynthiaryal2089 I live in the North East, we see the same thing with idiot progressives from Massachusetts and Connecticut flee their states because they've turned them into shit holes and they show up in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and start turning our states into shit holes. I don't know where these people plan to go after they've ruined their new home like they ruined the old one.
Beautiful state that has been ruined by politics and over population.
Yeah Boebert is an embarrassment.
Boebert is the worst
Overpopulation? 70% of the state is EMPTY!
Boebert hasn’t ruined the state, democrats have.
I agree politically however Colorado isn’t over populated there’s plenty of wide empty spaces. It’s just that everyone is trying to be in the same place instead of expanding
Colorado native that left last year. I grew up in Colorado, loved Colorado, never planned to leave. However between the wildfire smoke, the horrible traffic going to the mountains, and the feeling of California... it was time to move on for our family.
As I said before, rich Cali's are ruining our country.
Where do you escape to?
And I bet everyone there said ...good riddance.
Legalizing drugs and liberals ruined Colorado. High taxes, high rent, high crime are the results. It's an unfriendly state now! Yes legalized pot made it unfriendly.
Folks just can’t get on board with these United States of America theme. I feel you though, I’ve been in Florida for over 30 years and I’m out of here, just as soon as I’m retired. I believe there’s a song called Paradise by the Eagles that sums it up. I found my little corner then everybody else did. What are you gonna do?
My wife was born and grew up on the western slope. The last couple of times I visited I was astonished at how crowded it had gotten, and how rude and aggressive people were in stores and on the roads.
Yep, this is the marxist teachings in our schools, the main idea is entitlement to everyone else's property (cause private property is considered bad). And the idea that there is no God, that mankind is actually his own god, and that each person is supposed to police everyone else, hoping to instill moral behavior without God. What nonsense!
I've driven through most states, and Colorado is top 5 in terms of terrible, rude drivers. I guess it makes sense since most of them are Californians (the worst drivers in the country).
So true. Rude and entitled idiots moving here from CO
California influx..
most rude people i have encountered in a particular region anywhere so far
As a 4th generation born in Colorado all the locals are moving out. Transplants have completely changed the values and politics of the state and along with that have come increased crime traffic and homelessness. My wife and I will be sadly moving away once we have the money for a house. It breaks my heart but the Colorado I grew up with no longer exists
I’m in Minnesota and I feel the same.. hope you and your wife find health and happiness somewhere soon. ❤
Sixth generation native here, I couldn’t agree more with you. We were better back when we were still a Red state, but of course Liberal transplants are hell bent on transforming wherever they move to into the hellscape that they’re running from. Wyoming sounds nicer by the day.
Agree 100%. I will likely have to move in the near future. I see no hope that people will stop voting for policies they hate.
I feel the same way, I'm thinking North Carolina or Texas, I will always be part of Broncos country though. Feels like 75% of people who live where I'm from aren't even from here lol.
it's so weird that people think everyone needs to have uniform 'values' and 'politics' lmfao. get over yourself.
The California Exodus to Colorado in my opinion is what caused everything to go up in price. I was stationed at NORAD which is located in Colorado Springs for ten years. I retired and decided to stay there. I bought a home for 123, 000 in 1993 it's now over $519,300. I remember Californians buying homes cash and paying way over the actual appraisal. Within a few years homes were becoming scarce and prices crept up fast. Use to be mostly conservative but again the Californian ideology turned it into another California. They were running from a state that till this day oppresses it's citizens and now Colorado is turning into a mirror image of their former residence. It's a shame, such a beautiful state but I don't want to live in a place where my personal values are not respected.
Tell that to everyone in conservative states that isn't Christian, white, straight, and anyone who'd rather smoke a little weed instead of poison themselves with alcohol. Blue states don't make being conservative illegal, but red states make being liberal illegal.
It's not just California, people have moved here from all over the country.
It’s the god awful Texans ruining the place. They’re the worst. They want their freedom…only.
@Google Sucks Ass What? Sounds like you've taken a few too many bong hits.
@googlenazicompany5935we’re complaining about the Californians because they’re shite bags and bringing their funky politics. The money is only a part of the problem but people with money are leaving Cali partially because of their awful government, then come to Colorado and do the same
The high cost of living, declining quality of life, loss of open space, downtown overrun with homeless addicts, and shift from libertarianism to progressivism are among the reasons we are leaving as soon as possible.
That’s precisely why I’m about to leave, nearly impossible to afford a place entirely on my own without having a roommate (something I’m not privy to), plus violent crime escalating in the cities that often go unreported now (many of the homeless not only routinely harass people for handouts but will even assault and not even women with children are safe from these types of confrontations). Stricter policies like those we’ve had before our transition into a Liberal stronghold would ease a lot of these interactions, but I don’t see that happening in the near future.
I've lived in CO all my life, it is sad that I will likely be chased out by democrat voters who fled CA and brought their garbage progressive ideas to ruin another state.
“Pathological Progressives!”
Lefthole policy causes high costs of living, high crime, and other undesirable conditions.
Denver Metro area?
As a Colorado native, it's fallen in to the grasp of those who ran from something they didn't care for (or so they thought) and have turned it into where they came from.
It's happening everywhere. People are not raising their offspring to have manners, be polite, or treat others with kindness or consideration, just how to be greedy and selfish. If people want others to be better they should raise their kids to care about others at an early age.
they're running from the messes their policies and politics created and going to states that have been governed by right leaning people, so the taxes are lower, cost of living is lower, etc. Then they swamp these places but bring the toxic politics and policies that created the mess they left behind and the cycle begins again. They also don't have the same values, are narcissistic, rude,, angry all the time, etc. I am native Californian and left 58 years. I'm in Wyoming now and the difference is staggering. People are happy, polite, helpful.
Well put!
I'm CO native, I moved to SD and haven't regretted it!
We're perfect white middle class trump voting Americans and we don't want to be within a country mile of the rest of you. So leave our country, but yes you have no where to go, but that is your problem. Don't come to us with your problems. We're nice people, were perfect, we help our selves to your land.
Been a local my whole life, I’m 51 and a 5th gen Colorado born. So sad to see everything going the way it is.
Amerika = A nation in decline
How pathetic. Try living elsewhere.
California already ruined Washington back in 1974 to 1979. now they're coming to do it again!
Legalizing weed was our downfall
@@catherinemartinez5542 poor Karen, you are so uneducated. Do us all a favor and move as well.
I’m a Wyoming native, and have seen a large influx of people moving up here from Colorado. I have no issue with them. Many of them moved here because modern day Wyoming is much like what they said Colorado “used to be”. Most of the people I’ve encountered that moved here from Colorado just want less people and a simplified life. It would be sad to leave your home state, because of radical change. I’ve never been in that situation being in Wyoming my whole life. However, we are starting to see a sudden boom down in Cheyenne. That hasn’t really trickled up to Casper and Gillette just yet, but our housing market has never been more tight and inflated all over the state. The popular towns of Wyoming literally have nothing left for sale or rent. We’re seeing more influx of people moving here, many from Colorado and Washington.
Better keep that shit in check. If someone doesn't fit in, let them know and drive them out. Being nice to the parasites that ruined Colorado will get you exactly what we got.
I think that's everywhere though. Everywhere has increased dang near 50% in price since pre-covid. And more people able to work remotely makes Wyoming attractive to some. But our mountain states are still the best. Whatever you look for you'll find. I find being nice to someone first, gets that in return. Just so many people stuck in their phones we're forgetting how to be people.
I was thinking about moving to Wyoming to get away from people. I like fresh air and too many people makes a place filthy.
Hold onto your hat and brace for our winds!
Don’t worry, 35 to 50 below zero will drive them out in a few years. You have to cowboy up to stand winters like that year after year .
I am a native that left 4 years ago. We could no longer afford being there, and affording it brought extreme stress. My parents sold out and moved, because they couldn't afford the property taxes and my step dad had respiratory problems. Elevation affected him more than air quality. My oldest and her family also moved due to affordability reasons. 4 years later, we are all better off financially, my step-dad has recovered some quality of life, and we have hope. Best decision I ever made was leaving. It took a couple of years to adjust mentally, but now I'm settled and never want to go back, except to visit.
I loved the 1990s. Moved out in 2019. And my state of mind, stress and resulting happiness rebound got so much better. This time next week, I will be hiking in South America, and not in commuting traffic on I-25.
Good to hear you are all doing well. Would you mind sharing where you went? I'm wondering where things are more affordable that a Colorado native might like.
Did you move away from family? And if so, how has that been, being far away? We are looking to leave NY for same reason, but extended family and parents are big deal to us.
@@bryang3044 I left California and everything and everyone I knew, over 20 years ago. It has been hard at times, but it was the right decision. I can’t live without freedom and common sense.
@@painmt651 , thanks for sharing your experience. I feel that while there will be hard times, there will also be tons of "ups".
If you don't mind me asking, what have been some of the positives? Freedom, less taxes, and more value for my money would be top ones. I'm sure I'd grow even closer to my wife, since we would be relying on each other more, being away from all fam. I'm sure we would meet people who share our values which would be nice.
Native here. All of these point to Denver and the front range. I'm from Western Colorado and most of these issues are not factored in. I love how everything west of the Continental Divide is never mentioned. Like we are not even a part of the state.
Because we here in western Colorado are more conservative than most on the eastern slope, so we don’t fit their narrative as well
Grand junction has fallen
But even Gunnison, Buena Vista, and Salida are being overrun by the rich, woke, liberal garbage. I grew up in Colorado, went Western State in Gunnison, wouldn't live there now.
You mean junkie junction? It’s just as much of a shit hole as the front range just 5 hours west
@@brianthomas3451Grand Junction City Council sucked in 2004 already! Now they have Calis on the board!
#10 1:11 Weather
#9 2:25 Politics
#8 3:38 High Cost of Living
#7 4:50 Wildfires and Air Quality
#6 6:07 Jobs
#5 6:44 Retirement
#4 7:18 Homeless
#3 8:45 Crime
#2 9:54 Housing Costs
#1 11:00 Family
Thank you!
Thanx for laying this out..
#11 ?:?? Hollowed out mountain for people of certain means to hide in when the "blank" happens.
I would choose Colorado over Florida anyday....
Well that and Russell Wilson
As someone who was born and raised in Colorado, I agree. Colorado used to have its own culture. We all cherished the same beliefs in our state. You would get shamed by any of us for littering or vandalism, especially in the mountains. Not anymore. There is trash everywhere. And you would think we were a state full of gangs with the amount of graffiti. The policies are all straight from California now, too. We should have never legalized pot. It started there and never stopped. I used to hope everyone would go home so we could get our beautiful state back. I'm not sure that's even an option anymore.
This is happening everywhere. It's not the states fault. It's a culture thing. People are raised differently these days. The respect is gone.
@@dandonnelly6498 I think OP raises some good points; because of all the pot a lot of young adults who move here aren't well.. Respectful? 😹 It seems like the ones drawn here for the outdoor and sports culture aren't the same ones attracted to CO these daus
ok boomers
I hate to break it to you, but everyone smoked pot before it was legalized. Now, you don't get cancelled for it anymore.
Obviously, people smoked pot. How do you think it was legalized here first? We petitioned for it at the capital on 4/20 for years. The problem isn't that people smoke pot, the problem is legalizing it made a lot of outsiders come to the state. Which changed the culture in Colorado. I'm not a boomer, I am a millennial. And both have a lot of people who smoke pot.
Colorado native, born and raised. Aside from some traveling and brief stints in other states for work, I've lived in Colorado most of my life. My wife and I moved away from CO in August due to the rapidly rising housing costs and the deterioration of safety and cleanliness. I think we could've held on a bit longer, but we have young kids now. We were paying ridiculous rent for a terrible apartment with consistent water damage, roaches, mold, and homeless people literally camping in the interior hallways of the building, right outside the doors to individual apartments. Broken windows were frequent and trash ubiquitous.
And it wasn't just our apartment. Traffic has gotten worse, people more atomized, and the cities are utterly filthy. Wildfires have been ridiculous the last few summers (especially the Superior fire last year). But homelessness has by far been the craziest issue, it's utterly exploded. Denver's always had a homeless problem, but driving through Denver now, it's just blocks upon blocks of tents. Boulder is getting pretty bad too. There's even an open space (field) I would drive past on my way to work off Highway 36, near the AMC Promenade that had a couple of tents set up on it, and over the course of a year those couple of tents expanded into a little settlement in the middle of a field the suburbs.
A couple that I'm friends with that still lives in CO were paying $1600/mo for an apartment in Broomfield a year ago. When it came time to renew their lease, they received a notice that the rent would now be $2200/mo.
We now live in a rural area out east and I miss my mountains and aridity, but it's been worth it. Much better place to raise a family (chickens and a garden too!). Colorado is becoming the new California
"Colorado is becoming the new California"
True but it's been happening for 30 years, I remember going skiing in Colorado in high school and the locals talking about it c
That is so true and in a few years, Colorado will be bankruptcy just like California.
What a ridiculous comment. Why would you rent an apartment that has water damage, roaches, mold, and homeless people camping out? Filthy City, Like you're living in a village in India? Do you write your silly stories for fun or does someone actually pay you?
That is what you get in the cities. If you go to pretty much any smaller town it's a much better environment. But the people that want to live in a city that's congested with traffic and too many people are not the types to move to a small town.
Sold me on never moving there lol
I was in Denver two years ago. I couldn't believe how dirty and the number of homeless zombies walking around. I hadn't been there since 2009. What a difference...so sad.
Just like everywhere else, homelessness increased beginning in about 2019 because of COVID. Remember Covid?? Because of the cost of housing, there was already a homeless problem there. Unlike more right wing states, Colorado has initiated some rent controls and they are building public housing hand over fist. Permanent solutions over playing the blame game.
I lived in west Longmont and didn’t realize how bad it was because it was the same in my bubble on the good side of town we avoid all that stuff drove around it to do business for entertainment we’re super active it’s just normal to try to not be around it but I as shocked it changed over night and I didn’t realize it and we’re not greedy or selfish we help people all the time but we live ok and deserve it I’ve worked overtime as long as I can remember when I realized it I just drove around to the bad areas for hours and I felt bad I didn’t notice but it wasn’t because I don’t care it’s worse in Oregon and I give at least a pack of cigarettes away a day usually more and some are grateful and some think your done and will keep holding there hands out until you stop giving and I’ve gotten mad at some of them and they don’t care but it’s mental illness mostly
You can thank Gov Polis for that 😢
Denver is way better than SF. We love outdoors, really missed the mountains in CA, but don’t want to move back. And we recently began to think about moving to CO (Denver or Boulder), and found out it’s like CA in certain way. Sign
Democrats will make a nice place a sh!t hole
I moved to Colorado at the beginning of 1981. The Front Range has become one long suburb from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. It’s crazy expensive, crowded, polluted - you nailed it on the air quality. The homeless problem is no joke. They freeze to death during the winter. After moving around the country to find a place to retire, I moved to Ohio (surprising?). I was able to buy a place to live!
Oh my. If that is big for you definitely don’t want to go out of Ohio or Colorado. From Fort Collins to Denver is still half the size of Seattle metro sweet heart
I’m not really understanding where people think denver is big unless you are from the country yeah, but I’m talking about people that matter
@@jluck5643 ohio is the 7th most populated state. We are just spread out.
Sad
@@jluck5643 ALL people matter. Arrogance reveals weakness.
As a Native I feel fortunate to have grown up in Colorado. It’s the most beautiful state. But now to many people have moved in and changed the landscape, and the culture. It’s only going to continue to get more expensive. I hope the beauty and natural resources will somehow be preserved. I love going back to visit!
Where did you decide was better?
Still find it really funny how people from Colorado unironically refer to themselves as "Natives"
@@kingkoy5450 ..They even put stickers on their vehicles proclaiming so!
@@kingkoy5450 I heard people from every state make the claim their a native of whatever state. Only the shallow narrow minded thinking of the modern uber sensitive lefties has warped the word .
@@kingkoy5450 Yes exactly.... "which tribe" is my usual response... but perhaps should be" which colonizer country"?
I'm from Colorado, born and raised here, but I'll be moving later this year for trade school. The insanely high cost of living is utterly Ridiculous now! The middle class is truly vanishing from this state. I've known several people in the past 3 years (who were middle class) move to other states because they got priced out of living here. So nowadays everyone here is either very poor or ultra-rich. The poorer people all crowd up into apartments with at least 5 other roommates so that they can afford to live out here. All the ultra-rich yuppies live close to the ski resorts and resort towns like Vail or Aspen. Many of them are quite snobbish and rude, especially when they're driving.
Colorado's a beautiful state and I'm grateful I was raised in it back when it was pristine, peaceful, and less crowded but it has changed in a lot of negative ways since then, its cost of living being the biggest problem in my opinion.
Yep! And then they fight affordable housing at every turn, even when Vail is telling it's residents that the employees that run all the lifts and bars and hotels literally have no place to live
What trade? Have you looked into a union apprenticeship?
I agree
Destroying the middle class is a big goal to usher in feudalism, this is a World Economic Forum agenda and it's happening worldwide in order to usher in socialism to all western countries, so there will only be the rich and the poor. The huge inflation occurring is manufactured to push people into poverty and homelessness....it's all by design by the UN and WEF. The millions of illegal immigrants is by design to overwhelm the system to bring it down, it's all been planned for decades.
@@johnpruett5258 nice insight. I know a couple of months ago Denver got flooded with illegal immigrants from South America. Denver was helping the illegals but doing nothing for the homeless population, US citizens
I worked in Colorado more than once and I also lived in Metropolitan Denver for about a year and left in November of 2018. My main reasons for leaving were cost of living, overcrowding, homelessness and too much widespread methamphetamine. The only way to avoid tweakers( AKA meth heads) it's to avoid public transportation, grocery stores, parks, hiking trails, Etc.
We had little drug problems until legalized pot. Drug addicts abound, pot leads to other drugs, now meth heads, pot heads etc. Rents went up, traffic sucked, we were promised a part of all the $ they were making off pot...residents saw zero. Pot cures zero, only wastes your time, $, life, lungs, relationships.
As a resident of Colorado, I agree totally. Great video.
I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, and we used to hike and really enjoy the mountains a lot. Colorado was an amazing place to grow up anytime prior to the 2000's. Overgrowth and over building everything everywhere has completely ruined the state. Everything is private property, and no one has respect for the wildlife anymore. I moved 5 years ago, and the family that are still there hate what has become of Colorado.
@@Rya498 I agree
I looked at moving to CS in 2016 when I retired. My friend who grew up in the area. Screamed at me over the phone. NO! It’s not what you think! Lol.
Denver, run by Democrats, is buying or renting large hotels to house illegal migrants while many US military veterans remain homeless.
@@FiendlyFungi agreed
I am a native and Colorado has went through some drastic changes in the last 10 years. The worst is the cost of living is ridiculous. You better have a great job and make sure you have a place to live before you come. The one thing not talked about in this video is TRAFFIC. OMG the traffic. Streets were not built for this volume and they are all under construction. Its horrible!!
It’ll change. People moved there for lifestyle and not work. Once their jobs go away in a recession, you’ll have a ton of people leave to where they came from.
Yeah traffic is terrible, and most of the roads are not in very good shape. I live in Northern CO, it's bad enough here. It's even worse when I have to go to Denver.
The traffic is terrible because there aren’t great alternatives to driving. Its too car centric for such a high population. It’s unfortunate they had the opportunity to make something great with all the recent growth but they just built more parking lots and shopping centers.
That's any city my dude.
@@MrLaughingcorpse some are worse than others
People moved in and changed everything into what they were leaving. Then the rest of us either left, or were effectively kicked out from being unable to afford the cost of living. I am watching the same thing happen in the 4 corners region all over again. It's kinda like what is happening to the world at the moment.
Its Happening everywhere. Crime makes people move from Ohio - other family memebers came from Georgia. But now there are no homes that you can afford, no place if you have animals, and we are looking for housing that we can all afford. I have lived in Las Cruces, NM for 35 years. My home is big enough for the time being, but we have now added family and pets, and there is nothing for rent that anyone who has an average job can afford. I'm older, but homeless, crime, and the high rents make me scared. So I guess I'm ok with the extra family. We can all take care of each other. But cars are now getting old and I don't want to get a new car - it costs more than my fixed income! This is just a terrible time - everywhere!
you're Gov dont help.
@sued3512 there's still a considerable amount more common sense and friendliness, and I do like it out here compared to other places, keep hopeful
I'm a Colorado native that recently moved out. Growing up and up until my 20s the state was laid back, affordable, and the people were great for the most part. That all has changed in the last decade, and the state resembles California now more than it resembles what it used to be. The people are rude and selfish for the most part now, and yes, the politics have become insufferable. I moved to Wyoming and my only regret is not moving here way sooner.
Hello from Cheyenne! When my boys graduated (from Nebraska) the oldest settled in Colorado and enjoyed his job and lifestyle there (engineer & snowboarding) his little brother (8 yrs younger) would go out every Christmas & spring break to enjoy the mountain lifestyle, snowboard, 4 wheeler, motorcycle with big brother. He graduated college and moved out right away - that was 5 yrs ago and now they both want to leave. I kept saying "move up here to Wyoming" it's not infested with California crap
Shhhh…don’t get invaded
I'm living in Michigan now (mainly bcuz of my wife's family) but the reason we left was because of cost of living was so high
@@kimlizotte694any states similar to Colorado in lifestyle (snowboarding)?
@@kimlizotte694 Not yet.
The way they dealt with the pandemic ran us out fast. The contrast of what we had in 70’s and 80’s to what it is now is depressing. I’m a nurse. The cost of living was skyrocketing but my pay wasn’t.
The early 90's wasn't too bad either. I loved Colorado while I was there.
Utah wasn’t crazy masks & lockdowns, then I visited Colorado & NM and was shocked how they were handling the pandemic. Was like night & day, I never went back.
@@puremontana5010 Yes, New Mexico was even worse. You had to wear a mask to pump gas there ⛽️
I moved there at 20, was a volunteer firefighter and worked in restaurants. Moved there for mountains and adventure and what not. Now I tell people you get to see the mountains on your way to your 2-3 just to even afford it. Moved back to Missouri and can rent a house for what I was paying to share an apartment.
@@Chris-sf7ug the cost of living always seemed higher in Colorado for it being the same amount of rural as Missouri with pockets of population density. I looked into the construction wages out there and they were not comparable to the cost of living so it's a typical blue state keeping the poor subdued
I think one of the issues people have regarding politics, is where decisions are made for an entire state, based on the needs of the densely populated city where the state governments is sometimes run from. For example, the issues plaguing Denver are very different from the issues plaguing Fort Collins. Yet, it seems politicians will often make decisions on what's best for those densely populated cites, with little or no regard on how it will impact more rural cities.
I agree but it goes both ways. Rural red states making decisions on behalf of the major metropolitan centers like Houston/Dallas Texas or Milwaukee Wisconsin (I could go on with the list but you get the idea) causes harm to those cities as well. State politicians of both parties are just power hungry and want to control as many people as they can.
Just like Illinois, the corrupt Chicago politicians F everything up and have been doing it for decades. The ignorant citizens of Chicago are so easily manipulated, they keep voting for the same thing
You ain't kidding. I had a place on knob hill, el rancho. Knobs hill doesn't exist anymore. They flattened a mountain to fit a Walmart shopping complex, and a 4 lane road.
@Dickabod_Crane But not all citizens live in high density cities. Some laws just don't make sense for less populated areas.
@Dickabod_Crane Rural dwellers who want to mine their own business meanwhile city slickers push their degeneracy and rampant corruption on everyone else with more laws and regulations that solve nothing.
Colorado has priced itself out being an affordable place to live. I had to leave when my rent went up 64% in one month.
The sprawl around the cities has also gotten out of control. I'm a Colorado native.
Lol dude that's insanely illegal. You can only raise rent by up to 10% per year with written notice 6 months in advance
Hold on, whats SPRAWL?
Suburbs spreading and being built out up and down the Front Range here. Southern California another prime example
@@patdesrosiers6423 No, you don't say..... LOL
@@scottgonzalez7574 So look it up!!
I applied for a transfer to the Denver area twice. Once for an officer position and once for a Supervisor position. Both interviews went well but I was not offered the positions. Thank God! In retrospect, I dodged a bullet. Finished out my career in Arizona and retired to South Carolina. God bless Arizona and Sourh Carolina. Love both states.
I once vowed that you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming out of Colorado. I wanted to live the rest of my life there. Sadly the cost of living skyrocketed, my daughter was diagnosed with asthma, and the cold aggravated my joint pain. We moved to the South and it was the right choice for us. But 7 years later, we STILL miss Colorado terribly.
Mary. I suffer too. I have asthma, copd and joint pain. Which state is better for my health? At 55 I do not want to be locked indoors day and night.
I am not sure the Colorado you left is still there. Lived in Parker 2006 to 2012 and loved it. It was changing while we were there, but we really noticed the change when we went back to visit our kids and friends. The kids, who weren’t living anywhere near Denver, moved out last year, too.
isn't it a shame that a place that is made wonderful by one group of people can be overtaken by another and turned into a cesspool? I see this happening over and over, all the best places in this country are being ruined by people from California . They should not be allowed to move out of their own shitpile they have created.
I hope I don't have to leave. I've lived here all my life. But this place is becoming unlivable.
I'm a Washington native -- once voted the "most culturally similar" state to Colorado. We have a lot of geographic similarities as well.
It's just nowhere near the place it used to be. It's so crowded, and so full of unintegrated immigrants who don't respect nature. Pretty sad stuff.
Born Coloradoan here. I won't leave because I love the mountains too much. This is home. Good luck to all those leaving.
I would say move to idaho, western montana, or utah, but what happened in colorado is happening there two. They are just a decade or so behind.
Good luck paying all those taxes.
@@taoiseachjager9643 oh yuck Idaho? Utah? oh god no you couldn't pay me to live there. The towns are trashy and the ppl are crazy religious weirdos.
There are other mountainous areas such as here in Idaho.
@@taoiseachjager9643 I certainly hope not. I live in Idaho and care for this state. Idaho for the most part would be one of the last states to sink, should it do so. That would mean the whole country would be going under.
I live in Colorado and would not mind leaving. This is spot on. Politics and cost , homeless are top on my list.
I left Oregon for pretty much the same reasons.
Homeless people are everywhere. Hardly anywhere in the US actually addresses the root issue.
Transplants
@Congressman Matt Gaepz It was never like this in Denver until the blue politics took over.
@Congressman Matt Gaepz Didn't you notice how it got so much worse after legalizing pot?
I've living in Colorado my whole life, along the front range. Honestly the cost of living is becoming unrealistic, kinda sad. Feel like I'm being pushed out of my own state.. Hate to say, I attribute it mostly to people moving from California, Texas, and Florida.
I fukcin hate the texas people rado native
The fact that water scarcity isn't on even the top 10 list very telling (and depressing).
People aren’t paying attention to this issue….but they will be.
How can there be water scarcity? That is where water for the rest of the nation originates.
@@kevinstreeter6943 ……yeah…..all fresh water originates in Colorado…..uhm….ok…..
@@kevinstreeter6943 Are you serious? Why don't you try Googling the water shortages in CO and the west. Spend some time reading the facts - they're everywhere.
@@johnjenkins7497 I was being brief. Of course, not all fresh water. The Platte, Arkansas, and Colorado originate in Colorado. They hold so much back that none of the Arkansas River flows into Kansas.
I was born in Los Angeles, but lived in Arizona most my life. I drove from Phoenix to Milwaukee and Chicago and back in a big loop around the country in my early twenties. Colorado was beautiful. I went through the Rockies and was quite surprised when I got out of them to the east and all of a sudden it was flat. I was in the plains just like that. I wasn't even sure I was still in Colorado. It remained basically flat the whole rest of the trip. I wasn't really aware of how flat most of America is, it was weird looking around in all directions and not seeing mountains anywhere in the distance like I was used too my whole life. Here in AZ we're getting a lot of people from Colorado moving here and they say Colorado is ruined compared to how they remember it. Politics is what I hear the most complaints about.
Yes people from Colorado and California are coming to Arizona and trying to turn it into the same shitholes they left
Yes, I've been a Colorado resident my whole 56 years. Liberal/Democrat policies have ruined the state!
I was born and raised through 7th grade in Colorado, on my retirement I considered moving back there, but with the current political climate there there is no way I’ll move back!
Once you get past the foothills there isn't a hill until Kansas I would say. But this place is awesome. Coming from a large city myself, I think this is just typical growing pains of a city honestly. But the rest of Colorado is NOT like Denver.
@@livingindenvercol "Typical growing pains" are happening a lot these days in democrat controlled cities.
-Skyrocketing crime!
-skyrocketing homelessness
-more highway deaths from drug legalization
I’m a 6th generation Colorado native. I love my state to the core, and I wish all the outsiders would leave. They’ve changed and ruined the state. I’d like to see it heal.
Transplants👎🏻
I feel for you. So sad to see such a wonderful place like Colorado go in the wrong direction.
I feel the same about Florida. Grew up in a paradise with lots of nature and Walkin’ Lawton Chiles. Now overrun with housing developments and wingers.
Too bad bro! I’m from DC and I shoplift from Walmart and use the youth discount to pay barely nothing for public transportation and exploit the high wages relative to the cost of living that I pay living outside denver. 🖕
@@bobbybobberton6373 good for you. The world needs parasites too. 🪳
There are still some hidden gems to be found in Colorado where it's like you've gone back in time. People are friendly, it's safe and no ,I won't tell you where they are.
Iganico
When reading your comment, all I thought was, please don't mention the hidden gems! Thank you from another native that hates what this state has become. It's sad
Cheers
😅
Wildfires have always been an occurrence in this state, before the mountains became developed the indigenous people and even the early homesteaders always built small so they could pack up and leave to avoid them. Wildfires were and are integral to the mountains, serving to burn out all the beetle-kill and allow for new growth. After development came to the mountains, these fires were no longer allowed to run their course, so now the beetles go unhindered, killing off more trees than ever before which also sets the stage for even larger and more destructive fires.
That's why I prefer to live in the inner suburbs of a city. Not nearly as much fire danger, plus fire stations are usually nearby. And inner suburbs are usually walkable.
I live here, so I know that a lot of wild fire smoke blows in from other states A LOT.
NO!! It's global warming!! How dare you!!! Lol... Greta...
My wife and I left Colorado a few years ago. I moved there but my wife was born and raised. She wanted us to move because of high taxes, rampant homelessness, out-of-control drug use, and it's extremely expensive. My wife was telling me that maybe 10 years ago they had none of those issues, then the Californians moved in and it all went to hell.
moved here 11 years ago from ohio and voted against the pot thing, even though at the time i smoked. i knew what it would mean. its gotten worse. ive had to move too a low income area just to afford living a normal life. i havent been able to afford a vacation in 5+ years, and crime in this neighborhood is scary. literally neighbors getting broken into at 4 in the morning having swat outside on loudspeakers waking everyone up has happened a couple times in the last 2 years. multiple cars smashed or stolen for no reasons, the list goes on.
Wow. I’ve lived in Chicago since 1976. It’s a hell hole. I didn’t know it was this bad in Colorado. At least people in Chicago were nice in the 80s now everyone is rude and nasty. Your lucky if you don’t get shot.
Got that right! It's sad what happened to Colorado!
Same thing is happening in Montana now. They run from the hell they've made, and then do everything they can to ruin our good places too. We need a wall around california.
I grew up in Portland before California liberals moved up. A few more years and Denver will be just like Portland- trashed!
We moved to Colorado due to a military transfer in 1990. Stayed after retired. Moved into the mountains west of Colorado Springs in 2000. The cost of living is still a concern but we are isolated from the craziness of the bigger towns.
Woodland Park, Divide et al are still worth the drive. That’s for sure (If you can afford it.)
Still the best State in my opinion!
It's funny, because I just moved to Colorado from Texas for some of the reasons mentioned here, the weather, and the politics...But I always wanted to live in the mountains and get away from the intense humidity the South is known for. Everyone here seems to forget you don't have to live in a metro area, there are plenty of smaller towns and cities with better deals on housing and ample job opportunities. Cities are always dirtier, have more crime and violence no matter where you go due to population density, if you don't like that, don't live in one. And it's really rather disappointing the attitude that some people have about transplants, that seems to be colored with a particular kind of political bias.
That's because sadly you're forced to work and live in the cities with the least industrialized areas Colorado has: I did the math and the areas from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins are more crowded than Long Island, New York
I absolutely love you comment! I see no lies❤
Pure copium.
Cities are not all the same. Many are MUCH worse than others.
Grow up and face reality.
this! i have lived in colorado my whole life and i will never leave. i love everything about it and i always will!
@@stathinfection the isolation would be the only thing I'd say gets to some people myself included. six month long winters with feet of snow aren't for everybody and seasonal depression is another animal entirely
I’m 65 and lived 60 of those years in Colorado and left last May and we left because: 1) politics 2) to expensive 3) to many months of snow and cold 4) to many people moving there. Saw many acres of good farming land being used for houses, apartments, and businesses. Not the same state I grew up loving.
It should be 4 X "too" and not "to". Maybe Colorado has problem with education?
@@iHadJusAboutAnuf Yes and no. Colorado population density is only 58/mi2. New Jersey is 1283 and Florida is 417. Snow was always part of life in Colorado and was never a big problem. Actually, it was kind of fun to be snowed in once a while. Colorado is neither cheap or expensive to live. I lived in Denver for four years and moved because Colorado has unstable economy, but I missed people. That was a long time ago and I'm sure that people are not the same. Of course this can be said about any place.
@@lesp315 I’ve been educated just fine but thank you for being concerned with my education. I was numbering my points meaning there was 4 reasons we left Colorado. If you lived in Denver you’re most likely a liberal and would no doubt think it was great. It was a beautiful and wonderful state when I grew up and has changed drastically thanks to liberals moving there. It’s not a great place to retire. Our taxes on a medium sized house on a small lot were $2,500 and insurance increased to $2,000.
@@lesp315 BTW: I lived on the front range 40 miles north of Denver and the influx of people has made shopping and traffic crazy. It’s wonderful if you like to live like that but we chose not too.
"to many months of snow and cold" ????
Uhm, go try living in ND. Only way you avoid winter and cold is move south until you reach the equater, otherwise you are going to find that there is always a little snow or cold to deal with in the winter in most places. In ND it can snow in Oct and not go away until March or April, and I have seen it down to -45 f. In the Springs, you get a little snow now and then, but usually gone in a few days and back to above 40 for a while. It's one of the few places I have been where I can ride my motorcycle pretty much all year long.
Now traffic, that's a whole other story, and I can tell you, people just do not know how to drive ANYWHERE in this country. But that goes hand in hand with politics and govt. They let people get drivers licenses when they shouldn't be allowed to leave a cell nor breed, and all so govt has job security. Bad drivers keep cops, judges, attorneys, docters, nurses, hospitals, towing companies, insurance companies, car manufacturers, car repair shops, etc etc etc, employed and making TAX dollars. Think about it.
I feel very grateful that I grew up in Denver in the 1960’s and in the ‘70’s I lived in Boulder. It was so fun, Denver was a Cow Town with ambitions and Boulder was big with the counterculture who, coincidentally bought all the real estate they could get their hands on. The writing was on the wall and as the decades passed it was painful to see farmland disappear and big boxy buildings go in. The whole Front Range is now about 200 miles of town. During the 1980’s was when I saw things changing in a way that I was really uncomfortable with because Colorado is still, when all is said and done, high and dry. The whole state is prone to drought and with forests overgrown and badly afflicted with pine beetle it is likely to have more wildfires and those fires will be hotter and more disastrous.
I lived there for over 50 years and from reading the comments I know that many others have the same sorts of memories as I. I left Colorado in 2007 and now live in a small town in Northern California. It’s not exactly where I want to be but I’m nowhere near as frustrated as I was in my home state. Thanks for the memories Colorado, I still love you but I just can’t live with you anymore. 😢
Well written!
We love u to bro. I want CO to improve I mean COS is improving but we have lost our free speech bc of Club Q. Oh wait the shooter was “non-Binary” I want to go away from any liberal. COS is conservative and unfortunately it’s gonna start booming
Welcome to California...and Northern California is the right place to be.
Boulder was nice in the 70's!! Lived in Colorado from '73 to '80 the summers were so lovely. Been an Oregonian for 43 yrs now. Our once sleepy college town is no more which is just a crying shame. 🥺💔
I lived in Ft Collins from 1967-1978, the population of FC was around 25K? Hardly recognize the state now and the traffic on the front range is frightening. The music scene in the 70’s was as good as anything found in LA. Water to me is the biggest issue now. New water hookups are the same price of the lot on new construction.
I've been in Colorado for almost 20yrs. and throughout that period I have always considered Denver to be a safe city with for the most part decent people. After legalization, I realize just how crappy people are everywhere else. Transplants brought their horrible manners and selfish attitudes and turned this town into a stressed out, hate filled city where you need 3 jobs just to pay rent.
my son and his fam moved to Denver and after their storage unit burned their belongings found themselves downtown in hotels etc before they finally got things situated and got a house. while in the downtown area my son and daughter in law have been attacked, beat up and robbed multiple times. both have been hospitalized after they got curbstomped. it is not like i remember it from the early 90s and even then i did not care for downtown Denver.
Denver (like many cites) is Democrat-run liberal...same as Boulder and Pueblo. Consequently, these Blue Cities (nation-wide) share the very same negatives.
Personally, I've lived in Colorado Springs (COS), the ONLY 1 of the 4 major CO cities that leans conservative (60-40?). Am in West TX now, but looking to move back to COS when (IF) the mortgage interest rates go down big-time. Higher house prices I can handle...that is, if they're not artificially inflated as I'd not want to be underwater in my new home right up front. But the 4% or so higher interest rates currently (and the feds looking to raise rates again) compared to 2 or so years ago make a way larger monthly mortgage pay't than I want to pay, even if "doable" (but barely).
So here's hoping by late 2025 (or January 2026) I CAN move back there -- to the Springs.
-- BR
@JV Riley Well, thieves "respect property" when it's theirs I guess -- when they take (steal) property from someone else. ;-)
As for car thieves in Denver, they jus be keepin it 100.
-- BR
@JV Riley Thanks, but when (if?) I'm able to go back to CO, it will be where I was before: Colorado Springs. I COULD have gotten either land or land with a house on it outside the city out in the country around Colorado Springs (or maybe even Woodland Park, CO) -- and that would have been clearly cheaper -- but I wanted to be in the city vs. the country...not in the center, or anywhere near downtown, but on its outskirts. That's one reason for looking at the Banning-Lewis Ranch area of the Springs (with new construction growing out East towards Falcon, CO).
But as I said, I won't be going anywhere for a while: Am here in TX for the next 2.5 years or so.
BTW, I'm an Army (Vietnam) and Coast Guard veteran, so I was a soldier and sailor both. ;-)
-- BR
@@grantgoldberg1663 I strongly disagree. The only reason people fled to this state was because of legal weed which reflects the total absurdity of the War on Drugs. Had it just been legalized nationwide this crazy near 15 year period would never have happened. Everyone came here rich and poor to escape persecution for something benign and harmless. Unfortunately, our selfish and easily fooled society can't make sensible and fair laws so we have constantly have one crisis after another.
My husband and I moved to CO in 2019, but then moved back to the Midwest last year. We almost lost our home in the Superior/Louisville fire and I was pregnant with our second baby at the time. So we decided that we needed to move somewhere where we could afford to live AND not have to worry about losing our house to a fire. We miss mountains horribly.
You can always go back when the kids are grown, right? Hope life goes well for you and your family!
I remember that fire - ugh! If I recall right, it was moving slowly south. I was afraid it would reach my old neighborhood, since a young couple just bought my house in Arvada.
We're retirement age and sold our three bedroom house in Englewood Colorado for 440k and bought a three bedroom house in Port Charlotte Florida for 272k. We love it here even after taking a direct hit from hurricane Ian. No damage to our house but a month without electricity. All the neighbors pitched in to help each other get through it.
That is how it should work. Neighbors helping one another. I want to think that happens in times of tragedy and disaster no matter the state. I’m in Missouri but Grandparents and now my parents live in Florida most of the year in retirement. They are in Venice now. We were in Naples forever but it got to populated. I will live there someday most likely.
Denver native here... ALL of my family which is massive is from Colorado, but a lot of family members have been pushed out by the more well off yuppies. While they come in here acting rude and bullying everyone on the roads and in public with no care for anyone else... I remember Denver when everybody was super kind in public and on the roads. I miss everyone smiling and saying "Hi" to each other... It is different now and it is frustrating.
To be honest, I have always been a protector of the innocent, and these days I feel like I have to discipline grown men literally about once a week for putting the public in danger. I really hope i don't mess with the wrong person in a sense, but in another sense, none of yall are goin to come in my city acting like that while I just sit and watch.
I am working so hard to be able to stay here and honestly: I probably won't be able to afford a home on my own (I am good at what i do in my career, but if you seen the process of buying an average home here these days: its absolutely insane) I need to hurry up and find a wife to be able to squeeze in this housing market so i can stay in the city that I love and grew up in...
I live here and the homeless is growing in leaps and bounds! It’s so sad. Not just Denver
With Democrat government, high crime and homelessness is to be expected. It'll get worse.
Tons of that smelling vile weed trash.
I thought America was made Great Again? There are still homeless people?
@@bearsmartdurango Well the demon-rats have really worked miracles in the country. Funny all the large demon-rat cities are absolute hell-wholes, war zones. 3rd world toilets.
@@ErickChurch-gz4jn - Thats because all their $ goes to bailing out the poor, uneducated, inbred, govt tiTt sucking residents of Red States. You know.... Trump supporters.
I have dual citizenship (Mexico/USA) and I have lived in Colorado for 52 years. I love it here but it’s getting too expensive to survive. My retirement and I are headed to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It is a beautiful area and my American dollars go a long ways there. It’s very temperate there. Rents run around $550.00 to $750.00 dollars for a nice apartment. Gastronomical Nirvana too.
Mexico has massive gang wars and polluted everything… corrupt government and borderline 3rd world country. There is a reason it’s so cheap to live there… gooood luck with all that.
That traffic though......
Leaving after 18 years. You’ve outlined most of the issues I would agree with. Las Vegas gets a bad rap, but Denver is worse in just about all of these categories. I will miss the beautiful mountains. I won’t miss the traffic and poor infrastructure.
Why not just move to a smaller town?
Lmfao byeee
Please badmouth Colorado every time you get the chance. We already have too many people here who belong in Wyoming or Nebraska.
The weird thing is they say that other places are worse and no disrespect to the facts but since Colorado is more expensive than Arizona, Denver being the-and I'm guessing probably higher-7th most expensive city in the US, aggressive driving probably being the 2nd worst in the country now, homelessness is exploding, crime is starting to get slightly worse than California rate wise, houses and apartments that are near California expensive-groceries as well-larceny in Colorado being some of the worst in the country, Colorado having not only the highest altitude in America but having some of the harshest weather, you can compare the cost of living being as bad as in California, Florida, all the most expensive states in the US and with all that being said I see so many commenters stating that other states are worse than Colorado and if I am seeing something different when I do deeper research then they have to be lying unless I'm wrong which I would absolutely love to see proof of me being wrong but having all of this said there is absolutely no excuse for people to brush these issues under the rug like it is something trivial: realize that our issues of cost of living are some of the worst in the country and we have to stop pretending that it's no big deal in Colorado because it is unless I would like to see proof of me being wrong besides for California and only a few other states
I'm from Golden and I left because I got tired of being discriminated against because I'm a Viet Nam Vet. And in 1985 I participated in a survey where we went to lower Denver by the train station to talk to the homeless and found 72% were vets. We were about to get alot of them into the VA hospital and the old soldier's homes. By the way I emigrated to Australia were Vets are honored.
1985 a lot had changed since then buddy.
Gotta love an australian kiss! It's just like a french kiss... except it's down under!
@@haseo8244 I would certainly hope so. So there are no more homeless veterans on the streets anymore? By the way my beautiful home town of 10,000 is now just part of the the slab greater Denver. A change for the worse.
Yah, you are getting overrun by Islam.
Too bad you gave up up your 2A Right.
Years ago I moved to Colorado with the intent to live like people from Colorado. We weren’t there to change anything. We didn’t move to bring ideas from our state there. We moved to live the way they do. That place was ruined by everyone’s opinion from other states. We couldn’t take it anymore and relocated.
The short answer is it got Californicated.
@@warrenpuckett4203 Pot legalization
brought in lots of junkies. , heroin,
from all over the US. Bad people.
Even in Estes Park where I lived in 2016.
And what is it about the way they live that you want to emulate?
Moving out of Colorado after 25 years. I will miss these mountains.
I lived in Colorado for 16 years. The last year I was there. I ended up having to deal with cancer. And started thinking about my mom getting older and I didn’t wanna have my younger sister taking care of her by herself. Plus the cost of living. So I ended up moving to North West Wisconsin. I cried, as I was driving out of Colorado.
I left Colorado to Florida in 2014 as I was taxed out of my property. My taxes went from just over 2k to over 17k in the 15 years I lived there. I built my own house on 50 acres. All my neighbors did the same and some of these people's families had been living there since the early 1900's. What happened was all the idiots from Cali arrived and bought their policies with them...jacking up the taxes. The homeless problem is getting worse every year. And it is also driving up crime like crazy.
Wow! 2K to 17K! Ridiculous! Stories like yours anger me so much. Our country is dying, and it’s so sad.
It’s not the people from California!! They left California because they didn’t like what was happening in their state which they most definitely didn’t vote for!!
@@KosmicKarenit’s not dying it is being killed with intent
@@fightmilk8613 I agree! You said it better than me
Exactly. All the woke Californians have ruined Colorado. It’s become an expensive dump
Briggs, I'm surprised you didn't touch upon the fact that Colorado has the highest rate of car thefts in the US. Had that happen to a couple friends of mine, and I couldn't imagine myself in that situation. It was definitely a factor in me eventually moving out to New Hampshire.
Colorado has the highest per capita car ownership in the country. There's a correlation there.
Because if the car is worth less $2,000 it's a misdemeanor
Go ahead. New England region is expensive but it’s the safest place to be.
I can vouch for that! I'm pretty sure the dealerships help by giving out info to the car thieves.
Yo there are SO MANY car theives. Prob 75% of my friends have had their cars stolen and I used to work with a former car thief who told me how the whole system works. Lots go up to Boulder and steal college kids cars when they are parked outside a college party. Theyll go inside a party where everyone puts their keys into a bowl and theyll just take a few keys out the bowl and walk out to the street and hit the unlock buttons and then take 3-4 cars at once
A 40-year native here. After the insurance business where I was working closed, I tried for 18 months to find a similar position at another insurance company and I couldn't because they were all hiring from out-of-state. So I tried finding anything with remotely similar pay - couldn't because of all the out-of-staters taking moving in and taking the jobs. Finally found a job in the mid-west and have never looked back. I thought Colorado was the end-all, be-all but, man, I don't miss the crime, the traffic and overcrowding, the poor schools, the pot-smoking homeless on every corner, the sky-high rent, the rude angry people. You can have your scenery, I'll take what I've found elsewhere.
I am a seventh generation Colorado native. I grew up on my families ranches working cattle and going to the rodeo every week. We skied in the winter and enjoyed everything about the outdoors. I was born and raised in aspen and had to move to grand junction in 2019 when I wanted to get a place of my own but couldn’t afford it even with two bachelors degrees under my belt. My then boyfriend now husband followed because he was sick of having to have multiple roommates just to pay his bills. We bought a home here in Grand Junction in October and now we are planning on moving to another state. I never thought that I would leave but when my family had to start selling off pieces of the ranch just to pay the property tax and this fall actually sold the ranches (what was left of them) with the hopes of finding a better life somewhere else in the state because they can’t make ends meat anymore my husband and I decided that enough is enough and we have to move to find a place the aligns with our values and we can afford and I hope we can find it.
My family raised cattle and dairy cows and so many locals were really sad to see us go because of the quality of products we raised. But when prices go up and the government bails out other programs instead of farmers who are putting food on the table for so many Americans it’s a truly sad day.
We would stay if we could but it isn’t worth the stress.
So sorry to hear that, that's just plain heartbreaking. Hope you and your family can find another great place to place y'all's roots. As a former Texan, have to say that we unfortunately send our worst to y'all's state, feel guilty even though I moved to Wyoming. Think Weld County or even southern Wyoming would have a place for y'all? Hope things work out, God Bless.
Not to mention all the illegal immigrants
I moved from Palisade Co in 2019... Bought an unbelievable home, top of the hill, rural with a town close by... Show Low AZ... Same exact situation... Could not afford with cash to buy a home in Colorado ANYWHERE!! $109,000... Appalachian front porch, metal roof on one acre and a third... Planted 12 fruit trees and am not quite in the thick of fire danger here... Point is I spent that whole winter of 2019 looking for a better place to live on my computer until I finally found this one... At one point I was even looking at an old, renovated schoolhouse built in 1921 in Kansas... Place needs A little work, but I put a woodstove in and fully intend to die here... Completely and totally happy here... Grand Junction is a nice area, but then it's in Colorado... Snowflake and Taylor is just up the road too... ARIZONA ROCKS!!!
@@job999 I worked 24 years of public school in Colorado... 90% of ALL STUDENTS were from MEXICO... Just saying... It is an observation... Can only imagine what it will be like in 2025... Free everything... Most do not pay taxes and HALF ARE SELLING HARD DRUGS!! This is a FACT!!!
Do you like living in GJ though? Would you stay if it was less expensive?
I am a true native , been here 68 years. All of what you say is true but if I could leave tomorrow number one reason I’d leave is the population has doubled like in the past 10 years. It is so over crowded and with many very rude and despicable people.
I loved Colorado but the people moving from other states they don’t like are bringing all the baggage with them to Colorado. Traffic is out of control.
If the people are rude, I can only assume most people moving there are from bit metropolitan cities from the east coast and west coast. It's sad. :(
Florida is so bad sorry guys I need to come over
It's funny what Americans consider "over crowded" nowhere near of some European or Asian regions
@@patrykomania true but you are what you are used to, relatively
What native tribe are you from?
Completely agree with this video. Over the past ten years the state went from being a great place to live and raise a family to now being too expensive, overcrowded, high crime rate and homeless everywhere. You used to be able to enjoy everything the state had to offer however now you have to go to a neighboring state to fish, hunt, camp and basically enjoy the outdoors. I-25 has become Main Street from Ft Collins to Colorado Springs with every town in between being connected with the outrageous growth along the interstate over the past five to ten years. The crime rate has definitely increased with the population growth even in the small town we've lived in for the past fifteen years. I won't even mention the politics because it's like every other blue ran major city and state, a shitshow and the overall reason for the decline of major cities in our country. We have given up going to downtown Denver due to all of the above mentioned and its very unfortunate and we along with so many others plan to move from this state.
Political party has nothing to do with it. The problems in Colorado were caused by too much rapid growth and corporate greed. If you want severe poverty, go to any red republican state and you will see severe poverty. So stop blaming democrats for the problems that they are trying to solve.
Please name for us the big cities run by Democrats that haven’t become zombie infested trash pits. I can’t think of any offhand because that’s what they do. Democrat policies are destroying our once livable Colorado. We aren’t renting or paying an overpriced mortgage so we’ll stay here and watch it burn
Same thing is happening here in Salt Lake. It's more of a country wide problem than state.
Democrats are the common thread in crime ridden cities.
And if you want to get away camp fish site see ypu need reservations a yr in advance and traffic ruins the vibe
It’s not just about being around people that share your same views. It’s about being around those that have opposing views and then getting you to pay for it with taxes and regulations.
Good! Leave
@@robertdillon9989 I don’t live in Colorado. I’m busy sending my fellow Californians to other states. It’s a “Share the Insanity” program. Enjoy…
I left CO about 3 years ago. The state has turned to crap. It's gotten crowded, polluted more crime and don't even get me started on all the homeless people. So happy I left for a better life. Although, I do miss the beautiful women of the mile high city.
I moved from CO to MS in 2015. A lot of these reasons go hand in hand. The political landscape effects most issues. Cost of living, home prices, homelessness, crime and employment are all effected by government policies. Like mindedness isn’t really the issue, it’s the policies. The low cost of living and low regulatory statutes in MS have allowed me to build a successful business and live a pretty comfortable life.
Grunt likes catfish!
Yeah Mississippi has their government all figured out.
@Dickabod_Crane Good it keeps the liberal transplants out that ruined everywhere they moved to.
"Low regulatory statutes"? 🤔
What are you doing that you don't want anyone else to know about? Dumping chemicals? Cutting corners? Pinching your secretary's bottom?
@@goodluckgoofy3354 Lol wut
Born and raised in Colorado. I left because I just didn't want to be one of those people that never explored and left their hometown. I can't afford to go back. The cost of homes is insane. If you live in the front range access to the mountains is just literally a traffic jam all times of the day in all seasons. Calirado has ruined it for sure. I miss what it used to be. I don't have a problem with growth, but it grew without a soul and grew only to the highest bidder and it shows in the communities along the Front Range. It makes me really sad.
I live in one of the suburbs of The Denver Metro area. The homeless issue has gotten to the point that nearly every major intersection has someone panhandling for money. I used to work in the Denver downtown area back in 2008. The homeless issue wasn't too bad then, but I have to have my arm twisted behind my back to get me to even think about driving downtown now much less ride the lightrail into downtown. Homeless doing meth on the trains.
I used to live in Arvada, left in '21. I did not see any homeless in that town, but I just imagined it spreading out into the burbs.
I left back in 2005. My new attitude is... 'Colorado is a great place to visit but no place to live.'
After watching this all I can do is shake my head. I moved out of California to escape many of the issues people leaving Colorado face. I considered moving to the Denver area from San Francisco but ultimately decided to move to the midwest. Although I didn't wind up moving to Colorado, I have family and friends who did move there and it's sad that it is becoming another California. Washington, Oregon, and Nevada are in a similar state of affairs. I think Texas is the next new California based on what I saw when I was down in Austin and Houston.
The problem is that people leave these places, but never leave the poisonous mentality behind. They take it with them, they spread it like a plague. If it was up to me. You'd be forced to stay in cali and fix it!
Anywhere dems take over they destroy. Problem is, they don't realize they're the cause, move to another state and take their b.s. with them.
@Congressman Matt Gaepz Only if the damn lefties are allowed to get their way.
It was already heading that way 30 years ago when I went to Colorado School of Mines for engineering. It blew up almost overnight in the early 90s, everything since has just been spreading cancer.
Austin used to be great, but Californians & other libs have ruined it. It used to be exactly what its motto said,...Keep Austin weird. Its lost its culture. Now theres such a disgusting arrogance to it
I lived in Colorado for nearly four decades. Just my take: The weather was not too cold, in fact, it was too hot when I left in 2018. In the 1970s and 80s, it was beautiful dry heat with a nice rainfall every day for about 30 minutes. Temperatures maybe a few days in the summer above 90 degrees ... well, that's summer now with fires. After marijuana was legalized, there was a HUGE transient population that moved in with no new plan of infrastructure to handle this, such as housing and highways, and wages minimal. Try to go "Up The Hill" which means the mountains ... forget it. Bumper to bumper. Crime was pretty bad by the time I left, even in the suburbs ... no different than anywhere I suppose. Moved to a small town in the Midwest, boring as hell but safe. I miss the the olden days of Colorado, especially free live music, a place to be outdoors nearly year round, and the people.
You nailed it !!!!!
Only leaving Denver is bumper to bumper. Plenty of wide open roads if you know where to start from.
One factor I think you missed is that with housing prices so high all the sudden, a lot of folks could take the equity from a home sale in CO and buy a house free and clear in certain places. So technically the high cost of housing but the other side of it.
Also, eff the wildfire smoke. It was never like this when I was a kid.
I lived in Denver (South Aurora) from 1995-2020. Plenty of sunshine, but pollution is a problem. Cost of living is horrible and it has become over crowded. Good video
I wanted to move to Colorado when I got out of the Army… my wife wanted Florida and she won out… I hated it at first but in the long run it was a great move…
Maybe someone should look into just what kind of people are moving into Colorado as the productive people move out.
We had a family that left the Gold Coast area of Florida and moved to Colorado. Had been evicted from many houses/apartments they rented and were constantly in trouble with the authorities. They thought of Clorado as "Weed Heaven"
As soon as they got to Colorado Springs, the girlfriend posted that she was appalled they had to establish residency for one year before being eligible for financial assistance! They had to (GASP) get JOBS in order to survice a year before latching onto the government teat!!
Trading a family of stoners for working people is not what any state wants or needs! Of course, we were glad to get rid of this Parasite Family!
Bet they came from another BLUE state before living in florida
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Speaking of FL it's a smaller state with a much larger population but all the leftoids here in Colorado complain about overpopulation. Probably because it's a democrat state that doesn't allow housing to be built to keep up with demand.
Ding ding ding. Pot has brought an absolute horde of losers to this state.
Yes, Florida is a better place because of it. Colorado is declining for the same reason Oregon and Washington is.
Social media, weed, COL, and lackluster employment options outside of the military/gov account for most of Colorado's downfall. All of which I dont see anything being done about in the foreseeable future.
Social Media and drugs are too profitable in this country and it speaks volumes to this govs priorities. .
I've lived in Colorado for most of my adult life and this pretty much nails it. For most people here, the Colorado they knew before 2000 no longer exists.
Isn’t that how communities work?
@Darren ya mommy
I’m a 4th generation Coloradan and I love it here, but all the inflow has made housing costs so high that I’m worried my kids won’t be able to buy a home here. So, please publish more videos like these so people think it’s awful here and stop moving here.
Also, I hate that the mountains have gotten so crowded. Anybody reading this, be prepared for bad traffic and thousands of people cramming into ski resorts and Rocky Mountain National Park. You really should go try out Utah or Canada.
Housing is pretty far out of reach for most former Colorado-kids I know.
So true. I have a 35 yr old son, who is a hard worker and always been employed. He has rented the same house for 10 years and only able to even do that with a roommate and a great landlord who hasn’t raised the rent. I was able to buy my first home in my early 20,s. It is so frustrating. I hate that it has gotten to be so unaffordable.
These days we have to go camping starting on Thursdays to really even get a spot. And going skiing, unless we're staying up there we're not taking the day trip anymore. But, we both know this is the best state to live in still. :)
@@chrisoffersen agree
Colorado native here too. I left Colorado in 2019 mainly because Colorado just wasn't Colorado anymore. I lived 4 blocks west of Denver in Lakewood. The crime in my neighborhood was virtually nothing, but go the 4 blocks east and you were in a territory where summer nights were filled with the sounds of gunfire, sirens and the police chopper overhead. I mean kids used to still play ball and ride their bikes in the street without parents having to worry, the year before I left. The politics, rampant rise in out of staters coming to get the legal weed, and the feel of my home being invaded by undesirables we're my main reasons for moving to the south. I miss my state, I miss my friends and I miss my mountains, but with what Colorado has turned in to, I'm happier where I am and won't be going back. The drug addicts can have it.
That's bad. I enjoyed my summer internship in 1992 in Lakewood when I routinely hiked or jogged the local area. It was a very pleasant summer as a recent college graduate working in CO. Many engineers from the Denver Federal Offices nearby (e.g. NREL on East Colfax, EPA, etc.) lived in Lakewood. It was a nice, affordable area - ideal at the time. That is disappointing it has since changed.
Lmfao Bybee Felicia. Good riddance
I lived at 88th and Wadsworth for many years, then left CO in 2021 to live closer to my dad in WY. My neighbors in my old hood told me that there was crime picking up south of Pomona Drive. I lived just north of the high school. A friend of mine lives across 88th Ave in Kingsmill, and the house next door to him was shot up in the middle of the night, not that long ago.
Been here 15 years. I've seen this state change so much in my time here. Absolutely love this state but recently I don't like how things have changed
I lived in Denver in 2017-2018 and it was amazing at that time…. Now all downtown is fully engulfed with homeless it was just shocking!
Lol try Portland and Seattle .. see what real homeless is
@Vinsanity I'm moving to Seattle soon from Colorado I was just in Seattle I didn't really see homeless like people always describe I hear Portland worse 2x and Seattle has more to do then Denver tbh not much to do in Colorado outside hiking and it's landlocked and dull brown and flat looking outside the mountains
Its not that shocking. Its actually very predictable, generally thats what happens when people give democrats too much power.
@@scorpioguy94 well i have lived here my whole life and we have some of the best ski resorts in the entire world, so it's not just hiking just saying. I don't know what you mean about Seattle having "more to do" though it's basically the same things to do here lol. Yeah it's next to the pugent sound but that's not exactly the ocean.
Coloradans are sensitive when you get on they ass about themselves and they state haha 😄
I was born in Colorado. Lived there for 28 years. But I wanted to see another part of the country. And when I went back to Colorado after three years, I could not believe the changes. It's terrible now. Too crowded. Too expensive. People moved to that state and then ruined it. They ruined what they moved there for. It's really sad.
Most places with good jobs are expensive. Colorado has something most places don't have, the Rocky Mountains. So yes its expensive. My friend just sold a house he owned for less than two years and made 450,000. I love Colorado and really don't understand all of the crying. Yes, the front range is busy. It's a big state with many places to live, especially now that many can remote work.
@@mtadams2009 You sound like someone that either doesn't live or Colorado, or that recently moved there from like California or something.
@@jennylynne4414 I am neither. I am just looking at from the prospective of jobs and it’s scenic beauty. My wife is from Texas and her hometown looks nothing like it did when she grew up. Lots of opportunities will do that. My small New England town looks pretty much the same as it did thirty years ago. No jobs no expansion. I do remember what the front range looked like forty-five years ago and yes its certainly changed. That how things go. You can always go to places like New Mexico or Wyoming, places that pretty much never change or grow. Just think how the Native Americans feel. We took everything and ran it down.
Ditto.
I left in '78 and moved to Oregon. Went back 10 years later and didn't recognize my old neighborhood it had grown so much. Always thought there would be water shortages eventually.
The same is happening to Oregon bud im sorry to say it like that.
Just like when I went back to my home in Oregon......
Oregon is another Colorado essentially.
@@AlvinSeville1 yeah
Transplants from Oregon
When I got out of the military in 2018 and moved back to Colorado I didn't recognize my home anymore.. it's super sad to see what it's become. All the Colorado natives that actually respect our home state are leaving in droves and can't even afford a decent home there. I moved to Wyoming a few years ago and never looked back.
Hello from Cheyenne WY!
I moved out here from Nebraska and '04 working for nursing agencies and got a nursing license in Colorado in 2009 and loved working down there and I went all over the Front Range out to Sterling and up to Estes Park and would vacation in Vail. I had a blast and my kids eventually moved there after they graduated school from Nebraska and now the oldest one can't believe what Denver has become and he wants to leave something bad.
I know we're having an influx here in Cheyenne from Colorado and California I just hope it slows down and doesn't get any worse. If it does, I'm either moving to Saratoga or Thermopolis!
Well Ty for 411
I lived in metro Denver for 43 years, and decided in 2020 that it was time to move, and moved up to Wyoming in '21 to live closer to my elderly father.
My wife is a Denver native, I graduated from a high school in the Denver metro area (many decades ago), and we moved to Wyoming in 2019.
Still staying here. I understand why people are leaving- I can’t give up on here. Just have to believe these mountains will restore everything in time. ♥️🙏🏽 breaks my heart Old CO culture is dying.
It's up to individuals to keep it alive however! Whatever you look for, you'll find!
@@livingindenvercol wholeheartedly agree.
@Soldier4JesusChrist yes, many old Colorado families believe these mountains are sacred, spiritual, and protectors of this land. Is that a problem? Lmfao can’t imagine being mad over a simple phrase.
@@celestialchronic3572 people just don't understand, even ones that live here the spiritual presence...
@@montanagal6958 dude so true. Rumors of witchcraft for years, spiritual sightings, etc.
I lived in Colorado from 1987 - 1991. I loved every minute of it. But someone lied to me about Oregon so I moved here and I have regretted every minute of moving away.
Oregon was a total shithole with a corrupt government statewide. The cops are predators and the schools steal kids. Colorado isn't much better anymore.
I can tell you that life in the south has been amazing. We opted for louisiana. Plenty of work, amazing food, water & woods everwhere, a great night life and the folks here are finest kind. As this is coming from a guy in a mixed marriage, LA is the least racist place we've ever known. Oregon was 2nd place to California when it came to racial prejudice. I'll dance in the street if the whole west coast from mexico to canada slid in the sea
Don't.... not sure where you are in OR, but the places I've been to there are much better than CO
🤣🤣🤣🥲🥲🥲
We moved to oregon from colorado too. Oregon pretty much sucks lol but I do love the trees!
@@hikikomori69Sure, there is trash and tents all amongst those beautiful trees.
I was born in boulder, lived in Longmont until 2019. I left because of cost of living, and the huge influx on transplants that completely changed the feel of the place. I miss the mountains, but now you have to book an appointment to go to RMNP weeks ahead of time. We used to go on a whim all the time when I was a kid. That type of thing is happening to all the neat spots. So yeah, I don’t miss it that bad anymore.
Back in the early 90's my kids loved the 'snow' mountains...now if I never see Colorado again my world won't end...it's amazing how folks will flee the conditions of their home state, move to another, and then continue to vote for the policies that ruined their home state...an appointment to visit the RMNP...? to heck with that...
@@PetuniaIii-pd1ww You need an appointment to go to RMNP because of all the out of staters visiting the incredibly limited infrastructure up there. Blame social media more than anything, as everything is "for the gram" now.
Get your facts straight RMNP instituted the Timed Entry pass during Covid as did many other NPS units. It was a way to limit overcrowding . Yosemite did it as well . Ever drive into the valley or thru Estes to Fall river entrance on a summer weekend ??. The big benefit was it alleviated the crowds, so each Park's Admin decided to continue it in high season. Sure one had to plan a bit more per arriving at their time slot which btw was not hard lined enforced if you were a few mins late etc. So back to the issue of 'weeks ahead of time" During the timed entry periods - it was not every day of the year it was a seasonal timeframe AND ANYONE can enter the park from 6am to 7:30 am or after 5 or 6pm. So you just have to plan ahead or wake up early. While its true many of us locals could not go in at the drop of a hat moments notice but who wants to in summer when those tourists are packing every inch of it. The majority of park users loved the system because you no longer had masses of people crowding the main roads and trails thruout the park. RMNP is not the only area in the state that has majestic 14'ers and loads of trails and alpine valleys .
I'm sorry to hear you were born in boulder. Those of us that don't live in one of the big cities of Colorado consider boulder to be a big boil on the ass of Colorado.
@@PetuniaIii-pd1ww Rocky Mountain National Park. The last time I went there with in 2012 and it was so overrun with people you didn't even feel like you are out in the mountains it was so "urbanized & commercialized" you felt like you were in fake mountains! That's why I still live in Wyoming!
I’m a 45 year old native of Denver, lived here my entire life. Denver is ruined: traffic, violent crime, homelessness, drugs. It’s not safe anymore. You can’t go to the mountains either because it’s overcrowded and bumper to bumper traffic is absolutely nuts. Taxes are through the roof and people are freaking everywhere. If you move here you better like crowds of people, traffic jams, high taxes and expenses, drugs and homeless people and crime. Good luck, I’m out. So sad how a once nice place to live was ruined.
I just left Colorado after living there for 11 years. The Denver metro area is plagued by homeless encampments. Yeah, maybe there’s not some kind of huge homeless population in Saguache or something, but don’t play it down. It’s gotten so much worse over the past few years. When I worked in Capitol Hill they had to shut down a park because of heroin needles and feces. I’ve seen people ODing while walking in to work. When I worked for the public library years before, we were trained on how to use Narcan. Denver even tried to ship some of their homeless population to a neighboring city (Lakewood near the Fed Center) because it was getting so out of hand.
I visited Colorado from Texas and was shocked at the amount of trash in the streets and poverty. The whole south was impoverished...it was shocking
Living in Los Angeles I find this a little hard to believe…
@Cwgrlup what's hard to believe? I don't know how, but Texas has no trash on the roads...even in downtown Houston where I live. It is a mystery
@John Irby Houston is tied with Detroit for the dirtiest town in America. I live in Dallas, DFW and Houston have exponentially more trash than Colorado. Denver has become a little nasty, but compared to the metroplex or H- town? Not even close.
What part of Colorado did you go to? I go to South Fork, Creede, and Pagosa Springs, Co. every summer. I think they look great!
@@joeyshaw4657 Pueblo is a dirty town. Denver and Colorado springs have nasty parts. But nothing like parts of TX
I have family in Denver, Colorado and I moved there a decade ago to work with them. I loved the big sports teams, football, basketball, and baseball. I left right after they legalized weed. I saw an overnight change in cost of living and out-of-state druggies moved in. After legalization, I saw a 30% jump in my rent costs and at the same time they were requiring that you opt-in into health insurance which the family based company could not afford. I could either choose food or health insurance but not both. It might be pure conjecture but its seemed many people that I knew were battling drug addictions which tore many families apart. I miss the big sports games, but dont miss the crime and dirtiness of the city. I still visit from time to time but happy to drive back home.
The homeless portion is an understatement and so is the crime. I'm a native and I dream about the day I can leave. People are fkn selfish here and there is a major lack of respect.
The weird thing is they say that other places are worse and no disrespect to the facts but since Colorado is more expensive than Arizona, Denver being the-and I'm guessing probably higher-7th most expensive city in the US, aggressive driving probably being the 2nd worst in the country now, homelessness is exploding, crime is starting to get slightly worse than California rate wise, houses and apartments that are near California expensive-groceries as well-larceny in Colorado being some of the worst in the country, Colorado having not only the highest altitude in America but having some of the harshest weather, you can compare the cost of living being as bad as in California, Florida, all the most expensive states in the US and with all that being said I see so many commenters stating that other states are worse than Colorado and if I am seeing something different when I do deeper research then they have to be lying unless I'm wrong which I would absolutely love to see proof of me being wrong but having all of this said there is absolutely no excuse for people to brush these issues under the rug like it is something trivial: realize that our issues of cost of living are some of the worst in the country and we have to stop pretending that it's no big deal in Colorado because it is unless I would like to see proof of me being wrong besides for California and only a few other states
@@GabrielV.-wk4xy that's impressive and true. The cost of living out here and the environment together make this a bad mother raising children.
@@TheDavy609 Even worse: it's starting to become a nightmare from hell: just look at Aurora and Denver
I kind of agree. The homeless problem seems worse than NYC or DC where I lived.
Native 5th generation Coloradan. This state has really gone down hill. What has really done it for me is the skiing situation. Too many people moved here for the skiing and the one road to all the ski resorts (I-70) and the ski resorts themselves cannot handle the volume of people. Thus creating a traffic nightmare (usually 4hrs Denver->Summit County on the weekends) and horrendous lift lines at all the resorts. It’s not even fun anymore to ski here.
I’m also not pleased about the crime and homelessness situation in and around Denver. No one goes to Downtown Denver anymore since it’s literally overrun by homeless camps, literally in the heart of the city! It’s so sad.
How did your homeless become homeless? Are they veterans?
I use to like skiing in Durango, small mountain, but no lines, hardly any traffic. Not sure if it's still like that, I'm not a huge thrill seeker so that mountain sufficed for getting a bit of skiing in.
I left Colorado for Wyoming over the summer. I have a 2 story house with a yard and basement and garage in a lovely neighborhood for significantly less than I was paying for a crappy, tiny old house less than half the size in a bad part of town. The traffic was endless and worse than NJ where I grew up. The romance of Colorado wore off very quickly, and I'm much happier in my quiet town just one state north. The only thing I miss is the restaurant options, and I can deal with that.
How is the employment, and rent in your state?
@Sujo I was in Greeley, the exact opposite of Hawaii, so it does not take much to figure out why I left. I found myself exhausted by the busy streets and constant development. Wyoming was calling my name for a while and the wind and cold is worth it. I find it adds to the charm out here, honestly. Plus the constitutional freedoms were very attractive.
I couldn't agree more that Fort Collins to the Springs are literally just one big city. It's the state of NJ just dropped into the middle of what is otherwise a beautiful part of the mountain west.
@Dennis Collins I'm self employed, but there are a LOT of blue collar jobs out this way for people seeking employment. Rent varies, but I would say it's kind of average. It's not super cheap like West Virginia or Alabama, but it's no where near as overpriced as Colorado or New Jersey.
@@rreaditonreddit5365 Thank you.
@@Su-Jo I think you meant Wyoming is 98k square miles, not 98 million. lol
I first moved to CO in 1986. I struggled hard to exist in challenging economic conditions. I sacrificed to hold on to my house through recessions. I worked hard and benefitted from the tech booms. But, also got steamrolled when there were no jobs in the early 2000s. Unchecked stripmall development, neighbors that put up a huge fence destroying my mountain views after 20 years in my home, and declining wage effectiveness were the nails in my coffin. I had enough. We had some amazing time. We're going expat to make the money last longer.
We lived in Colorado for over 20 years and loved it when we first moved there. Over the last 10 years the state slowly deteriorated. Crime, less personal freedom, questionable election policy, downtown Denver became unsafe. We got out of there last fall and are so glad we did. Briggs you may say the crime and homelessness isn't that bad and it may not be in comparison to the worst areas. 20 years ago crime and homelessness was barely an issue at all.
It’s BAD now. We moved here in 2009 and there’s no comparison
Where did you choose to go? Looking to get out also.
@@cathrynocken488 Idaho
I moved to denver for a year after i got out of the army. 2011-2012, and the med card changed to rec use. After that, the flood gates opened and the policy favored the transplants. Buddy of mine tattoo'd COLORADO NATIVE across his chest and i didnt realize what a single policy change could do to the culture of a place. This is interesting to study.
Recreational weed was the turning point here. Even the small towns far away from the front range. I’ll just say it like it is, small town folks don’t like outsiders coming in and trying to change things. Really wish there was a way to go back in time.
@@lukasrael1211 The small town folk are not as provincial as you may think. The smart ones are open to new people and more money injected into the local economy. Whether they like it or not it's a free country.
same, i moved there after the army in about 2015. I miss hiking the front range and seeing the small mountain towns but other than that i dont miss it at all, every time i drove through denver or pueblo i had to be on high alert to not get hit by a stoned or drunk driver, not to mention the traffic and road rage
Weed made Coloradans dumber and Coloradans become dumber even faster because of weed. Hey don't foreigners, y'all voted for left crap and more than foreigners but y'all don't wanna talk about that huh :)
I would like to see a study on this as well. As someone living in a state that doesn’t have recreational or even medical cannabis I am interested to understand the link between legalizing an already widely used drug, and increased crime, property taxes and homelessness. Seems like allowing a black market to flourish creates more crime
Eastern Colorado is basically western Kansas.
so WAY better than the rest of the state.....
@@dj012001 Used to work on a ranch on the Eastern Plains, really wish I would’ve stayed there. Took me a little bit to adjust to the dead silence, I was born and raised in North Denver so I was much more acclimated to quite a bit of noise (I can sleep through loud parties and trees being cut down…right next to my room), once I got used to the silence, it was an amazing experience. Hardly any development, clean air and skies clear enough to see every star, I worked to earn my keep and I would love to get back to that.
I like to call it second Kansas
Lowry AFB, December26, 1968 it was minus 15 deg, stayed below zero for a couple of weeks.
Colorado winters can be brutal!
Cancerfornia spread to Colorado starting in the 1990s. It recently claimed Idaho, and is trying to now gain a foothold in Texas.
Dont forget AZ
@@AbsyntheAndTears Very true, and I'll add Utah to the casualty list as well.
The poor rubes that are worse at a capitalism and Californians are eating their lunch 😢 Sounds like you’re just bad at the game you claim to love. Loser boy
It’s in Utah too…
@@SaraH-uu9et People have been claiming this here in Utah since the 70s and it’s always factually wrong. Utahs population growth is always internal from large families reproducing and never moving away.
I would definitely live in Colorado before Cali, Washington, or Oregon for sure
Washington better
Its going to be the same way in a few years, the amount its gone downhill the past 10 years is crazy as someone born here, we will be moving when we can afford it
If I hit the lottery, I would definitely think about moving to Hawaii
All the Californians have been moving to Colorado since around 2010. They are bringing their garbage progressive politics with them so CO will be no different than CA or OR in a few years.
@B.C Drisk now that sounds lets a goal I need to achieve 👍🏾💯
Traffic!! 70 makes living in a big city and experiencing the outdoors so difficult and inconvenient.
I left in 2015 and the day I left I was stuck on I-70 for almost 3 hours between 270 and 225. I was supposed to stop by Montebello to see some friends one more time before I headed out but they were already at work by the time I made it to chambers rd exit 🙃either way it was the longest slowest traffic jam in my life to date
We just left Colorado after 20+ years. Best decision we've made. Here are our reasons: 1- Politics 2- Homeless people 3- Air quality 4-Cost of things 5- Weather (the state will run out of water soon) 6-Entitlement attitude
I moved to Colorado 5 years ago and am headed back to Vermont. Dry climate, proximity to family, and traffic/overcrowding are my reasons. Access to mountains is challenging if you live along the Front Range, especially if you seek solitude. Colorado is a beautiful state but not home for me.
Well, Vermont is a beautiful state as well. Very beautiful state.
@@margietucker1719 Absolutely! I'm excited to be returning
Same. Lived in CO for 5 yrs during the legalization of MJ. Left and went back to northern VT. Much better but do miss Denver sports and restaurants. (mountains are beautiful too) Will visit though!