An old friend moved to Old Colorado City about 15 yrs ago, before prices got out of hand. Sold his 40 ac spread here and got an older home near the old downtown for like $120,000. He was always the self employed type so he could do it. I had a career and elderly parents to see after keeping me in North Alabama. Now that my parents are both deceased and Im retired, it's just too expensive.
I have considered maybe a small town in northern NM. Las Vegas NM for example looks like a nice little small college town where you might could find a reasonably affordable cottage of some kind. I really like Alamosa CO and San Louis Valley, it's still pretty affordable by CO standards, but Im not sure if I could handle the winters there
Including childhood, I've lived in Silver Spring, MD, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Flagstaff, AZ, Aurora, CO, Thornton, CO, Castle Rock, CO and Monument, CO. All of those locations have relatively expensive housing costs at this point. Denver in particular, and Colorado in general, are experiencing some exodus. The main people migrating to CO are from California where it's much more expensive. People are leaving CO for states with lower cost of living, better job opportunities, less congestion, improved life/work balance.
The main thing driving up cost of living in Denver, and other parts of Colorado, is housing. Rent, as well as monthly mortgage prices, have surged over the years. Part of the high cost is available water. The price a builder has to pay for water rights before breaking ground is high.
One of the more affordable areas in CO is Pueblo, and Pueblo West. Much like Denver, Pueblo has a lot of property crime, mostly car theft and auto break-ins. Denver, and many of the suburbs surrounding it, have significant violent crime rates. Downtown Pueblo has some violent crime, yet it's not as bad as Denver, nor Aurora, for examples.
Robert P McCulloch of McCulloch chainsaw, founded Lake Havasu City, AZ in 1963-64. He built a chainsaw factory that operated until it was closed in 1999. He also bought the London Bridge, moved it to LHC, installed it next to the lake, and dug a trench from the lake underneath the bridge. It became a significant tourist attraction, and along with the lake, drew people there. That real estate development was a big success.
The same R.P. McCulloch founded Pueblo West, CO in 1969, near Lake Pueblo. It was not the same success as LHC, AZ. There were state, and federal, lawsuits regarding fraud filed against McCulloch. The company agreed to pay out a settlement that was the largest in CO history.
Pueblo West, CO is one of the more affordable locations in Colorado. A small condo, in a relatively affordable part of Colorado Springs, might cost $299,000 plus $450-500 monthly HOA fees. Meanwhile, you can find single family homes in Pueblo W for that same price with an HOA fee of $20 a month. Most of the homes in that price range are older. The square footage is usually 1000 to 1500. Some with garage, some without. However, I did see a home listed for $290,000 that had 5 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 3000 square ft of space, two garages (space to park 5 cars within them).
Pueblo West has much less snowfall than much of Colorado, including Springs, Monument, Denver (+suburbs), the mountains, etc. It's a slow paced town that tends to attract working class (trades people) and retirees. It's about 2 hours south of Denver by auto, and roughly an hour south of Colorado Springs. Pueblo West is roughly 20 minutes north of downtown Pueblo. It's not a bad looking place, particularly with a view of the lake. It has significantly lower crime than downtown Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Denver (+suburbs), etc. If I was ready to stop working, I'd consider moving there.
