RateItAll: The Opinion Network

JUST RECENTLY VISITED CO. IN EARLY JUNE. AS EARLY AS THE 70'S I HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE WHAT ALL THE HYPE WAS ABOUT WHEN JOHN DENVER INTRODUCED ME TO THIS ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH. BEING FROM SOUTH CAROLINA I AM ACCUSTOMED TO THE BLUE RIDGE, THE SMOKIES, AND UNENDING GREEN FOLIAGE WHICH I LOVE. COLORADO WAS JUST SO VERY DIFFERENT. THE SCENERY WAS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. WE EXPERIENCED SPRINGTIME, AND A SNOWSTORM ALL IN THE SAME WEEK. THE TINY WESTERN TOWNS, THE OPEN RANGE, THE UNPAVED ROADS, THE MILES OF NEAR DESOLATION WERE ALL AMAZING. THE WHITE ASPENS, THE RUSHING RIVERS, THE WILD FLOWERS, ABSOLUTELY FILLED THE SENSES. THE OLD MINERS CABINS DOTTING THE LANDSCAPE FROM SO LONG AGO INTRIGUED MY IMAGINATION. I AM NOT A GREAT FAN OF BIG SKI RESORTS, AND I KNOW COLORADO HAS THEIR FAIR SHARE. NO FEAR-WE WERE NEVER VERY FAR FROM UNSPOILED LAND OR A REASONABLE DRIVE TO ANOTHER SMALL TOWN WITH ONE OR TWO BUILDINGS HOUSING THE GENERAL STORE, POST OFFICE, AND CERTAINLY BOLD AND PROUD--THE SALOON. THIS STRUCK ME AS HUMOROUS--AS I AM FROM THE BIBLE BELT, AND YES THERE ARE BARS A-PLENTY, BUT LETS JUST SAY WE ARE MORE DISCREET IN OUR ADVERTISING. SPEAKING OF COMING FROM THE BIBLE BELT, WE WERE SURPRISED THAT CHURCHES WEREN'T AROUND EVERY CORNER. THIS IS NOT STATED AS A CRITICISM, JUST VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I AM USED TO. I WOULD LIKE TO COMPLIMENT THE PEOPLE. EVERYONE WAS SO FRIENDLY AND CORDIAL. IT WAS A BIT LIKE BEING AT HOME. THE NORTHEAST COULD TAKE A LESSON FROM YOU FOLKS IN COLORADO. (I DO LOVE THE NORTHEAST, BUT HAVE NOTICED WITH SOME EXCEPTION, BEING CORDIAL IS NOT OVERALL THEIR BEST QUALITY. COLORADO YOU ARE AN AWESOME STATE. AND LAST, I WOULD LIKE TO SEND MY COMPLIMENTS TO GEORGETOWN-ADORABLE, QUAINT , GREAT FOOD AND FRIENDLY.

Beautiful scenery, excellent food, and Marijuana is seen as a PLANT,not a drug.
Now what's not to love?

Colorado is a great place for people who love the snow and the mountains. You can go skiing, travel up Pike's Peak, visit the sixteenth street mall in downtown Denver, and many other things. If you want to avoid the snow, then travel in the summer months(June, July; August). If you have asthma, the mountain air my help to reduce or eliminate your symptoms. When I lived in Denver for a few years, I never once had a problem with my asthma. The parks in Denver also have geese. So if you like geese, then pay these parks a visit. Parks located in Lakewood(a suburb of Denver) are more likely to have geese than the other parks.

Colorado is a beautiful place and I will always visit but, I don't like living here. The people are odd except for the Californians and they are just annoying. The wages are low and it is a "right to work" state which means you can get fired for no reason. I just saw on the news that more people get fired here than any other state. Normal people are being pushed out of the mountains by the elite. They can no longer afford it.

Colorado has really become a desireable place to live in the nation's eyes during the past decade or so. I think it's a combination of celeb's and rich folk frequenting the ski resorts in the winter and making headlines on magazines like People, US Weekly, and such, as well as the re-location to the state from Californians and others throughout the country to experience nature, and from good marketing done by the state. Sunny days and mild winters (except for this past one) and a plethora of parks and mountains to explore make it a dream state for any outdoorsman/woman. Oddly enough, Colorado is a bit like teflon, in that things that could have tarnished the state's rep never have only seemed to increase its notoriety...aka JonBenet Ramsey, Columbine, South Park...

A classic example of being too-large-a-subject-to-rate singularly because of the item. . .this state is a perfect example of the 'mixed bag 3-star rating' - Denver and Boulder are nice towns to visit and spend a little time. . .there are certainly beautiful mountains and hiking trails. . .don't forget to check out Red Rocks (one of the most unique music venues on Earth). . .but Colorado's drawbacks are immense- no real culture outside of the university towns. . .it's a mostly homogenous white-goofball-Christian culture that is allergic to many progressive ideas (outside of the university towns). . .and there's no nice way to say this- much of the culture is the worst of what distant-out-of-touch conservatism and (more importantly) uber-American isolationism have to offer. . .after researching Columbine after the shootings, I felt not the least bit surprised that it actually happened in that town. . .all in all, the most convoluted/complex 3-star rating ever- nice views, 3 good cities, somewhat affordable, lack of culture outside of college-areas. . .3 stars. Probaly a push to 4-stars if you enjoy hiking, fishing, hunting, or any serious outdoor activity. . .

I visited my dad in Grand Junction in '99. He had been living there a couple of years, and remained until 2001. His brother still lives in G.Junction, and I would certainly like to make the trip again one day. My wife and I agree that if we ever took the notion to leave Georgia, the Western Slope would be a great place to live. It seems that I may have brought some Georgia weather with me on my trip, however. The week of my visit, the big news story was a tornado striking downtown Salt Lake City, causing heavy damage. Apparently, tornadoes are an anomaly for that part of the country. Consider yourselves lucky, for both the the good weather and beautiful scenery. I didn't spend much time in the rest of the state, but Grand Junction and Fruita get Op.409's THUMBS UP.

I've heard it's not the best place to go get a massage. But it's still a part of America, so I can't give it a one.

Not my faorite city in the west and seeing way too much sprawl developing. The Californians are ruining yet another place.

Colorado offers a wide variety of beautiful scenery.The folks seemed very down to earth,and I liked the many styles of log homes I saw there.

I went to college in Denver for a year. Moving to Denver by far was the most scariest experience I have ever had. Mega-rich corporations line the downtown skyline while the majority go without food. Beggers line 16th street day and night looking for food. LoDo is nothing but a few unique shops and restaurants. All surrounding neighborhoods outside are dirty and infested ghettos with backwards individuals and druggies. Prositution lines the streets of Colfax and Quebec nightly and the weather is so cold during the winter that the people become pale and their skin becomes coarse looking. Please don't believe the lies the booklets tell you about Colorado being healthy and lively, it is all lies. P.S all the rest of Colorado is even worse (except aspen which is a rich playground & castlerock). Don't go to Colorado!

good @ times bad @ others

Speaking only for the western half of the state, it's pretty awesome. Scenery alone would justify the 5 star rating but add to that great food, super activities and gambling for those so inclined, and you have a recreational mecca.

Anyone who calls Colorado's politics as 'progressive' is living in a nether world of total confusion- unless you want to call right wing reactionary 'progressive' that being so the state has some wonderful scenary and a great city in Denver- the rest of the state is not progressive- but borders on ultra far right-which IMO mars it greatly.

Why is this state rated so high? Denver is a fine city- but the rest of the state borders on KKK reactionary cowboy. Nice scenary- but beyond that on human terms there is virtually nothing outside of Denver.

Beautiful scenery, beautiful people, progressive politics, lots of mountains, skiing, mild temperatures, warm summers, no humidity -- great state.

Absolutely one of the most beautiful places that I have ever visited. We drove from Colorado Springs to Denver (which was nice), to Boulder (which I fell in love with), to Estes Park (where we stayed for the night and shopped for the rest of the day). Estes Park was very quaint. We went out to eat dinner and when we came back to the hotel room there were elk right up on the lawn in front of our rooms that had come down from the mountain (not something you see everyday). The Rocky Mountain National Park was stunning. On the other side of the park, at Grand Lakes, we stopped at the historic Grand Lakes Lodge, which reminded me of summer camp. It was a pretty neat place...apparently very hard to get reservations for. Drove back to Colorado Springs thru a bunch of little towns, which included Winter Park and Idaho Springs. It was quite a lovely trip. The best part of the trip was a stay at the Gold Lake Lodge near Ward. Definately worth the money. Absolutely breathtaking scenary. The lake and the surroundings were just stunning. The food was fabulous. I highly recommend it. I am seriously considering moving to Colorado Springs within the next year. The weather was just wonderful (I think it might take a little getting used to the altitude!).

Wonderful scenery and the Rockies are amazing but outside of Denver (which is a bit overrated with too many snotty yuppies moving there from CA to live) not much else to do.

great skiing. and aspen is gorgeous

I'm a Colorado native. I must admit, I love my state. I live in one of the burbs of Denver, but I know the state like the back of my hand. Denver is a progessive city. I especailly appreciate our cultural and ethnic diversity. Our population is near the 2 million mark and growing. Yes, we have our concerns such as education, growth and most recently, water. The cost of living is probably a little higher than the norm, however, I just visited NY state. A two bedroom condo in a little hamlet 50 miles north of the city will run you $450,000. In Denver, the same unit would be in the $175,000 range. The eastern 1/3 of the state is arid yet mainly consists of farms and ranches. On the eastern base of the Rockies, we call the front range is rapidly becoming on very large city, extending North, Fort Collins to the south, Colorado Springs. Our mountains are probably the most beautiful in the world. We offer world class skiing, rafting, hunting and fishing. The fall colors in our mountains are beautiful yet short seasoned and I will admit not nearly as gorgeous as the South or the Eastern states. The climate is fair. We have a few days with temps in the single digits and a week or two hitting the one hundred degree mark. Our altitude is high, remember Denver is the Mile High City and many of our peaks reach nearly three miles high! If you really want to experience Colorado, try Steamboat Springs or Crested Butte. Both are beautiful ski towns with real people. I would avoid Vail and Aspen all together. The friendliest little town in the state, in my opinion, is Meeker. It's not very pretty, but the people are the best we have to offer!