Outsiders tend to have a romanticized image of translucent purple mountains populating the skyline and expect endless trails, great beer and bomb weed to chill.
These people need to hold up and read through this post because Colorado is not all that it is cracked up to be.
Colorado used to be the way you envision it but is better understood as more of an Eastern California now with its share of problems from being overcrowded.
https://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/08/welcome-to-colorful-east-california/With overcrowdedness comes traffic jams.
https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-roads-werent-made-to-handle-growth-readers-say-11550173In traffic people drive really dangerously, routinely ignoring stop signs and red lights.
https://www.outtherecolorado.com/blog/why-are-colorado-drivers-so-bad/article_eb1b902c-7562-54fc-917b-4a4888ad31a3.htmlHousing prices have gone up. For instance, in Boulder the average home listed on the market is $850,000 and the average rent is $1938 within a 10 mile radius.
https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/01/news/economy/colorado-housing-prices/index.htmlMeanwhile homeless problems make every walmart a campground.
https://durangoherald.com/articles/209353Oh and about those trails...
Coloradans recklessly push grocery carts like they drive. They drive the same way they abuse the trails.
https://coloradosun.com/2020/07/02/coronavirus-record-crowds-on-colorado-public-lands/Go back behind Eldora and they shoot guns without a license or concern. Go down I-70 and you see a semi going 90mph one minute while the next you see the same semi turned over and ablaze.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/semi-truck-fire-closes-stretch-of-i70-for-hours/73-9a1cbf84-75c0-4a42-b655-5935fdac8ddeKnuckleheads is the right word choice by Governor Polis . Colorado is a state full of knuckleheads and Boulder at the epicenter.
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/statue-titled-in-honor-of-christopher-columbus-torn-down-overnight-in-denvers-civic-center-parkKnuckleheads rule the roads in this state. They ruin the experience in the trails too. It takes 40 minutes to get from Boulder to Nederland. It takes 60 minutes to go from Boulder to 16th Street in Denver. Trailheads overcrowded by 9am, bumper to bumper traffic at 6:45am. Oh and something is definitely wrong with the stoplights!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Denver/comments/6d7nla/what_the_f_is_up_with_the_traffic_lights_around/You dont want to move to Boulder.
https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/greeting-card/images-medium-5/1-colorado-front-range-continental-divide-panorama-james-bo-insogna.jpgThe image in your brain is all an illusion and most of the waterways are FAKE! Find somewhere else!