Anyone live(d) in Carbondale?

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

You like it there? Want to get the hell out? Think it's heaven? Think it's a good place to raise a family? Anyone go through the public or private school system around there?

My wife and I are looking to move someplace smaller to raise our son, and think the housing costs, climate, ski and desert biking access in Carbondale look perfect for us, but neither of us have spent much time there. If anyone lives there, grew up there, or hated it and got out of there as fast as they could I'd be stoked to hear your opinion on the town/schools/etc.

Oh and if anyone wants to tell me how Marble BC skiing stacks up compared to Teton Pass I'd be all ears. From what I've read it sounds good, but having never skied there I can't tell if it's winter-time meadow skipping until corn season, or big-vert pow laps when the avy conditions are right.

(little backstory - my wife and I are both self employed - she's 100% working from home and I'm 50% home and 50% travel so jobs aren't an issue. proximity to Denver is though so we'd probably want a house in the RFV and then need a small condo in Denver, but that's not a huge deal right now)

[Alpinord]

No...but I stayed at the Carbondale Holiday Express (or similar) once.

Check out wildsnow.com. Lou lives in Carbondale and has zillions of blog post about Marble, McClure, Sophia, the Elk Mountains and beyond.

[funkendrenchman]

It's a great location and a pretty cool town. You are 50 min from the Aspen mountains and 1hr 10 min from riding in GJ and Fruita. There is some excellent riding nearby, but not a ton of different options. I actually don't have too much knowledge of the Marble bc. Housing prices aren't that bad, compared to the rest of the valley, but expect to spend $300-400k. Tons of people from Aspen move there to raise a family. However, from what I've heard the schools aren't that good, especially compared to other high country schools. Actually, I believe Carbondale High School actually lost accredidation. Anyone with a higher income tends to send their kids to local private schools.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Lost accreditation? Ouch. I'll have to look into that a bit more.

Funken you and I will have to ski this winter for sure - been way too long.

[flatlander#2]

Speak Spanish? Public schools there are a train wreck.

[funkendrenchman]

Lost accreditation? Ouch. I'll have to look into that a bit more.

Funken you and I will have to ski this winter for sure - been way too long.

Yes, we definitely should!

Roaring Fork High School = Carbondale High School. My girlfriend told me they lost accreditation, but I couldn't find it with a quick google search. Either way, public schools there aren't the best. Which sucks, cause everything else about the area is pretty sweet.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Damn. Bummer about the schools - we really want to get out of Denver once our son is old enough for school so we don't have to do private schools. I'll have to look into private schools up there and see what's up though.

[flatlander#2]

Try Salida.

[philth]

Hey, I dont know about the schools but I spent a week there last winter and thought the place was great. Met some nice local folks at a pub one night and they gave me a tour of the place. Nice restaurants etc. I put it on my list of mtn towns my wife and I could actually live in.

[Benny Profane]

Wow, 300-400000 for a not accredited high school. That's some crazy stuff.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

It's a great location and a pretty cool town. You are 50 min from the Aspen mountains and 1hr 10 min from riding in GJ and Fruita. There is some excellent riding nearby, but not a ton of different options. I actually don't have too much knowledge of the Marble bc. Housing prices aren't that bad, compared to the rest of the valley, but expect to spend $300-400k. Tons of people from Aspen move there to raise a family. However, from what I've heard the schools aren't that good, especially compared to other high country schools. Actually, I believe Carbondale High School actually lost accredidation. Anyone with a higher income tends to send their kids to local private schools.

50 minutes? I never guessed you drive so much slower than you ski. Funken is right about most else IME. Now is the time to buy down valley and I've never met anyone who said Carbondale sucks. But for schools it always seems like everyone is trying to get their kids into a school somewhere farther up valley, or a private school. There is a ton of terrain in the BC around there but it's still a CO snowpack and I've never skied Teton Pass so I can't really compare. I know there are mags that live down that way will know more.

[FrankZappa]

I can't believe I'm the first to say this: "Rontele will PM YOU!"

[Hott Butt Mud]

Have you looked at Eagle?

It seems like the Eagle County version of Carbondale.

[hitek79]

They don't call in Carbonandale! for a reason. I second taking a look at Salida.

[belgian]

Oh, this isn't about Carbondale, IN?

I'll see myself out.

[DaHeel]

Down valley is never the answer. Make your way towards Aspen and I doubt you'll be unhappy with your choice. Bassalt and Aspen have good schools and you won't be a half hour from the hill(way too far IMHO). Housing options shrink as you move up valley but the lifestyle and education will be worth it. Don't write off the Eagle/Vail valley as an option.

[sklar]

I'm mad jealous of my friends who grew up in steamboat haha
but for real, steamboat could be an option?

[StoneCold]

You like it there? Want to get the hell out? Think it's heaven? Think it's a good place to raise a family? Anyone go through the public or private school system around there?

My wife and I are looking to move someplace smaller to raise our son, and think the housing costs, climate, ski and desert biking access in Carbondale look perfect for us, but neither of us have spent much time there. If anyone lives there, grew up there, or hated it and got out of there as fast as they could I'd be stoked to hear your opinion on the town/schools/etc.

I lived close to Carbondale and worked on Main street for a few years until recently.

Pros:

The town itself is pretty cool. The main street has a cool beer garden/bar, some really good restaurants, and a handful of other good watering holes.

Mt. Sopris looms over the town and provides a nice backdrop. The quickest and easiest mountain biking is in an around Prince Creek Rd. You can get there without having to drive.

The price of real estate has come down dramatically recently.

Easy drive to Fruita, Loma and even Moab. You can get to Denver in under three hours.

You have a good proximity to Glenwood, and an OK proximity to Aspen.

Cons:

Ok proximity to Aspen. It's about 30 miles on Hwy 82 from C'dale to Aspen. In good weather and dry roads, it takes about 35-40 for the drive. On a snowy morning when the roads are covered and everyone is driving up to ski it can take over an hour.

Lots of illegals. Lots of Spanish-speakers. Nothing wrong with Spanish-speakers or illegals, but the Spanish-speakers stick to themselves just as the gringos stick to themselves. As such, there is a bit of racial tension. The schools have gone down hill with the recent (last 10-15 years) influx of Spanish-speaking students, as the Spanish-speakers can't learn as fast (due to the language barrier) and the teacher has to adjust their teaching style, and the regular students suffer as a result. Car break-ins and the occasional burglary are not uncommon, and it is usually teenagers.

I know a couple that recently had a kid. They had moved to C'dale after living in Aspen about three years ago. Now that they have a kid, they did anything they could to move back to Aspen, and did. C'dale public school is terrible.

I'd prefer to live in Basalt. Town is a little nicer. Schools are better. Closer to Aspen. Although real estate is more expensive in Basalt.

Come spend a week there in winter and summer and see if you like it. Despite the negatives of the shitty schools and underlying racial tension, overall it is a good place.

[smmokan]

Check out Basalt... 15 minutes down the road and a much cooler vibe. (housing prices might be a little too high though)

In response to another suggestion, I'd recommend Edwards over Eagle if he's going to live on I-70. Or maybe Glenwood Springs?

[flatlander#2]

We looked at it probably 6 years ago and determined you'd have to live in Basalt to make it worth the time, skip Carbondale entirely. Good friend of ours grew up in Glenwood, has friends still in area and none of them would put their kid into Carbondale. You can choice them into Glenwood, go private, or hippy home school them. Not great options either way.

Or move to Evergreen. I'm 40 minutes to Loveland, ride from my house, have bitchin schools and familiarity.

Or Salida. We'd move to Salida, but with wife's situation now it won't work.

[funkendrenchman]

Correction, it was Crystal River Elementary that was so awful. http://www.postindependent.com/artic...NEWS/111209925

And yea, sorry, 50 min to G-wood, 30ish to Carbondale. Basalt is decent but you don't really have much mtn biking that you can ride to.

If you both set up a business from home and pay Pitkin County taxes on it, you can buy affordable housing in Aspen. You could get a 3BR condo for $250-330k. They are building a new housing development and it's pretty easy to get into it. Hey, and then we'd be neighbors.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Hi, funken.

I guess I see things differently. Eagle /= Carbondale. Mountain towns all have there own vibe (If they have one at all). Outside of very weathly towns, are there any truly good public schools in CO? Honest question, I don't have kids. With RE values down and education being paid for by property tax, the funding sucks.

Side rant, call me a racist fuck if you want, but the fact that non-English speaking children of largely undocumented foreign nationals are seriously compromising the public education system in Pitkin county of all places is a fucking joke. I don't hate brown people, I hate what we as a society are doing to acomodate them.

[Shredhead]

Carbondale's in Garfield County< Basalt's Eagle< Aspen's Pitkin. Big difference in school funding.

Aspen's schools are the best in the state and some of the best in the country. Aspen Valley Ski Club has a private lift from Campus up to Highlands. The clubhouse is a frickin palace.
I would have killed to have my kids go there.

Rent up in town for a year or two and get your kids ensconced in the school system. They allow a certain percentage of downvally kids and you'll have a lot better chance, if they've already attended AVS.

Carbondale is a nice little town. The BC in Marble is awsome. The access isn't as good as Teton Pass, but there aren't nearly as many people either. The boating on the Crystal and the Roaring Fork is good.

I just purchased a 4,600sq.ft REO on three acres in Cerise Ranch for $415,000. Second cheapest house in the development, most of my neighbors are over a mil.

Lot's of good deals to be had, but it's going to take a couple of years to move the inventory. So you have some time.
Seriously, rent up in town first! If you move up in May, you'll have the best chance of finding a decent rental.

[funkendrenchman]

Rent up in town for a year or two and get your kids ensconced in the school system. They allow a certain percentage of downvally kids and you'll have a lot better chance, if they've already attended AVS.

That number gets smaller and smaller every year. I wouldn't count on that as an option down the road.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

That number gets smaller and smaller every year. I wouldn't count on that as an option down the road.

For sure, the district has been seriously looking at reducing the # of out of district kids that get into the school system. They just had an article in paper the other day that they are starting talks with the Community School to help them reduce the number of out-of-district kids they accept since Community School kids are allowed into the Aspen schools.