I'm 22 and go to college in Tennessee and my family has just decided to move from Western PA to Colorado. Won't actually move for probably over six months. Any liberty-loving Coloradans (?) here on RPF who would like to give me a run-down on the pros and cons (preferably the pros) of this major life-changing scenario which I am very excited/anxious about? What can I expect in the way of liberty and government? I am aware of the amendment 64 which is awesome and hopefully passes and have seen charts that rank CO as one of the top 10 freest states (which compared to PA is amazing). Thanks future neighbors!
Colorado is an alright place. I'm not the biggest fan of Denver or Boulder, but the rest of the state is alright by me.
Some Pro's:
The weather here is fantastic compared to PA. Its never really 'hot' except a few days during the summer. Also, having live lived in Iowa, its never really cold either.
BEER! We're the best beer state in the union. Soon to be weed, too. Though thats probably years out. We have breweries everywhere. They're all delicous.
Atmosphere. CO is an 'outdoorsy' state. The people here, even the ones that don't participate, know about being outdoors, camping, skiiing, ect. It is a central theme.
Drivers. I have lived all over the west and CO has some of the best drivers around.
The jewel of the Rockies! Coming from PA you may think this place is a desert of entertainment but for the West we do pretty well.
We have an interesting balance of people here. The rural counties are generally Republican and, IMO, lean to the religous wing. They balance out the Denver and Boulder progressives. So we end up with a reasonably free state. Most of the government problems in CO come from the Fed (gasp!). I see lots of Ron Paul stickers around (I'm one of them).
Con's:
Denver:
- Denver PD is known for being a group of brownshirts. They are renowned for abuse of power and harrassing people. Denver is generally a pain in the ass: lots of rules, lots of people, lots of taxes, ect.
- Denver is the political power in the state. The liberty movement in CO seems pretty passive in resistance.
Boulder:
- This is the bastian of big government statists. Boulder is nicknamed "The Peoples Republic of Boulder." I'm assuming its a working title.
- Boulder is better than Denver in that they have to truly free spirits there, just don't try earning a living there. The college makes it a fun place.
State sales tax.
Democrats run the government. Just like PA!