If I wanted to live in a flood prone area to be near family, I’d have to build a raised house with an elevator and a generator capable of operating it as well as the A/C and refrigerator. It would still be a tough choice. I’d probably rather provide the safe place for relatives to shelter away from the storm damage.
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I guess so. But honestly I had always had concerns about FL and coastal regions due hurricane risks.
Although not a reason we’d consider leaving CO, I could see how people consider relocation would indeed now worry about wildfires. That article was from Oct 2021, prior to the devastating December fire north of Denver. For earlier fires, most had been in remote areas or in towns that built perhaps too close to the natural woods. But the December fire came into a plains area that would have been safer had it not been unseasonable drier than ever combined with 100+ mph wind (which is not new for that place). As far as I know, the source is still undetermined, but one possibility was a human started fire gone out of control.
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Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (which had tornado activity associated with it) the building standards are very high to reduce damage from hurricanes. The biggest culprit in hurricane damage to a house is windows and they are being made to withstand Category 5 hurricanes (which are rare). My own home went through a Cat 5 (180 mph)–we went through the eye and had relatively minor damage. (Although outside debris was a bear.) I’d personally be much more afraid of fire.
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Are you talking about Dade County, Florida?
@Colorado_mom, I was in Boulder a few years pre-Pandemic and you could see a fire approaching the city. It didn’t reach the city. Then, last year, a big fire actually burned down a multi-million dollar house of a colleague of mine. (Maybe in Centennial?). I’m guessing this is the start of a trend as things get hotter and maybe drier.
Where we go in the Canadian Rockies has been smoked out by forest fires in BC more than once – and glaciers I have hiked by/to for years are melting and in some cases are completely gone. Definitely an observable trend.
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I think no place is safe. When we were vistimg Banff, as we were driving to a place that was about an hour away from Banff for a river rafting trip, so many trees were burned down in between forests.
If climate change were not a thing, I’d probably move west, as Arizona and California are where my heart lives. But the drought in those states is real, and worsening. Will stick with the upper Midwest and visit for extended periods as able.
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Probably that was when our daughter evacuated her apartment near CU because there was a fire nearby, which luckily did not jump the last ridge. (I had forgotten about that one.)
For our first two decades in CO, almost all disasters were in distant and/or remote areas. The past decade has been crazy with a big flood in town, fires near Boulder and Estes Park (friends stayed with us for four days), as well as the Dec 2021 the Marshall fire and also a closer/small fire nearer to us on the same day. It is definitely a concern. Kudos though to the extraordinary emergency communication systems that minimized the human toll.
We have intertia here. The climate change / whatever changes have not made us consider a move. It has made us investigate insurance coverage.
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I don’t blame you, Colorado_mom - it’s so beautiful there. I’d imagine people do a checks/balances - is the place you love/haved lived for a long time worth a move b/c of concerns re: climate?
To me the climate issue is a factor - not entirely dispositive, though. I want to love the place I move (if/when I do). Just trying to minimize risks in short/long-term and the climate is a factor.
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Same. I would rather snowbird 1-2months a year after retirement than pull up stakes from the Chicago area completely. When I see the overall quality of life in the other areas I love, I’m not sure it would be any better. Now, if my kids end up leaving the Chicago area I would 100% move to be nearer to them.
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Growing up in SoCal it was almost understood that the fire-floods-landslides cycle would hit every area at some point. But it was something like 1x every 20 years when you would worry it would hit your neighborhood back then. I was a senior in high school when a wildfire hit our area and I had to evacuate myself (my mom was out of town), my two dogs, and all our vital documents. Now, it seems like it’s so much more accelerated and every year people have to worry.
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I am enjoying the summer in my new northern city. Not missing the heat and humidity of Virginia. As for the winter, I really don’t mind it and I do have plans to do the snowbird thing for several weeks. If we had moved south, I would be fine in the winter and possibly fall/spring but would need to escape somewhere north for the entire summer.
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Glad it is working out for you! I found winter easier to deal with once I had the option to work from home as needed (and totally in home office in 2017). In retirement most of my activities around town are optional, so we just hang home if weather is ugly. Of course in Colorado we have plenty of sunshine all year long, so that helps too.
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We are the same. Really enjoying the lower temperatures and less humidity.
We like winter, love fall and summer is the best. Spring is the worst. March and April, partially May stink so much!
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Spring is the best season here, my flowers are just absolutely gorgeous, at their peaks. The season I live for. Summer is blah except for the home grown tomatoes, lol.
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Before retirement we loved the summer with longer days and hated the winter which was dark and cold and roads may have ice. We usually vacationed in the winter.
After retirement we like summer the least as it is too hot. We usually vacation in the summer. The winter we can choose the time of day to go out in the afternoon with plenty of sunshine and the roads are clear.
My season rankings are spring, followed by fall, winter, and last summer.
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Back when she was in middle school, our D had to be evacuated from her summer camp due to a fire. She was supposed to be there for a week, but she ended up being there for only two full days. They had to bus the kids to a meeting point for us to pick them up. The camp was spared, but the fire did get pretty close. Sadly, the camp lost several of their buildings in another fire about 10 years later.
Wanna talk about fires though? I have relatives in Australia. They had horrible pollution in Melbourne and Sydney from the bush fires. My relatives know people who’ve lost their homes and in one case, the people barely escaped because the fire spread so quickly.
As posted upthread we moved/downsized at the end of March. Here are some observations about our experience:
House: Smaller size is great. We still have plenty of room for 2 people and don’t miss the extra rooms at all. We got rid of A LOT of stuff before the move and have only replaced a small fraction of it. We replaced a few older items that we didn’t want to pay to move but overall have a lot less “stuff” now.
H had to do a bit on the yard initially but the yard is a lot smaller and now it’s much less time. Got rid of the big gas lawn mower and have a small electric one because there is so little grass to mow. I had a cleaning service at the former house but haven’t felt the need to replace them as it seem easier to clean this house.
House does have 3 levels and steps in both back and front. So not sure if this is our “forever home” but for now it’s not an issue. Also discovered that although we have a 2 car garage (actually 2.5 car), it’s hard to get both cars in as the alley (it’s detached) does not give us much room. Not a problem now but we’re trying to figure this out before winter.
Neighborhood: It was a big change going from all of those years in the suburbs to living in a city. We are able to easily walk to so much! Shopping (including a full grocery store, a food co-op and farmer’s market), restaurants of all types, small businesses, etc. The library and a few lakes in the city are a bit farther (1-2 miles away) but that’s an easy distance for us to walk or for me to run. Unlike the suburbs there are people out walking/running/biking at all times of the day (not just early morning). We have sidewalks on both sides, crosswalks/lights and people in cars are much better about pedestrians in general. There are also tons of events we can walk to.
Social: our D, SIL and (brand new!) GD are here so we love being able to see them often. We have met some good neighbors and everyone is pretty chill. We know one couple we have gone to dinner/happy hours with - we do need to expand our social circle. Working on that but due to some circumstances (my bout with Covid/new grandchild/MIL needing care, etc) we haven’t been able to get out to meet people as much as planned. Hopefully that will change soon. I’m still in search of a running group that works for me.
Overall, we are happy we made the move. We do miss some friends but this is a good place and as we get more settled socially it should get even better.
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My bff next-door neighbors moved last month, and the wife told me they both dreamed about us last night. Awwww, so sweet. 
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Yay FallGirl - glad it’s working out so well! Thanks for the recap! Living in the city after suburban life seems like it has a lot of perks!
As I think of next stage and downsizing, ‘community’ comes up as a huge factor. Don’t necessarily want to be all alone in some new, large-yard suburb where it’s hard to meet people - even if the house were beautiful. Walking to the local park/coffee shop sounds fun!
Hub and I were talking about future plans and friends/fam who’ve downsized in various ways to different types of houses. I said: “I don’t want to just move to a new house, I want to move to a new life.” He seemed to appreciate that (although we don’t know yet exactly what that will entail! 
) Sounds like you’ve got all the life aspects lined up really well, FallGirl!
Cute story Youdon_tsay! 
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