The Salida Relocation Guide

Welcome and congratulations for finding Salida Colorado!

Salida and the Arkansas River Valley offer an incredible variety of recreation, business, lifestyle, cultural, family and community opportunities. We hope that you will find the Salida Relocation Guide to be a helpful resource for learning about Salida Real Estate, and for helping you decide if Salida is for you, and where in the valley you might like to live.

Chaffee County and the Arkansas River Valley have several towns, and regions. Each one offers unique and interesting lifestyle. Start in Leadville at the Arkansas River Headwaters and follow the river through the valley to Granite, Buena Vista, Nathrop, Centerville, Poncha Springs, Salida and Howard. Together these towns make up a unique region of Colorado, each town offering different living experiences and amenities to its residents.

Typical of most of Colorado, the mountain lifestyle cost of living is higher than you may expect. Salida home prices range from the low $100,000s to well into the million dollar range. Many of the older developments offer reasonable prices on maturely landscaped with well situated homes. Most of the newer developments are higher priced, in premium locations, with great views and easy access to town. The Salida Relocation guide is a good place to start your research on where you want to live, balanced against how much you can afford.

Salida is the Chaffee County seat, and the cultural and recreation center of the valley. The city of Salida has about 7,000 people living within the city limits, and another 10,000 people living the surrounding hills and valleys. Most people in Salida work in the recreation or service industries. Good Internet connections also allow many people to telecommute to jobs around the US. This combined with good airport access in Colorado Springs and Denver, make Salida a very good location for telecommuting or Internet entrepreneurs. See the complete Salida Community Profile.

There is also a growing population of retirees. Many people find the relaxed slightly rural character of Salida and the valley to be a nice change from the hectic city life they endured before retirement. You may find that Salida offers just the change you need as you work toward your retirement years.

The Arkansas River Valley has a long history of homesteading and ranching. This is still evident in the large open spaces throughout the valley. Fields filled with cattle, horses and cowboys gives the area a real west feel. While the ranching lifestyle continues, much of the regions economy is supported by tourism.

The Arkansas River is one of the most popular whitewater rafting destinations in the country. Many commercial rafting companies provide save and exciting whitewater experiences for our summer tourists. Great mountain biking, hiking, jeeping and fishing make Salida a super place for summer recreation. Finally we are home to one of the most unique and exciting new recreation opportunities in the country, one of the first and best zipline parks, just outside of Salida.

Monarch Ski and Snowboard Area fills out winter with great powder snow on un crowded downhill ski slopes. Snowmobiling, cross country skiing add even more variety to the winter mountain lifestyle.

Salida is known as the banana belt because it remains almost completely snow free year round. We do get a few snowstorms each year, just for variety. Frequently the snow melts by lunchtime, just enough real weather to keep life interesting.

The weather, recreation opportunities, cultural activities, and historic downtown region make Salida a wonderful year round place to live and work.