It's the damn weed. I feel like an old man for complaining about it but shit are they making things expensive.
the weed is a big part of it... but we are just genuinely in the middle of a friggin boom right now. It will bust eventually. I read a report a week ago that Denver is at 0% vacancy. It's so ridiculous. Sure, there will be an apartment here or there, but we are effectively full. Construction hasn't caught up, and won't until it's too late. Being poor in the Denver area right now is basically being homeless. You can't touch an apartment for under $1000 near town. I know someone staying in a dive motel on Colfax Ave and it's costing them $1280/ month. Crazy times...
This prices make me glad we left when we did. I'm finishing up high school now, and looking at college and moving out and stuff. In Colorado (Ft. Collins specifically), CSU would have been my back up school, but looks like I couldn't afford to live there now. Do you know anything about affordability in places other than Denver? I can't imagine what Aspen, Breckenridge, or Steamboat Springs are up to.
All of the mountain towns (especially the resort towns) are only for the stupid rich. We peasants are allowed to visit. There was a SERIOUS lull in the market in the 08-10 years, but they never got affordable. The stupid rich just slowed on buying/building there. A friend of mine is (was) an architect for the high-end crown up there. He basically lost his life savings trying to stay afloat when the bottom dropped out. He ended up moving away. Building is picking up again there, and it's as expensive as ever.
You think that they are similarly getting more and more expensive? It's a crappy feeling of joining a party at it's most expensive and most crowded.I can't imagine what Aspen, Breckenridge, or Steamboat Springs are up to.
They've always been outrageous, even during the summer, when they aren't full of tourist skiers. They tend to have higher paying service industry jobs and good tipping though, if that's what you do. I can only imagine that they're getting worse like Denver.