Enjoy Colorado Living In Gypsum
Are you thinking about moving to Colorado and want to settle in a cool mountain town? In this video, we're going to explore Gypsum, Colorado, the westernmost city in the Vail Valley. I'll share the history, amenities, and housing options in this great area so you can see if Gypsum is where you want to call home.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)Welcome To Gypsum
It's absolutely no secret that living in Colorado is fantastic. The mountains are an especially wonderful place to call home and settle down. If the city of Gypsum is on your list of places to move to in Colorado, you'll like have a lot of questions. What neighborhood is going to best suit your needs? What are the schools like in Gypsum? What’s up with the weather? And most importantly, what kind of lifestyle does Gypsum have? Don't worry; I'm going to tell you all about it.
First, let's get to know the general area. Gypsum is the westernmost city in the Vail Valley. It’s adjacent to Eagle and has had the highest growth over the last 10 years. The rugged ranching town of Gypsum lies west of world-class ski areas like Vail and Beaver Creek. With a strong history of agriculture and ranching, those influences have been critical to the growth of Gypsum.
This growth from the farming and ranching industry prompted other businesses like retail stores, auto shops, blacksmiths, restaurants, and lodging to form what we now call Old Town. The railroad service also played a vital role in the survival and growth of Gypsum, much like any Western American town back in the day. The railroad services that contributed to the town’s existence were the Denver and the Rio Grande Rail systems.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)Fun Facts
The population in Gypsum is right above 7,200 people. The elevation is about 6,300 feet above sea level. Additionally, Gypsum's name derives from mineral deposits of gypsum found in nearby mountains.
This mineral is crushed and formed into boards to make drywall, which is used in just about every commercial and residential structure. As a matter of fact, when you drive through the valley, you can see the plants pounding up the gypsum and turning that into boards - allowing us all to have nice walls and enclosed features.
All Four Seasons
Now that you know some basic facts about Gypsum, you're likely curious about its weather. June, July, August, and September are by far the most pleasant months in Gypsum. They can even get pretty hot because you’re not super high in the mountains like you would be in Vail or Beaver Creek. Rather, Gypsum is more of a valley - and its weather reflects that.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)This weather allows you to play golf deep into November. Our friends live on a golf course (in one of the neighborhoods we’ll be talking about shortly) and there were golfers on Thanksgiving morning, playing right up to dinnertime. In Gypsum, you can enjoy the last bit of warm weather before the snow starts inevitably coming in for a little longer.
For all the people that dislike the winter, yes; it’s going to get cold here, mostly in the winter months, and the mornings are fairly brutal. We get sun every day, all year long - at least 300 days or more. So in those December, January, and February mornings, it can be a little nippy. If you have dogs or pets, make sure to take care of them. It can be rough walking them before the sun comes creeping up over the mountains to the east.
Thankfully, the day warms up pretty well, and 30 degrees in wintertime when the sun is blasting does feel good on your face. It’s not too horrible, but if you’re coming from Florida or Texas, those three months of the year might be a little bit daunting your first or second season.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)Education
For all you families out there, the school districts in Gypsum are something you'll want to consider. Because Gypsum is in the Vail Valley and is part of Eagle County, it shares many of the same schools as Vail and mostly Eagle Township. This means they’re some of the best public schools in Colorado, boasting better than a 90% high school graduation rate.
One of the great things that our friends and family that have lived here for some time really like is the class sizes. With a 15:1 ratio of teachers to students, kids can enjoy classrooms that aren't terribly huge. It also allows them to get more hands-on, one on one training from teachers.
The Lifestyle
Of course, living in Colorado and living in the mountains is all about lifestyle. Gypsum consists of quite a bit of open space and land, which includes several State Park locales along with hiking and biking trails. These merge into trails in neighboring areas of Eagle, Edwards, and Avon.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)We moved here to slow things down and chill out a bit; we didn’t want to live in Denver anymore. One of the top lifestyle trends here in Gypsum, Colorado, is ice fishing. Snowmobiling, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and hunting are also popular pursuits in the winter. You can also enjoy biking, hiking, fishing, canoeing, golfing, birdwatching, and climbing; there are so many things that you can do.
One of the really neat things that my wife and I are going to get into is the Gypsum Shooting Center. There’s also a motocross bike track, which is a very popular spot for locals and visitors alike.
Real Estate Options
If this city sounds like a place you'd like to live, you'll want to know about the real estate options. Gypsum, Colorado is quite small, not as organized into actual neighborhoods as some of the neighboring towns that we’ve talked about in previous videos are - such as Eagle or Edwards. "Neighborhoods" are more of a geographical type location and include commercial, residential, and golf communities.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)Let's first talk about the commercial. In addition to housing, the Eagle Valley Regional Airport has quite a few commercial spaces which house large businesses such as Costco along with small local businesses. Commercial areas towards the north also boast several ranching and farming locales, which offer homes and land acreage from 10 acres and up.
A lot of people like that functioning ranch or functioning farm type of property, so this would be the spot for you if that’s something that interests you and you want to have pets and animals.
Stratton Flats And Golf Communities
One of the first neighborhoods we'll look at is Stratton Flats, one of the more affordable areas of town. You can find housing here for sale anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 and up on average. This is very, very affordable compared to some of the other neighborhoods and towns in Colorado. It's a great way to get in the door of Gypsum living and get your life going here.
Verify your mortgage eligibility (Apr 25th, 2024)Next, let’s jump into the golf course communities: Cotton Ranch and Brightwater Club. These communities offer duplex homes and brand-new single-family homes. You can find houses that range from $500,000 to $1.5 million and above, depending on the location.
A Great Place To Start
One of the things you should know about Gypsum is the downtown area that we briefly spoke about. They’re in the early developmental stages of getting the downtown area revamped and rebooted here. It's an older town in general, one of those outskirt towns that relied on big-ticket industries like gypsum wallboard and the rail systems and ranching early on. However, it's a wonderful place to start if you're looking to become a Vail Valley resident.
If you want to get your foot in the door in Gypsum, we’d be happy to have you start your life here in beautiful Colorado. We help people just like you every single day move to our state, such as the Front Range of Denver here in the mountains, and we’ve got your back when you're ready to make a move. So if that sounds like you and you want to get the process started, make sure to reach out and we'll be glad to assist you.
Make sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss an episode of my show, all about living in the Denver Metro area. Stay tuned for more tours of Colorado's amazing cities!
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