Diane's Blog 1/19/09
My Butte Heaven?
When I moved to Crested Butte full time in 2000, I had an interesting experience at the post office. While waiting in line for a package, I noticed the man at the counter looked very much like my old boss from the trading desk at Drexel Burnham in New York. Indeed, it was he. After saying hi, and then watching the stunned look on his face relax, I couldn't help but thinking that this was a movie moment. Since Drexel had gone down in infamy after then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudy Giuliani went after us, I was reminded of the Steve Martin movie My Blue Heaven. In that movie, Steve Martin is a mobster who joins the Witness Protection Program and is sent off to a San Diego suburb. There he finds other WPP Mob squealers, and they all live in a small town, integrating their big city ways into small town life. Maybe Crested Butte was the place that ex-Wall Street executives went after scandal struck?
So, for all you Greenwich, CT and NY, NY denizens, there is life after Broad Street. If you manage to sell your house in Greenwich or Darien, you can buy a considerable house in Crested Butte and the overall expenses are lower. Our local school was just ranked in the top 8% of schools in the state (link: CB Schools rank highly). Instead of Kindergarten tuition in the low 5 figures, here it is free. Yes, free. Think of the money that will save you over the course of a child's primary education. More than one kid? Start multiplying the savings. Additionally, our school bond just passed, so the architectural committee is already meeting to plan the expansion which will begin this summer. The bond only brings our real estate tax level up to about 3.5%; compare that to New Jersey taxes and your jaw will drop.
The only additional expenses here are around $850 per adult for a season lift pass. How much does your gym cost annually? No need for a gym here, there are a million acres of open space. Ski in the winter, hike, bike, ride horses, kayak, rock climb in the summer and your lungs will be so full of fresh air they will thank you for the change.Whether you are fleeing mobsters, disgrace or just big city life, Crested Butte may be the place for you. The locals are exceedingly friendly, and who knows, you may already know people in line at the post office.
- Diane
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