Crested Butte Relocation Guide
Resources for moving to Crested Butte.
|
Thinking of moving to Crested Butte? This page contains all the resources you need for planning your move and getting settled once you arrive.
Finding a Place to LiveFinding a nice place to live in Crested Butte is not as hard as you might have heard. The market for renters is very good right now. You can find listings of available spaces, ranging from rooms to houses, in the back of the local paper, The Crested Butte News. There are also many bulletin boards around town that have notices for rooms and roommates. If you’re in the market to buy, well, real estate in our area is not exactly what most people consider "affordable". There are some "affordable" options for buying, usually a condominium. Again, the paper is a valuable resource for real estate. Of course, there are many helpful real estate agents that can help find just the place you are looking for.
To broaden your options, consider living outside the town of Crested Butte proper. You’ll need a car to get around if you live in outlying locations, but rents in Riverbend, Crested Butte South, and Mt. Crested Butte (summer) can be substantially less than in-town rents.
You’ll want to try these resources for locating places to rent:- The Crested Butte News Classifieds lists homes, condos, and apartments for rent.
- Many of the best rentals never get listed in the Classifieds. If you’re already in town, check the local bulletin boards at the post office, Butte Bagels, and other locations.
- Many Property Management Companies rent long-term as well as short term.
And if you’ve got enough money to consider buying a home, check out the Real Estate Guide on this web site.
Settling InOnce you get here, you’ll need to get yourself settled into your new home, and get all your utilities hooked up.
A post office box is one of the first things you’ll need to get. Our town doesn’t have mail delivery to street addresses; everyone in town instead has a post office box. Until you get a PO Box, you won’t be able to sign up for a bank account, utilities, or anything else. Simply stop by the Post Office on Elk Avenue after you arrive to get yours for $20 per year. And don’t forget to pick up a USPS Change of Address Form while you’re there.
A local bank account is important if you plan to pay for anything with checks, want to cash any checks you receive, or use an ATM card without paying extra fees. There are no nationwide mega-banks with branches in Crested Butte, so you’ll have to go with a local bank.
Phone service is a must for most people; Qwest is our local provider. AT&T Wireless also offers digital cellular service in our area. If you plan to be out and about a lot, a cell phone might serve your needs even better than a land-line. Dennis Goree Telcom is our local AT&T Wireless representative.
Electricity is provided by Gunnison County Electric, our local utility co-op. New accounts require a $120 deposit.
Natural Gas is supplied by Greeley Gas Company.
DogsAll dogs in the Town of Crested Butte must have town licenses. There is a $50 fine for having an unlicensed dog. Stop by the Town Offices as soon as you get here, and get a tag for your pooch.
Finding WorkA job is a good thing to have. In fact, in Crested Butte, we like jobs so much that most people have 2 or 3 of them. This is because much of the work in a resort town is NOT 40-hours-a-week, nine-to-five. The good news is that a flexible schedule is easy to find amid all the "shift" work opportunities here. You can find some job listings in the local paper’s Classifieds Section at Crested Butte News Classifieds.
Your CarIf you own a car, it is illegal to live in Colorado for more than 30 days without getting Colorado license plates. The good news is that Colorado registration fees are lower than many other states’. You can change the registration of your car with the Gunnison County Clerk, who is upstairs in the Crested Butte Town Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30am to 3:30pm.
Driver’s LicensesIf you’re really planning to stay, you’ll want a Colorado Driver’s license. Probably the biggest benefit of having one of these is that your fishing and hunting licenses will cost much, much less. Also, if you’re coming here to study at Western State College, a Colorado Driver’s License is an important step in establishing residency. You’ll need to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Gunnison to get your picture taken and get a new license the same day. The cost is $16.
|