Living in Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley

Aspen and Glenwood Springs sit 41-46 miles apart along CO-82 in the Roaring Fork Valley, connected by RFTA's VelociRFTA Bus Rapid Transit -- and the price gap between them is dramatic. Aspen's home prices are genuinely, not just relatively, among the highest in the United States, offset in part by APCHA, described as the largest per-capita deed-restricted affordable-housing system in the nation; a real, disclosed third to half of the town's total housing stock is not occupied full-time at all. Glenwood Springs offers real, practical access to both Aspen's and Vail's resort economies at a meaningfully lower price tier, while carrying its own distinct identity as Garfield County seat and home to the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort's Grand Pool, verified as the world's largest hot springs pool. Both cities share real winter-access risk (Aspen's Independence Pass closes for the entire winter season; Glenwood Canyon's I-70 corridor carries an ongoing, wildfire-scar-driven debris-flow risk) alongside Colorado's shared statewide low property tax and flat 4.40% income tax.

Explore Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley in depth

• Cost of Living & Housing in Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley
• Best Places to Live in Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley
• Moving to Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley
• Climate & Lifestyle in Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley

Places we've researched in Aspen & the Roaring Fork Valley

• Aspen -- Pitkin County
• Glenwood Springs -- Garfield County