I moved to Golden from Australia 5 years ago, and I’ve stayed here because of the people and the sense of community. Golden is the kind of place where you can walk down the street and talk to people. You can get involved with a lot of different things in Golden, and there are lots of options for different people. You don’t have to be into extreme sports to find something you like here.
My husband and I were living in Calgary when we bought a weekend place in Golden about 11 years ago. We found that we were coming to Golden almost every weekend, and we were sad when we had to leave. We started asking ourselves, “why are we doing this?”, and we came to the realization that living in the city wasn’t providing us with the fulfillment we were looking for. So, we packed up our city lives, moved here permanently, and never looked back. We have both travelled pretty extensively and have seen a lot of the world, and we really can’t picture ourselves living anywhere else.
The people in Golden are awesome and very welcoming, and you become a part of things when you move here. Golden will be an adjustment for someone moving from their single family home, where they drive out of their garage and never talk to their neighbours. You don’t get that kind of anonymous lifestyle here. Your neighbour might stop by with a pie just because they remembered it was your birthday. If you go through a tough time, people will be there for you. You just have to be willing to receive the help.
I’ve always been a mountain kind of guy, and living in the mountains was something I always wanted to do. My wife and I first came here to go whitewater rafting and when we decided to move back to Canada, moving to Golden came up. It was in the mountains and it had all of the outdoor amenities we were looking for. We’ve been here for about 7 years now, and this has been a great place to raise our kids – there are lots of opportunities for them to play and lots of sports for them to enjoy. We find that there are more things to do here than there are hours in the day.
During a ski trip to Whistler a friend recommended I check out Golden. I had been living in London, UK, and I was looking for a change. I didn’t feel close to my neighbours and I felt bounded by material ownership. I had been to other ski resort towns but Golden was different. Golden feels like a real community, not a resort. The people here are down to earth and there is a real kinship amongst people. I have been in Golden for 6 years and it has been great.
I grew up in Calgary in the shadow of the mountains, and loved coming to my wilderness property purchased in Golden at the heart of six National Parks. When I found I was coming here too often for recreational purposes, I moved here permanently. In 1998, I built and opened Alpine Meadows Lodge in Golden, which is still our family operated business. Golden is a special place; it’s a character town. We’ve got this great mountain atmosphere that is enriched by nature and heritage – it’s pretty exciting. Thousands of guests from all over the world have visited the Alpine Meadows Lodge, so there is obviously something special about Golden.
Golden is the kind of place where you see kids playing outside. When we first moved here from Calgary, we were pretty shocked that parents were trusting enough to let their kids play outside alone. You wouldn’t see that in Calgary, but Golden is a really safe community. We decided this was the place for us to start our family and it’s a pretty great to know that our kids will get to grow up playing outdoors, and that we can give them the space to learn some independence.
Tired of spending time inside?