Lakewood

Lakewood is the home rule city that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. census, making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Colorado and the 167th most populous city in the United States. Lakewood is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.Wikipedia

The Mountain West has experienced one of the most dramatic demographic transformations of any American region over the past fifteen years. Colorado's Front Range — Fort Collins through Denver to Colorado Springs — has absorbed hundreds of thousands of new residents drawn by mountain access and a strong multi-sector economy across aerospace, energy, biotech, and tech. Salt Lake City's startup ecosystem has grown quietly into one of the most productive per-capita in the country. Boise and Missoula have emerged from obscurity into genuine destination cities.

The cost of this transformation has been housing. Denver and Bozeman have seen appreciation that rivals coastal markets, driven by limited developable land, in-migration pressure, and the sustained appeal of ski slope and trailhead access. Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho retain large stretches of genuine affordability and open space — but tradeoffs include isolation, limited rural healthcare, and economies still dependent on extractive industries. Wildfire risk, driven by worsening drought cycles, is an increasingly material homebuying consideration across the entire region.