Not my kind of place at all. Very blue collar and rough around the edges. The whole place seems to revolve around the oil industry, which provides most of the employment in the area. They also seem to resent the rest of colorado for not appreciating the blue collar lifestyle. I have yet to do anything but want to leave when I've passed through town.
I probably haven't given Junction its fair chance but I've known quite a few people from that area. The vast majority of them hate the place and never want to live there again.
It's also like 4+ hours, on I-70, to Denver. Which is no good if you have any interest in going to Avs games.
If you make a trip out to Colorado to check things out I'd take a look. But you'll probably quickly understand why housing is so cheap there.
Woah, Smiley, I'm sorry you have such a bad impression of Grand Junction. I hope you have the opportunity to revisit the area, as it sounds like your impression is fairly dated.
I grew up here and was lucky to find a great job back here after I finished college in Fort Collins. The oil and gas industry is a part of the economy over here, but not to the extent it was back in the 80's-90's when it was a big driving force in the area.
The city has really been made-over in the past decade or two. A portion of the population is still of the retirement variety, but CMU gaining University status was a big step in bringing in the younger crowd. The historic downtown area has really been revamped, and there are lots of pubs, eateries, restaurants to frequent. The city has boomed too, we're 60k proper, but 150k including the surrounding suburbs.
There's a surprisingly large tech field here. The University has a fantastic reputation with medical studies, and the Psychology department is included. I have several friends with Psych degrees from CMU, and most are well employed in the field at this point.
Smiley is right as far as it being 4 hours from Denver. Probably not the ideal area if you want to frequent Avs games, but if you like the outdoors, this place is hard to beat. We're less than an hour from the local ski area, and less than an hour from some of the most amazing red-rock desert.
As for housing, it is very reasonable for housing prices. I was renting a 1400 sq. foot house for $850 a month, before we bought our house a few years ago. I think the rental prices have increased a bit since then. There are lots of places around the college and downtown, though.
Hope this helps!