RED FEATHER LAKES, Colo. (AP) — Amanda Harmon spent years dreaming of living in Colorado's mountains.

And she worked for it, too. Seven days a week, Harmon waited tables at a golf course and cleaned vacation rentals here, a remote community of 400 people west of Fort Collins that locals quietly speak of as a hidden gem without the glitz of Aspen or the popularity of Estes Park.

When she finally saved enough to buy a house in the Poudre Canyon, Harmon thought she'd never move back to the bustling Front Range.

"I feel like I played all my cards right," she said. "And then one day, everything I'v...