Due to the cost of living, crime, too many nutters, major traffic issues, etc, about the only larger metro area in California that has a decent pool scene and that a person might actually want to live would seem to be Sacramento in my opinion, and in Colorado the only area that has any decent pool scene that I'm aware of is Denver so I am only going to address those two cities. I think Sacramento generally has the edge in most areas so I will point out where I think those are. Much will be from first hand experience but a bit comes from second hand knowledge as well so there is some chance I could be wrong about something.
You can find a tournament most or every night of the week around Sacramento, sometimes several, and the numbers of them and the choices for types (whether it be in choice of game or level of competition) may be better there. Sacramento seems to have higher numbers of the better players as well ("better" being from "A" players to short stops to pros). You also have the ability to pick your level of competition based on the what tournaments you choose there as well if you have specific preferences in that regard, with some of the tournaments being where all the top players like to play, and others where those that are higher than a high "B" level don't generally play, so if you are one of those that only wants to play with the best, or if you are not among the best and only want to play with those closer to your own skill level, then both are largely doable.
Sacramento also has more big regional events both in the city and within a couple hours drive than Denver seems to if you want a chance to play or spectate more of the bigger events with even better regional fields and players. Sacramento also has at least one but often two or three events a year that draw a handful of the world's very top pros (tops in both one pocket and 9/10 ball) like SVB, Ghorst, Pagulayan, Chohan, etc which isn't really available at all in Denver if the chance to play against the best in the world or watch them up close in person is appealing to you. I have no idea what the league scene is like in either place.
Another place where Sacramento has the edge is in the variety of games played and tournaments. An example is if you like one pocket you can find weekly, monthly, regional/quarterly, and big yearly type events (same with 9 ball). Three cushion even has some loyal following and play in the area so the wide variety of games that is readily available is good. Action in pretty much all games is also pretty easy to find, and they also do regular live streaming of various events and action matches here.
The main player's pool halls in the Sacramento area are Hard Times (owned by professional player Oscar Dominguez who spends a lot of time on site and not to be confused with the also historic and awesome but now defunct Hard Times that was in the LA area) and The Jointed Cue (partly owned by another very strong top regional player). Both of those rooms have a separate "private" tournament room completely walled off from the rest of the pool hall and with bleacher seating. Hard Times Sacramento is one of my favorite pool hall layouts ever, and The Jointed Cue has that really old school feel and look and has the history to match although they did have to do some recent remodeling due to a frivolous ADA lawsuit. The main room in Denver is Felt, nice room. It seems to me that the pool scene in Sacramento is a bit more stable with The Jointed Cue being there since 1968, and I forgot how long Hard Times has been there but since the 80's I believe (although a different name back then). Denver always seems to have one good place or another like Felt but they seemingly never last more than a decade and come and go so the area might be a bit less dependable in terms of a long term stable pool scene.
Outside of pool both Sacramento and Denver have very nice mountains and snow skiing within 1-2 hours. Within a couple of hours Sacramento also has the ocean and all that comes with it including some incredible coastlines, the San Francisco bay area and related attractions, Reno Nevada with all the casinos etc (and sometimes large amateur and/or pro pool events), and Lake Tahoe. Both are prime locations if you are an outdoorsy type. Both have lots of hiking and biking type stuff, Denver is way better if you are a big game hunter, both offer fly fishing but Colorado has a big edge here, but Sacramento has a couple of the top ranked bass fisheries in the nation within a couple of hours if you are into that.
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