Homes in the southern part of town (Colorado Springs, Security-Widefield: apartments, rentals)

[duder1]

Back again after almost a year of going in circles..

I was looking at homes near the airport and south to Fountain. They seem to be cheaper and fairly nice looking places. I did find the crime in the area just west of the airport to be high. But south of there seems to fall under a different police department and no info seems available.

So does anyone live in these areas? Comments or suggestions?
I also noticed that most of the listings on PPAR are under contract.
Anyone know of any up to date listings, even FSBO?

I just got pre-approved and will send my son and family out there when we find something. The problem is finding something. I do have an agent so hoping she has something Monday, but I am not expecting much.

Just hoping someone in the area may have any tid bits of info.

duder

[Miss Hepburn]

So sorry...I wouldn't live there myself.
There are houses in other areas you can find that are safer.
Sure u may sacrifice a bathroom and some sq footage.

Or Get 2 pit bulls, iron bar all windows and get a security system.
Its not the neighbors that are bad...it is their son's friends that case the
neighbors to come back at night or when you're at work to rob you, honey.

[duder1]

So is that the whole area I listed or just near the airport?
One of the crime maps I found made the airport area look like Afghanistan.
I found almost nothing south of there.
duder

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by duder1

So is that the whole area I listed or just near the airport?
One of the crime maps I found made the airport area look like Afghanistan.
I found almost nothing south of there.
duder

I'm sorry you'll have to do the homework on all the
streets....good luck...it IS doable....with precautions....
Any place is doable...I know bec my mom lived
In Las Vegas...2 townhouses down burned bec of a Malatov cocktail
thrown in the window. She was there safe for 22 years.

[duder1]

LOL!
Well whats a good place now may not be next year, sadly.
My money says it will be toward the south, maybe a little north of the airport.

Thanks!

[lurtsman]

Places can change in a year, but you can still predict creeping blight. I can say very safely that in a decade Briargate will still be a wonderful place to live. I can say the same for Northgate.

I'm fairly certain I could mark out some areas in security-widefield that will also be great areas now and in a decade from now.

So the boundaries move, but in moderately predictable ways. Sonic lives in the security-widefield area and can be a great resource on which areas there are good. The general premise is there are good things south of that area, you just have to go far enough to reach security-widefield, not half a mile, but a few miles.

I'll grab some google van links to help.

Edit to add those links:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7808...DfB3dC1r8g!2e0
This area will probably still be good. This is off Milton Proby. When most people think of near the air port, they are talking about the Northern end of the airport rather than the Southern end.

Here is a view inside one of the neighborhoods:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Co...8eeb92f5e86b13
That is a wonderful neighborhood. My wife and I would've happily bought in that area, but UCCS would have been quite a commute and the North side has two Costco's and a great Sam's club. Simply put, more of the things we wanted were on the Northside, and there was less chance for creeping blight to affect us here, and we plan to own the house for more than one decade. Prices there seem a little higher than in the neighborhood we bought in, but part of that is just that prices have gone up since then. Things on "Fountain Ave." are not wonderful neighborhoods.

PS. Here is another neighborhood on the other side of Milton Proby. This is near a house that my wife and I admired before moving here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7842...GdXRvZ41sw!2e0

[airventure]

Just keep in mind that a bad neighborhood for Colorado Springs may not be a bad neighborhood from your prospective. The other thing to remember is that you can't compare crime maps city to city. It all depends on the how the municipality reports it's crimes to the public. Springs lights up nearly as bad as Detroit, which clearly, it's not that bad.

[duder1]

I looked at houses and used street view and some of the bad places looked really nice. However I do know what Miss Hepburn means by casing your place! Usually bad places have that Afghanistan look to them.

We live near Pensacola Florida and we have crime but usually not violent. A large part of it is stealing copper wire, A/C units and appliances from vacant houses. Crime can just be random though. I would rather just avoid any notorious areas.

Since we are close to buying and sort of have a general area narrowed down, I wanted to get a final check of how safe those areas are.

Thanks everyone.

[Sonic_Spork]

Hi! Just found the thread. I do live in Security-Widefield, and we are south of the "bad area". My area is great! It's what you were seeing south of the airport, and we really don't have much crime at all.

So pull up a Google Map and I'll tell ya some stuff.

There is a cluster of developing neighborhoods that are out on the eastern fringes, out a street called Bradley, and near another street called Marksheffel, southeast of the airport. I advise against that area because the water quality is worse and costs more, they have their own weird little water district out there. Plus there is not so much as a gas station within a conveniently short distance. There really is nothing but homes and a couple of gov't contractor businesses out that way.

Setting that aside and focusing on the main part of Security-Widefield. I live in an area off of Grinnell & Wageman. That neighborhood in general and on up to Grinnell & Powers, that's all newer. It's really nice. Big homes, at reasonable prices. Quiet, wide, clean streets, nice neighbors...I just love it. I got a great house at what I felt was an excellent price. One benefit of being down there is that if you picked my house up and plunked it down in the north or west side of town, it would have cost me probably 100K more, and it's only because of perception. People who don't know a lot about my area down there, may associate it with the "bad" area a few miles north, or with the stretch of 85/87 where Walmart is at, which admittedly is not pretty...those assumptions are incorrect. We have excellent schools, with the best orchestra program in the state (as I have recently been informed) and the kids love the library and community center.

Then there are the older areas, which generally line Security Blvd and Main St. Those houses are small ranchers, I call them "shoebox ranch" houses...they are not high crime, but they are lower income. Some folks think that area "looks ghetto" but the reasons are not what people think...there are no HOAs down there, so you get some weirdo bolting a UFO to his roof, or the guy working on his pickup in the driveway, no one will yell at you unless you try and hang toilets in a tree to feed birds...and then you'll make the local news! lol That area, it's blue collar. Lower ranked military families, rentals, retired folks looking to live in a smaller house, young families...yet still not high crime. Your odds aren't bad of ending up with some very friendly neighbors and liking it fine if a tiny house like that has enough space for ya. I know people who have happily inhabited those shoebox ranch houses for decades.

And then there are the apartments. I would actually avoid those. Because for similar prices, a person should be able to find a nicer apartment in a more upscale area, and if we have problem residents (people who may be on drugs, or loud inconsiderate neighbors, etc) they will be found in the apartment buildings. But it sounds like you're seeking a house, so that is irrelevant.

Also, a few of the nice neighborhoods are growing and if you are interested, you might be able to get a new house built for no more than an existing one would cost you, especially in the areas off of Grinnell.

Also, Fountain (the town, NOT the street!) which is to the south even of Security-Widefield, is quite nice for the most part. Their schools are also highly rated.

I just used PPAR to search, and found plenty of listings. You can either use the map search, or search by school districts 3 or 8 to see them.

[New Mexico to COS]

Sonic is pretty much spot on with some of the communities in southern COS. I am a local Realtor and would add a few more neighborhoods to consider. I'm not sure what your price range is but the Soaring Eagles and Barnstormers neighborhood are very good neighborhoods that fall just west of the entrance to the airport. These are newer communities that were built in the early to mid 2000's. They are both well developed neighborhoods with great access to Powers and Academy. Something to consider if they are in your price range. I hope your home search is successful.