Retirement in Colorado? (Colorado Springs, Penrose, Monument: real estate market, HOA, lawyers)

[sandee86]

Hello! Husband and I once lived in Colorado Springs in the 1980's and now we are planning to retire back to God's country. We are looking in the area of Peyton. Is this a good place for retire people to settle? How is the crime? airplane noise? housing? Any information will be greatly appreciated.

[beezle1]

Peyton is nice, though it is a little out there from town, depending on where you are. I think that is the biggest complaint I have heard about it.

[otowi]

Peyton is rural, open plains country. Do you mind wind? Do you mind mobile homes in your area? Do you mind longish drives into town? There is little crime, moderate airplane noise. Housing I would suggest you look at ppar.com to see what is available in that zip code and get an idea of what types of homes are there.

[Carrera32]

It all depends on what you're looking for and what your needs are (or will be in the future). When we started looking for a retirement location, we looked at communities all over the western states and settled on Colorado Springs, as it checked most of our boxes. But, instead of looking for a rural environment (like Peyton) we felt we needed to be closer to town, in fact, downtown. We realized that the older we get, the more easy access to businesses and services we'd need to be. With no kids to worry about, we didn't need the 'burbs. We decided on the Old North End neighborhood (ONEN) and haven't regretted it. We're literally a five minute drive from the restaurants and entertainment in the heart of downtown, as well as Colorado College, and as I'm writing this, I'm looking out my office window at Penrose Hospital a block away (as my wife reminds me, when the big one hits, I can walk to the ER). In a pinch, we can walk to the Bon shopping center for groceries, hardware, or even a good cup of coffee and a slice of pie at the coffee shop. Monument Park is a block away. Again, it's what you're looking for and what your needs will be in the future. For us, anyway, being able to live in a great neighborhood so close to everything we value was paramount. So, as you're contemplating a rural community like Peyton for retirement, think about your needs as you grow older. Good luck.

[sandee86]

Thank you for your reply. It is something to consider. We are planning a trip there in the near future.

Actually we were looking into the "Meridan Ranch" section in Peyton. Any information on those? We are retired military now living in Minnesota - land of high taxes and freezing weather!

[hollyt00]

Meridian Ranch is a big ol' suburb area in Falcon, an unincorporated town- it's technically considered Peyton. The main thing I'd suggest for people looking to live over there is the cost of utilities. If I remember correctly from a coworker who lives there, the orice of one of the utilities is very high in comparison to different areas in town.

[MrsMac]

Some people love or don't mind living in Peyton, but we hated it and ended up building in Northgate. The wind in Falcon is unrelenting. We never used the backyard because of it (and I got tired of losing patio table tops, grill covers and watching my neighbours' trampolines/lawn chairs/grill covers, etc. hit my house or the other neighbour's house on the other side of me). It was too far away from restaurants, movie theaters and shopping. (They have WalMart, Safeway and a few restaurants, and that's it. We found ourselves making the 15 to 20 minute "trip into town" at least four times a week.) The school district infighting was awful and the schools were only average. If there had been awesome views or great natural beauty surrounding us it might have been worth it to stay there but other than the mountains in the distance there isn't anything lovely out there. If we had needed acreage because we had to have horses or llamas or something it might have been worth it but we don't. So we looked at homes in Colorado Springs and found better views, easy access to shopping, restaurants, post office, much better schools...it cost us about $50,000 more to build our house up here in Northgate (which is more expensive than most areas of COS) than it would have in Meridian Ranch or Banning Lewis Ranch with the same builder but it was so worth it!

Meridian Ranch is probably the nicest development all the way out in Falcon (we lived on the golf course and the geese are the only things we miss!). Banning Lewis Ranch is out there but is a little closer to town; we considered building there but a few years ago there was talk of fracking nearby (the energy company has since sold the land so that isn't an issue anymore) so that worried us (and I wanted to be 5-10 minutes from amenities, not 15 ). I have friends who live in Woodmen Hills and the quality of the homes is questionable so anything existing there I would be sure to have inspected carefully for sufficient insulation and sound issues. (I have noticed parts of the neighbourhood are starting to look run down, too, as the HOA exists but doesn't enforce maintenance requirements.)

Water is expensive everywhere in Peyton (well, in Colorado as a whole but Peyton costs more than in the Springs) and we paid more for trash service out there, too.

[Terytee]

Is the water in Peyton/Falcon hard water?

[mollygee]

Originally Posted by Carrera32

It all depends on what you're looking for and what your needs are (or will be in the future). We decided on the Old North End neighborhood (ONEN) and haven't regretted it. We're literally a five minute drive from the restaurants and entertainment in the heart of downtown, as well as Colorado College, and as I'm writing this, I'm looking out my office window at Penrose Hospital a block away (as my wife reminds me, when the big one hits, I can walk to the ER). In a pinch, we can walk to the Bon shopping center for groceries, hardware, or even a good cup of coffee and a slice of pie at the coffee shop. Monument Park is a block away. Again, it's what you're looking for and what your needs will be in the future. For us, anyway, being able to live in a great neighborhood so close to everything we value was paramount. So, as you're contemplating a rural community like Peyton for retirement, think about your needs as you grow older. Good luck.

Love the area you are talking about. Seems like a small town within a city. Some fantastic homes in that area. One house has a huge wrap-around porch, looks like a lot of homes that were built in early 1950's and very well maintained and some enlarged; my favorite area. The bon shopping center has everything you need, even a bank!!

[Carrera32]

Mollygee and OP - In case you weren't aware, a little history of the area... ONEN has some spectacular homes, as a portion of it was once called Millionaire's Row. That was the area that the gold rush millionaires settled in. A lot of those homes are in the immediate area just north of Colorado College along Cascade, Nevada, Tejon and Wood. Along with the big gold rush winners were the doctors, lawyers and successful business owners of that era who also built very large and ornate Victorian homes that are everywhere in the neighborhood. They were built on very large lots that eventually were subdivided for more middle class craftsman style bungalows, built in the 1920's or so. In the '40s and '50s more subdivision took place and a lot of mid-century bungalows and ranch style homes were built. Most of these (including our '50s rancher) have been renovated, remodeled and added onto. So, there's a huge diversity of housing styles and size in the ONEN neighborhood. There are some very expensive homes but many that aren't nearly so (though you will pay a premium for the location, as in every real estate market).

Again, it's all what you're looking for. If you want a cabin in the woods on large lots, there are plenty of those all around the COS area, particularly to the West and North of town. If you're looking to get away from it all and want the wide open spaces, head east of town. But for us, considering our present and future needs as retirees, I can't imagine a better situation for us than ONEN. And, you're right, the Bon is a little jewel of a shopping center, and locally owned (I believe the owners of the Bon Pet Supply own the entire mall).