Living in Fountain Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs: for sale, rental, crime)

[SpiritTwo]

We are looking to relocate. Maybe to Fountain? For the past 40 years, we've lived in either Colorado Springs or Aurora .... Aurora being our current locale. Ugh. I'm so sick of Denver metro, period.

I'm retired, hubby telecommutes, and we're looking for quiet and peaceful locale with a little space between us and the next house, a couple of good restaurants (Kings Chef in COS comes to mind), a place to walk our dog, ride our bikes, admire the mountains, watch birds and the sunsets. Yeah, we're not very jet-setting. We found a house for sale in Fountain yesterday, went to see it, and loved it. It's out in the Little Ranches area.

Having grown up in COS, I have my concerns about Security/Widefield, and maybe Fountain too. A lot of military moving in and out, cheap housing, higher crime, low property values. Is this still true? From our visit yesterday, we saw how much the area has grown. It looks like in 5-10 years, COS to Fountain (and maybe Pueblo) will all be one long continuous 'suburb'. Like Broomfield to Castle Rock. Or LA to San Diego. Is this happening because COS has become so congested? Or is it nicer just south of the Springs than my ingrained impression? We intend to retire wherever we move, and don't want to make a mistake.

Thanks in advance for all input, good, bad or indifferent!

[otowi]

The area does NOT have higher crime than Colorado Springs, fyi, and it never has. You can do some Crime map searches online to get an idea. There is a King's Chef Diner in Fountain. There is indeed a military base nearby and some of the residents are military, but there are more who aren't than are. Fountain Creek Regional Park is one of several really nice options for walking your dog, etc., in Fountain and getting to the mountains is easy from Fountain. Housing is in general a tiny bit less expensive than in Colorado Springs but the quality of the same builders is the same. The difference these days isn't much. It is growing because a lot of people prefer to live there - a bit less congestion and smaller town/more rural feel than much of Colorado Springs proper, slightly warmer weather than the north side, slightly more house for your money and a few options for lower-priced market entry, a bit closer to nature. Little Ranches is a nice established neighborhood. Although Fountain is its own city and has its own little tiny 'downtown', much of the real commercial area of it is along 85/87 and up on top of the Mesa near Janitell Junior High and it mostly is a decent, normal suburb of the Springs. It is a quick commute to almost any place you can want to go in the Springs - quick shot up Powers, Academy, or the Interstate.

I can't say if it is for you, but I do think there is no reason to fear the area. I can't predict future growth but the area would likely continue to grow for as long as Colorado Springs itself is growing. The area is hot right now. It might be enough of a change from Denver Metro to be pleasing for you - I don't think it would become like Aurora any time soon nor do I think it will fill in from Fountain to Pueblo in the next several decades. I think it might grow further east, though.

[SpiritTwo]

Thanks, otowi. The area seemed nice, and boy, we were surprised how well could you see the mountains. We weren't expecting that. We like that Fountain's a little further out, with that semi-rural feel. But, I spent a fair amount of time in Security/Widefield back in the 70s-80s, because my friends and I were dating Ft. Carson guys, and they lived down there, in a rental with roomies. The houses were small tract homes, with a lot of noise and partying all week long. So the entire area was a little beat up, and it had a rep with everybody in the Springs. With Fountain being right next door, I wasn't sure if it was in the same class, or had changed over the years.

Do you know how loud the training exercises sound down there? We'd hear them faintly up in COS.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by SpiritTwo

Thanks, otowi. The area seemed nice, and boy, we were surprised how well could you see the mountains. We weren't expecting that. We like that Fountain's a little further out, with that semi-rural feel. But, I spent a fair amount of time in Security/Widefield back in the 70s-80s, because my friends and I were dating Ft. Carson guys, and they lived down there, in a rental with roomies. The houses were small tract homes, with a lot of noise and partying all week long. So the entire area was a little beat up, and it had a rep with everybody in the Springs. With Fountain being right next door, I wasn't sure if it was in the same class, or had changed over the years.

Do you know how loud the training exercises sound down there? We'd hear them faintly up in COS.

Those small tract homes now cost over 200,000 each and are not party homes; they're normal residences. There has been a lot of upgrade to those homes since the 2008 recession - a lot of flippers came in and dolled them up. They're hot properties now! I am a native so I know the rep it had, but having grown up in Widefield-Security, I also know the rep wasn't really true and the area has never been a particular hot-bed of crime, and that those small homes are only an increasingly small part of Security-Widefield-Fountain as a whole. I don't hear much about the rep these days.

As for the training exercises - you can go weeks without hearing anything, and then there will be some times of activity. You can hear it, but most of the time it is easy to tune out. Not always, though - there are occasions when they're getting ready for a new deployment and you'll hear them being active at 3 in the morning or something - but usually it is something you can sleep through.

And yeah, there can be some great views of the Peak down here!