Woodland Park or where else? (Denver, Colorado Springs: assessor, affordable houses, good schools)

[davidf]

1. Woodland Park or Where?? We are thinking of moving to the Colorado Springs area and would like some suggestions... We have a 7 and 2 year old, schools are important. We'd like a 3BR, 2+ bath house, between $200k - 300k. Garage & Trees are important. We've searched the Black Forest area - but no luck. We are looking out at Woodland Park right now... No word on the quality of the schools. I've been told to stay away from Manitou Springs. Any suggestions?

2. Route 24? What's the speed on Rt 24? There is a house available that is about 1/3 mile east of Rt 24, just before it turns west and then south. Currently, I live just over 1/2 mile from a major highway and I'm concerned about living any closer to a noisy road.

3. Wal-Mart? Does anyone know where the Wal-Mart is going in? One went in near my family in the last couple years. I always thought that would be a good thing. My family is telling me all the riff raff from the inner city are going there. I don't know if it's a running joke or not, but, if you steal less than $25 worth of stuff, they just let you go. Anyway, I would not want to be near the Wal-Mart.

4. County Web Site: Does anyone have the County Web sites for the area? I'm actually looking for the site that will show property lines, floor plans, assessor values, all the data that's in the county office. I've seen some pretty good sites, complete with photos, etc. I didn't find what I was looking for in Teller county... I hope I was looking in the wrong place.. Just seemed like the other sites I ran across were much more developed...

http://data.co.teller.co.us/AsrData/...icalAddrSearch


Dave

[camesquibel]

District 49 and district 20 are good schools. District 20 is where the "wealthier" families live. District 49 is pretty good. My children attend there. There are other areas to consider such as Indigo Ranch, Meridian Ranch, and Springs Ranch area. These would all be district 49 if you are interested. IF you have other questions let me know.

[vfrpilot]

District 38 is also highly rated and less crowded. We live in the Woodmor area of Monument. The lots are mostly half acre or bigger with lots of trees. Someone just bought a 5 bdrm house down the street for less than 300k. There are some good deals if you do some research and are ready to commit.

[misswoodlandpark]

Dear David F,

We live in Woodland Park & love it. The Wal-Mart is going in on the south side of Woodland Park right along Highway 24. It won't look like the typical Wal-Mart, it will have an "alpine" look. There really isn't any housing near it. It will be great once it is finished to have some more shopping up here. The schools here are great and the community is WONDERFUL for families.

Misswoodlandpark

[The Saintly Choice]

Based upon the 2005 2006 school year score card, District 12 was #1 in the State, and District 38 and District 20 where also amoung the top 10.

[vfrpilot]

District 12 is the Broadmoor area of Colorado Springs. The zip there is 80906. It's on the southwest side of town against Cheyenne mountain. We've only driven through on our way to the zoo. There are some older beautiful houses(mansions) there. I'm sure there are affordable houses in the district somewhere.

[Mike from back east]

Rte 24 is the main highway out of Colorado Springs (COS) into the mountains. In many parts its a 55 MPH road. It's going to be noisy as its the main route out of the mountains and down to the Front Range. This is an older road and does not have as much safety and margin of error as the interstates. The climb west out of COS is a twisty uphill battle against gravity, but it sure is scenic. I don't relish having to drive that every day to get to/from work in COS.

East of Manitou, before you get to I-25 there are several traffic lights that can make weekend driving a bit slow due to all the mountain travelers. This stretch of road is due for widening and that will be a mess once it starts, but it's long overdue.

Not an ideal situation for daily commuting, but fine as an occasional trip, or for people who don't mind a more serious commute.

We rented for 6 months, at most a half mile off I-25, noise was a constant, especially at night with open windows. Me, I'd want to live at least a full mile off Rte 24, else you'll get semi-truck, motorcycle and other highway noise. If you live anywhere near a steep grade, you'll get semi noise, both upgrade and downhill engine-brake noise.

s/Mike

[davidf]

Originally Posted by The Saintly Choice

Based upon the 2005 2006 school year score card, District 12 was #1 in the State, and District 38 and District 20 where also amoung the top 10.

Where did you get the data for the school year score card?

[davidf]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Rte 24 is the main highway out of Colorado Springs (COS) into the mountains....

We rented for 6 months, at most a half mile off I-25, noise was a constant, especially at night with open windows. Me, I'd want to live at least a full mile off Rte 24, else you'll get semi-truck, motorcycle and other highway noise. If you live anywhere near a steep grade, you'll get semi noise, both upgrade and downhill engine-brake noise.

s/Mike

We were looking at a place on the web on Ponderosa. Interesting looking house... But, about 1/3 mile (as measured on www.map.24 (broken link)) from Rt 24, just as it enters town. Your comment above is just about what we figured. It's a nice looking area, but, close to that highway...

[highliving]

I'm not a huge fan of Woodland, always thought of it as a speedbump on the way to the Springs. But in all candor, it's nice. An impression gained when we were summer folks almost 20 years ago was how nice the teenagers were. They'd look you in the eye and say hello. It's pretty much still that way. It's smalltown, reasonably near Denver, which has the better doctors, entertainment, etc. , at 2.5 million folks in the area. The Springs and surrounding area, on the other hand, at nearly 600k, lacks such things as a Nordstrom's or a Costco and big city crime, not all bad at that. And for entertainment, just follow the District 11 School Board Comedy Club. Otherwise, just what you'd expect from a military town. Just enough Christian institutions to maximize the anxiety level of the Unbelieving. Kind of humorous. Traffic is a breeze if you've ever had a six-mile one-hour commute, but some folks complain about it. Avoid driving west on 24 Fridays and east on Sundays and you'll do fine. It's beautiful in the mountains, but bring your money with you. Tough earning a living beyond the city. And bring a good set of lungs. CS is over 6k feet and Woodland is 8500. If you're healthy it only takes a couple weeks to aclimatize (is that a word?)