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From what I've been told, WP's growth is limited due to the amount of water taps available.
There are only 90 allotted for 2010.
Right, water is key. Right now, the planned 'build out' (what our water resources will support) is for a population of about 12,900, though that may be increased by 400 dwelling units (1050 people) for high priority housing projects. "High priority" generally means higher density (AND lower cost) housing (or mixed use commercial/residential), something that this town lacks and developers so far have not been too keen on pursuing.
We're currently revising our Comprehensive Plan...it contains a lot of information relevant to this discussion topic. You can find a draft it here: Woodland Park Comprehensive Plan | It's stuck in a planning commission committee right now, after that it'll be going to the city council for final approval.
Woodland Park is about ten miles west of COLO SPGS, up at 8500 feet, mountainous, treed, cold and snowy.
The Banana Belt refers to an area around Canon City, CO, which is about 40 miles south west of COLO SPGS. Sits at 5300 feet, somewhat desert like, warmer in winter so it's called the banana belt.
Though not very far apart, the difference between the two is rather stark.
Today it was snowy and 36 in WP while at the same time it was 66 and sunny in Canon City. Worlds apart.
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Location: West of the Catalinas East of the Tortolitas
4,922 posts, read 8,574,783 times
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We lived in Divide from 1975 until just recently. I've watched Woodland Park grow from nearly nothing to what it is today, a bedroom community to Colorado Springs. There are a mix of Mom and Pop businesses as well as Wal-Mart, Safeway, and almost every fast food place known. Some places have been there for a long time; ie., Gold Hill North and South shopping centers, The Donut Mill, Grandmother's Place, The Hungry Bear, The Smokehouse, Brookhart's, The Cowhand, The Ute, and many doctors, dentists, lawyers, and accountants, and new businesses keep trying to start up, not always successfully. The town has gone from what I would truly call a Cow Town, to a fairly good, little mountain town. There are really expensive, large houses, and small, tiny ones. Older neighborhoods, and new subdivisions. It's truly an eclectic mix of new and old. Driving through Woodland Park, there really isn't any visual feel to the town, nothing stands out as being really nice or interesting as there's no "theme" to the town. Highway 24 is the main route, and it's a hodge podge of architectural styles.
The golf course, Shining Mountain, is obviously seasonal, but there are some really beautiful houses around the course, and nice houses out Hwy 67 toward Deckers. Nearer to town, there are older neighborhoods with smaller houses but on good sized lots. The farther you go out of town, the newer and larger the houses are. Many of the houses reflect the mountain architecture of natural wood siding and metal or shingle roofs, but the newer houses are more like those found in Colorado Springs. New home construction has slumped considerably due to the economy, but, as with most cities, will probably turn around in the next few years. Most homes have either a P.O. Box or group mailboxes at the ends of their streets. There are two ZIP codes: 80863 for home delivery, or 80866 for P.O. Boxes. The Area Code is 719 and there are two phone prefixes; 686 and 687, with 687 being the original prefix. There is cable television in Woodland Park, but the farther out you go, you'll need a satellite dish for television reception.
It's not always a fun commute to Colorado Springs as you'll go through "The Pass" which is a winding, curvy section of Highway 24 just west of Manitou Springs. It can be dicey in the winter after a snow. In fact, the schools were closed due to snow just last Friday. Driving through town on the the Fridays or Sundays of Memorial Day, Fouth of July and Labor day weekends can be nearly impossible as there is a bumper to bumper stream of RV's, campers and cars headed toward or returning from 11 Mile Reservoir or other camping/fishing spots.
WP is about 40 minutes away from Cripple Creek and limited stakes gambling casinos via Hwy 24 to 67, and 2 hours from Breckenridge which has a wonderful downtown, resorts and ski area, and about 3 hours from Copper Mountain and Vail via Colorado Highway 9 to I-70. Going west to Hartsel in South Park, Hwy 24 goes through Florissant where the Florissant National Fossil Beds is located, and Lake George which is a really small little town with its own elementary school. Going further west from Hartsel are Fairplay, Alma and over Hoosier Pass to Blue River and on to Breckenridge. Other good day drives are to Buena Vista and Salida.
The temperatures are cooler than Colorado Springs as WP is about 2000 ft higher in elevation. One of the weather phenomena that is discouraging to some people is the predictible afternoon rain showers in summer. Generally, the clouds roll in around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon and can produce some really bad thunderstorms and hail. There have even been a couple of really weak tornadoes in the area over the years. The rains will cool the temperatures down from the mid-70's to the mid-50's easily, and they don't usually rebound. so outdoor activities can be somewhat limited in the late afternoons. Conversely, it can get pretty warm for a mountain town, sometimes in the mid-80's before the rains. There is a "monsoon" season which is most of July and August, with September usually being the nicest month of the year. Snows can start as early as mid-September, but usually will come by October 1st and can easily last until mid-May. The trees bloom in late May and turn gold by late September. The growing season is very short--Father's Day to about Labor Day. It doesn't get warm enough to grow warm weather crops without a greenhouse, but cool weather crops can do really well.
There are three elementary schools, a middle school and the high school. There is also a branch of Colorado Springs Christian School, and many homeschoolers. There isn't much for the teens to do in WP on the weekends, so many go down to the Springs for movies, restaurants, and other venues. If you don't mind letting your kids drive down the pass to Colorado Springs for a "date" then the kids will be fine on the weekends, but otherwise there's nothing for them to do in town. Elementary kids have plenty to do after school, but the older the kids get, the less there is to do. The town pretty much rolls up its sidewalks after about 9:00 p.m. most nights. There is a small, two screened movie theater that shows first run movies at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. during the school year, with a 2:00 p.m. matinee added during the summers. There is no municipal swimming pool, but there is a park and small fishing lake, a Senior Center and a Farmer's Market every Friday during the summers.
There are a lot of churches covering almost every denomination, a small hospital (14 beds) with an ER and medical office campus, as well as a local ambulance company and a good fire, police and sheriff's departments. There is virtually no crime other than shoplifting, DUI, and traffic violations. WP has at least two of every Professional there is; lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, veterinarians, realtors, title companies, banks, and a Municipal Courthouse. You cannot get a driver's license in WP, you'll need to go to Colorado Springs for that, but last I knew, you could get license plates. That may have changed lately, I don't know.
Mountain living and WP may not be for everyone, so I'd suggest if you're planning on moving there, visit first (there are at least three lodgings) for a while, get a feel for it and then decide. Visit in the summer and the winter, or rent for a year before buying. Lots of people love the mountain lifestyle, but people who are used to an urban environment and an active social life of restaurants, theater, music or movies might want to think twice about living up there unless they don't mind communting 1/2 hour or more one way to Colo. Spgs.
We left because we got tired of the 8 months of cold weather, and the snow that never melted from the north side of our house for those 8 months. We wanted a warmer place where we could have a good vegetable garden, lots of sunny days, and warm weather. We lived in Teller County for 35 years, and finally decided to retire to a snow free area.
I am considering moving to Woodland Park and starting a practice as a Family Medicine physician next to the hospital. Is there a need for doctors there, or do most people go to Co Springs instead? Does anyone know anything about the current docs in town? Are the other family docs good or bad?
Is there a pool in town for families in the summer? I have 3-small children and don't want the hassle or expense of a pool in my yard. What is there to do for elementary age kids?
I am considering moving to Woodland Park and starting a practice as a Family Medicine physician next to the hospital. Is there a need for doctors there, or do most people go to Co Springs instead? Does anyone know anything about the current docs in town? Are the other family docs good or bad?
Is there a pool in town for families in the summer? I have 3-small children and don't want the hassle or expense of a pool in my yard. What is there to do for elementary age kids?
We use Dr. Young as our family doc. Here is his website:
Dr. James and Young are probably the most popular ones, at least from what I've seen. My wife used to be a RN at the local hospital so she knows about every doc in town. I think Dr. Young is very busy from what I've heard.
No public pools in WP unforunately. Voters turned down a tax funded YMCA last election, so it will take a private company to start one. Hopefully soon! The Country Lodge hotel on the west part of town has an indoor pool that locals can use for a small fee. Green Mountain Falls has an outdoor pool but there is not much to it.
Location: West of the Catalinas East of the Tortolitas
4,922 posts, read 8,574,783 times
Reputation: 8044
Locations | Mountain View Medical Group There's also Mountain View Medical Group. Dr. Andrew Mitchell is part of that group. He's been in WP for at least 20 years. The hospital is really small and only has a limited amount of services. Some tests and procedures have to be done down in Colorado Springs. The same for Specialty docs; they're in the Springs as well. It isn't practical in a town the size of WP to have a lot of specialists, therefore, most of the docs are GP or Family Medicine. A doctor in a small town really has to be able to treat everyone from newborn to geriatric.
The hospital here is only a 15 bed hospital with a 4 bed ER. It's relatively small, but it seems to be profitable.
There is a lot for elementary school aged kids to do when school is in session. In the summer, not so much. There are classes through the Parks Department in all kinds of things (a guide comes in the mail) and there's some t-ball, 4-H, day camps, Bible school, but not a whole lot more. Since I don't have elementary aged kids, I'm not tuned in to what's available after school, on holidays or summers for the kids.
I am considering moving to Woodland Park and starting a practice as a Family Medicine physician next to the hospital. Is there a need for doctors there, or do most people go to Co Springs instead? Does anyone know anything about the current docs in town? Are the other family docs good or bad?
Is there a pool in town for families in the summer? I have 3-small children and don't want the hassle or expense of a pool in my yard. What is there to do for elementary age kids?
I think most residents would like to see more physicians up here, it's just taking time to develop that.
The proposed sales tax for the YMCA was soundly defeated, but there's a LOT of public support for an indoor swimming pool to be built, seems everyone young and old wants one. I'm pretty confident it'll happen eventually. There was an anti-YMCA group that started up to promote this, but I'm convinced they were just looking after their own self-interests and aren't going to actually take action and get anything built, now that the Y is defeated. Still, like I said, the public will support it (even if it means a small tax increase, I think - if it's for a pool-only, not an entire rec center).
Thanks for the info on the area and docs. I will probably be coming out for a visit to check out the area and meet with the hospital in the next few weeks.
Marcy... where did you move to? I want to live in "the Colorado Mountains" but I want a good vegetable garden too, and think I could really do without snow plastered to the north side of the house for 8 months. I want to be on the Western Slope, but found this AMAZING thread on WP and now wonder about livng there...
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