Military family moving to COS--the typical Q's... (Colorado Springs, Fountain: rentals, home builders)

[cjmeck]

Hi, I searched the threads and found some great info on different neighborhoods in the area. My husband will be working at Cheyenne Mtn AS and we'll be looking to rent a house for around $1300. We have young kids so schools are important. The D12 area seems too expensive for us. We're planning a trip out there in May to check things out. Briargate, the Powers area (Stetson Hills, Spring Ranch) and maybe the southern part of Fountain seem pretty decent and affordable. Any thoughts on these areas as far as commute time? Closeness to shopping? Can you rate these areas best to worst? Thanks!!

[Mike from back east]

My usual suggestion for folks is to look at School District 20 (D20) which lies north of Woodmen Rd, just a few miles north of Springs Ranch and Stetson Hills. Don't rule it out until you see the area.

In the Powers corridor, north of Woodmen, the sub-divs heading north up Powers are: Cumbres Vista, Wolf Ranch, and Cordera, with the latter being the consensus pick as the better of the three due to the rec center and other amenities.

Briargate is essentially on the Powers corridor, across Powers from Cordera and Wolf Ranch, but larger and more established.

All of these are in D20. If you haven't already, look in the index for the zip 80920 / Briargate photo tour, Briargate topics, school topics, etc, and don't overlook the search tool with whatever key words are of interest to you.

Commuting from D20 to the work site is only a few minutes longer than from Stetson Hills or Springs Ranch, not a biggie.

Tremendous shopping, eats and movies on the Powers corridor, from S. Carefree to up past Barnes. If you move further up Powers (above Woodmen), the area and houses are newer and the less traffic noise you get. IMO, higher ratings go the newer stuff.

Be sure to see these areas when you get here. There are rentals in your price range. There's a thread here recently on websites to look at for rentals, there are several. Zip code for Cordera, Wolf Ranch and New Homes Colorado Springs, New Home Builders | Cumbre Vista New Homes is 80924; for Briargate it's 80920. Homes in these sub-divs are/were built by some of the better builders in the area, and there are rentals in most of these areas, as well as Briargate.

From Realtor.com here is a home in Wolf Ranch with 4BR/4BA/2Car, etc.

There are 34 rentals now in 80920 on realtor.com which is just one of many sites you could search.

Best of luck to you.

s/Mike

[cjmeck]

Thank you so much! I found your picture parade of Briargate and that was so helpful! Are you running for mayor?? lol It seems the nicer areas are north of town and will be worth the commute for my husband from Cheyenne Mtn. I appreciate your help and advice; we'll check it all out next month.
Jennifer

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by cjmeck

Thank you so much! I found your picture parade of Briargate and that was so helpful! Are you running for mayor?? lol It seems the nicer areas are north of town and will be worth the commute for my husband from Cheyenne Mtn. I appreciate your help and advice; we'll check it all out next month.
Jennifer

Jennifer, thanks for the kind words. I'm not with the Chamber of Commerce or the city, and I'm not a realtor either (though I like them). I'm just a retired Army civilian from DC, having fun helping people as they come here.

Lots of people commute from 80920 and 80924 to Carson, Peterson, and Cheyenne Mtn. D20 has tons of USAF families who see to it that D20 is financially strong, with an emphasis on science that feeds into aerospace careers.

Check in with us often, and use that search tool, whether your interest is any or all of these keyword topics: pizza, Italian, crime, weather, climate, parks, hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, skiing, rentals, churches, driving, culture, arts, music, Irish, Greek, Mexican, hockey, baseball, sports, ......

[reginhild]

MikefrombackEast mentioned D20 commuting being not much further than Stetson Hills or Springs Ranch. Actually, going to Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, Briargate can be a shorter commute being nearer to I-25. With Stetson Hills or Spring Ranch, you have a shorter commute to Peterson AFB or Shriever AFB but to Cheyenne Mtn. you have to take city streets much further.

[otowi]

I would think that D12 is not really too expensive for you. Yes, there are more expensive parts of that district, but I would think you could find something for $1300 without much trouble.

[cjmeck]

Originally Posted by reginhild

MikefrombackEast mentioned D20 commuting being not much further than Stetson Hills or Springs Ranch. Actually, going to Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, Briargate can be a shorter commute being nearer to I-25. With Stetson Hills or Spring Ranch, you have a shorter commute to Peterson AFB or Shriever AFB but to Cheyenne Mtn. you have to take city streets much further.

Good info! I was looking at mapquest and thinking that might be true, so thanks for pointing that out.

[cjmeck]

Originally Posted by otowi

I would think that D12 is not really too expensive for you. Yes, there are more expensive parts of that district, but I would think you could find something for $1300 without much trouble.

I was looking on realtor.com and the houses in our price range were pretty run down looking... But we aren't moving until this summer, so I imagine more rentals will be popping up soon. Thanks, I'll keep the look out for a bigger selection in that area. We're kind of thinking we want to live a little closer to Peterson since we'll be there frequently for the amenities, doctor, ect... Thank you for your help!

[toxicavenger]

I wanted to move to D12 for the last 3 years but there houses are pretty expensive for what they are. So we did buy a place in D20 but on the West Side of I25.

[reginhild]

Originally Posted by cjmeck

I was looking on realtor.com and the houses in our price range were pretty run down looking... But we aren't moving until this summer, so I imagine more rentals will be popping up soon. Thanks, I'll keep the look out for a bigger selection in that area. We're kind of thinking we want to live a little closer to Peterson since we'll be there frequently for the amenities, doctor, ect... Thank you for your help!

My family goes to the AF Academy for their doctor visits - very convenient to Briargate. The Commissary and PX are small at the Academy - Peterson and Ft. Carson are good sized.