Living In Falcon, Co (Woodland Park, Gleneagle: rent, houses, neighborhood)

[Curious in CT]

Who out there lives in Falcon? Can you tell me if you like it/dislike it and why. I have interest in moving to Meridian Ranch. Does it feel like it's own little town out there or do you feel far removed from everything? How are the people? If I want to be near conveniences should I just move to a neighborhood directly in CS? Will this town become part of CS in the future. It's what I've been hearing but don't know too much about that. Is it true that it gets real windy in Falcon? How is Meridian Ranch elementary school?

[CSColorado]

Anywhere out of town and not in the trees will be very windy here- Falcon included. Meridian Ranch right now is just a lot of houses with very little available for shopping/ entertainment. You will certainly be driving into town for just about everything. The main reason people have been moving to that area over the last few years is because housing prices were a little less than in town. However, now with the gas prices higher people are finding that they are spending in gas what they were saving on their mortgage. Other than that it is just like a suburban neighborhood, and I personally don't think there is much of a community feel there. If you want something that is smaller, near conveniences, and has a small-community feel you should consider looking at some of our smaller, more established towns like Monument or Woodland Park. District 49 schools have had a hard time getting funding, hopefully that will turn around as the area grows. The Powers area has similar homes and has a lot of conveniences, but in my opinion it lacks that community feel. For more info on our schools you can visit http://www.cscolorado.com/default.as...tep3&d=schools

[Curious in CT]

Thanks CSColorado. My husband is currently waiting to be hired by the CSPD and that's the whole reason we would be moving out there in December. How far of a drive would it be if we lived in Monument to one of the closest police headquarters? I know they have 4 divisions. If we moved into Meridian, they have a steston hills location so it wouldn't be too far for him to get to work and back. He really doesn't want to be more than 15-20 minutes away. He's almost a 1/2 hour away from where we live now in CT and it's getting tiring, especially when he comes home for work and has to go right back for an overtime shift. Me, I'm flexible. I'm an artisit and can make my living anywhere I go. Or I would be interested in working in a design showroom for one of the builders since interior design is in my background as well. I'm more concerned with my husband's commute than anything. I've never been to Monument although my brother lives near there. I guess if I move from CT, I'm going to long for a smaller community but with all the conveniences and ammenities CS has to offer. I like Meridian cuz it was very well kept and it had a pool and golf course. I have two little ones and they love to swim (so do I). It seemed to me that in Meridian, there was a lot to do for just hanging out in the neighborhood. I want a place that's interesting enough where you don't have to drive out somewhere to have fun all the time. I also want a place where my kids could have lots of friends to play with. It's also important to me to be near libraries or local YMCA's or recreation where I could sign them up for sports and activities. I don't want to drive 30 mins. to 45 mins. to say...a soccer game or gymnastics class. Mind you, my kids are only 5 and 2. Cost of living and housing is also very important. I don't want to spend more than $250-$280 on a house for the first couple years we are out there until my husband establishes himself with the PD and he gets to start making the real $$$ with overtime. I've looked into Woodland Park, but it seems a little too out there and away from everything (although very pretty....and I just love the log cabins). I wish I were rich enough to live in the Western section by Broadmoore or Cheyenne Mountain......those places, because they are close to the range and are both established and had lots of old trees reminds me a lot of home. Change is nice, but I'll also want a little bit of familiarity so I don't get too home sick. So if there's any other suggestions you may have, based on my auto-biography here, that would be wonderful. Thanks.

[CSColorado]

The Falcon station would be about 15-20 minutes from Monument. It would probably be about the same drive as Meridian Ranch to Stetson Hills. Monument doesn't have a community center, but it does have it's own library, and they are breaking ground on a brand new YMCA. Homes will probably be a little less expensive in Meridian Ranch, but it isn't a town; it's just a suburban neighborhood. Monument is a town with a lot of community events and a big parade on the 4th of July. It has privately owned shops, good privately owned restaurants, and just an older communtiy feel to it. It also has newer homes and they are building quite a bit of new shopping areas. It has a newer Home Depot, Khols, King Soopers (grocery store). If just a newer neighborhood with a community center is what you're looking for then I think you might like Meridian Ranch, but if you are looking for a small town feel, more trees, and a community "feel" I think you would like Monument- or Gleneagle, which is just south of Monument. Although Gleneagle is more just a neighborhood than a town. If you want to e-mali me with your e-mail address I can send you some listings from both areas so that you can compare home prices.

[mcdonald]

I am on the P.D. and live in Falcon. It takes me 20 minutes to get to the Stetson station. Realize that when Banning Lewis developments get into full swing, there will be 2 more substations. When your hubby gets the job (good luck by the way) he may not have a say as to what station he works out of for the first year. Monument is a nice place but the commute can be frustrating at times due to heavy traffic and any accidents that may close down lanes.
The area at Constitution and Hwy 24 offers affordable housing and it is 15minutes to the Sand creek station and Stetson station. Great views.
You can still find housing for at or under the price you quoted.
I love Falcon. We have businesses coming out here now. Most of us moved out here to get wide open spaces. Some of the housing being built out here now has zero space between houses. It all depends on what you want.

[Curious in CT]

Thanks mcdonald!

Well we are just waiting for the conditional offer right now, which they are mailing out on Friday the 4th. My husband did pretty well on all the testing thus far so we're hoping we have a good shot. We're planning this whole move on a wing and a prayer. It's really tricky trying to sell your home and plan on being out by December without ever really knowing if he has the job or not until .....December! If we sell our home here and he doesn't get hired then we just look for another home here in CT. But we're crossing our fingers. They are only hiring between 10-12 guys now. As of last year when he started the process they were looking into hiring a lot more. Seems they cut back. And he was supposed to be in an academy (if hired) Aug. 31st but they pushed it to January. We have been going through this process now for about 1 year. So how do you like working for the department? My husband likes the fact that there are a lot of opportunities and fields to go into because of the size of the department. Well it would be nice to meet you someday if all works out the way we hope. Thanks for your input.

[mcdonald]

The long process was always one of my complaints too. I have been on for 17 years and have been on many jobs. It is a great place to work.
The reduction in class size comes from budget cuts. Is your husband a lateral from another sheriff or police department? There are a lot of opportunities and with limits on how long one can stay in a particular job, an officer has a good chance of getting into a chosen specialty. Good luck. December is a hard time to move (holidays)but we usually get our worse storms in Oct. and then in Mar./Apr. I'd be happy to show you both around the area if it works out.

[Curious in CT]

My husband is a lateral candidate. He's been on the force here in CT for 5 years. He's a motor officer, teaches D.A.R.E. and is an F.T.O.. He's in a small department now but had the chance to do a lot of the things I just mentioned. By the way what kind of bad storms are in October? Just curious. Another question is if he does make it to the academy how hard is it, or should I say, how strict is it? I know here in CT when he was in the academy everyone said it was very military and strict. My husband actually had to live there M-F with "lights out" at 10:00 or else you get a whoopin'! He certainly isn't looking forward to another academy and starting from scratch, but we're willing to do that for a better lifestyle out in CO. We both flew out last November for his written exam and that's when we were looking into Meridian Ranch. We both liked it very much. We'll just have to play it by ear and hope for the best. We'll more than likely rent first and then settle down somewhere. If he gets the conditional offer (any day now) he'll be flying out again in Sept. for the background investigations. Can you imagine if every job took this long to get? I really don't look forward to moving in December...uggggggh. What terrible timing that is!!

[mcdonald]

A fellow D.A.R.E. officer!!! Did that for 3 years. Taught in a high school for another 3 and am now in middle schools for the last 3 years.
In Oct. storms can range from small storms (snow and ice) to '97 blizzard where we had 10' drifts. That happens about once a decade. Oct. and in Mar. is our heavier precipitation times. You've lived in New England for a while. It shouldn't be a problem.
The Academy here is not that strict. It sounds like he went through the State Patrol Academy. He will be home every night, but tired. It will go quick.
Meridian Ranch is about 30 minutes from the Academy here. On rare occasions the road is closed due to horizontal snows and the ensuing ice buildups.
Good luck!

[kati]

Hello
We too are moving out to the spring area, just wondering if anyone knows where might be a Raytheon? My husband works there and we want to
tranfer out there.
Thanks Kati