Pueblo West, What's the deal? (Denver, Colorado Springs: renters, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[awhee066]

So, my husband is military and we are PCSing to Fort Carson. He is planning on getting out of the army and we are going to stay there. I have been offered a fabulous job there and I mean heck, Colorado is awesome so why would we want to leave there?

I've never lived in Colorado BUT I have visited the Colorado Springs area several times and really like it. I really have no idea where else I'd live anyhow so, we plan on buying a house.

I'm in love with the Pueblo West area. Why? Because I have animals, like a parrot, a horse, some dogs, would love to have chickens and what not and renters and neighborhoods usually hate those such things. I definitely want to live in the middle of nowhere. Oh yeah, and it's affordable. I've been doing a lot of research and really think I would truly enjoy my life there.

With that being said, ALL I READ IS NEGATIVE STUFF ABOUT PUEBLO WEST! We will both be working on Fort Carson which I understand if about 20-40 minutes depending on where in Pueblo West. That's no problem for me and I try to buy on the most northern area to cut down that drive time.

Am I crazy? Every person I talk to and tell them I like Pueblo West they tell me it's a terrible idea. I'm visiting in three weeks so I will have more of an idea but if you all have suggestions or want to make or break my dreams of living in Pueblo West, please do so as I'd hate to waste my time looking around in Pueblo West if it's as hated as it seems to be.

Also, I really feel like Pueblo West is the wilderness and my dogs, horses and future chickens may get eaten alive by rattle snakes, bears, coyotes, out in the wild west. That's how a lot people make it sound anyhow.

[AnthonyJ34]

Originally Posted by awhee066

So, my husband is military and we are PCSing to Fort Carson. He is planning on getting out of the army and we are going to stay there. I have been offered a fabulous job there and I mean heck, Colorado is awesome so why would we want to leave there?

I've never lived in Colorado BUT I have visited the Colorado Springs area several times and really like it. I really have no idea where else I'd live anyhow so, we plan on buying a house.

I'm in love with the Pueblo West area. Why? Because I have animals, like a parrot, a horse, some dogs, would love to have chickens and what not and renters and neighborhoods usually hate those such things. I definitely want to live in the middle of nowhere. Oh yeah, and it's affordable. I've been doing a lot of research and really think I would truly enjoy my life there.

With that being said, ALL I READ IS NEGATIVE STUFF ABOUT PUEBLO WEST! We will both be working on Fort Carson which I understand if about 20-40 minutes depending on where in Pueblo West. That's no problem for me and I try to buy on the most northern area to cut down that drive time.

Am I crazy? Every person I talk to and tell them I like Pueblo West they tell me it's a terrible idea. I'm visiting in three weeks so I will have more of an idea but if you all have suggestions or want to make or break my dreams of living in Pueblo West, please do so as I'd hate to waste my time looking around in Pueblo West if it's as hated as it seems to be.

Also, I really feel like Pueblo West is the wilderness and my dogs, horses and future chickens may get eaten alive by rattle snakes, bears, coyotes, out in the wild west. That's how a lot people make it sound anyhow.

Pueblo West (and Pueblo) is like high desert. My uncle lives there, and it's pretty nice in the sense that it's rural and non-urbanized, but it's a little too dry and 'desert-like' for my taste; it reminds me a lot of Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree (high-desert areas here in So. Cal). But maybe you and your husband (and animals) may love it. It has plenty of wide open spaces, and it's not far from downtown Pueblo. I like that the houses are on big lots (most of them, anyway) so the houses aren't jammed right against each other. But Pueblo just gets too hot for my taste; it also gets much less rain and snow than most of the other cities in Colorado, which can be good or bad depending on your personal preferences. I'd take Trinidad's weather/climate any day over Pueblo's (but I digress).

[awhee066]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I've heard it's pretty windy and deserty and while I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of it, because I really like snow but at the same time, I can get a nice house and a suitable lot for my needs when everywhere else it seems like for my price range, I'm looking at a trailer :X

I had to google the Trinidad area. It does look really nice there and it probably would be way more awesome to live there but that is definitely too much of a commute for me.

[Josseppie]

Pueblo West is your typical suburb. If you like suburb living you should like Pueblo West. It is dryer here and we get less snow but we do get snow. In some ways I think getting less snow is good because by February when most of the state is over winter we are still excited for it because while we have had snow its not to the point were we are over it. Personally I think you will like it there.

[Idunn]

While it is not as close as Pueblo West to Pueblo, you might consider properties further west of Pueblo via CO 96. That is the road that eventually reaches the town of Westcliffe.

However first it must cross a low range of mountains, before dropping down into the valley that Westcliffe resides in, nestled along the east flank of the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

If wishing that more suburban, then probably Pueblo West. But that out along CO 96 should certainly be rural enough for anyone. As well, wide open and not all that much traffic, so commuting should be easy. This first range of mountains actually are, so if as far and some elevation there, likely receiving snow when Pueblo would not.

[Josseppie]

Hatchet Ranch is another good area but its far south of Pueblo.

[mtngigi]

Lots of horse owners live in Black Forest ... but that might be too much of a commute for you (depending on where your job is). Well, it's something you might want to look at anyway.

[Littlekw]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Pueblo West is your typical suburb.

No, Aurora, any town surrounding Denver and most of Colorado Springs is your typical suburb. Pueblo West is actually a neat place to live. I have a couple of friends that live that way and I enjoy visiting them. While PW might be the suburb of Pueblo, it's not the same suburban hell that dominates the majority of the Front Range. It's just better.

[McGowdog]

Geographically, Pueblo West is so huge that it's diverse.

What I mean by that is that you've got so many different type of communities within that huge expanse of land. The whole north side is a little like the southwest end (think McCulloch of the western loop all the way west to Swallows Road) but flatter, dustier, and windier. At least the SW loop has hills and canyons, nooks and crannies.

So why live in the desolate northern end? Purely for access to the CoSprings Airport, Fountain Fort Carson, etc. From your doorstep, you can make it to the Airport in about 45-50 minutes flat.

Now, you have the southeast section along Purcell which is ghetto imo, until you get out past Linden... Joe Martinez, and towards Liberty Point. From Liberty Point west, all the way down to the eastern loop of McCulloch, you have nice homes.

From the Southeastern part of McCulloch at about Hwy 50 down to about John Powell and west along and adjacent to the golf course, you've got homes crammed together that have nice established lawns, sewer, cable, natural gas (which has expanded to the furthest reaches of the rest of P-dub), and every other amenity besides sidewalks curbs and gutters. But the further out areas of southwestern and northern P-Dub, you have septic tanks, leach lines, 1 to 2.5 acre plots, and extremely cheap water bills (Because you aren't paying for sewer. Septic tanks and leach lines work great imo.)

When you're anywhere but that center core near the golf course along McCulloch, Spaulding, near the Industrial Park from McCulloch to Purcell including Safeway and Walmart, you are without street lights and have an awesome view of the night sky.

You have Pueblo Reservoir.

Pueblo West in my mind is a place to live. It needs Pueblo and depends on Pueblo as a nearby community.

I couldn't imagine living out here or in Pueblo without serious ties to Pueblo County, like a killer job, family, etc.

Trinidad may look charming and all, but it's out in BFE and it is facing serious financial problems. Pueblo and Pdub are bad enough. But Trinidad and other small towns throughout the South East portion of Colorado have all but shut down over the last decade. Yup, if you don't have family out here and some decent form of income, don't bother. You won't last.

[awhee066]

I looked at the recommended areas. I have a government job so I will probably be working on Fort Carson for quite some time so the commute is kinda a big deal. I mean, I don't want to drive over an hour to work.

I looked at the Black Forest area and for the most part, it seems like it's out of my price range. I would rather not go over 250k and even better yet 200k. Which in Fountain and Colorado Springs area, 250k seems to only buy me trailers on several acres of land. I'm not spending 250k on a trailer.

McGowdog, so is the Northern end that bad? I mean, I have looked mainly at that area just because it's closer.
I'm all about no street lights. I'm coming from the middle of nowhere Germany with very limited street lights and love it! 45-50 minutes, is that from the northern part of Pueblo West or the middle/southern part? The middle/southern part has many houses that seem really nice but I tend to automatically disregard them due to them not being in the northern part. Ideally, I would like to have 45 min or less of drive time to work. Does that keep me stuck in the northern part? And my drive is to Fort Carson, not Colorado Springs, I don't know if that makes much of a difference or not though.