Questions about Florissant/Divide Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs: real estate, crime rate, house)

[FullArmor]

I have been wanting to move to Colorado for the better portion of 25 years now. I was considering Colorado Springs, but with the rising home prices and my desire to live out in the woods, my plans have changed. I am most curious about is winter driving conditions from either of those towns to Woodland Park or the Springs in winter? Are the main roads plowed every time there is significant snowfall? Also, would like to hear from people that currently live in those areas as well as any former residents. Is there a lot of traffic through those towns? Crime rate? Quality of living? Etc.




Also curious about visits from wildlife. I have dogs and certainly want to make sure they're not a meal (as well as myself). Is a fenced yard adequate protection? They would never be out alone at night and not left unsupervised during the day.

[Miss Hepburn]

Great place to live, roads are good...with the occasional big snow fall or rocks falling on the road,
that they clear quickly.
If you live deep in the forest on some non county road, plowing would be an issue, sure...along with fire.
W. Park is a nice place, but growing and growing.
Sure, tourist traffic is heavier on the weekends going to Cripple Creek or places beyond...
lots of places beyond! So.. do your shopping M-F. There are 3 big shopping markets now.

I think you will like it! So many places all over on the other side of Pikes Peak.
In fact I should spend more time up there...best Mex restaurant around, Fiesta Mexicana.
Fun area.

Oh, not much crime, but like anywhere you get the occasional 'nut' and they do something awful!

[waltcolorado]

I drive through Divide and Florescent on 24 about twice a week during the summer. Used to drive it all the time in the winter.

I would not want to commute from Florescent to CS but maybe to WP.

In the summer, there is a lot of tourist travel on 24 and it can get at least a little bad on weekends but not so bad on weekdays (depends on what you are used to and would call crowded). Particularly heading East on Sunday afternoon or west Saturday morning. This area doesnt get a lot of snow in general for how high it is but you can certainly have some big storms that would make going anywhere difficult. Hwy 24 is plowed but if you live a way off 24 on some small dirt road.. might be snowed in sometimes. Be ready for long cold winters and some wind. I have seen deer cross the hwy in this area.. so Im alway cautious of that.

A coupe nice restaurants in Florescent.

They would never be out alone at night and not left unsupervised during the day.

Regarding your dogs, your plan sound good and I think you should be OK.

I am in about the same country (near Elevenmile) and there are dear, bear, mountain lions, elk, coyotes, fox's, sometimes even a moose. However, I have seen all the animals above but never a mountain lion although they are definitely in the area. There is hunting in the vicinity (not sure about very close to Floresunt) but I think that keeps the cats scared of humans.

We have dogs.. and never leave them out unattended at night for very long and that is in a fenced back yard

The only time I have heard of a problem with animals in that area was a few years ago someone had a habit of feeding deer. One day one of the deer got pissed for some reason and injured the person somehow. Deer are cool to watch and you will see them all the time, just dont feed.

[FullArmor]

Thanks for the great replies! I hope to make a trip out next spring/summer to take a look around.

I like high elevation living and don't mind storms at all. If I get snowed in once and a while I think I'll be okay. I'd like to be far enough from the highway that I don't hear the traffic but will have to see what is available when the time comes.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by FullArmor

I have been wanting to move to Colorado for the better portion of 25 years now. I was considering Colorado Springs, but with the rising home prices and my desire to live out in the woods, my plans have changed. I am most curious about is winter driving conditions from either of those towns to Woodland Park or the Springs in winter? Are the main roads plowed every time there is significant snowfall? Also, would like to hear from people that currently live in those areas as well as any former residents. Is there a lot of traffic through those towns? Crime rate? Quality of living? Etc.

Also curious about visits from wildlife. I have dogs and certainly want to make sure they're not a meal (as well as myself). Is a fenced yard adequate protection? They would never be out alone at night and not left unsupervised during the day.

Just a heads up that I don't think you'll find significantly lower-cost housing in Florissant/Divide vs. Colorado Springs. Lots of people think they want to live in the mountains and that does show up in prices.

US 24 can occasionally be a difficult or annoying commute down to the Springs. There is a fair bit of tourist traffic and construction seem to be fairly consistent in the warmer months also. There are a few times it has been impassable, like when we had the Waldo Canyon Fire and some some of the flash flooding after it. That left people stranded with no reasonable alternate to get between work and home for awhile. Normally winter weather problems are usually relatively short-lived. Plowing is not done in this part of the country with the same rigor as I've seen some places back East. You can expect that the major highways - i.e. US 24, Teller County 1, etc., will be plowed pretty quickly but by a relatively small fleet, and that side roads are rarely if ever plowed in many cases - our storms are generally over too quickly for our plow fleet to ever get to them.

There is a lot of traffic on the main roads going through these two towns and any routes to recreation areas, but not that much in the housing areas. As others said, Woodland Park seems to be growing and getting busier. Florissant and Divide are towns, but they really are very small - each has a census population of only around 100-125. So if you're looking for any kind of town life, there isn't that much but there is some, and certainly more in Woodland Park (population about 7500) or even Cripple Creek (1200).

[MountainEarth]

Florissant & Divide isn’t as cheap as it might sometimes appear. Prices have been skyrocketing for some time, and if you see a great deal that seems too good to be true it generally is. Many properties in the area were developed as seasonal summer cabins. Whether or not they are up to any modern codes (or insulated for year round use) must be examined. Reliable water in these (especially outlying) areas is an issue, and a lot of wells dried up during the drought years forcing people to install cisterns and get water delivered by truck (which isn’t cheap). We’ve had a lot of people move into these summer cabin areas to also discover that the county does not regularly plow many of them (they just don’t have the resources). Some areas, local neighbors take care of the roads, others have HOAs that contract for plow services. But as a general rule, out in the county you need to be prepared to take care of yourself. If you move here expecting the same level of service seen in a city, you’re in for a surprise. Plenty of people learn this the hard way and leave frustrated & disillusioned after a couple good winters.

As for wildlife it’s par for the course in the mountains. Mountain lions are the biggest threat to pets. But encounters are rare. You won’t find many 6 foot privacy fences in the rural area though. Most rural properties are in their natural state & not level so wire fencing tends to be the norm (some subdivisions allow no fencing ... know before you buy.) Bears and mountain lions can easily scale any fence though, so more than anything else it’s important to maintain a clean property... don’t leave pet food outside, bring bird feeders in at night, store all garbage in a garage, shed or other secure enclosure etc.

[TCHP]

My Bro and his wife lived in Divide for quite a while. They commuted to Colo Spgs daily for work. They enjoyed it and used the drive home to decompress. They said this became much easier once road construction was finished with the extra lane between Woodland Park and Divide. It was the rare exception that storms were bad enough to make the road impassable, but it can happen. Florissant to Colo Spgs is also possible, but the extra 10 miles from Florissant to Divide is very winding and single lane each direction whereas from Divide to Colo Spgs is two lanes each direction.

Agree with others that prices may not be less and if significantly so, should raise suspicion. Water is always a concern along with fire mitigation. Traffic can be highly variable depending on when and where you are at, and wildlife is everywhere and a fenced yard is no guarantee of safety, other than keeping your dogs away from any traffic. Even deer, while not predatory, can be killers as well if they feel a dog is threatening them.

[FullArmor]

I appreciate the additional info and perspectives. As far as prices go, I don't want to spend $400k for a house surrounded by neighbors. It's a lot easier to justify the cost when land and open space is involved. I have lived in the mountains before and am pretty well versed in driving in bad weather. I prefer to be more self-sufficient and don't need much of anything the city has to offer other than water and electricity. Even though I may put in a solar system to reduce my dependence on the grid. My only real concern is the main roads that I'm sharing with other traffic are plowed. I don't want to live too close to either town, just been looking at real estate in the general area. Hopefully, I will be able to find something that isn't in a subdivision.
I will only be fencing a small area for the dogs. Mainly so I don't have to leash them every time they need to go to the bathroom. I have great respect for dangerous wildlife and will take precautions to protect myself and my animals. We only feed the dogs inside, and they are never allowed to wander without us.

I'm not 100% set on the area, we will be looking in a few different places. Though I hope it will be what we're looking for.

[RedSoxFanGoingWest]

My wife and I moved to Florissant last April so we have about 16 months of experience. We love it. What many people have said is accurate - the traffic to the Springs can be a challenge especially on Sunday afternoons and Friday evenings in the summer. Traffic itself during the week isn't bad at all but the distance alone could be tough. We both work from home so we are fortunate but we do have to make trips to the airport several times a month for work. It's still worth it to us.

The main roads have never been a problem in the winter. They are typically cleared quickly after storms. Remote county roads are more of a challenge and take longer or are cleared by neighbors.

Water can be an issue at some properties so make sure you look into that closely before you buy. We have a well but there are a lot of people around us with cisterns and water deliveries, etc.

We've seen all kinds of wildlife - bears (only 2), coyotes, deer, elk, badgers, eagles. We live on an old historic homestead and rescue large animals. We've never had any issues with wildlife other than our donkeys getting spooked by the occasional elk herd that crosses their pasture! The coyotes are pretty active at night. We have 4 large labs who are inside at night but have a doggie door and are left alone during the day if we need to run out for errands, etc. We've never had issues. They have an invisible fence that works very well. I think your plan for a small fenced in area is good. Depending on the size of your dogs, they'd probably be ok outside for a few hours during the day by themselves. There are a lot of outdoor dogs up here.

Woodland Park is growing up, even in the near two years we've lived here. Traffic can be pretty thick in the summer. In the offseason it isn't bad at all. Lots of restaurant choices including a surprisingly good sushi place. City Market, Safeway and Natural Grocers should have everything you need. I don't shop at Walmart but there is one as well. There is a Venture Foods in Divide that is convenient but a little pricey compared to the chains. When you live in a remote area (this is our 2nd go-round with that) you figure out quickly to go shopping when you are in town so it isn't much of an issue. There are two great restaurants - Russ's and McGinty's - in Divde as well. Florissant has the Thunderbird (decent burgers, good live music) and IronTree (good food/service is hit or miss); both good choices for a quick bite.

Florissant has an Ace Hardware and a gas station as well as the Mercantile which is a little convenience store. Comes in handy in a pinch.

There are so many outdoor activities in close proximity, lots of nice people, plenty of privacy. The winters can be cold and long but not terribly snowy for a mountain town. Last winter, we got a good amount of snow including lots of May snow. We were told by neighbors that it was one of the coldest and snowiest winters in a while. The winter before was relatively mild considering.

I actually think the crime rate is relatively high for a small town but it is a lot of drug related stuff. City-Data should have those statistics. We've never had any issues.

We get everything we need down in the Springs or in Denver when we have to make our way to the big city. Again, when you live in remote areas, you figure out how to make things work. We'll never voluntarily leave the mountains now that we've been here. We love Teller County.

Happy to help if you have any additional questions.

[Pamelaking]

Do you think I can build on my 0.05 acre property in divide at whispering pines by trout haven lake?