Getting away from I25 corridor (Denver, Colorado Springs: appointed, custom home, to buy)

[DamnedYankee]

I have seen that the I25 corridor is a very heavily populated area and, from looking at the posts on this forum, it seems it is full of all the types of things I am trying to avoid living near, namely: WalMart, HomeDepot, strip malls, fast food alleys - (yet oddly there seem to be people looking for exactly those amenities, go figure).

From looking at Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...48877&t=h&om=1) it seems that the I25 sprawl is essentially from Fort Collins to Pueblo and even further south.

Can someone comment on that please. Is the map misleading ? are there pockets of rural areas left along that route ? How far east or west from say Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Denver, Longmont, or Bolder would I have to go to be in a primarily rural environment without being hours from a hospital or airport, or in the amazing flat and boring part of the state, or lost in the Rockies, trapped in the winter snow for weeks.

What's La Junta like ? I can't stand the flat, I need some big ridges as a minimum, I'm not talking Pikes Peak, but an area with at least foothill-like terrain - something like this perhaps http://www.stanfordalumni.org/images.../foothills.jpg - I realise this is the SF Bay area (which I refuse to live in), but it gives a very good idea of what I am looking for.

I am financially secure, although I would prefer to stay below 650K. I am looking for a small farm, up to 100 acres or so with a 3+ bedroom house.


Thanks for your help

[gpraceman]

There are some areas like Larkspur, Perry Park and Monument that are along the I-25 corridor where you can get some acreage and won't feel like you are in suburbia.

There is also Woodland Park to the west of Colorado Springs which is nice.

100 acres with a house for $650K doesn't sound likely to me, unless you go way out on the plains.

[DamnedYankee]

I realise that 100 acres for $650K is probably not realistic, this is why I say up to about 100 acres. However, I would be disappointed to have less than about 40 acres.

[gpraceman]

You can try searching at http://www.recolorado.com/. You can specify the property type as "Land" and see what you can turn up.

[winglady]

Land west of Pueblo, but just east of the foothills, might fit your criteria on price and views. E.g. "Red Creek Ranch" just east of the town of Beulah has parcels (some with homes already built, some not) with a minimum of 40 acres each -- some much larger. I know because we moved from that area a little over a year ago.

Pueblo County is still much less expensive than some of the other parts of the Front Range. The city of Pueblo has all the typical I-25 sprawl businesses for when you need them, but the area I'm talking about is about 25 miles SW, so you can't SEE any of that out your front window!

[BenWolfe]

Elizabeth or Elbert is likely to be your best bet on finding 40+ acres in your price range. It will still be fairly flat and nearly 1 hour to the airport or hospital.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by DamnedYankee

I have seen that the I25 corridor is a very heavily populated area and, from looking at the posts on this forum, it seems it is full of all the types of things I am trying to avoid living near, namely: WalMart, HomeDepot, strip malls, fast food alleys - (yet oddly there seem to be people looking for exactly those amenities, go figure).

Sigh... Yes, you're right. The sprawling front range is truly a tragedy, and it continues on and on relentlessly further and further out, eating up farmland and open-space. Local government subsidizes the sprawl as well at great expense to the taxpayers. It is just depressing.

You're probably not going to like La Junta -- too far out on the plains. If you're looking at Southern Colorado you'll probably want to be closer to the foothills.

I don't know the southern part of the state very well, but I do know that the southern front range south of Pueblo is very sparsely populated. I imagine you can get a fairly nice farm property there. I love northern New Mexico as well -- that's even more sparsely populated than southern colorado. You could probably find lots of land in the foothills there -- you could look around Raton, for instance.

Assuming you do want to be fairly close to Denver, you might try looking in Weld County. Traditionally agricultural until the very recent past, the county has accelerated ahead into unplanned haphazard sprawl. Lots of farmers are selling out for developer money. Given the fact that Weld has experienced a unprecedented property bust of late (due to rampant overbuilding), it might open up a window of opportunity for you to buy a farm that might have otherwise gone to a rapacious developer, all within your price range. Doing that would do us all a favor!

[janetjanetbobanet]

Agree with the last post, La Junta would probably be in your price range and has some mildly hilly area but is pretty dry and I wouldn't think real suited to the farm idea. Not a lot of stuff to do out there, either. Think you need to take a week or two and scope out the area to get a good idea.

[Rebecca Jennings]

The ideas for Larkspur, Elizabeth, Elbert are all good choices. One often overlooked option is Franktown. It is about 8 miles east of Castle Rock, 10 miles south of Parker and 7 miles west of Elizabeth, but is often overlooked. There are a lot of large boring prairie areas, but also areas of more wooded properties with a bit of character. If you look at www.recolorado.com, enter Russellville or Deerfield as subdivisions to see some of the more wooded areas. They are subdivisions, but not cookie cutters. Mainly custom homes on lots no smaller than 5 acres and overwhelmingly fit your price needs. There are a few boring prairie looking lots, but they can have fantastic vies of Pikes Peak or the front range and are somewhat guarded from the wind by surrounding properties.

Other locations about 30-45 miles west & south of I -25 are Pine, Bailey & Conifer. They are close to amenities as they are somewhere between a 10 & 20 mile drive to CO470 (becomes tollway E-470 east of 25) giving easy access to the airport via I25 to 225 or the tollway.

Sometimes there are also finds in Sedalia (about 5-15 miles west of I-25 closer to the front range) which can be more boring prairie, but does have some great locations with character and trees as well.

You can get more land for the money if it has fewer trees, but you are better off to have some trees and protection from the wind. It is not Kansas, but the wind can get out of hand from time to time.

[moderator cut]

[BenWolfe]

Originally Posted by Rebecca Jennings

The ideas for Larkspur, Elizabeth, Elbert are all good choices. One often overlooked option is Franktown. It is about 8 miles east of Castle Rock, 10 miles south of Parker and 7 miles west of Elizabeth, but is often overlooked. [/url]

It is highly unlikely that you will find 40 acres with a 3+ bedroom house in Franktown for $650k. Large parcels that are close in tend to be quite expensive.