Does anyone know anything about... (Denver, Canon City: for sale, house, school district)

[Terri722]

Shaw's Trading Post in Cotopaxi? Sounds as if it's a business
but it's a home for sale that we are interested in...could you
please tell me if it is secluded or if there is a lot of other
homes in the surrounding area...also, I know that Cotopaxi
is a small area...but would you consider it a desirable
location to live?

Thanks so much...
Terri...

[jazzlover]

Let me give you some history about Cotopaxi. It was originally established in the 1880's as a "utopian" Jewish commune. Mostly it was a land scam. The Jewish settlers who came there nearly starved to death trying to eke out a living farming the infertile rocky soil around there. Eventually, nearly all of them relocated to Denver, many being taken in by the Jewish community in Denver. Since then, it has been a sparsely populated settlement. For a number of years, a few railroad maintenance employees lived there with their families. Since that chunk of railroad has been shut down since the late 1990's, I think most of those families have moved on. There are a few tourist-related businesses there, but I suspect most residents either work in Salida or Canon City (a long commute either way), are "lone eagle" telecommuters, or are retired.

Cotopaxi is a pretty spot, but in the days of $4.00 and up fuel, it--like a whole lot of other Colorado locations--is not likely to be an especially desirable place to be for people if their work or their children's schooling requires them to regularly go to a larger town some distance away. That is a lifestyle that--like it or not--has a pretty bleak future, in my opinion.

[Terri722]

Thanks Jazz...well, you give us something to think about...but it says
that Cotopaxi has a school district...at the moment no one is in school...
but my daughter is expecting...so that would be on our list soon enough...
we will have to keep the commute time in mind though...thanks again...

[elegntnaturegirl]

Hello Terri, I know the house you are questioning. It was on my list shown by a realtor from Westcliffe Brenda Bosse of Martin and Tope in June of 2006. It has been on the market for quite awhile. At that time there would have been much work on the stairway up too the grill patio and the grill was weathering away. I also noticed on the specs, the house priced around 698,00, I think in 2004. Potential is there, for the money. You would have to have an appreciation for the mountain wilderness. There are several homes in the area, although with acreage between homes, so there is privacy. Much to say with little space. Good luck. IF you get it, I would love to visit and see what you do with it. WHen I considered the furniture was for sale.