South Fork Colorado (Denver, Evergreen, Alamosa: transplants, real estate market, oceanfront)

[ralita]

What do you think of South Fork and neighbor cities? Do you think it is a good investment area? I am planning to buy some land to build a house.

[jazzlover]

South Fork is a pretty area, and it has grown wildly in the last 5 years or so. Is it a good investment area? That depends on your view of the future. "Recreational" real estate in Colorado has been rising to crazy levels for about 10 years or more. My personal opinion is that the "bubble" is ready to burst. Simply stated, Colorado's rural economy is becoming totally dependent on transfer payments (outside pensions, etc.), discretionary income (for people to buy and maintain second homes), and cheap gasoline (to get there). When any one or more of those falters (and I think that they will--fairly soon), there will probably be one monster correction in the Colorado real estate market. We had one of those in some areas of Colorado during the early 1980's and it took about 10 years for the market to come back in many areas. The correction that I believe is coming will be much deeper and much longer than that.

One other thing about South Fork. It is at the very west end of the San Luis Valley. I love the "Valley", but it is just plain cold there in the winter--colder than most folks like. Probably the nicest "normal" (read: not recreational ghetto) in the Valley is Monte Vista--a solid agricultural community.

[I_LUVNM]

Well I disagree with Jazzlover on the Colorado economy but I do love Jazz Jazzlover, anyhow, South Fork is beautiful, very beautiful, picture perfect beautiful but Jazzlover is right on about the cold, South Fork is one cold place. The cartoon with the foul mouthed kids - the cartoon is based on this town - is right on about showing the kids bundled up most of the time. If you like cold weather and beautiful scenery, then you will love South Fork. May also be a great place if you have the dough for a second home or cabin. Wonderful summers!

[Colomonter]

Originally Posted by I_LUVNM

Well I disagree with Jazzlover on the Colorado economy but I do love Jazz Jazzlover, anyhow, South Fork is beautiful, very beautiful, picture perfect beautiful but Jazzlover is right on about the cold, South Fork is one cold place. The cartoon with the foul mouthed kids - the cartoon is based on this town - is right on about showing the kids bundled up most of the time. If you like cold weather and beautiful scenery, then you will love South Fork. May also be a great place if you have the dough for a second home or cabin. Wonderful summers!

I think that you are mixing up the cartoon and town with the TV cartoon "South Park", which is set in the fictional town of South Park in a vast mountain valley also called South Park. The series is based visually on the town of Fairplay which is in large valley in central to north central Colorado called South Park.

Anyway, I do agree that South "Fork" is a beautiful spot in Colorado. It gets tons of snow being very close to the Wolf Creek ski area, but doesn't get as cold as further east....ie, Monte Vista, Alamosa, etc., because it is sheltered by the mountains to a degree.

[I_LUVNM]

Thanks, I was told it was South Fork by a friend so glad to know it is really Fairplay, Colorado. Thanks for setting me straight on that and I really #$%&ing mean it! Had to do that, the cartoon you know!

[jazzlover]

The setting of the show is based on Fairplay, however, the characters are based on people the show's creators knew when they attended Evergreen High School. I friend of mine knew them in high school, and he tells me he also recognizes some of the characters in "South Park" as being based on some of his schoolmates. When I asked him if he might be the basis of one of the South Park characters, he took the fifth . . .

[I_LUVNM]

That is an interesting bit of info about South Park. My little brother has always been a fan of it. The nearly constant cursing gets on my very last nerve. I did think the Tom Cruise episode was a riot though.

[ralita]

Thank you for the answers.

I am oscillating between purchasing some land to build a holiday home in Pagosa Springs or South Fork.

Is it much colder in South Fork? What other disadvantages you see in South Fork as compared to Pagosa Springs?

[jazzlover]

South Fork vs. Pagosa. I guess it's a matter of taste. South Fork can get a little colder in winter, Pagosa gets more snow. Pagosa has some shopping (supermarkets, etc.). In South Fork, you pretty much have to drive to Monte Vista or Alamosa. Lots of transplants in both, probably most from Texas. (Joke: How can you tell a tourist in South Fork, Pagosa Springs, or Lake City? He has Colorado license plates! I digress . . . )

Now I'll step out there for the flames and say that I think fancy second homes are a blight on the Colorado landscape! They often are built in sensitive riparian areas, wildlife migration areas, or valuable view sheds or watersheds. The developers don't care, the counties want the tax base, and the buyers are often ignorant about what they are doing to the landscape. When they are not building in those areas, they build in the middle of the forest, where brave young men and women have to try to protect their property from the (increasingly) inevitable forest fires. It really gripes me as a taxpayer that the United States Forest Service has to expend millions of dollars for forest fire suppression on PRIVATE property where people have built structures in harm's way. A Denver Post columnist suggested that such areas be designated "stupid zones." People could go ahead and build there, but no public funds should be utilized to protect their property. I heartily agree with that.

An absolutely insane example of bad development is the proposed development by a Texas billionaire located right at the top of Wolf Creek Pass. No one will ever convince me that allowing or encouraging that kind of destruction is anything but wrong and evil. Many residents of South Fork and Pagosa Springs are vehemently opposed to that development, but the thing just won't die. End of rant . . .

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

......It really gripes me as a taxpayer that the United States Forest Service has to expend millions of dollars for forest fire suppression on PRIVATE property where people have built structures in harm's way. A Denver Post columnist suggested that such areas be designated "stupid zones." People could go ahead and build there, but no public funds should be utilized to protect their property. I heartily agree with that...End of rant . . .

Rant, part II. Ditto for tens of thousands of homes built on oceanfront lots just waiting for a hurricane...from New Jersey all the way down and around Florida and across the gulf of Mexico. Taxpayers eat losses that insurance companies won't touch...and we also pay the Army Corps of Engineers to bulldoze the sand back into place after storms and dredge sand to refill the beaches... stupid abounds in America... is it any wonder we are so often the laughing stock of the world... its not just here, it's everywhere... maybe U.S.A should mean Uniformly Stupid Avarice... and as long as conservatives are in office there will be no sanity in land use policies, the dollar will be worshipped above all, and a man's land is his to do with what he wants.

s/mike