House hunting blues - thinking about Erie (Denver, Fort Collins: real estate, big home)

[Count David]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

What is wrong with 6377 Otis St, Arvada, CO 80003 is For Sale - Zillow ?
or 6655 Teller St, Arvada, CO 80003 is For Sale - Zillow ?

Pimpin' my hood yo. I think it might be too old (housing stock wise) for the OP.

[BBurn]

Actually, those both look pretty nice. Will go look at them if they're still around tomorrow. I'm down with older homes that are fixed up, as long as I'm not the one doing all the fixing-upping.

[ltek]

I just bought a home in Erie... with a 180 degree view of lake and the range. Not in Vista Ridge. I love the area and plan to live there for 20 years so immediate appreciation is not relevant but there are so many new builds if you want a 'normal' home you can get a nice one pretty inexpensively.

Also, many people (agents, residents, etc) told me me NONE of the homes are built on a landfill - that is a myth. I've done MANY web searches and not one mention of homes being built on a landfill there.

[davebarnes]

Erie, CO - Official Website - Landfills

Erie's Denver Regional Landfill closes after 30 years, 24.5M cubic yards of trash - Boulder Daily Camera

[ltek]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Erie, CO - Official Website - Landfills

Erie's Denver Regional Landfill closes after 30 years, 24.5M cubic yards of trash - Boulder Daily Camera

... Did you read these?

Not only is the the ONLY thing I found when I did a search but they say nothing about any homes being built on it. The ONLY thing about any use is... "the 360 acres the company owns around the landfill, could make a good mountain biking site,"... and it is around the site.

People love to spread FUD. We'd prefer you not move to Erie anyway

[sunsprit]

For years, I lived in the Erie area in an unincorporated subdivision of 5-acre lots, with a mixed variety of custom built rancher, bungalow, bi- and tri-level houses, all of very good to high quality construction. Typically 1,800 to 2,600 sq ft houses, many with outbuildings/garages. Some with barns for horses, with ready access to lots of riding areas from our properties. Most everybody had mature established landscaping and large trees. Just off of Hwy 52 but in Weld County rather than nearby Boulder County.

It was quiet, convenient, readily accessible to Boulder/Longmont, and minutes away to I-25. I commuted to Littleton for work for years from this location, although it was before the major traffic rush hour of the last decade developed.

Price points are still in the low $300K range.

IMO, these are a pretty good value compared to the houses closer to your work location. If I were seeking to move back to Colorado's front range, I'd be looking in the Erie area. Friends recently moved in the Applewood area, and anything comparable (except of building lots rather than acreage) for housing was in the $500K range.

[robertgoodman]

Not sure are about Vista Ridge being built on top of a landfill (although there's two to the north) but there were coal mines in the Vista Ridge area Erie Colorado Coal Mines : Map - Erie Historical SocietyErie, Colorado and one abandoned mine led to the collapse of Bonanza Drive at one point State to spend six weeks shoring up collapsed coal mine in Erie - Boulder Daily Camera. Additionally, Vista Ridge has had numerous soil issues http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13098374

Erie, Lafayette, and Dacano all had coal mines in parts of those cities. The coal mining is on top of the fracking and landfills that have been in the area a little more recently. So I would definitely buy with caution and do a lot of research into the soils and history of the land you are buying on. There are certainly areas in those cites that are perfectly fine it just requires some research.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by robertgoodman

. . .
Erie, Lafayette, and Dacano all had coal mines in parts of those cities. . .

As did Louisville, and Superior and more. Here's some info on just Boulder County:

Maps of Mines & Mills in Boulder County

. . .Coal was king in eastern communities such as Marshall, Louisville, Lafayette and Erie until the middle of the 20th Century where over 80 coal mines once operated. Historically coal mines were much better mapped than hard rock mines. Coal mines were usually located near urban centers for economic reasons, they required a larger work force to extract the coal and were generally owned by big business. Smoldering fires (some begun in the 1870s), subsidance of land and mine drainage are among the impacts that the extensive coal mining has left on southeastern Boulder county. . .

While very little mining and milling now takes place in the Boulder area, these activities have played an important and colorful part of our local history and development. Historic mining and milling sites' environmental hazards/impacts such as heavy metal accumulation, subsidence, mine dumps, acid drainage, radon, etc. are among the present day concerns that are left from this era. There can also be physical hazards such as open mine shafts, adits, abandoned equipment and buildings. The mines and mills mapped here represent only those sites that were surveyed as part of the radon study. . .

[Katarina Witt]

^^Heck, yeah! There is still coal burning underground on the Marshall Mesa near Superior.
Outdoors: Time Travel on Marshall Mesa | 5280

[BBurn]

As an update, we decided to skip Erie and instead are under contract on a newer home in West Arvada. Thanks for the replies.