Internet service and schools in Evergreen/Conifer area (Denver, Colorado Springs: transplants, real estate)

[pikabike]

Similar experience as hikenbike with regard to living a long time in the foothills. We eventually knew it was time to leave, partly due to high fire hazard, partly due to unwillingness to continue dealing with the heavy snowfall, and for a whole bunch of other reasons.

I still think of that house as Home, oddly enough. It was where I came to love the quiet, dark skies, and steep ridges so much that it was a turning point in my life, except I didn’t realize it. LOTS of memories there, both joyful and painful. We then (mistakenly) moved to an in-town place in a very different state and stayed only a few years before moving back to a different part of CO.

We still have fire risk, plenty of it, and there is snow. Just not quite as much. Sometimes it is just a matter of degree. Before the foothills house, I had lived in lower foothills homes for about ten years. The snow and fire risk in those places was not too bad.

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by hikenbike

Insurance rates in these areas can be significantly higher and some insurance companies won't touch them.

Since the OP says she is gone I'll take the liberty of hijacking the thread...

Do you know of any resources for estimating insurance costs, short of getting quotes on specific properties? I've been assuming it's largely a matter of two things... proximity to forested areas, and distance/availability of firefighting resources. But I really don't have a feel for what the pricing difference can be.

Fire risk scares me, and because of that I'm inclined to live in an incorporated area that has fire plugs and some sort of local fire dept.

[Count David]

I can confirm 2 feet in Aspen Park/Conifer yesterday as well (drove back from Durango and US 285 was hell from Poncha Springs on).

No help with the schools here; I did know a guy who went to Conifer and he was your typical preppy/chosen child. I myself like things far simpler than foothill living would provide, I cannot ascertain that the benefits would exceed the drawbacks for most people.

I also recommend looking at/around Colorado Springs, Douglas County, in other states as well (WA, OR, ID, CA).

[hikenbike]

Originally Posted by hikernut

Since the OP says she is gone I'll take the liberty of hijacking the thread...

Do you know of any resources for estimating insurance costs, short of getting quotes on specific properties? I've been assuming it's largely a matter of two things... proximity to forested areas, and distance/availability of firefighting resources. But I really don't have a feel for what the pricing difference can be.

Fire risk scares me, and because of that I'm inclined to live in an incorporated area that has fire plugs and some sort of local fire dept.

I think getting quotes on specific properties is the only way to know for sure. When I was house hunting I called an insurance company when I was ready to make an offer on a house and was surprised to find they considered it to be in a fairly high fire risk area. I told my realtor and she said that was crazy, gave me the number of a different insurance company and they said fire risk wasn't an issue and gave me a quote at half the price of the other company. Some areas may be more straightforward, ie obviously high fire danger. I know some people in the Boulder foothills are having issues with huge rate increases or being cancelled altogether. Same in Clear Creek Canyon. Some speculate that these homes in urban-wildland areas may become uninsurable in the future (maybe it's happening in areas of California already?) though I have no idea if that's true.


Here's an interactive map that shows wildfire risk in CO though I'd take it with a huge grain of salt. Click on Public Viewer then Identify Fire Intensity then Draw Point.



https://www.coloradowildfirerisk.com/


I'm not sure how accurate it is though because when I click on points on my property I get the full range of risk from Minimal to High, even on points right next to each other and I have no woods on my property though there are woods nearby. The insurance company does not consider it a high risk area. So it might not be so refined in some areas. And the colors seem to be meaningless. But Conifer is pretty solidly High Risk no matter where you click.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by hikernut

Since the OP says she is gone I'll take the liberty of hijacking the thread...

Do you know of any resources for estimating insurance costs, short of getting quotes on specific properties? I've been assuming it's largely a matter of two things... proximity to forested areas, and distance/availability of firefighting resources. But I really don't have a feel for what the pricing difference can be.

Fire risk scares me, and because of that I'm inclined to live in an incorporated area that has fire plugs and some sort of local fire dept.

Best thing is to call insurance companies about specific properties. When we called for estimates on a parcel we decided not to buy, the two estimates differed vastly. I mean “WTF!?” different. Where we live now, and where we used to live in the Front Range foothills, the local FD is all volunteer. It is within a few miles, just not staffed 24/7. This is nothing unusual.

Aside from proximity to forested areas, the specific defensible space cleared around the buildings matters. CO has published guidelines for suggested distances from trees, and they are defined in three zones radiating out from the house.

Good info here:
https://csfs.colostate.edu/wildfire-...from-wildfire/

[hikernut]

Thanks for all of the information. I certainly take fire risk seriously.

[Good Red Road]

Originally Posted by Winterraven

[b]If I wanted pretty flat land I would stay in my current IL suburb, which is a gorgeous area, has all the conveniences one needs and is within commuting distance of one of favorite cities. I have no interest in moving to Denver itself or one of the dense suburbs around it

“ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it it had to teach, and not when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived.”
-Henry David Thoreau- (1817 - 1862) 45 yrs.

Happy Thanksgiving OP.
DM me if you have any questions.

[Winterraven]

We have been considering moving to one of these towns for a while now. Anyone care to share their feedback on internet providers? Some homes we have seen use Viasat and Rise Broadband and the reviews are not good. Would appreciate some intel from people who live in the area.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Winterraven

We have been considering moving to one of these towns for a while now. Anyone care to share their feedback on internet providers? Some homes we have seen use Viasat and Rise Broadband and the reviews are not good. Would appreciate some intel from people who live in the area.

Do not consider Rise at all.
"Not good" in an understatement.

[LHS79]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Do not consider Rise at all.
"Not good" in an understatement.

X2 on Rise.

Parents have Rise in Boulder County north of Longmont since no DSL yet on the CenturyLink phone line or nearby Xfinity cable.

It uses microwave technology (have to be able to see Lookout Mtn. I think) and they pay about $65/month for something like 10-15 mbs.

Not too bad but for the price the speed sucks.