Land in the Foothills West of Colorado Springs

[TCHP]

There certainly are more jobs along the Front Range than the Western Slope.

~50 acres with a house and maybe a few outbuildings in the Front Range in the vicinity of Cos will start around $1m and go up from there. It is not until you down towards Colorado City and Rye that prices start to drop below $750k. On the other side of Pikes Peak in western Teller and east Park counties, you may find slightly cheaper prices.

Further east of town it is much easier to find acreage. While most of this is will be on the prairie and totally flat with only views of the mountains, there are occasionally listings along the Palmer divide in both El Paso and Douglas Counties that can be found at sub $500k prices for 40 acre plots. There are numerous bluffs and mesas out that way that can give a significantly different experience than just flat grassland that surrounds them and may actually feel like living in the mountains.

[Jalhop]

Originally Posted by MrGuy

I’m sure you’ve done your research and have your reasons, but I would seriously reconsider Junction over COS. All your family is on the western slope, which is, IMO, far prettier and much less congested than the front range. You are going to get a LOT more bang for your buck. The front range is crazy expensive right now, and very crowded. Granted traveling via airport is a lot easier (and COS is quickly becoming a legit airport) and you have more options for entertainment, but the weather is much better in GJ. Plus, the proximity to places like Canyonlands is priceless, IMO. Again I’m sure you have good reasons for leaning toward COS, but if I were retiring and in your situation, I would be taking GJ (or even Delta) over COS.

That's an interesting opinion on the weather in GJ. I go back and forth on COS vs. the western slope. I've found GJ to be not much cheaper than COS, maybe 20% less for similar houses. I see retirees complain about the weather in GJ, namely too hot in the summer and cold inversions in winter, whereas it seems there are relatively few complaints about the weather in COS.

I'm still drawn to the western slope for its proximity to natural beauty in all directions. Less congestion would be nice too. It looks like Cedaredge has the best summer weather, being at higher elevation, at the expense of driving to Delta for so much as a Safeway. I'm leaning toward COS for its airport and other amenities and Denver up the road for anything else. I'd have to drive to the western slope (and beyond) for the incredible nature there, but at least COS is no slouch in the nature dept. itself.