Woodland Park (Colorado Springs, Highlands Ranch, Manitou Springs: hotel, houses, buying)

[Aggie]

Howdy. We are strongly considering Woodland Park for relocation/retirement. My wife will be traveling there in about 3 weeks ... some of us still have to work We hope to find 2 to 5 acres and build. Schools and work commutes, of course, do not figure into our plans or needs. With that said I would be interested in hearing what the forum has to say about the area ... climate, restuarants, general living, and that elusive, poorly defined "quality of life." Any thoughts, observations, opinions would be appreciated ... well, ok, maybe not ALL opinions would be appreciated.

Y'all have a great weekend.

[Todd TCE]

Subscribed. Wife and I both graduated there in 81. Lot has changed. Guess my comment wouldn't count for much today. Still have some opinions but more weather and climate related.

[Aggie]

Originally Posted by Todd TCE

Subscribed. Wife and I both graduated there in 81. Lot has changed. Guess my comment wouldn't count for much today. Still have some opinions but more weather and climate related.

Todd ... Howdy. The climate/weather info would be nice to have. Lay it on me ... I figure the climate observations from when I GRADUATED from high school in SW Texas really wouldn't do anyone any good ... dinosaurs roaming the fern beds, etc. Joking aside I would be interested in your observations.

[Todd TCE]

Generally pretty mild as far a CO winters go. The towns somewhat captive by the mountains around it (with very nice views) so a lot of the snow does not reach that far east in the state (pretty much the same as C/S) and snow fall is moderate. Clowdy winter days turn to sun and the roads clear in 24-48hrs quite rapidly.

Summers are nice with temps I recall in the mid 80s and nice evening temps. There's a pattern of rain in the afternoon nearly all summer long about 2-5pm.
Winter temps maybe 20-30s on cool days and 0-10 at night sometimes.
Obviously check the weather links for more firm numbers.

In short, if you don't mind some snow, some rain and some cool temps in the Winter it's not bad at all.

When we grew up there it was a small podunk town still with a bit of wester flare. Today it's pretty much a (somewhat melting pot) bedroom community for the more 'well to do' workers of C/S. There's some old mixed with new and probably both ends of the money scale are represented more than the middle class is.

Housing prices are way overvalued and traffic sucks. Those would be my biggest two complaints.

[Jeremy Gibson]

Aggie,

My wife and I moved from San Antonio in 2001 to Divide (20 min further west than Woodland Park). I work from home and take occational trips from the Colorado Springs airport so the commute time wasn't a factor for me.

As for Woodland Park, I'll echo the comments about the weather. This year (a bit different from the last 5) there have been four snowfalls already. Nothing major, meaning a few inches. The roads get plowed fast and the sun usually comes out the next day to melt what's left. There is snow on the grass that will stay for a bit longer.

The summers are in the mid to high 80's at worst. Coming from San Antonio and 80 or higher almost all year, it was a surprise when the houses we looked at and bought didn't have air conditioning. A few days a year we open the windows and have ceiling fans and are quite comfortable. If you're building you can decide to install an A/C, but I don't think it will run very often.

Electricity is somewhat high (about .12/Kwhr). Most heating I've seen is with propane or natural gas. I buy propane in Sep to last through Apr or Mar at a set rate. That keeps me insulated from winter spikes. I know natural gas has had bigger increases lately, but I don't know the exact rates.

Woodland Park has cable and cable broadband, but most homes I see have satellite TV (mine included). You may also get DSL broadband depending on your location. I need this for work, so it may be more important to me than to you.

Woodland has two grocery stores - Safeway and City Market. City Market is smaller. The Safeway had a large remodel done last year and is very nice. There are two Starbucks (one inside Safeway) as well as two locally owned coffee stores. There are some resturants, but not a large selection. It is afterall still a small town. The movie theater has two screens. They get first-run movies and only charge $6.00 per ticket. Again, it's a locally owned business.

You'll find pleanty of auto parts and repair shops, and places to replace or repair windshields. Winter really tends to kick up small rocks to hit your window. Don't be surprised if you need to repair or replace due to nicks or cracks every year or two. Luckily, it's not too expensive (in my opinion).

I'll make one specific recommendation. Stop in at Hungry Bear resturant for breakfast when you're here visiting. They're open from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think it has a real local feel and serves good food for a good price. We go almost every weekend and really like how the staff knows our names and drink preferences. I can even order "the usual" and get a good meal.

[Aggie]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Gibson

Aggie,

My wife and I moved from San Antonio in 2001 to Divide (20 min further west than Woodland Park). I work from home and take occational trips from the Colorado Springs airport so the commute time wasn't a factor for me.

.... cut good stuff ...

I'll make one specific recommendation. Stop in at Hungry Bear resturant for breakfast when you're here visiting. They're open from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think it has a real local feel and serves good food for a good price. We go almost every weekend and really like how the staff knows our names and drink preferences. I can even order "the usual" and get a good meal.

Jeremy ... Howdy and many thanks for the information. The wife will breakfast at the Hungrey Bear on 16 Nov. We very much like places as you describe it to be. Starbucks is out but the two local coffee shops sound nice. The wife is also happy to hear about a safeway.

Actually, I have one very specific question for you: You live in Divide, +/- 9000 feet elevation ... Woodland Park is about 8400 feet. We live at 1000 ft now and are originally from San Marcos,TX ... just north of San Antonio. Did you have any trouble adjusting to the altitude? I do tend to high blood pressure

[Jeremy Gibson]

I've had someone at my house with a GPS / altimiter and I'm at exacly 9,300 feet! Quite a jump from San Antonio or San Marcos.

First, altitude sickness is real and you should pay attention to your body when you visit and/or move. The major things to look for are headaches, nausia, and tiredness. My mother-in-law had it once during a visit and she felt car sick for a day. The cure is to go down in altitude and wait a bit. If you start up Ute Pass from Colorado Springs and feel the symptoms, stay in the Springs for a day. It's also recommended to drink pleanty of water to stay hydrated. I keep a case from Sam's Club in the back seat for this, emergencies, or when I'm thirsty. My wife also recommends Mandrain Orange Tea for upset stomachs. I've tried it and it does seem to calm everything down.

With all that said, I didn't notice it too much when I moved up from Texas and I did it in a day and a half. I was also 31 at the time so maybe I was better able to cope. The worst I recall was a few weeks of not being able to do strenuous work. Don't move up here and instantly start chopping wood or running a marathon. Take it easy until your body adjusts. Soon you won't notice it at all.

The funny thing is how think I think the air is at sea level now. I just returned from Ireland on vacation and it felt like I was breathing water!

[Aggie]

Thanks to Jeremy and Todd for the input so far. Our interest is in passive solar heated houses, solar PV energy, solar heated hot water, and perhaps rainwater collection. We live off-grid at present and use rainwater collection for our water .... of course, it does rain about 60 inches a year here. The rainwater may have to be only supplementary in Woodland Park. Divide records show 15.3"/yr and Manitou Springs as 21.8"/yr.

1) I interpolate the rainfall map as +/- 19"/yr for Woodland Park? Anyone have records?

2) Do you see many houses with Solar PV systems?

Colorado does seem to have have fairly good support in terms of tax incentives and a requirement that the local electic coop/supplier allow grid-tied systems.

Thanks once again to all who respond.

[JLC]

Interesting thread... I am also considering moving to Woodland Park from Lakeside in San Diego County, and the more I read about Woodland Park, the more I like it. I am also thinking of buying land now, and build.

.12 cents per Kilowat hour? Man, that is cheap to us! I checked my last electricity bill - difficult to figure out what the average Kilowat hour cost is as the electricity company has tiers (with different charge rates) and a bond charge, but I did the math. It was .25 cents per kilowat hour. At the height of the summer, our electricity bill went over $1000. I should also mention that the outside temperature was often in the high 90s or low 100s - it did reach 115 degrees one day! I don't mind the cold, I do mind the heat - which is one of the reasons why I am looking forward to move to Woodland Park!

JLC

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by JLC

Interesting thread... I am also considering moving to Woodland Park from Lakeside in San Diego County, and the more I read about Woodland Park, the more I like it. I am also thinking of buying land now, and build.

We used to live next door, in Santee (for 13 years). We moved to Highlands Ranch two years ago.

Originally Posted by JLC

.12 cents per Kilowat hour?

Electricity is cheaper and summers definitely do not get anywhere near as hot as East County. However, some of that is made up in the winter when you need more natural gas for heating. Still, I pay less for utilities in my 3900 sqft home in Highlands Ranch, than I did in my 1350 sqft home in Santee.

Originally Posted by JLC

it did reach 115 degrees one day!

I believe that I know the day you are talking about. We drove into Santee that day to visit friends before starting a week of beach camping at South Carlsbad. Power was out on the East side of town (where our hotel happened to be) due to power equipment melting. I definitely do not miss the heat at all!