Living Colorado Springs » Colorado Springs Living

Red Rocks Canyon – One of Colorado Springs Newest Treasures

Rick Van Wieren — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:24:27 +0000

OK, it isn’t really new if you listen to the geologists, they talk millions of years, right? But access by the general Colorado Springs hiking and biking public to this southern extension of the Garden of the Gods rock formations has not been that long (since 2003). For a more complete history, visit Red Rocks Canyon Open Space .

As a former quarry area, there are parts of the park that aren’t completely ‘back to nature’, but yesterday when I hiked the area for the first time, I was surprised at how nice it really was. I took an hour loop, (I could have made it a lot longer), but the scenery was quite beautiful. The ground slopes to the south, so the loops shown on the trail maps are pretty much up hill going south, down going north.

More than its more famous cousin, Garden of the Gods park, this area is very mountain bike friendly, and they have even built a mountain bike ’stunt park’, not unlike the terrain parks at the mountain resorts. It re-enforces the firm belief I have that you can never run out of great hiking and biking trails in Colorado Springs.

This area has some pine stands, but overall is pretty open. Yesterday was a very sunny day and in the 70’s, and I was glad for my wide brimmed hat and some water. If I had really been thinking, I probably would have slathered on some sun screen, although I did not get burned at all. For a Labor Day weekend outing, I was also somewhat surprised it was not more crowded, but that is part of the beauty of hiking the less famous trails.

Labor Day Balloon Festival a Feast for the Eye

Rick Van Wieren — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:51:27 +0000

One of the highlights of Colorado Springs community calendar is the annual Labor Day balloon festival. While we did not make it to this years Colorado Balloon Classic, it is such colorful event, and so memorable, I couldn’t help but bring out some photos of the 2008 event that I attended with my grandson Tyler.
The festival is divided into a couple of different events. The morning launch is the one that fascinates me the most, as it is so amazing to see almost 100 balloons in the air at a time, it is almost visually overwhelming. The other is the evening ‘balloon glow’, where the tethered balloons all fire up in the dark, creating an amazing affect. After the morning launch, there is still a festival atmosphere at Memorial Park, where the launch takes place, and the food and souvenirs are almost as interesting as the event sometimes!
We’ve gone many times over the years, and every time (well, almost every time) we have a blast. Occasionally, the weather gets in the way, and wind problems keep them from launching. But it really is worth the risk of getting up too early only to find they could not launch. After all, how often can you really see such a thing, except for once a year in Colorado Springs?

The Crags – What A Great Day Hike!

Rick Van Wieren — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:29:55 +0000

Last week I took a chunk of a day to explore The Crags trail a bit further. For being less than 45 miles from home, it still surprises me at how few of the Colorado Springs area trails I have really experienced, and I have resolved to do more of it, for my body as well as my brain. While this trail is in Teller County, it is one that almost everyone in Colorado Springs who hikes has done many times, except of course, me!
I felt kind of silly when I realized that the first time I had tried this trail, I was only a mile or so from the end of it when I had turned back. I also felt a little silly when I realized that the trail head parking lot adds over a 1/2 a mile to the round trip, as there is still free parking inside The Crags campground generally available mid-week. I am only guessing that weekends get a lot busier. The trailhead turnoff is just past Mueller State Park (a very popular hiking destination in its own right), about 3 1/2 miles up a reasonably rough dirt road.
The hike itself was pretty great. There are lots of rock formations to look at on the way, and meadow area on the way up is very pleasant along the creek as well. The payoff however is the view from the top. While I have some photos included here, I can tell you they do not do justice to the panorama you get to enjoy. Looking down at the reservoirs on the North Slope of Pikes Peak, you get such a feeling of exhilaration, for a hike that totals only 5 miles or so, round trip!

Late Summer Lull Sets In

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:05:07 +0000

There a seasonality to the Colorado Springs real estate market. Our Spring / Summer season tends to be when we see the most closings (in part because is Spring is when many of them go under contract and is the ‘relocation season’). Winter tends to be our slowest season.
There is a short period at the end of summer, generally between the back to school time and Labor Day, when things get kind of quiet. I’ve never completely figured it out, but it seems like this period comes every year, so I decided to give it a name – The Late Summer Lull. Maybe it is because people are distracted with back to school activities, or ‘last hurrah’ vacations before summer ends. Maybe it is because they are taking their college kids to school. But generally, after Labor Day, activity picks up for a bit.
This year of course, there may be some additional factors. With sales down almost 25% in July, we may still be experiencing a ‘hangover’ of sorts from the expiration of the tax credits. There also seems to be dwindled pool of qualified, motivated buyers. There are several reasons the buyer pools seems a little shrunken at the moment.

Credit damage. Some people have really been credit damaged as a result of losing jobs or health problems or whatever earlier on in the recession. They may now be working and making progress, but the credit building process takes time.
Liquidity. Some people have equity (or cash flow) tied up in other properties, and until those sell, are no going to be able to move.
Jobs. Unemployment in Colorado Springs stands at 8.9% at the moment, and nationally at 9.5%. It takes a job (or documentable income) to sustain a mortgage.

The ‘Late Summer Lull’ does not typically last very long. With interest rates at 4.25%, it’s a wonder it exists at all this year!

Colorado Springs Schools Do Well On State Tests

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:46:38 +0000

The Colorado Department of Education released the results statewide CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) Tests this week, and once again several of the school districts in the Colorado Springs area did pretty well. You can pour over the data provided to really get immersed, but there is a lot there, and here is the ‘Readers Digest version’ from my own perspective.

First of all, I am biased toward focusing on 3rd grade reading scores, because that is the first level for which data is provided, and because it represents the foundation the kids will approach all of their future academics from. The following table is a summary, the figures used are taken from the article in The Gazette August 11, 2010. The top 3 districts are pretty consistent year to year, although their scores do fluctuate. My wife the school teacher keeps reminding me that test scores are not the whole story, although her school, The Classical Academy in D20 always does well, scoring 93 on this particular measure.

2010 Colorado 3rd Grade Reading CSAP Scores for Major Colorado Springs Local School Districts
District	Score
Cheyenne Mountain D12	92
Academy D20	86
Lewis Palmer D38	83
Falcon D49	76
Fountain Ft Carson D8	71
Colorado Springs D11	69
Widefield D3	69
Harrison D2	65

Scores are percentage of students proficient or advanced. State average is 70

Teller County Is a Different Kind of Suburb

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:13:57 +0000

Most people familiar with Teller County wouldn’t really think of it as a suburb. It is really pretty rural, but the fact is that most of Teller County lives in the shadow of Colorado Springs economically, and as part of our Multiple Listing Service (MLS) area, deserves some coverage of its own from time to time.

Woodland Park is about 20 minutes up the Ute Pass, due west of Colorado Springs, and claims 7600 residents. It is the county seat, and the only real city in Teller County, possessing both a Super Walmart and a MacDonalds (among other shopping and dining opportunities!) . It is the jumping off point for driving trips further west into the mountains. At 8500 ft in elevation, it is cooler climate than Colorado Springs, and can be a nice quick getaway in its own right on a hot day.

Some of the other towns and areas of Teller County include Divide, Florissant, and Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek is an old mining town turned gambling center. Divide and Florissant have a lot of semi-vacation type homes that are pretty much year round residences these days. Divide is home to Mueller State Park, and Florissant has the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The average selling price for homes in Teller County for the 2nd quarter of 2010 was $199,324, the median was $174,900.

What brought Teller County to mind for me was a trip up there yesterday to add a new lock box to a home that I have listed (which is now under contract), in Divide. On the way back, I stopped at The Crags trailhead, a ‘back side’ route up Pikes Peak, and took a little hike. This was a delightful hike, and I look forward to taking it up even further on a day when I have more time and can start earlier. The west side of Pikes Peak, Mueller State Park, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and of course the rest of the Pike National Forest make Teller County a real playground for those of us who live in Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas.

The Crags Trail

July Home Sales In Colorado Springs Live Down to Expectations

Rick Van Wieren — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:29:44 +0000

I am really not a fan of bad news, but sometimes it just has to be told. July 2010 home sales in Colorado Springs is one of those bad news stories. At only 713 sales, we were down 24.6% from last July, which was not a great month to begin with. This was something we expected however. With the tax credit expiring, there was some borrowing of sales in the spring from the summer months. It will take a few months for ‘normal’ demand levels to really be established. In the mean time, the inventory of unsold homes jumped 16.9%, an 8.4 month supply of homes at the July selling pace.

There is a silver lining. Prices actually improved again, with the average up 2.4% at $237,029, and the median up 5.1% at $209,800. Interest rates are still incredible at 4 3/8% . The ratio of selling price to list price went back up to 97.6%, a more normal figure. And the 90th percentile (indicating where the top 10% of activity is) jumped again, to $415,000, the 1st time we’ve seen that level in a while, and a sign of continued strength in more expensive homes.

What will it take for us to get to a more sustainable level of home sales? Jobs. The quality of life in Colorado Springs is famous. What we still need are more jobs, and preferably of the higher paying variety.

For more details about home sales, see the Market Conditions section of this web site.

Summer Fun in Breckenridge

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:22:26 +0000

We took a mid-week day off yesterday, and my wife and I headed up to Breckenridge for a little R&R. Living in Colorado Springs has some great advantages, and one of them is the ability to go to some really nice places in a pretty short amount of time.

Breckenridge is about a 2 hour drive, a little more with traffic or weather issues. This time of year it is very pleasant, it was not yet 70 degrees when arrived. We had a nice lunch next to the river (we have a little patio cafe we like at the south end of Main St), and did a lot of strolling along the Blue River, a little shopping, and too much eating. We rode the free gondola up from town to Peak 8 (where the summer activity stuff is), and also took a short drive up Boreas Pass Road for a nice overlook. Although it did rain as we were finishing our desert, the drive home over Hoosier Pass was uneventful, and the storm had quit by the time we got to South Park.

This slide show is not all from our trip yesterday, but gives you some idea of why we like the mountains in the summer so much!

No Place Like Home in Colorado Springs

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:57:13 +0000

We just returned home to Colorado Springs from a trip to Michigan for my mother’s memorial service and a little vacation. While it was great to see all of my family, and I enjoyed some things we can’t do here (like body surfing in Lake Michigan), it was so good to get home. The lower humidity, cooler mornings (and evenings), ability to sit outside at night without getting eaten by mosquitoes, the mountain vistas from almost anywhere you go, were things we missed even on a short trip.

Not that everything is perfect here in Colorado Springs. We hit some heavy traffic and thunderstorms coming through Denver. It had been pretty hot while we were gone, although we managed to miss that. Unemployment went up during our trip (ok, actually the report just came out) showing Colorado Springs unemployment at 8.9%, not good. There has even been a rash of violent crime in the southeast end of town, not typical or welcome here.

But when all is said and done, living in Colorado Springs is pretty darn good. I managed to sell a home on my first day back, and have a pretty busy work schedule ahead of me for the next several days, so whatever doom and gloom may appear in the news, at least I’m too busy to get caught up in it. And I’m looking forward to getting some more evening outdoor time. Nothing like a little vacation trip to remind you, there is no place like home, especially if home is Colorado Springs

Happy Independence Day!

Rick Van Wieren — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:51:14 +0000

Yes, I know the 4th of July was yesterday. But if I was a day late wishing you a Happy Birthday, you’d still take it it, wouldn’t you?
The 4th has always been special to me here in Colorado Springs. When we first moved here 19 years ago, we were so impressed with how the city went ‘all out’ to make it a real event. The symphony concert at Memorial Park was so good, the fireworks amazing, and the howitzers they brought in from Ft Carson for the 1812 Overture just were over the top.
I say were, because once again this year, budget problems caused the city to cancel one of our best traditions. Don’t get me wrong, there were fireworks at 6 different venues. And 4th of July fireworks at the US Air Force Academy is pretty cool too. But I’m looking forward to the time when we can plan on the City of Colorado Springs to continue with one of the best 4th of July celebrations I’ve ever seen.
As it turned out, there was enough rain, hail thunder and lightening going on at dusk last night, that we stayed home anyway. Appropriately, we watched the Ken Burns documentary on the life of Thomas Jefferson, so our patriotic spirit was still fed
I hope your 4th was a good holiday. It kind of marks the 1/2 way point of the summer (even though it is really only about 1/3). Here in Colorado Springs the weather has been superb (other than one of our first rains in a while hitting at fireworks time ) We are looking at 70’s and 80’s and lots of morning sunshine this week, how can you beat that?