COS Neighborhoods (Colorado Springs: renting, low crime, houses)

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Hebrews12

The housing market is crazy everywhere. We're hoping it calms down next year in COS. We don't mind paying a good amount for a house, but we certainly don't want to overpay and then the house value is less in a few yrs. Is anyone else concerned about a little bubble?

I feel pretty confident in saying Colorado Springs will never be cheaper than it is now. Things will slow down, but I don't things will go down.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by Hebrews12

Thank you for sharing so much helpful information about Palmer Park! We like the idea of having some mature trees around--as long as we still have some sun coming into the yard for growing some veggies. It definitely has us interested. How is the noise level around there? Traffic?
One problem we're having that's limiting our housing choices is we need a 3 car garage. If we had enough space/land to add a third garage to a 2-car, that could work, but that's unlikely based on what we've seen.

Would you consider a 2-car garage and then covered parking for the 3rd? You could get that for a few grand if it didn't come with it and it would greatly increase your options. Just need to make sure the covered parking is 15 feet back from the sidewalk and that its sides are not completely covered down the ground for codes. Covered parking works well here - it isn't so cold like the midwest that you need a garage all the time - my vehicle is under covered parking on the side of my house and it keeps all the frost off the windows, protects it from most snow, rain, and keeps hail off it, etc.

[abcdefg567]

1. Potential foundation issues, but nice.
2. No, no it's not. The neighborhoods might be okay, even nice, but the surrounding strip malls and areas are hit or miss. Look at a crime map.

[orngkat]

When we were looking, our realtor mentioned that parts of Palmer Park may have subsidence issues.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by orngkat

When we were looking, our realtor mentioned that parts of Palmer Park may have subsidence issues.

There were a couple issues with this on the street on Country Club Drive about fifteen years ago. But no houses in the neighborhood have ever been direclty affected, and many believe that the reduction in these issues over the last fifteen years or so is here to stay. Most of the tunnels are likely filled in by now. The state has an insurance program for homeowners who are concerned about this (and it's quite cheap), but participation has been dropping substantially over the last decade or so because actual problems have been almost non-existent.

[Hebrews12]

Originally Posted by orngkat

When we were looking, our realtor mentioned that parts of Palmer Park may have subsidence issues.

Ugh I've been looking at flood, fire risk and landslide maps and it seemed that central COS is generally much safer. I also read about the Broadmoor landslides from 2015. Lots of geological issues it seems.

[TCHP]

Nearly any city center built out 100+ years ago is the safest geologic area to live in. They didn't want to apply the technology of the day to conquer the earth for housing construction back then, so most old areas tend to be the safest from natural issues.

With Cos and its location in the foothills, there are a variety of issues one can encounter in a wide range of neighborhoods. Couple this with the sandy loam on the east side and abandoned coal mines in many of the bluff areas, and yes, it can seem daunting to find a geologically safe area. However, it can be done, even in areas with know issues. Find a good inspector, and if you are in or near a risk area, spend extra $$ and time doing soil and foundation inspection with an expert separate from your regular inspector. Also, when hiring these inspectors, find someone who has lived in the area for 20+ years, the longer the better, so they have some history of issues and areas.

You can find decent and safe housing in the areas outlined in your initial post. It will be tougher because of the lack of inventory, but be prepared to do your due diligence on research and inspection, b ewilling to walk away if you encounter issues, and you greatly increase your odds of finding a good place.

[Vision67]

If you do a search of soil conditions, you'll find many posts. We originally moved to Rockrimmon in 1977 but by 1983, when we needed a bigger house we moved to the then new Windjammer subdivision in Briargate primarily because of the soils. West of the interstate are many areas with expansive clay soils. We didn't want to take that risk. Briargate soils are primarily sand. A stable foundation is easily constructed in sandy soils by using a wide footer. Obviously, you need to pay attention to drainage. If you direct the runoff away from the foundation you'll be all right.

If you drive through Windjammer today you'll see the sidewalks are still flat after 38 years. The houses in the area sit on stable soils.

When buying property in Colorado Springs you ought to educate yourself about soils so you know which questions to ask.

[abcdefg567]

Originally Posted by orngkat

When we were looking, our realtor mentioned that parts of Palmer Park may have subsidence issues.

Forgot a about that. The foundation company who came out to do our front porch said typically they only see major foundation issues near Palmer Park, and west of i25, but mostly Rockrimmon and down by the Broadmoor.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by abcdefg567

Forgot a about that. The foundation company who came out to do our front porch said typically they only see major foundation issues near Palmer Park, and west of i25, but mostly Rockrimmon and down by the Broadmoor.

I would be wary of Gold Hill Mesa also, for this and other reasons. This is only an anecdote, but I do know someone who lived there in a new home and within 2 years had serious cracks starting to form in the basement.