Larkspur questions (Denver, Castle Rock, Palmer Lake: power lines, homeowners insurance, house)

[mrsuggestion]

Hi,

We're looking at areas in and around Larkspur. Would really appreciate some local info such as:
Homeowners insurance cost, trash collection, internet service quality, forest fire mitigation, water quality, road maintenance/snow removal, and any other local details about living in the area. Any negatives since you've been living there? We just visited the area and it appealed to us. We know the cost of the homes, been looking on Realtor for months.

Thank you,
Matt

[ponyupgrl]

Love Larkspur - such a beautiful area! I live a little north in Sedalia, but used to live close to the border of Castle Rock / Larkspur and spent a lot of time there.

You're pretty close to Castle Rock in much of Larkspur, which really has all of the services that you'd want that Larkspur does not have. Hopefully you are not needing to commute to the Springs or Denver, because either of those would be a less than pleasant drive.

Trash - would really depend on the house / neighborhood. If you're in an HOA, it's likely included as part of your dues.
Internet Service - you can get good internet in most of semi-rural Doug Co these days - what parts of Larkspur are you looking at (grasslands, foothills, into the mountains, woods, etc.)? I have several friends who live in Larkspur and work from home full time w/ high speed internet
Water Quality - will depend on whether you are on a private or community well. If the latter, of course you're at the mercy of how the community water is being managed. If on private - a $4-5k water filtration setup can get you drinking quality water out of every faucet in your house. I love being on a well - no water bill and can control the destiny of my own filtration. You can find whether a house is on a well or has a water provider here: https://apps.douglas.co.us/dcmaps/ma...=waterProvider
Road Maintenance / Snow Removal - Some roads are maintained by Metro districts / HOAs, others are maintained by the county. Some are not plowed in the winter even if they are county roads. If the county plows your road, the service is generally good. You can find what the situation is for a specific street here as well as the priority (I am on a "low" priority 3 road in Sedalia, and it's literally plowed first thing in the morning of every snowstorm): https://apps.douglas.co.us/dcmaps/ma...emovalPriority

[mrsuggestion]

Thanks very much, very helpful. Forgot to mention that we will be retired. Haven't zeroed in on a particular area. Afraid of dense woods due to fires, but also don't want barren land. How's the electric service, any blackouts?

Thank you,
Matt

[COcheesehead]

I would add Perry Park, Palmer Lake and Monument to the list. Same ish area.

[mrsuggestion]

Thanks very much, like to have close to one acre, which eliminates some areas. We will definitely consider nearby locations.

Matt

[ponyupgrl]

If you are on an acre, you'll most likely be in a neighborhood / HOA, which means larger attention to fire mitigation measures by your neighbors and overall community.

I can only think of a few of times where we have lost power, and it's always been for no more than a couple hours. A lot of the neighborhoods have underground power lines which is both aesthetically more pleasant and also really minimizes any outages.

[mrsuggestion]

Thanks again for the great info. I'll keep all of this information in mind.

Matt