Am interested in the Crestone area... (Boulder, Alamosa: low crime, houses, buying)

[CO-bound]

Does anybody have experience or knowledge about this area? We have friends who moved there from Louisiana pre-Katrina and they love it.

I heard that it is a buyer's market. Anyone know anything more? Thanks.

[2bindenver]

depends on what you are looking for and why.

[lemonade]

CO-bound, can i turn it around, and ask what your friends love about it? thanks so much!

[CO-bound]

I guess they love he school their son is in. (Our children are grown.) They love that the community came together recently when a there was tragedy. They love that the community is concerned preserving the natural beauty. I don't know what else they love. Does this help?

[grainwreck]

I'm interested in Crestone too. I like the religious/spiritual/mystical mixtures up there and a great number of the homes seem to be built with energy-conservation in mind. It's remote but if I like the people and can buy organic produce and meat, that's all that really matters.. (I work from home.)

I want mountains and clean dry air so I'm looking in Colorado and New Mexico. One major drawback for me about Colorado in general is that so many of the mountain homes have forced air central heat. Ack. It's always chilly inside and uses so much propane/natural gas.

I don't care how liberal or health-oriented a place is, if the majority of people are building/buying homes with forced air, well.. it's not a good sign to me.

Does anybody know of any other communities that have a preponderance of good old fashioned boiler type heat? You know, hot water radiant in all its many forms?

[Althea]

Hi All

I am checking out possible places to live in Colorado.

I have a 7 year old, work online, want a cool place
that is close to my friends in Colorado. Not expensive,
safe, low crime, high mountain beauty, mtn biking,
skiing kinda close.

Gonna make a road trip next month to CO. Looking
for info now.

Thanks for any info on Crestone.

[boonezia]

You probably have not gotten any replies yet because Crestone is so small, perhaps others don't know about it. Crestone is a very different type of community....back in the 70's or 80's a wealthy couple bought up a bunch of land and donated it to various spiritual groups; there are Buddhist temples, ashrams, a Carmelite monastery....

Consequently it has become kind of a spiritual retreat/New Age "mini Sedona"/hippy refuge. Also known for alternative, earth-friendly buidings, ie. earthships/strawbale houses.

Google Crestone and you will find lots of info...

[Althea]

Thanks for the info.

It's a really small town, with not many families
living there, at least not according to the 2000
census. Lots of Buddhist Monks though, and I
kinda like that!

Thanks again, or should I say...

Namaste.

[brucep]

Crestone is in a beautiful mountain setting, also very close to the Great Sand Dunes. Main shopping essentials could be taken care of in Salida, another great mountain town, about an hour away. You might want to check out Salida too, though it is much bigger than Crestone. Skiing is only 30 minutes away at Monarch. The incredible Arkansas River runs right through town. Lots of artists there, very laid back for a mountain town, not plastic/glitzy like Aspen for instance. I lived there for several years and think it is paradise (except for the "richer than my blood" cost of living). I've always liked Crestone. It's very peaceful, with deer grazing through the apple orchards. I don't know how expensive it is but it certainly meets all of your other criteria. Good luck.

[BillRadio]

Crestone is in a beautiful setting but you need to accept some sacrifices. First, if you work online, Crestone may not have any broadband available, and even dialup is questionable. When Verizon put up a tower in Hooper, everyone started using it for internet access and now they suffer from dropped connections. Things may have changed recently, fone.net has been expanding.

Next, nothing is 'close.' It's 15 minutes just out to the main road, skiing is another hour away and shopping is at least another half hour with Alamosa being closer.

Crestone politics are odd. The most powerful person in town is the building inspector. Get on his good side. Often, issues are dominated by the part-time residents of nearby Baca Ranch, who are only loooking to protect their land values.

One asset is the large number of extreme individulists, who support other independents as long as they don't try to change things. The local hardware store and restaurant are wonderful meeting places, but their lives become yours. Resident turnover is high. It has been a refuge for many people 'escaping' Boulder, which may be to right-wing for them!

All these things can be charming or a headache. I, too, prefer Salida.