Seeking a rural, SE ranch town w/grasslands & mesas? (Colorado Springs: hotels, homes)

[Maui Doug]

Hey -bo!

Believe it or not - I'm looking for your kinda place. What's it cost to get a couple acres on the edge (if thats the right word?) of town. I'm looking for a place where I can shoot my 30-30, my 357, etc. without upsettin' folks and can do a little pot huntin', gardenin', preserving/canning and the like within an hours drive of a Kaiser Medical facility where I can drive in and get my meds once a month. I have severe osteo-arthritis in both knees but can still walk a little with two canes. I need to get my pain meds monthly, the other several once every 90 days. I might be interested in gettin' a Canteen goin' to snag the truckers in, etc. Maybe breakfast and lunch - dependin'.
Due to my knee problems. I like a little wind - higher pressure helps with the pain management - how cold do you get in the winter and how much snow? Let me know - I'm interested.

Mahalo (Thank You in Hawaiian) - Maui Doug
PS If the economy goes further south, I can't afford to live on Maui anymore - highest cost of livin' per $$ earned per-capita in the USA - lookin' to find a long-term renter/buyer for our condo. My wife is Filipina and will hang out in the Philippines between the monsoons and visit me somewhere when I get re-established on the Mainland (lower 48).

[DaynaKH]

If you have room for a special Ed/journalism/ELA teacher and jailer/police officer my husband and I may be willing to move that way. We already live in a small town in Texas (less than 200 people) so it wouldn't be a far stretch for us. And we're young. I wouldn't mind opening my own shop one day--my husband does leather work and I really would love to own a dog boutique (in a tiny town that may be unrealistic, but hey! I can dream, right?)

[Mike from back east]

Dayna, Canon City may be just the thing for you guys. There are over 10 prisons in that area and Canon City is big enough to support your shops if you ever get to that stage.

[DaynaKH]

We went to Canon City this summer and I fell in love. I've always loved Colorado and have sworn since I was 10 that one day I'll live in this beautiful state. I've also got some family out that way and in a sense I feel a "belonging" out there. I loved Salida. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I dreaded coming back to Texas. Next spring I plan on actively seeking jobs for the following year in that direction. Because I get paid through next September, I will have a paycheck coming in from May-August to help support the search. Crossing fingers! I'm hitting the market ASAP!

[Lugnuts]

Originally Posted by DaynaKH

I loved Salida. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Check out the job market and the cost of housing and you will hate it, hate it, hate it. Good luck.

[DaynaKH]

Lugnuts, I'm a teacher. I know the education field is anything but booming right now, but its worth mentioning. I'll also have my masters soon so teaching at a community college, duel credit, school counseling, are all at my disposal. I won't be focused on any single area of Colorado, either.

[Lugnuts]

The best advice that I can give you is to get a job before you move, and then move to your job. Beggars can't be choosers and we are a nation of beggars now.
Also, carefully consider what your stanadard of living will be in CO. The easiest way of doing that is to look at your housing costs in relation to your salary. In the Salida example, your housing cost will most likely not be below $250,000. That's just the house of course and not the interest. Since you are a teacher, you'll probably be able to draw more than minimum wage, but not terribly much more. I'll let you do the math....

[debbie at bouontiful]

I wouldn't go anywhere if I needed a job. We can retire at anytime but will have to sell a ranch which isn't an easy thing to do but then I think I am looking at the Trinidad, Pagosa Springs area. My daughter RN and her husband want to move to Ft. Collins from OKCity but I have the feeling when they compare jobs and cost of living they'll think twice.

[bovinedivine]

Just thought I'd stop by and bring you'all up to date on progress in Branson. Population has dropped a bit, so we're probably around 60 in-town at this point, not including people out on the ranches. Our Post Office was on the "discontinuance study" list, but when the USPS reps came for our community meeting, we were well-prepared and turned out in force. We enjoyed a potluck supper, had the Cub Scouts bring in the flag (!), and must have caught their attention, because we were removed from the list around Thanksgiving before the Review Period was even complete.

The Branson School District has three houses (former teacherages) up for sale; one local person already grabbed this one Future Branson, CO Cafe??.jpg (2-BR house w/225 ft highway frontage and a bevy of ramshackle outbuildings) for less than $4,300, and the vision for a local cafe/small market is currently percolating. Sorry I don't have pictures, but the other properties (all in town, not much in the way of land) include a 3-BR manufactured home appraised at about $26K; a fixer-upper older single-wide with great views that will probably go for next-to-nothing; and a 7-BR "triple-wide" manufactured home with a set-up that lends itself to a variety of uses (If I'm not mistaken, they've already turned down an offer of $75K for that one). For info, contact Superintendent Caldwell at bransonschoolonline.com (http://www.bransonschoolonline.com/index.cfm?pID=2431 - broken link).

A small group formed to purchase natural foods through the Trinidad Community Co-Op, went in on a grass-fed local beef cow last summer (Yum!), and one family sells local eggs. Our guesthouse saw some good hunter traffic last fall, and our special events (Halloween, Holiday Open House, Community Yard Sale) seem to get a bit bigger every year. We've also been bringing in massage therapists now and then.

As we are losing our elder generation, we continue to look for self-resourceful, entrepreneurial individuals and families who aren't intimidated at the thought of rural living 50 miles from I-25, the grocery, bank, medical services, and everything else. We've got a school (pre-K through 12), a nondenominational Christian church, a volunteer fire department, and a growing community library. There's a new AT&T cell tower 10 miles away and most follks use satellite Internet access (though the possibility of community WiFi still looms). There's a lot of info on this thread you can review. And if you want to come down and visit, Message me and we can talk more.

This picture of the town of Branson, CO, is taken from the mesa at the south edge of town (during a year admittedly wetter than the last!) We are located just 2 miles north of the NM border, and are about equi-distance from Trinidad, CO and Raton, NM. This is my first shot at adding photos; hope I've got the hang of it...

BransonMesaView.jpg

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by bovinedivine

This picture of the town of Branson, CO, is taken from the mesa at the south edge of town (during a year admittedly wetter than the last!) We are located just 2 miles north of the NM border, and are about equi-distance from Trinidad, CO and Raton, NM. This is my first shot at adding photos; hope I've got the hang of it

Hey Bo, Happy New Year! Your pics look great. Please post more.