Colorado Springs Military Relocation

Cross Creek Neighborhood Report - Ft Carson Military Relocation

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:27:40 -0500

Cross Creek: Fountain,CO Neighborhood Report

Cross Creek is a newer neighborhood that is just south of Mesa Ridge Parkway a couple miles east of one of the main gates to Ft Carson. Because of its close proximity to Ft Carson, Cross Creek (and its adjacent neighborhoods: Creek Terrace, Cheyenne Ridge, and Country Crossing) are popular neighborhoods for military families.

Home in these neigborhoods vary from $140,000 to $350,000.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - Colorado Springs Military Appreciation Weekend Sept 20-21

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:32:50 -0500

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is hosting a Colorado Springs Military Appreciation Weekend this weekend September 20 and 21. Tickets to the zoo are will be at a reduced price ($4.25) for all family members with a military i.d.

In 1926, Spencer Penrose started the Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society to house his ever growing exotic animail collection. Over ten years later, Mr. Penrose started a non-profit public trust for the city and the zoo has been growing ever since. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo also includes the Will Roger's Shrine and a 1932 World's Fair Carousel.

The zoo has always been a popular spot here in Colorado Springs because of its unique spot with breathtaking views. Its deemed as country's only mountain zoo and one of the highest at a elevation of 6800 feet. It also has a elevation gain of over 120 ft (thats about a 10 story building) so make sure you wear the appropriate shoes. Expect to get a good workout. Dont worry, its all worth it in the end.

Geocaching in Colorado Springs –Fort Carson Military Relocation

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:01:21 -0500

My family and I recently got back into geocaching now that the weather is warming up here in Colorado Springs. For those who don’t know what in the world “geocaching” is….here is the definition straight from Geocaching.com:

“Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.”

Geocaching started in 2000 and has spawned out of control across the world. For my kids, it is like going on a treasure hunt; they love to find the cache and to see what is inside. We love to do it as a family outing (and it gets us away from the TV/computer and outside!)

The rules are simple:

Take something from the cache
Leave something in the cache
Write about it in the logbook

Each cache online comes with clues and GPS coordinates.

We recently upgraded my husband’s GPS relic to a new Garmin eTrex which now show a map with the cache’s location. You can download the caches to the GPS and then follow the direction until you find the location and then it’s time to search away!

In Colorado Springs, there are over 500 caches spread throughout the city…too many for it to even plot on the Google Map of the city. Around Fort Carson, there are over 230 caches within just a few miles of the military base. They can be found off our local bike paths, in outdoor shopping centers, off scenic views, in trees, under logs and rocks, and anywhere else you can hide something!

Fort Carson Hazardous Weather Alerts - Colorado Springs Military Relocation

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 10:37:04 -0600

Even though spring is coming to Fort Carson, the Colorado Springs weather is once again is throwing us a curveball from the spring-like weather we had on Saturday. My family and I spent most of the day outside enjoying the warm weather and even broke a sweat doing some outdoor spring clean up.

Sunday’s temperature has DROPPED OVER 40 DEGREES and we have snow with strong wind gusts today with anywhere from 1 to 10 inches possible depending on where you live in the Colorado Springs area. Anyone who has lived in Colorado Springs even for a short time knows this is typical, but none the less…it is still hard to take when it happens. So if you are relocating to Fort Carson, you have been warned!

So just in case this snow stays around until Monday, I thought Id post the Fort Carson Hazard Winter Weather Alerts.

Road conditions: Road conditions are classed as Green, Amber and Red.

GREEN: Road movement has no restrictions and vehicles may operate in accordance with normal safety precautions.

AMBER: One or more of the following conditions exists:

*Roads are mostly snow packed and/or icy in spots.
*Snow is falling at a rate that is causing accumulation on the road but is being cleared adequately by snow removal assets.
*Road conditions would cause moderate and possibly hazardous delays to drivers.
*Conditions are such that for maximum safety and to prevent accidents it is best to eliminate as much unnecessary traffic as possible.

RED: One or more of the following conditions exists:

*Roads are snow packed or covered or are extremely icy in spots.
*Snow is falling at a rate that exceeds Fort Carson's ability to adequately and quickly clear the roads.
*High winds and snowfall are causing zero or near zero visibility conditions.
*Average snow accumulation on roadways has exceeded four inches.
*Conditions would cause lengthy and dangerous delays to drivers.
*Operating non-essential activities would cause unnecessary hazardous driving conditions to the community.

In delay and closure announcements, it is often the case that Mission Essential Personnel must report. Below is the definition to clarify who is considered Mission Essential. The Installation Operations Center will not know the status of individual personnel.

MISSION ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL: During severe weather, some agencies and routine events must remain open. The personnel required to execute these functions are considered mission essential. Basically, personnel would be mission essential personnel if any oft the following applies life, safety and health).

These are the proposed mission essential functions assumed needed during severe weather to meet the GC guidance (life, health and safety) are listed below.

a. Limited medical functions; all external clinics closed.
b. Normal firefighter services.
c. Utilities services staffing and snow removal.
d. Provost Marshal desk operations, patrols, traffic investigator, MPI.
e. Reduced Food service; limited mid day commissary.
f. Unit level security (SDO and CQs).
g. Gate guards (close low usage gates 5 & 20).
h. Installation Operation Center Watch Personnel.
i. Personnel deemed essential IAW Unit Commanders.

MISSION SUPPORT or NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL: This comprises all Soldiers and civilians who are not designated Mission Essential.

DELAYED REPORTING: This is implemented when it has been determined that road conditions are AMBER or RED. Soldiers and Civilian Employees must understand that Fort Carson roads may be cleared but those within their living area isn’t. Data is gathered from all possible sources before this decision is made (CSPD, Colorado State Patrol, Department of Transportation etc…). When the decision is made one of the following courses of action is issued.

*Off-post personnel do not report for duty.
*Only mission essential off-post personnel report for duty.
*Off-post personnel delayed reporting. (Recommend a report time.)
*Off-post personnel report at the regular time. (No announcement is made).

PHASED RELEASE: To safely manage the flow of personnel and vehicles off post, personnel will be released in a staggered manner as follows:

*First released are personnel who live more than 15 miles from Fort Carson.
*30 Minutes Later: Second released are those who live between 5 - 15 miles from Fort Carson.
*30 Minutes Later (One Hour After 1st Group): Third release are those who live within 5 miles of Fort Carson

Supervisors will determine which category each employee / Soldier is in and assist with early release.

One thing to note is that note closures or delays at Fort Carson, are ONLY for Fort Carson and do not apply to any of the other military installations. Since weather varies so much from one side of town to the other, always check YOUR military installation for their closures and delays.

To get current delay and closure information at Fort Carson, you can call 526-0096

For the current weather conditions and forecast, you can go to Stormtracker 13.

Crown Hill Mesa Neighborhood Report - Colorado Springs Military Relocation

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:17:34 -0600

Crown Hill Mesa is located just west of 8^th street and south of Highway 24. It is about halfway between Fort Carson and the Air Force Academy. This newer area has homes built in 2000 to brand new homes (John Laing Homes). The neighborhood also has a great park and playground with a skate ramp for the older kids. The views of the city and mountains are terrific! It is conveniently located near downtown Colorado Springs and Bear Creek Regional Park.

Neighborhood Statistics:

10 ACTIVE listings : $295,000 to $439,000 - AVERAGE DAYS ON THE MARKET (DOM) - 103 days

1 home UNDER CONTRACT with a list price of $339,900 - 220 DOM

5 SOLD homes (since Aug 2007) : $280,000 to $331,500 -117 average DOM

Fort Carson, CO – Over 44,000 troops and family members by 2013

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:22:29 -0600

Fort Carson will be getting almost 5000 new troops by 2013. Last month, Fort Carson announced they would be getting even more troops from Ft. Hood making them one of the largest Army installations. Here is a breakdown of the troop movements.

2003: 14,500 soldiers, two brigade combat teams.

2007: 17,500 soldiers, three brigade combat teams.

2010: 24,500 soldiers, four brigade combat teams.

2013: 30,000 soldiers, five brigade combat teams.

The increase in Fort Carson troops is expected to create more than 3000 more civilian jobs, increase local and state taxes by $20.5 million, and bring in as much as $250 million per year to local businesses. It is expected that Fort Carson will spend over 1 billion dollars in new housing to accommodate the new soldiers.

Several subdivision projects are already underway in the area and will help to ease the housing pain. Banning Lewis Ranch is a new master planned community on the very east side of Colorado Springs that runs from Woodmen Road all the way down past Peterson AFB (almost 14 miles in length) and approximately 75,000 homes and businesses. Fountain, CO also has many new neighborhoods. Classic Homes, Richmond American, Pulte, Engle, Aspen View Homes, and Oakwood Homes all have projects underway.

Colorado Springs Military Temporary Lodging

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:21:17 -0600

If you’re moving to Colorado Springs soon, you may find that you’re left without your household goods for a few days and sometimes longer. The JPPSO (the Joint Personal Property Shipping Office) here in Colorado Springs only gives you a couple of hours to respond to them when your household goods get to the area or it gets put into temporary storage. With our recent move, our goods were put immediately in storage without a phone call until the next day (reason’s unknown). Luckily for us, getting them out and delivered was easy and fast, but for some that is not the case, especially during the summer months. You may have no where for them to be delivered to. Maybe you were waiting until you got here to rent a house/apartment, you haven’t closed on your new house yet, or you just put your name on the military housing list. Don’t fret; there are places and people to help you. For those Colorado Springs military families needing temporary lodging there for:

Fort Carson

Colorado Inn in Bldg. 7301 on Woodfill Road. It is first come, first serve and reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance. There are 150 family and single efficiency rooms. Room rates run from $44 to $64 per night depending on the size and amenities. There are limited pet rooms, so you may need to board your little family member elsewhere. Colorado Inn at 719-526-4832.

The Loan Closet can help loan you some items while you are waiting for your household goods. They have kitchen accessories such as pots, pans, dishes, silverware and glasses, cots, folding tables/chairs, car seats, high chairs, electric skillets, vacuums and televisions.

Peterson AFB (also NORAD and USNORTHCOM assignments)

Pikes Peak Lodge is located in Bldg 1042 at 125 E. Stewart Ave. They have 153 visiting quarters as well as 67 temporary lodging facilities (TLF) for permanent change of station status. TLF rates are just over $30 a day. All rooms included DSL high-speed internet. All rooms are pet and smoke-free.

The Family Support Center’s Relocation and Family Service program houses Peterson’s loan locker and can be used to borrow a few items until your good arrive.

United States Air Force Academy

USAFA Rampart Lodge is located in Bldg 3130 off of Academy Drive, east of the Officer’s Club. The Lodge has TLF (Temporary Lodging Facilities) quarters as well as VOQ (Visiting Officer’s Quarters). According to their website, rates run from $35 and up for TLF. Free high speed internet is available in every room. No pets are allowed; boarding is required.

Kristen Senn

2007 Colorado Springs Holiday Lights

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:18:05 -0600

The Colorado Springs Gazette recently published their annual guide to Colorado Springs Holiday City Lights. Our family can’t wait each year to view holiday. Each Christmas Eve we drive all around to view lights. It really gets us in the holiday spirit. Since we have lived all around the country in the past ten years, we have had the pleasure to check out lights in quite a few areas. We noticed this year, that Colorado Springs has SO many homes with the holiday spirit, way more than any other town we have lived in. The sense of community is so welcoming!

A few weeks ago, I was coming home from shopping and I noticed some bright lights in our neighborhood. Holy Cow…two houses in our neighborhood were completely lit up…I mean like a Clark Griswold house! We drive by them at least a few times a week because it is just amazing. They really put the rest of the houses to shame. Sadly, I noticed that they weren’t listed in the guide published. If you live in the north side of Colorado Springs and want to see some great holiday lights, they are off of Highway 83 and Springcrest (just north of the Briargate Parkway, in the Pinewoods subdivision). You cant miss them once you are in the neighborhood.

The guide lists the Holiday Lights by which area in the city they are, it even has a map with the homes marked. Print it out and get in the Holiday spirit!

2007 Colorado Springs Holiday City Lights Guide

Military BAH rates increase or decrease? 2008 BAH rates now available!

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:09:14 -0600

The long awaited BAH rates are now available for 2008.

This is the time of year everyone is waiting to see if they will get more for housing. But dont worry, if your BAH went down, you dont get less for housing, that is locked unless you fall into a couple of circumstances. But if the rate went up you will get the higher amount now if you are still at the same duty station. If you are moving in 2008 you will get whatever the rate is for that new duty station.

Depending on where you are at in the country, the rates can jump by a few hundred dollars to only a few dollars.

BAH rates are determined by rental data not mortgage data. Rental rates can vary from 2% to 5% each year in some areas, to 5% to 10% in other areas.

For Colorado Springs military personnel, the 2008 BAH rates went up or stayed the same depending on your rank. The only year that they went down since 2000 was last year for 2007. This year they are back up to where they were at for 2006.

2008 w/Dependants Chart

*Rank*	*2007 Rates*	*2008 Rates*
E01	908	909
E02	908	909
E03	908	909
E04	908	909
E05	1046	1013
E06	1165	1165
E07	1231	1231
E08	1303	1303
E09	1381	1398
W01	1166	1166
W02	1260	1260
W03	1348	1348
W04	1393	1418
W05	1445	1498
O01E	1245	1245
O02E	1335	1335
O013E	1401	1430
O01	1060	1030
O02	1162	1162
O03	1345	1345
O04	1467	1532
O05	1552	1663
O06	1565	1677
O07	1583	1696

For more information:

Basic Housing Allowance : Frequently Asked Questions

Veterans Day & Military Family Appreciation Week – Fort Carson, CO

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:09:57 -0600

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day and in honor of our Veterans, Fort Carson will be honoring their families with Military Family Appreciation Week. It runs from November 10 until November 18^th and is sponsored by the MWR (Moral, Welfare, and Recreation). Fort Carson has a variety of programs and activities planned for its Colorado Springs military families.

Normally, I don’t toot my own horn since my husband is currently an active duty solider, but I feel the need to HONOR my fellow military families. You see, we have been lucky…very, very lucky. My husband was just starting graduate school when September 11^th happened and already had a change in the normal career path of an Army officer. Since then he has been in teaching capacity or in school himself. While the schooling has taken him from us for months at a time, we haven’t had to deal with too many missed holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, but most importantly haven’t had to worry about our solider being in Iraq.

I think about those everyday who loved ones are gone, going and or worse have been killed in the line of duty. The strength that they have is way beyond anything I myself can even comprehend. Yes, there is some guilt but I know he has been doing his part in teaching our newest leaders in the Army.

Please think about our Veterans AND their families on this federal holiday.

Colorado Springs Military – U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:47:52 -0600

USNORTHCOM is headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO. It was established in 2002 after the attacks on the World Trade Center to aid in Homeland Defense. While most may know about NORTHCOM’s homeland defense many may not know that also provides military assistance to civil authorities when needed.

According the USNORTHCOM website, their civil support mission “includes domestic disaster relief operations that occur during fires, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Support also includes counter-drug operations and managing the consequences of a terrorist event employing a weapon of mass destruction. In providing civil support, USNORTHCOM generally operates through established Joint Task Forces subordinate to the command. An emergency must exceed the capabilities of local, state and federal agencies before USNORTHCOM becomes involved. In most cases, support will be limited, localized and specific.”

Military and civilian personnel from US Army North (under the command of USNORTHCOM) were recently deployed to southern California to aid with the fires with operational and firefighting support. According to the NORTHCOM website, the deployed personnel and equipment included facilities support, asset coordination support, air firefighting support, and ground firefighting support.

USNORTHCOM’s personnel work both in Cheyenne Mountain Air Station (NORAD) and/or at Peterson AFB.

Military Families Relocating with Special Challenges

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:13:58 -0500

Military families face challenges all the time with their constant moves, but some families find moving even more daunting than others. Ours is one of the estimated 540,000 active duty families who are caring for a family member with special education or medical needs. To us, finding the perfect home is second to finding a home in the best school district for children with special needs or the home closest to the nearest medical specialist. Ideally, we look for both!

Soon after our daughter was born with Down syndrome, we began looking for help. We were moving in just a few short months and needed to make sure our next assignment was going to have adequate medical and education services for her. In searching the Internet, I found STOMP, which stands for Specialized Training Of Military Parents. It’s the only national training and information center for military members with dependents with ANY type of special need.

According to their website, STOMP is:

…a parent-directed project exists to empower military parents, individuals with disabilities, and service providers with knowledge, skills, and resources so that they might access services to create a collaborative environment for family and professional partnerships without regard to geographic location.

STOMP provides seminars in various military installations across the world. I was lucky to attend a two day seminar when we were stationed in New York. The information is invaluable as the seminars give you the knowledge you need and empower you to be the best advocate for your family member.

One of the best parts of STOMP is their email listserv. Military families across the world can post questions to other military families who might have had to deal with the same experiences or issues they are facing. Relocation questions are also very common on the listserv. You can ask anyone who has been to your new location for help! Until STOMP came along, finding another military family in your situation was tough if not impossible.

I’m still finding military families who have family members with special needs who have never heard of STOMP. I want to get the word out to as many folks as possible and make sure they have access to the valuable resources that STOMP provides.

The STOMP office closest to Colorado Springs is:

STOMP Central Regional Office
3910 Via Del Trinidad
Sierra Vista AZ 85650
Ph/Fax: 520-458-7911
Contact: amartinez@washingtonpave.com

STOMP Project

OCTOBER IS NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH

National Down Syndrome Society

Military Personnel - Put Colorado Springs at the top of your list!!

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:47:57 -0500

As the time at your current assignment ends, your assignment / branch manager should ask you where you’d like to head next. Many variables, such as the needs of your service, play into the assignment process. But given your wishes, the Colorado Springs area is a great first choice to make! My husband and I like to believe we have a say in the matter and sometimes we actually do! As we near reassignment we start thinking about all the wonderful-- and not so wonderful-- places the military can send us next. The one place that is always on the top of our list is Colorado Springs. There are opportunities here for all of the services. The majority of military personnel in the area are from the Army (Fort Carson) and Air Force (Air Force Academy, Peterson AFB and Schriever AFB). However, members of the Navy, Marines, and even the Coast Guard can be assigned to NORTHCOM, a joint command headquartered at Peterson AFB. We have been blessed two times with orders to the “The Springs”.

Some of the many reasons we love the area are:

Views of the mountains from anywhere in the city
Moderate summer weather and cold, snowy winters
Low humidity!!!
Affordable cost of living
Great school districts
Tremendous amount of outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, rafting, rock climbing, horseback riding, and many more
Friendly neighbors and great neighborhoods!

And most importantly……………the wonderful support the local community gives members of the military!!

For more information, you can visit http://www.experiencecoloradosprings.com or visit any of my links to our local military installations.

An Introduction and a Thank You to my new friends

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:08:05 -0500

Another newbie to AR here! Im so excited to be finally posting. I have been reading AR for months and months and have found out first hand how it impacts your business. We relocated again recently to Colorado Springs and found our CO real estate agent through AR. Thanks Mariana for your invite and I look forward to blogging with you about Colorado Springs and real estate in the future!

I feel like I already "know" a lot of you from lurking on here for so long. This site has so many great agents on it and the information is just priceless.

Here's to getting to know everyone!

Kristen Senn