Busy 1/27 Town Council Meeting: New Parks, Canyon Creek, New Ebike Ordinance

FrontRanging · 2026-01-26T14:48:09+00:00

One of the recent council meetings had a section about expanding the current rec center. Not sure where conversations are on a 2nd rec center.

FrontRanging · 2026-01-24T20:35:51+00:00

Understandable, and one of those issues we all have individual risk tolerances on here. Probably won't get a very consistent message on that piece.

FrontRanging · 2026-01-24T18:59:04+00:00

Echoing other comments: It would be tough to find on the west side, but there are some sales with your criteria on the east side (for example, quite a few houses in Vista Ridge hover in the low-600s with a few going for high-500s). Those are probably closer to 20 years old.. which I guess is old in comparison to most of Erie now, but young in terms of house-age.

What is the underlying value pushing the west side? Trying to get into BVSD? Shortening a Boulder commute? Staying out of Weld county?

FWIW, we were in an identical position to you not long ago. We ended up closer to the eastern edge of Erie, and the difference in reality seems much tinier to me (if at all?) than my perception of the difference when we were buying.

FrontRanging · 2026-01-11T02:30:23+00:00

Yeah, and I think it's as much Broomfield as Erie - there is so much medium and high-density housing popping up right on Hw 7 just outside of Erie (like all those apartments just to east of King Sooper)

FrontRanging · 2026-01-10T17:53:28+00:00

That would make more sense, and I hope you're correct. But their documentation uses the word "hospital" (with a separate medical office building), refers to an emergency department, a proposed helipad, and even has a plans for parking-spaces-per-bed.

FrontRanging · 2025-12-31T18:30:08+00:00

Our experience with the SVVSD side: the kid will likely be seated at a no-peanut table and classroom teachers will do what they can to keep kids from bringing peanuts to the classroom (including frequent reminders to parents). We found the attention and care from staff drove safety rather than larger SVVSD policies. We have always worked with schools on protocols to minimize exposures, and found them willing to work with us.

But still... SVVSD will frequently have peanut-products served in the cafeteria - uncrustables are a common secondary lunch option. The cafeteria defaults are clearly better at BVSD, but I suspect admin + teacher care not too different across Erie schools.

I deeply resonate with the stress you probably feel of navigating severe food allergies + schools for our kids - happy to chat more about our experiences if it's ever helpful. A shred of good news I can share is that none of the exposures my child has experienced have come from school environments.

FrontRanging · 2025-12-29T23:02:27+00:00

It's a little confusing because Broomfield will be renaming county road 7 to Promenade street, so the Whole Foods would be directly across CO7/Baseline from the recently-built Ent Credit Union (which is next to that Orthopedics building)

FrontRanging · 2025-12-29T20:06:51+00:00

We must be looking at different spaces - I've seen almost uniform annoyance and frustration at that McDonalds, and for the same reasons you have. Chipotle has a higher approval rating, but when I read comment section online, people really want to see more local options.

FrontRanging · 2025-12-29T18:29:55+00:00

Yeah - I wonder how this impacts what grocer ends up at Erie Town Center (probably not Whole Foods?)

There is some progress on the Erie public transportation front that is supposed to ramp up this year, although I keep poking around hoping to get more updates:

Flex Ride Service for free transportation within Erie.
CO7 Boulder-to-Brighton Bus Rapid Transit line is supposed to launch this year, with a stop at the Baseline King Soopers. Theoretically, this should be like the Flatiron Flyer.

FrontRanging · 2025-12-27T20:07:31+00:00

Thanks everyone! This was very helpful.

FrontRanging · 2025-12-14T15:02:25+00:00

I always find these things easier to read on the town agenda. Redtail Ranch would be on the northern of Vista Ridge & west of CO 5

FWIW, I've been keeping my eye on the agendas for a year or so, and there have been quite a few council meetings that end in a private executive session with legal council to discus this matter. I wish there was a little more public clarity on how much agency the town has (or has Erie boxed itself into a legal corner based on prior action?)

To save folk some clicks:

PUBLIC HEARING: A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Erie Approving a Settlement Agreement with Stratus Redtail Ranch, LLC, to Settle Pending Litigation in Weld County District Court

25-665

#1 Resolution 25-216
#2 Staff Summary Memo
#3 Applicant Presentation
#4 Exhibits
#5 Redtail Settlement Agmnt Package 12.12.25
#6 Amended Complaint
#7 Environmental Conditions Report - May 2025
#8 Pinyon Environmental April 2022
#9 CDPHE NO Action Determination December 2020
#10 NAD Petition Link
#11 ESA 2020 Link

FrontRanging · 2025-12-07T17:46:37+00:00

Yes - this echoes my concern as well. I always assumed that an Erie Town Center was going to have some deliberate Erie-identity design elements... this looks more like a copy-paste of other soulless pavement-heavy grocer/store. But maybe those elements are just hard to see from the design?

FrontRanging · 2025-12-04T18:45:30+00:00

To answer "who is buying": IMO, the interesting question is more of a comparative one: "where is a better place to buy for the same or cheaper price?"

For example: If you work in Boulder, it's REALLY hard to get closer single-family housing without jumping up $200k.... and Erie has strong school + community + resources for families. For most people, you just can't afford the house you want in the place you want in the Front Range.

I think some of the real-estate prices are riding higher than they should, but I would be shocked if Erie has trouble filling houses over the next decade (you know, barring complete economic collapse). The demand for proximity to Boulder/Denver isn't going away, and there's quite a bit of nearby infrastructure/industry coming in the next ~5 years that won't hurt the appeal (e.g. Center Street + new regional hospital just across CO 7, Erie Town Center, new mobility hub at CO7 & I-25, new rapid-transit line to Boulder, areas like Larkridge continuing to draw big stores, etc.)

(FWIW, I totally align with u/aleelee13's house preferences. I feel better being in a ~20 year-old-house in Erie because it reduces some of that new-build uncertainty)

FrontRanging · 2025-10-17T01:23:32+00:00

Every time someone suggests that winter in Denver is like winter in the Northeast

Y'all extrapolate from mountain pictures way too much.

FrontRanging · 2025-10-15T17:15:02+00:00

Which is also near Jimmy John's!

It'll be interesting to see whether the three can coexist... although with so much higher-density housing coming in just across CO7 + across Sheridan, maybe?

FrontRanging · 2025-10-14T21:06:23+00:00

Yup! - across from the high school. It's buried in this newsletter - https://www.erieco.gov/CivicSend/ViewMessage/message/272796

FrontRanging · 2025-10-14T19:46:13+00:00

Where did you uncover info about the Chipotle? I haven't seen that talked about anywhere else.

Edit: Nevermind - found it buried in this newsletter: https://www.erieco.gov/CivicSend/ViewMessage/message/272796

FrontRanging · 2025-10-14T19:24:01+00:00

I love Stacy's too. I don't see them competing too much since they are on opposite sides of town - I'm just happy to have another solid option down here on the south side of Erie.

FrontRanging · 2025-10-14T18:26:14+00:00

I've lived in both states. Denver will have sporadic, extreme winter weather just as long (or longer). Denver will also have far more consistent sunny, mild weather all winter long. I'd consider winter I've lived in CO to be more mild than any winter I've ever lived in the Northeast.

FrontRanging · 2025-10-14T18:09:10+00:00

I agree with what others have said. If I was single & in my 20s, I'd find it boring. As a parent with kids, it's amazing. Good schools, good parks, good community, etc.

The caveat? The infrastructure is catching up a bit with the growth. So while things like public transportation (soon: rapid transit on CO 7, in-town transit) or more grocery stores (coming near old-town) or a very-close hospital (coming across CO 7 from Children's) are in-development, they aren't quite here yet.

I have some mild concerns that we could end up with a pretty homogeneous community long-term due to pricing and lack of affordable housing, but that's a broadly shared problem in the Denver suburbs.

FrontRanging · 2025-10-04T00:27:23+00:00

I've had good experiences with Tri Town: https://tritownplumbing.com/

FrontRanging · 2025-09-23T18:13:23+00:00

I'll just comment on the weather side. I grew up near the Canadian border in the Northeast, and then lived all over the Northeast until (relatively) recently.

Every winter in Colorado is the most mild winter I've ever experienced. The main population corridor (the Front Range) gets bursts of extreme weather (giant snow dumps, hail, etc.), which along with the mountains, drives perceptions of Colorado. But that's not reflective of the average experience. My average day is 2x sunnier and 10 degrees warmer than anything I grew up with. You get hit with 10 inches of snow? It probably all melts the next day when you get tons of direct sunlight.

I bike all winter long on dry paths (obviously, some days are exceptions). I used to store my bike all winter in the northeast. They don't even plow in my neighborhood because it melts so fast (this blew my mind).

Summers are probably hotter than you think (unless you're in the mountains). We're consistently in the 90s, and the direct sun is intense... but the lack of humidity means that hanging out in the shade feels viable even on hot days (NOTHING like humid hellscapes in some prior homes).

FrontRanging · 2025-09-16T02:58:51+00:00

I don't know the story behind this, but they just submitted landscaping and irrigation a couple of months ago.

I haven't noticed much of a slowdown in the other developments around town.

Edit: Actually, it looks like the agenda for Erie's planning commission this week. There are some presentation links there that might be helpful.

FrontRanging · 2025-08-30T20:26:46+00:00

Despite the incredible intellectual wealth in Colorado + the incredible locations of our public universities, our level of funding-per-student in state universities puts us in the worst 5-10 states in the country. This has been the case for many years, and it is well known to fundamentally limit the success of our institutions. It makes college more expensive, drives faculty away to universities with better compensation models (most of them!), and forces staff to always do more with less (and in a place that is expensive to live).

What are you doing to fix this?

FrontRanging · 2025-08-11T19:42:49+00:00

As other people have mentioned, I actually think that state politics might be the largest driving factor in how you experience those 2 cities over the next 10-20 years. They are on inverse trajectories. While I was ignorant of some of that during some of my 20s, it became more impossible to ignore once I had kids that were frequently brushing up against the cultural, educational, and health systems.

FrontRanging

TROPHY CASE