El Paso County closes in on Denver, Jefferson counties During much of the past decade, El Paso County has been the state's third-largest county, behind Denver and Jefferson counties. But the margin is slowly narrowing. Demographers predict that within the next decade, El Paso County will become the state's largest county because it is growing the fastest. Jefferson and Denver counties are running out of open land, and population growth there is slowing slightly. El Paso County still has vast amounts of open area for new homes and businesses. El Paso tallied 516,929 residents behind Denver (554,636) and Jefferson (527,056) in the 2000 census. But El Paso County grew at a rate of 30.2 percent during the past decade and posted the largest gain in new residents, adding 119,915 people. The other two counties grew by 18.6 percent and 20.2 percent respectively. Jefferson added 88,626 people, while Denver added 87,026. From 1980 to 1990, El Paso County's population grew by 87,000 people.

Growth explodes in region

Strong economy, bargain-priced land help area create new boundaries

By Rich Laden/The Gazette

The Pikes Peak region didn't just grow in the 1990s, it grew out - with a population that sprawled to Colorado Springs' outskirts and beyond, according to Census Bureau figures released Monday.

During a decade in which bargain-priced land provided the foundation for a red-hot economy, population surges were greatest on the Springs' north and northeast sides, the Tri-Lakes communities to the north and in El Paso County east and northeast of the city.

Some traditional population centers, such as older suburban areas, remained stagnant.

The impacts are as visible as the mountains: Interstate 25 jammed with rush-hour commuters; North Academy Boulevard's shopping centers bustling with shoppers; and Powers Boulevard's Monopoly-game houses, packed side-by-side by the thousands.

Except for a few areas constrained by hills, mountains or a lack of utilities, the Pikes Peak region has "grown everywhere, at different rates, for different reasons," said Carl Schueler, El Paso County's assistant planning director.

Consider:

In Colorado Springs, the Briargate, Stetson Hills and Springs Ranch subdivisions on the north and northeast sides - where vast parcels stood ready for development as the '90s unfolded - led the city's growth. Fastest growing? A census tract within the Nor'wood subdivision, southwest of Powers Boulevard and Woodmen Road, skyrocketed to 4,767 residents from 357 a decade ago - a staggering 1,236 percent increase.

The scenic Tri-Lakes communities of Monument, Palmer Lake and Woodmoor north of the city, along with trendy, large-lot bedroom communities in northern El Paso County, saw huge gains - all 25 minutes from downtown and even closer to northside employers and shopping.

As home prices skyrocketed inside the city and north of town, homebuyers flocked to outlying plains communities of Ellicott, Peyton, Calhan and Falcon in east and northeast El Paso County, where they could get more home and land for their money.

A portion of the Security-Widefield area in the Fountain Valley, south of the Springs, also boasted affordable housing and saw a huge population gain.

Teller County also saw significant increases, including gains of 41.3 percent in Woodland Park and 90.9 percent in Cripple Creek, respectively.

When Jeanne and Jim Leitte moved into their Stetson Hills home in 1988, northeast of Powers and Barnes Road and next to Sand Creek, the area was little more than prairie.

"There was nobody behind us," Jeanne said. "We had deer; we had all kinds of things behind us because of the creek. Now we don't see that. Now, we have wall-to-wall houses behind us."

There were exceptions to the region's growth, of course. Parts of the venerable Village Seven suburban area southeast of Academy Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway, once one of the city's fastest-growing subdivisions, lost population in the '90s.

But elsewhere, the economic pieces fit together to encourage growth.

A decade ago, speculating developers scooped up massive tracts in outlying areas that federal regulators sold for pennies on the dollar - a result of the nation's savings and loan crisis.

Then, as if on cue, the economy took off. Employers brought thousands of high-tech and service sector jobs to the region, triggering a furious demand for homes, apartments, shopping centers and office buildings.

But with the latest census numbers come challenges.

Take Falcon School District 49, which serves neighborhoods east of Powers Boulevard and beyond. Enrollment could skyrocket nearly sevenfold to more than 40,000 students in the next 20 years - making it El Paso County's largest district. Administrators worry the district won't have a big enough tax base to support that growth.

In El Paso County, development leapfrogging over vacant areas creates a need for newer and wider roads to subdivisions. Meanwhile, years of paving over prairie with sidewalks and driveways triggers a need for upgraded drainage systems to handle runoff.

In Fountain, city leaders look to lock up water rights, provide parks and trails and manage growth in a coordinated fashion with Fort Carson, Colorado Springs and unincorporated El Paso County.

And in Colorado Springs, city planners try to avoid what critics have called haphazard growth in favor of a comprehensive plan, which spells out how one neighborhood should fit with another and encourages residents to live where they work.