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Stuart Dobson

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Walkscore for homes

02-16-09
Stuart Dobson
What is your home's Walkscore?

Most home buyers are concerned about how big a home is, or how many bedrooms or bathrooms it has.  But with today's new focus on green living, urban efficiency and simplification a home's Walkscore is also important to consider.

What is a Walkscore?

A Walkscore, is a measure of an area's walkability to such things as parks, gyms, stores, schools, and other amenities.  For instance, Denver has a walkscore that ranks the city Number 11 out of 100 cities with neighborhoods like Cherry Creek, LoDo, and Capitol Hill scoring at 90 or above.

You can measure your homes walkscore by going to the website and inputting your address.  Just one more tool for today's Realtor.
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Why I'm glad to be a real estate broker in Colorado

02-15-09
Stuart Dobson
Why I'm glad to be self-employed

In an economy like this, where layoffs and job losses are broad based and their is no clear cut path to a job either career wise or location wise, I'm glad to be a self-employed real estate broker in Colorado. 

    Why being a Realtor is great!
  • As the owner of my own company, I'm the last to get 'laid off'.
  • The harder I work, the more I make.
  • As a corrolary, the smarter I work, the more I make.
  • I'm not dependent on anyone else for my income.
  • Colorado's real estate market is pretty good and improving.
  • I love what I'm doing!

I realize that now all market around the country are as strong as Colorado's right now, and I'm grateful that we are doing as well employment wise and with our real estate market as we are.  Right now it only looks to improve and that fact, plus hard work and intelligent work give me a lot to look forward to in 2009.

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Stimulus package for Thornton Colorado

02-15-09
Stuart Dobson
What the Stimulus package means for Thornton Colorado

President Obama will come to Denver to sign the stimulus package at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on this coming Tuesday.  The stimulus package contains a number of provisions designed to help real estate, both residential housing and commercial, recover from the slump that has occured nationwide.  Colorado's share of the stimulus package amounts to 1.97 billion dollars.  That is a massive influx of funding into the state.

What is surprising is how much of the money is being channeled to real estate or infrastructure products in Thornton, CO.  While Colorado Springs, Colorado receives the lions share at 1.3 billion dollars, Thornton, CO is the recipient of the second largest amount of funds in the state at 487.7 million dollars!  Some of the real estate infrastructure improvements that will be funded by the stimulus are listed here at Stimulus Watch.

While I'm very happy that some of the funds are being directed to the north Denver Metro area of Thornton.  An area that has lagged by some spending measures relative to the improvements south of the city, I'm concerned with the execution of the projects.  Will they be competitively bid?  What will the oversight be regarding 'sweetheart' deals to preferred contractors?  Will the whistleblower provisions be enforced should corruption be uncovered?

Time will tell on the effectiveness of the package and the jobs and financial benefit for the city of Thornton, but it looks like a significant amount of federal money is coming this way.
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Student wants to rename Boulder High School to Obama High

02-12-09
Stuart Dobson

A Boulder high school junior wants to rename Boulder High School to Barack Obama High School in honor of the new president.  While it is admirable that this junior is civically involved, this just seems like a huge waste of time for everyone involved.  The school board is going to consider the request, but it is unlikely to meet the necessary criteria for approval.

Incidentally, this junior student is also a member of the Student Works Club (which is the group behind the proposed name change).  The Student Worker Club attracted a lot of negative attention a couple years ago when it boycotted the Pledge of Allegiance, particularly the phrase 'one nation under God.'

Considering this groups history, the current economic climate (where wasteful activity isn't very economically productive), and the fact that President Obama has JUST taken office, this effort to rename Boulder High School seems like a grand standing waste of time and resources.

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Castle Pines North celebrates Bday!

02-12-09
Stuart Dobson

Castle Pines North will celebrate its first full year as an independent city today.  Castle Pines North development was started 25 years ago, and Mayor Maureen Shul is impressed with the formation, implementation, and achievement from the newly formed city municipal government.

Castle Pines North today has over 3,400 homes, 10,000 residents and commercial development along Castle Pines Parkway.  Located in Douglas County, Castle Pines North recently secured the Lagae Ranch development that calls for building 600-700 new homes.  Additionally, a new church, school and park are also under construction.

Also, as of today, the private contractor C2HM Hill will take over public works services from Douglas County which has handled those tasks in the past.  However, South Metro Fire Rescue and the Douglas County Sheriffs Office will still serve the new city.

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