Denise Livingston wanted to open up lines of communication for people living in the more rural areas of Falcon, Colorado, specifically east and south of U.S. Highway 24, so she created a Facebook page ó Southern Falcon Community.ìSouth of Falcon in the area where I live the houses are pretty far apart,î Livingston said. ìMost are on 5-acre plots, and there are sometimes vacant lots in between them. It is not as highly populated as the area on Meridian going north. We are definitely rural and a little more isolated.îLivingston said she does not have specific boundaries applicable to the ìSouthern Falcon Communityî designation but the page is targeted for people living farther out of town, even to Calhan ó residents who might not be connected with the rest of their community because of their location.Information dissemination is more difficult in the rural areas; and, until this Facebook site, residents did not have an avenue to get information out that could help or alert their neighbors.ìMy thought was that I just wanted to make sure that we were taking advantage of anything that could keep us more connected,î Livingston said.Livingston grew up in a small Colorado town and is more accustomed to the rural life. ìI lived in the Peyton Pines area in the mid-2000s and have been in this particular location in southern Falcon for about two-and-a-half years,î she said.The Facebook page has been up and running for about six months and has about 250 members, she said. In that time, Livingston said she has noticed posts from people looking for their lost pets or trying to find out how to generate ideas, which is exactly what she intended.ìWhen people lose an animal, like when a dog runs away, we do not have animal control out here so we want to get the word out as quickly as possible,î she said. ìI have seen people asking a question for something they need, like the best type of fencing. People had a discussion about it and made referrals for someone who has got experience building a fence.îAdditionally, residents have used the site to sell items like hay or chicken feed and crafts as well. Livingston said she wants to keep sales to small-scale businesses or individuals to encourage residents to support their neighborsí endeavors.In the upcoming months, Livingston said she hopes to see more people posting about services they can provide to their neighbors, like snow-plowing or house/pet-sitting. ìPeople do like to have their freedom and their property and do not like to have their neighbors right next to them, but obviously we can still be of more assistance to each other,î she said.As the siteís administrator, Livingston can approve or deny membership to anyone who requests to be part of the page. ìI have had a lot of experience with people issues, and I am a very balanced person,î she said. ìI believe in diversity, but I do not want people to be offended so I am being very careful about who is allowed; but there are not too many that I have not allowed.ìThis is a way to try to get information out to people that may not have that many avenues to communicate with each other,î she said. ìThis is for support of the rural community and to keep people informed and connected.î
