Why Choose Colorado Springs? (Aurora, Fort Carson: rental market, credit, home sales)

[mes3fils]

Preferred school district is District 20, "Academy District." See local school map at: http://www.gazette.com/school_districts/ (broken link)

I clicked this school district link and there's nothing there.....

What are some neighborhoods/areas where there are newer homes in the $250k price range? Atleast a 3 or 4 bed/2 bath/ 2-3cg.....would be perfect.

Thanks!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by mes3fils

Preferred school district is District 20, "Academy District." See local school map at: http://www.gazette.com/school_districts/ (broken link)

I clicked this school district link and there's nothing there.....

What are some neighborhoods/areas where there are newer homes in the $250k price range? Atleast a 3 or 4 bed/2 bath/ 2-3cg.....would be perfect.

Thanks!

Seems that this old link is no longer valid. Good links are:
District 20: Academy School Dist. 20 - Welcome
All Districts: ColoradoSprings.com

Look in zip code 80920. Home prices in this zip are in your range for newer homes, is in D20, has low crime and great highway access to everything. IMO, can't go wrong here.

[Punkin']

I've been reading posts about CS and Canon City--very interesting. This is my first time to post. I'm recently retired, having lived in Iowa for 40 years. I'm a graduate of CSU, having lived the first 20 years of my life in Arvada. I'm thinking of "coming home" and wonder if there's a condo complex in the area that touts: single-level, two bedroom, two bath plus a "sunroom" and HOA services. Don't want much, do I? .

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Seems that this old link is no longer valid. Good links are:
District 20: Academy School Dist. 20 - Welcome
All Districts: ColoradoSprings.com

Look in zip code 80920 on REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale. Home prices in this zip are in your range for newer homes, is in D20, has low crime and great highway access to everything. IMO, can't go wrong here.

That's the bummer about posting URLs from news sources, they can be deleted or edited. And I guess the City Data Forum copyright policy is such that a poster just can't copy and paste the information from the URL (so the information is on the thread indefinitely.) Not sure if there is a solution to this.

[sberdrow]

I think CS is maybe my favorite place to live in Colorado, unfortunatly, I can not get a sales job that pays more than 30 thousand unless I want to sell cars. I think the ecconomy is not so fresh in CS. I am now moving to N Colorado, maybe loveland. I will miss not having the mountains so close. My gosh Denver is a much uglier city than I imagined. When one thinks of Colorado, you think Denver would look like a city like Portland or Seattle, with tons of trees. Now I know that its flat, ugly and smoggy. LA looks better, ironically there are more trees in LA. So if you can move to CS, I would recommend it very highly.

[keikekai]

Hi Mike,

WOW !!! I just read all 20 pages of this thread - and you truly should be awarded for all of the valuable information you have provided to everyone out there interested in CoS. Thank you for being such a bundle of knowledge.

If you could kindly PM me with the name/contact info. on the realtor you would recommend I would really appreciate it. I noticed in one of your postings, some links were removed - if you happen to have those and could PM them to me I would also appreciate those... (why does this site take those out ?). Anyways, regarding my situation....

I am currently living in Amherst, New York (with my 3 kids under the age of 12) - will be single here shortly/going through the 'big D'. We moved here 2 years ago to be closer to the kids grandparents/my parents (but I dread living here, with the LONG dark, grey cold dreary winters that last 3/4 of the year), in addition to the short humid summers. We lived prior to N.Y. in Santa Fe, New Mexico (was not crazy about it), before that Vancouver, W.A. (4 months of solid rain and no sun - yuck) in addition to both places being very liberal (not for me), and in Anchorage, Alaska prior to that. Anyways, prior to stumbling on Colorado Springs, I was looking into St. George Utah, Las Vegas, NV, the Carolinas, or Florida (coastal), and haven't had any of these draw my attention like what I have read on your posts on Colorado Springs... It sounds ideal from everything I have read. A must for me is LOTS of sunshine - nice weather (nothing too extreme) and not a ton of snow. Want a place with friendly people (if someone could comment on this I would appreciate it) more on how the people are that would be great - I don't want to end up in a 'scottsdale, az = snottsdale type of setting). Also need to find great schools (have a 5, 9 and 12 year old). Safe neighborhood, low crime, a place with lots to do for the kids, etc. I will need a 4+ bedroom home - one that is reasonably priced (under $ 300,000 if possible).

I have read some people comment on these 3 school districts: 12, 20, 38. What are the main differences (pros/cons) of these, and is one better than another ?

Any info. you could provide would be GREATLY appreciated !! Thanks again for all the fabulous information you have already provided here on this site (the tourism board should hire you !).

Thanks again.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by keikekai

I have read some people comment on these 3 school districts: 12, 20, 38. What are the main differences (pros/cons) of these, and is one better than another ?

Biggest difference is location. D12 is centrally located to Colorado Springs. It is called the Cheyenne Mountain School District. It is very good. D20 and D38 are on the extreme north end of Colorado Springs. Also very good.

[luvfog]

Great information here. One question... what about living downtown? I see advertisments for condos, lofts, etc in downtown Co Sps, but how would it e to live there? Is it walkable? Is it safe? Is it revitalizing? Thanks for the great site.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by luvfog

Great information here. One question... what about living downtown? I see advertisments for condos, lofts, etc in downtown Co Sps, but how would it be to live there? Is it walkable? Is it safe? Is it revitalizing? Thanks for the great site.

IMO, very much so a walkable, safe area with some renewal but much of what's already there stays, really is no blight in downtown, only some old marginal structures that will give way to something newer and better.

Big area for food is the 0-200 blocks of South Tejon, aka restaurant row. Much of the county/city government is downtown, main library, Pikes Peak Performing Arts Center, much more.

There are streets off the downtown, like Weber, Cascade, Wahsatch, etc that are old, tree lined fairly quiet roads, especially in the area of Colorado College (which has its own deep pockets for keeping things nice there too).

There is a small park in the center of town, with a few homeless folks, but I've not seen anything in the news about them being nasty or agressive like back in DC, the homeless are in every city, not a big deal IMO.

[Canuck_in_FL]

Hi Mike, great post! I've read all 200 posts.

So far I really have a good feeling about moving to Colorado Springs.

The only thing that is of concern to me is the crime rate. It seem sto be on the high end (especially rape)

Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

And from a few other websites I've seen, crime does not seem to be localized in one area. I know from a previous post that the burglary/theft statistic is mainly from construction sites.

What is your take on crime (in general & rape/sexual assault) in the city? Is it a problem? Is anything being done about it?

Would anyone else like to speak their mind on this subject?

Thank You