Why Choose Colorado Springs? (Denver, Boulder: loans, elementary school, quality of life)

[911-to-tyranny]

hey, im coming to colorado springs too, im from middle georgia, i dont even want to get into how awful it is here,ive ordered a relocation packet from the colorado springs chamber of commerce, DEX phone book, tech job guide,ect.,-today it was 102 degrees heat index, and it gets worse every summer, the last time i saw snow was jan.2,2002, yes- it is that rare here that you remember the date, it may not stick to the ground but it will stick in your mind-lol ,i want to be as close to the mountains as i can get, i want frigid weather, i want to be able to wear long sleeves at the end of may, im ready to bust my a-s-s snow boarding and dont even know how

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by 911-to-tyranny

hey, im coming to colorado springs too, im from middle georgia, i dont even want to get into how awful it is here,ive ordered a relocation packet from the colorado springs chamber of commerce, DEX phone book, tech job guide,ect.,-today it was 102 degrees heat index, and it gets worse every summer, the last time i saw snow was jan.2,2002, yes- it is that rare here that you remember the date, it may not stick to the ground but it will stick in your mind-lol ,i want to be as close to the mountains as i can get, i want frigid weather, i want to be able to wear long sleeves at the end of may, im ready to bust my a-s-s snow boarding and dont even know how

me too, would rather be in the same ER room with my broken a s s with you than one more month in Texas, lets face it, most of the pain and suffering on this website comes from the midwest and the south.
Im orginially from a snow state, so as far as cold
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
And once again: GO BRONCOS

[Mike from back east]

You guys are gonna love Colorado and the Springs.

Artist types may be happiest in Manitou, but I'd say 'Old Colorado City' is just as good if not better.

Just got back from a thousand-mile pilgrimage up to Rapid City, SD (Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument), then east to Mitchell, SD (just 'had' to see the Corn Palace), then back via Grand Island, NE. Trust me, there is plenty of CDL work here in the west for drivers. I-25, I-70, I-80 and I-90 are truck-city not to mention all of the short haul stuff. Good deal of moving & storage CDL work here too as lots of military moving in/out all the time.

That stuff about 'evangelicals' is 99% hogwash, no one gets pestered, nor is the 'chruch lady' from SNL standing around on every corner seeing who buys a 6-pack. If she was, I'd share mine with her, good old Bal'mer boy that I am.

Y'ALL COME!!

[martinezd]

All, thanks for such a great thread!!! I've read all 27 pages with great interest.

Mike... I understand your reasons for wanting to leave DC. My wife and I have been on the Gulf Coast and East Coast for the past 18 yrs because of my Navy and then civilian careers. We've been in the DC area now for the past 10 years (14 total) and we've had enough (of all the things you've repeatedly mentioned). I'm originally from Reno, NV; she grew up in Colorado Springs and Reno. We've been wanting to make our way back out west (home) for the past 6-7 years and it's finally going to happen!!!

I received a job offer for a position at Schriever AFB and will be traveling out your way for a week's worth of house-hunting. We have 3 kids (B-14, G-12, B-10) and would be very interested in your advice for areas where we should focus our search.

We're looking at a price range up to about $325K, would prefer D-20 or D-38, but will consider Falcon District. We'd also like to have at least 1 acre (but I'm willing to go smaller if everything else is good). My real concern - and I'm sure Charles can speak to this - is we need to be within reasonable commuting distance to Schriever (within an hour) and I'd like to be in position for a reasonable commute to Denver if necessary.

Thanks again for all your great advice!!! All of us are incredibly excited about Colorado Springs!

[Mike from back east]

MartinezD, welcome to C-D and thanks for the kind words.

I worked for Navy for 4 years, 1973-77, at David Taylor Model Basin there at the American Legion (Cabin John) bridge. Great place! Met my wife there. As we were Navy employees, we got married in the Navy Chapel on Nebraska Ave.

Funny, our next door neighbor just left Schriever for a job in the Azores with the USAF. My former Army employer used to run an ocean cargo port there, our biggest inbound cargo was beer for the air base. Priorities!

I strongly favor D20, but it will take some searching to have an acre in D20 with a cap at $325k. Search in realtor.com with that price limit, and selecting an acre as a screening factor, using zip 80920, then run the query again on zip 80921 and last again on zip 80908. Maybe you'll find some. I am high on the Briargate area, walk to most D20 schools, very affordable, good shopping and docs and hospitals and food, plus its an easy shot down 6-lane Powers Blvd to the base. Powers has every known big box store on earth. Schools in D20 seem to be up there with the best of Fairfax County, VA.

As a school district, D49 (Falcon) worries me. What I've heard is: Problems with funding. Bond issue failed or was not even attempted. (Back in VA where you’re at, bond issues in Fairfax County, one of nation’s best school systems, are always a lock, they love their schools there, bonds always win with 70% or more voter approval.) Story is that the one HS in Falcon was way overcrowded so they brought in trailers. Parents got pissed, took their kids out for home-schooling. Student count went down. Thus, when a school census was taken, the lower enrollment resulted in even fewer teachers in that school, etc. Talk about self-inflicted wounds. I know for a fact that the Falcon area is growing rapidly. It's well east of town on the plains. I liked some of the houses I saw in Meridan Ranch, but not with an acre. What you'll likely find out there, with an acre or more, is a modular home that uses a well and septic system. If you're going to raise a veggie garden or have horses, that may be the way to go.

Commuting from Falcon won't be that big a deal, but Hwy 24 is an old 2-laner that is due for widening, but is very busy and will be messy for a while. But there is a lot of acreage out there, you should find your land and house at your price.

Maybe someone on the south side of town can comment on what parts of that area may also fit your criteria.

Still, I think that if you can see this north end, you'll want to be here.

s/Mike from back east

[Coloradoan]

Falcon D-49 just finished building a new high school that students will start attending in October. It is located in the Meridian Ranch area. The current high school building will become another middle school. As with D-20 there are schools that are better than others in the district, but from past experience I can say that the schools located "out east" are pretty good.

There are many Schriever and Pete field families that live out that way. Google realtor dot com for zip 80831 for listings with 1+ acre under $325k and you will see several homes that are not modular/trailers listed. If you are looking for horse property though, you will most likely be over the $325k limit. Be prepared for a lot of windy days if you decide to move that way.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by martinezd

My real concern - and I'm sure Charles can speak to this - is we need to be within reasonable commuting distance to Schriever (within an hour) and I'd like to be in position for a reasonable commute to Denver if necessary.

I live about one mile NW of the 83/105 intersection (D38). Takes me exactly 50 minutes to get from my driveway to Schriever's west parking lot. There is absolutely no traffic. Then it takes about ten more minutes to get to my desk. (I usually go 105 to 83 to Powers to Woodmen to Marksheffel to 94 to Curtis in the morning and either the reverse or Curtis through Falcon to Meridian to Hodgen to 83 to 105 in the afternoon.)
I didn't read all the posts but based on your post it would be a good idea to look on the extreme north end of the springs, maybe Jackson Creek, Woodmoor, Briargate, Stone Crossing, or anything northwest of Woodmen/Powers. Even Palmer Lake is within an hour. I think there are houses in that price range, not sure if there are acre lots. Falcon District is much closer to Schriever but much farther to south Denver. I am about 40 minutes from the Denver Tech Center (where United Launch Alliance is ramping up big time) and about 55 minutes from Buckley AFB and Aurora - all within one bladder distance. A lot of people don't know this but there is a commuter bus service called FREX which goes between the Springs and Denver with FREE wireless high speed internet on the bus.

Also in the springs are Peterson AFB and Cheyenne Mountain AFB. Northrop Grumman and Aerospace Corporation are building new facilities near the COS airport. Lockheed is everywhere. Boeing has two buildings and Raytheon is here too.

They're going nuts around the region with road construction. Woodmen and Marksheffel are going to be widened considerably. Powers may turn into an expressway with few if any signal lights.

Schriever has two nice gyms and is a great area to go cycling at lunch. I play basketball and tennis at lunchtime too. There a midday soccer and basketball leagues. They are going to be doing a lot of building soon, new research buildings and also base housing including a pool (which I understand will NOT be available to employees on the base - bummer). If you arrive at 8 AM you will walk one half mile from your car to your desk. I get there at six and walk about 1/3 mile. The base is well maintained, well landscaped, and things like restrooms are cleaned twice a day - very impressive.

[seangi4]

[quote=Mike from back east;5637]
Lastly, there a chain of furniture stores here that sell so cheaply it won't pay you to bring much of your furniture, unless it really valuable stuff. I'd say to sell it up there and buy all new when you get here. The guy is amazing and I can't recommend him highly enough, he does $350M a year in eight mega stores, is 8th largest in the nation, and he's only here in ONE state! Go to his website, Removed and check his prices. When we saw his prices and his great furniture, we sold our old stuff, which was solid cherry by Thomasville, and got all new, did the whole house for $10k!

Hey Mike, thanks so much for you site the info has been priceless during our relocation to the springs.
Unfortunately after paying $2000 dollars to bring our stuff here most of it has been damaged in a flooded garage we stored it in while waiting to find the perfect house. We recently remembered an earlier post about an awesome furniture store in town and sadly for us the site has been removed. Is the store you spoke of the American Furniture store?thanks again sean

[gpraceman]

My guess would be American Furniture Warehouse. They have good prices, but since most of the stuff comes from China (same is true at many other furniture stores), you do need to be selective. Generally, they have stuff in stock, whereas at many other places you have to wait weeks to get your furniture. If you need to return stuff, AFW doesn't hassle you, whereas other places (like Kacey Fine Furniture) will try to charge you a restocking fee.

[cawildes]

I just joined and read through this thread which started some time last year. My husband and I are considering a move to Co. Springs from ... you guessed it ... CALIFORNIA. I am a native of the Bay Area; he's a native of Saskatchewan, Canada. We're fairly new parents and one of our closest friends made the move nearly two years ago and LOVE IT. We came out last summer for vacation and to explore a possible transfer with my husband's company (a homebuilder and surprise - he's since been laid off). Since our visit, we've done considerable research, incl. posts like these; prior to our last visit, we did some research to try to figure out WHERE, if not the more desirable areas in CA (we lived in one but couldn't afford to buy a home there), WHERE would we live? Denver area (burbs), and Colorado Springs seemed to be the best choices. But here's what happened ... I had a "moment", when we hit the top of Monument Hill. I was just struck by how beautiful it was. Denver didn't strike me that way. To me, it was much like the Bay Area. In our research, we've concluded we'd make our home in D20 or D38; you can get a resale home - and a nice one, on a large lot albeit a little older - in that $200-300K range (there are a lot of homes on the market right now); you can get an beautiful newer or new home in these areas in the $300-400K range with at least twice the space of what you'd get here and much larger lots = more space between you and your neighbors. Prop. taxes are def. lower - ours are going up to nearly $8K! Since my husband's been laid off, we're seriously considering Co. Springs again and will be there 9/8-9/15. We're looking forward to spending time just hanging out and getting a feel for what it's like to live there. I want to add that I really appreciate some of these really well thought out posts, genuinely interested and concerned about the topic and so helpful to those of us trying to sort all of this out. For anyone concerned about us folks from CA trying to turn the Springs into another CA, please don't worry - there's a reason we're leaving CA and it's for a better life - not to recreate the one we have. For our friend in San Diego, I would def. commute up to Denver than back and forth on the plane. From what I hear (like other posters have said), the commute is nothing like what we have in the major metro areas out here where it takes more than an hour to drive 25 miles. The snow could be an issue but it's do-able. Lastly, I am one of the conservative evangelical Christians that some on this post seem to be wary of. I hope that if our paths cross, you won't find me anything but respectful and hospitable.
Cheers! Thanks again!