Why Choose Colorado Springs? (Denver, Fountain: tornadoes, wages, live in)

[Mike from back east]

Hey guys, I've house guests now from FL, can't get a comprehensive answer back to you for a few more days.

Short version, live on the north side, crime is not an issue. Man, is it nice up here. Yes Briargate area, zip 80920 (maybe 80924 if that's the new zip for Wolfe Ranch & Cordera). So much to choose from, lots more than just Briargate is nice.

Our house guests got the full tour today, all over town and up to Woodland Park, they loved it, couldn't believe how pretty it all is and how new all this northeast end of town looks.

You guys are gonna love Colorado.

s/Mike

[Curious in CT]

My husband is a police officer with CSPD......he's in the ghetto section (if you will) in the southeast corner.... He goes call to call to call nonstop. A lot of his arrests are felonies. There is poverty in that area of town. However that's the majority of where all the crime comes from and that's a very small portion of whole city. I wouldn't let that affect your decision to come out here. There are so many beautiful and safe places to live in this city. It's like having a choice of living in 10 different cities in my opinion, coming from a small state like CT. Hartford was ranked 3rd on a similar crime statistic for the country a couple years back but that doesn't mean much of anything if you're not living directly in the ghetto section where most of this crime occurs. Most of the crime you hear about is amongst people that know each other and not just random acts throughout the city. I wouldn't let that worry you.....honestly.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by hbigboy

Mike -Like you, we are retired and planning on moving to Colorado Springs as soon as we sell our home in Chicagoland...We also checked out the exact same places you did (which really amazed me) and feel about them just as you do...So we drove to Colorado Springs last November and checked it out - we liked it a lot and then drove back down again in May to check out neighborhoods etc. We checked out Canon City and were not to thrilled with it.. Found a realtor who we keep in touch with. Now on these post they are saying how bad the crime has become ..Is this something (in your opinion) now to be concerned about ?? cause I really love it there ..the air is so fresh and this has me thinking hard.

Yes, we went to all the usual retirement places, decided this was best, so here we are. Love it here, ain't going back.

CuriousInCt pretty much answered the question on crime, can't get a better scoop than from a Policeman's wife. I wouldn't think twice about coming here or recommending the town to you.

Speaking of fresh air, we took our house guests up Pikes Peak yesterday. It was mid-50's down here, just 10 up there at 14,115 feet, and with a wind chill of -25 degrees. Good brisk fresh air.

s/Mike

[hbigboy]

Thank you Curious in CT. ( My Husband -hbigboy - too is a retired police officer )and I highly value your opinion ..Thanks and Mike Thank you also ...I am now excited as ever !!

[Beth-Anne]

Before moving here, I strongly suggest you do some checking of your own on the HOA of the communities you consider. Check the HOA website thoroughly, search Gazette.com: Home archives, google the HOA name. Realtors can't tell you what you need to know. Sellers don't disclose what they should. Several are involved in long-running and numerous lawsuits. Buyer beware! It happened to us, now we are stuck.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by Beth-Anne

Before moving here, I strongly suggest you do some checking of your own on the HOA of the communities you consider. Check the HOA website thoroughly, search Gazette.com: Home archives, google the HOA name. Realtors can't tell you what you need to know. Sellers don't disclose what they should. Several are involved in long-running and numerous lawsuits. Buyer beware! It happened to us, now we are stuck.

can you expand on that a little please. Whats the problems with YOUR HOA?

[The Smiths2]

Your response was classic. When people like myself write for assistance and reference, that's the kind of feed back that we're looking for, not just the fact that it was wonderfully positive, but thorough. Even though it wasn't sent to me, I found it very helpful because I too am looking at the city and all its attributes. Thankyou for a view of the city.

[gimme it]

Interesting post. Everything boils down to personal priorities. We're engaged in the same kind of search, which has largely focused East of the Mississippi due to location of family and in-laws. One thing I will say without hesitation: Never, never trust a strictly paper analysis of anywhere (i.e., Money magazine best places, etc.). We've gone to many places that rank high on those lists and hated them. One thing I learned, for example, is that there is an optimal size urban area for ME which tends to be around 100,000. Once cities get up around 200,000 or greater, congestion becomes an issue, crime starts to be an issue, neighborhoods start to diverge in quality of schools, access to surrounding nature is more difficult, etc. That's just me, no what everybody likes, and I currently live in Manhattan! Is water important to you? Lots of trees? Do you want to be in a place with a lively center around which residential areas are built or could you be happy with a neutral suburban sprawl? How important is the availability of culture, sports, nature, libraries, a university, etc.? If you are interested in a particular town or city, what is the surrounding area (within an hour) like? Is your town the only thing for miles or are there other cities, towns in vicinity that offer rewards and quality of life? How expensive is real estate, taxes, hidden costs? Will you be in a beautiful town but house poor and not be able to go on a vacation? Do you have kids?

Sometimes you only know what you want by looking around and realizing what you appreciated in a place and what turned you off. You can't do this kind of research in your head. You'll know you've found a place you can call home in the true sense only when you stepped into the place and said, "yes, this is it, I could be happy here."

In any case, thanks for your thoughful post.

[WWMtngal]

Has anyone moved from Southern California? If so, how do you like Colorado Springs? My husband just got out of the military and we decided to move to California to be close to my family. It's not working out for us because of the high cost of living, high population, and the materialistic attitude of many people here. There are many job opportunities for my husband there, and it looks beautiful. Can anyone give me any input?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by WWMtngal

Has anyone moved from Southern California? If so, how do you like Colorado Springs? My husband just got out of the military and we decided to move to California to be close to my family. It's not working out for us because of the high cost of living, high population, and the materialistic attitude of many people here. There are many job opportunities for my husband there, and it looks beautiful. Can anyone give me any input?

I moved from SoCal. Read this:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/188325-post132.html

and this

http://www.city-data.com/forum/188328-post133.html