Why Choose Colorado Springs? (Denver, Boulder: custom home, neighborhood, buying)

[COflower]

shroom -- Hope Mike doesn't mind me stepping in.

Yes we have had some problems in our state with BSL but that has been primarily up in the Denver Metro area.

C Springs (to the best of my recollection) has no breed restrictions here. IN fact, the area (with a lot of rural communities on the eastern part of El Paso County) is pretty animal friendly. Lots of no kill and rescue shelters/organizations.

Hehe, I have been here (born and raised) for 35 of my 37 years and it's far from Utopia but it's a nice stable place.

The area, however, keep in mind, is very conversative with a large base of religious organizations and the military has a huge presence and is going to be growing by another 8,000-9,000 Army troops in the next few years. This will have a strong benefit to our economy here.

I personally plan on moving next year to Cañon City to just have a change of scenery but still be close enough to my family as my father is not getting any younger.

If you have a family, it's a great place to raise a family as this is a very family friendly city.

I do love it here but like I said ready for a change of scenery again. Luckily it's not that far.

:-)

[Curious in CT]

Hello everyone,

I too am from the East (currently in CT) My husband is going thru the process of transferring as a police officer in CS. He is currently an officer here in wonderful and expensive CT. I've been teetering back and forth on whether we would be making a mistake moving out there because we're so rooted here in CT. Most of our families are here and of course all of our friends. We are close to being in our mid-thirties and have two children ages 1-1/2 and 4-1/2. My brother lives out there and I've visited 3 times. The first time was in 1996 and we traveled everywhere to include the western cities. I just fell in love with it then. I still love it now or we wouldn't be considering the big move. The only thing that scares me is the whole "new life" movement. I don't want people preaching to me and my family all day long. I'm a born and raised traditional catholic gal. Can anyone give me some insight on this whole Christian movement. I really don't give a hoot if you belong to this Christian thing going on, I just don't want anyone preaching to me or making me feel like I need to join to be with the "in" crowd. I've read a few things about it, but I just wanted some insight on how it really affects living out there. Should I be concerned?

[Mike from back east]

Dear Curious: Yes, religion and faith are alive and well here. The mammoth New Life Church and World Prayer Center is visible from my deck. I drive by it all the time, never visited it. There are many religious and/or evangelical organizations here.

Been here a year now, and have not been bothered in any way, shape or form. Two Mormon lads rang our doorbell but we told them we were Catholic and they left, nothing new, had that back east. No one has tried to save me, preach to me, or anything else. If anyone should try, do what our lawyer told us, tell them you're Catholic and they'll go away. But we've had no problem. Only public thing I seen/heard is at the close of the local rodeo, where the announcer praised God and Country for our freedoms, etc. Didn't bother me.

It could be that one of the reasons people here are so nice is that they live their faith, not sure, just a guess on my part.

There are wonderful Catholic churches here, the Diocese page is at: https://www.diocs.org/Vocations/contactus.cfm The Diocese covers a lot of territory here in the Southern Colorado, so try the parish page at: https://www.diocs.org/Parishes/city.cfm We've been to St Peters up in Monument for a wedding and it is a lovely small-town chruch with a very gracious and knowledgable Priest who stayed around afterwards and discussed various religions with a Jewish couple who were at the ceremony.

There are no ostentatious public displays, no billboards of any sort exhorting people to "Repent and Get Right with God" like I've seen back east. Everything we've seen here is very proper and dignified. I don't think you'll have a moment's problem with anyone.

s/Mike

[bboyd]

Mike

I am glad I found your posts! My wife and I have been thinking about moving to the mountains since we were married 11 years ago. We are driving out there next week (Memorial Day) and are going to come in through Denver and visit the Louisville area and then come down to the Co Springs area. You have done a lot of research backed up by facts - very helpful - thank you!

I was born and raised in Illinois - 50 miles west of Chicago - and I am tired of the traffic, concrete, snowless cold winters, and flatness.

I am beginning to look for work in the area just to see what's out there. I currently work as a marketing and creative director for a company of 150. If you or anyone can recommend job listing sources in the area (other than the obvious online sources) I would greatly appreciate it.

What are the 'musts' to do while we are there looking around? We are not at all interested in touristy places.

Thanks again!

[Curious in CT]

Dear Mike,

Thank God!!!! LOL Thank you for giving me that insight. In doing some research on the subject of the Christian movement out there, it was making me uneasy. I do feel better now and I'm sooooo glad I found this forum and all the good information you had posted. Connecticut is wonderful in it's own right...i.e., beaches, summer fun by the pool and all the greenery, but on the flip side, houses are expensive, people are afraid of change here, mosquitos gallor, cold damp winters, and it's hard to get ahead here with the high taxes and prices of everything in general to include the housing market. We were trying to move out of our town to another within the state, but we would be in a smaller, older piece of **** home. Then there was Colorado.......AHHH Most everything is opposite from what I've just mentioned and in Colorado you get something called views. Almost unheard of here unless you are millionaire on top of a hill where the trees don't block your view. I really can't wait to move out there, just a little (a lot) nervous. We'll be making the move around December. My husband will be attending the police academy hopefully in January. My only other question for you Mike, or anyone local, is if we are planning to build a home, what's the reputation of Meridian Ranch? And, not exclusive to Meridian Ranch, are there any builders we should stay away from? Any with better reputations than others? Thanks

[Mike from back east]

Dear Curious: Meridian Ranch is well east of town on Rte 24. You get a distant view of the mountains from out there. It is fairly flat, slightly rolling country with lots of horse and cattle ranches. A lot of growth is going on out there. The main drag (Rte 24) is only a 2-lane at this time, will have to be widened before much longer, it's overdue as it is. Could be some traffic problems. But it's worth seeing if you make a trip out to do house hunting.

That area is called Peyton, a small farming burg, rather quaint. Peyton recently became famous when an episode of "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition" did a house for a family there. If you recall the house that they pulled down with a team of horses, that's the episode.

I see four builders listed for Meridian Ranch, and can tell you that John Laing and Classic are fine builders, not sure about the others.

MUCH closer-in and very near everything is Wolf Ranch, with houses in the same price range. I'd move there in a heartbeat, and you get a great view of Pikes Peak and the mountains. Things are going great guns in Wolf Ranch right now, don't overlook it, and the road system in this area is superb, six lane roads abound, great shopping, and great schools in District 20.

Once you pick a builder and home style, and put down a deposit, it's 6-8 months to get it built and move in. Some builders do have spec homes ready to go and some nearly new homes are available in the resale market. We put down our money in March 2005, spent a week in May 2005 in design studio's picking out the interior and exterior options and custom touches, ground was broke 01 June and we took possession on 02 November - that's 8 months overall and 5 months from ground-breaking. Since we were in a rental house here at the time, we came by weekly and tooks tons of pix of the progress.

We worked with a new homes realtor who specializes in new homes. She had hard data on who were the best builders and who were the ones to avoid. She pointed out great suggestions for options, colors and etc, and was there with us every step of the way. She cost us nothing extra and she got us into the best houses and communities. Needless to say we are believers in such people, they do exist in the realtor community. I'd best not badmouth the lower quality builders on this thread, as I don't want to get a nasty-gram from any builders or even risk the website moderator kicking me out of here.

Hope this helps. s/Mike

[bboyd]

Hey Mike

What is your opinion of Manatau Springs area?

[Mike from back east]

That's a real interesting place, home of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, and full of artsy little shops and good food. Has some rustic old motels lining the side of a babbling creek, lots of unique architecture and a diverse mix of unique people. Can get a bit touristy in summer months. Has a Farmer's Market and Art sale each week during summer. A bit tough to park during busier times, lots of daytrippers. Had a great meal there (Buffalo Pot Roast) at Stagecoach Inn, where we sat outside on a deck overtop said babbling creek. Only one way in/out of town, Route 24, due to be widened.

s/Mike

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by shroom

Mike,
I have Dobermans (they truly are lap dawgs ) and am active in Doberman Rescue.

Pretty sure the bans are only on Pit Bulls. The state of Colorado tried to institute a statewide ban on Pit bulls a couple of years ago but I'm pretty sure it failed.

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by Curious in CT

Hello everyone,

The only thing that scares me is the whole "new life" movement. I don't want people preaching to me and my family all day long. I'm a born and raised traditional catholic gal. Can anyone give me some insight on this whole Christian movement. I really don't give a hoot if you belong to this Christian thing going on, I just don't want anyone preaching to me or making me feel like I need to join to be with the "in" crowd. I've read a few things about it, but I just wanted some insight on how it really affects living out there. Should I be concerned?

You have to remember that the front range is also home to Boulder, one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. I have some friends who went to Colorado College in the springs and they had some problems but they are very liberal. I think most people won't have many problems.