Colorado Springs - The Negatives . (Denver, Erie: apartment complex, rent, hotels)

[AV Native]

On the thread topic. . . seeing I'm in CS on a visit right now, the only negative's I've encountered this trip so far are overly aggressive customers at the Platte and Chelton Walmart (not the most couth of folks in that part of town) and the ever-present need to fill potholes on city streets. Found an obvious one in the 300 block of East Bijou Street as one exits the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church there.

On a positive note, the new pavement on Union Blvd. and Circle Drive are excellent. Good job by the city street crews!

People who complain about rush hour traffic in CS ought to visit the San Francisco Bay area and try out Interstate 238 sometime. Quite the parking lot. Austin Bluffs Parkway between Nevada Avenue and Union Blvd. certainly gets far too much traffic, but it's no I-238 just yet, IMHO. Count your blessings. . .

Visiting the Sam's Club at 1850 East Woodmen Road (Academy Blvd. & Woodmen Road) solves the lack of couth problem the Walmart I visited has, in my experience. Very polite employees and customers there.

s/AV Native

[jerrygoldsmith]

I agree with the assessment on traffic in CS.....

Its not as bad as folks think I think the construction here tends to cause more of those harsh feelings. But having driven in Indianapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles and more..... I have to say that for its size Colorado Springs is pretty darn'd good.

Now if only I could get a job to drive to.....

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by dpitts

Wow, parents talking about church and Jesus. Thats a positive to me. That is the main reason I moved to Colorado Springs.

Yeah, I would think that's a good thing.

[Dennis P]

I read the City Views postings in the Sperling's Best Places website for Colorado Springs recently, and saw a couple that mentioned that the police there are vigilant about catching speeders. As a result, drivers travel at or below the posted speed limit. Can someone confirm that?

[Maynerd]

Originally Posted by dennismpat

I read the City Views postings in the Sperling's Best Places website for Colorado Springs recently, and saw a couple that mentioned that the police there are vigilant about catching speeders. As a result, drivers travel at or below the posted speed limit. Can someone confirm that?

Heh.

YES, the Police are pretty vigilant about catching speeders. You'll see frequent speed traps on the major roads and near schools.

NO, that doesn't mean the drivers have slowed down in the least. Academy, Powers, most any major road can be a speedway.

[AV Native]

Originally Posted by dennismpat

I read the City Views postings in the Sperling's Best Places website for Colorado Springs recently, and saw a couple that mentioned that the police there are vigilant about catching speeders. As a result, drivers travel at or below the posted speed limit. Can someone confirm that?

Interesting you read that kind of statement, dennismpat. I've also read the same kind of comments from time to time on the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper online from its online readers.

Yesterday I decided to find out if this negative reputation was indeed true. Talking to one of the police officers there at their police operations center (Police headquarters) I found out the following:

1) The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is fully aware of the bad rep they have vis a vis speeders/traffic citations.

2) They try to get out what they are all about - traffic safety, not tickets for the sake of writing tickets or making money for city hall. They do this via the mainstream media. The media, always looking for a way to sell papers or ad space or television/radio time, continually accentuates the negative. This is a continual problem for the CSPD, and they realize this. They have hired a public relations person to help them with dealing with this negative perception of the department.

3) No, their officers don't have ticket quotas per se. No properly run public safety organization does. End of story.

4) Yes, they do hide their motorcycle police officers (motors) in order to observe traffic and write citation tickets as appropriate. If you don't break the traffic laws, no problem, right?

5) The CSPD sends out its "motors" to the 25 worst (from a traffic safety standpoint) intersections in the city. It publicizes them every year, and the list keeps changing through time.

6) The CSPD is incredibly aware the public relations job it needs to do is daunting and challenging, to say the least! They need all the help they can get. . . so AV Native, while on a visit to the Springs as this is being written, bothered to take the time to assist from where he sits with the knowledge and education he has gratefully acquired throught the years.

Bottom line, I don't believe the CSPD is a "bad player" here, though they have this enduringly bad rep on the traffic officers. They do need to turn the public's perception/beliefs around for them to have more support from the public at large, though.

As for speeds, Powers was pretty slow when I drove it southbound yesterday around 11 AM approaching Barnes. 35 mph is darn slow for such a wide route. The speed limits of Colorado Springs' major throughofares are generally around 45 mph. . . much slower than where AV native lives in California's Antelope Valley, where 55 to 60 is much more common.

s/AV Native

[Dennis P]

That was a very comprehensive analysis you wrote concerning the reputation of the CSPD. The police, in any part of the country, as sworn to public safety, and traffic is one of them. As long as you obey the law, no problem! And for that, you get a reputation point!

[ilovemychacos]

Can anyone say.....Potholes!

[AV Native]

Thanks, dennismpat for your kind appreciation of my analysis above! Always glad to help others here on city-data.com.

As for potholes, believe me, if you still have obvious and serious potholes in the roadways in August, your city has a problem there! I would hate to find out how much worse the pothole situation for this area is in the winter. . . (groan)

s/AV Native

[CoolColoradoDayz]

Just for the record, I didn't make this silly generalization about people watching me at Kohl's--MorningGlory did. Obviously, MG is very self conscience, because I myself never pay attention to the type of jewelry people wear. Then again, I eat meat so my brain functions as evolution designed.

Thank you Mes3fils for setting MG straight about his/her kid being the only vegetarian in school. MG makes so many generalizations that their credibility has been lost in this forum.




[quote=mes3fils;1257135]

Originally Posted by MorningGlory

Seriously. Why would you care or let it bother you if you're the only one at Kohl's 'wearing sterling silver'? If I were in Kohl's, I'd be the second one there wearing it! WHO CARES WHAT OTHERS THINK? And so what if your kid is the only vegetarian at his school? Anyway, how do you know he's the only one? If he is, what is the big deal?

Where are you relocating to? Just curious. You should move to S. Florida.