Retirement Colorado Springs or Fort Collins (Denver, Boulder: house, college, living in)

[mike from tex]

Which is better

[Mike from back east]

No one can even begin to reply without knowing what matters to you and/or what it is you're looking for in retirement.

[mike from tex]

Main concerns including winter weather, we are liberal and worry about Focus on Family pull in COS. We like the the outdoors activies in Colorado

[Mike from back east]

Boulder is superb for your likes, Fort Collins is too and is more affordable. COLO SPGS is too conservative for most any liberal, but there are some here, as in Manitou Springs, out on the west side at the foot of Pikes Peak.

[smdensbcs]

"Liberals" can do just fine in Colorado Springs, if you (i) learn to avoid reading the Opinion page of certain local newspapers, (ii) don't limit your group of personal friends to the founders/followers of certain high-profile local evangelical organizations; and (iii) accept the fact you'll never participate in a meaningful, competitive election for US Congress.

This is pure conjecture, but if you are indeed "Mike from Texas" I suspect (though don't know for certain) you may be "liberal" relative to those surrounding you in Texas, but "moderate" for purposes of Colorado. If that is the case, there's a fair chance the shenanigans in Boulder might drive a retired moderate batty. I have liberal friends (as in NY liberal, not Texas liberal) who enjoyed living in Fort Collins but FAR prefer certain areas of Colorado Springs, such as West, Central, and Southwest quadrants.

If you think this whole thing is part of a clever scheme to persuade you to bring your liberal/moderate self to Colorado Springs so I can (oh glorious day!) vote in a meaningful, competitive election for US Congress - one of these decades - while living in beautiful Colorado Springs, you may not be entirely wrong! Like planting a new lawn, one blade of sustainable native buffalo grass at a time.

[AreWeDoneYet?]

mike from tex, I've lived in six states and three foreign countries. We've been in the Springs for almost a year, and I don't see that FOTF has any more "pull" here than it does anywhere else. In my opinion you don't have anything to "worry" about. We LOVE it here, and can see ourselves settling down here permanently if Uncle Sam chooses to cooperate :-).

[Carrera32]

MikefromTex: Before moving here 18 months ago for retirement (semi-retirement as it turned out), we had the same concerns. There are a number of threads on this site that address your concerns (one of which I started). I think there are two ways of approaching your question. First, if you're concerned about social conservatives and/or the religious right (FOTH, etc.), I think that you'll be fine. The rep that COS got from those groups seems to go back to the 80's (others help me out here), and while they're still a presence here, their focus (pardon the pun) appears to be more national in nature than local. While there are parts of town where social conservatism is very much in evidence, in other parts of town (as noted in earlier posts), such as Old North End (the historic district north of Colorado College up to the Penrose Hospital area, where we settled), the westside (of I-25) and, of course, Manitou Springs, where moderate to liberal attitudes are well represented, and may actually prevail. We've found this community to be very much live and let live in that regard.

However, from a political perspective, COS and El Paso County in general are very conservative. In the last mayoral election (supposedly non-partisan, but not really), the self-avowed conservative won over a well respected but clearly more liberal local business owner, by a margin of 58% to 42%, which pretty much mirrored the last presidential election. We're represented in the House by Doug Lamborn. I won't raise my blood pressure by getting into a lengthy discussion of his "record" but suffice to say he's one of the most conservative members of the House, and probably will have a place there as long as he chooses to run. As for the local daily "newspaper," and I use the term "newspaper" loosely, I do read the opinion page every day, but only for comic relief. An excellent (IMO) alternative for those of a more moderate to liberal bent is the Independent, a weekly.

We looked at Fort Collins and, briefly, at Boulder. Boulder was just too expensive for what we were looking for (specifically a downtown location, close to everything), and, for some reason, Fort Collins just didn't excite us. Denver was just too big; we wanted to be near but not in a major metro area.

Bottom line here is that this is clearly a conservative community, no doubt about it. However, about 40% of the population is moderate to liberal. We're out there and not in hiding; you just have to look a little harder to find us. We love it here and have no plans to leave.

[Fullback32]

OR you can just ignore the politics and enjoy what living in the shadow of Pike's Peak has to offer...scenic beauty and a great outdoor life. I am a Libertarian (fiscally conservative, but socially...well I honestly don't care what others do so long as they aren't harming anyone else) and get along just fine here. I don't find the social conservatives to be obnoxious or anything, but that also could be because I tend to ignore them and the liberals as well for that matter.

As far a Focus on the Family goes, though I have no love for them, to be honest, you really don't hear much from them or New Life Church (Ted Haggard's old haunt). I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Originally Posted by Carrera32

We've found this community to be very much live and let live in that regard.

Agreed.

[Carrera32]

Fullback32 - I'd like to agree with you (especially about the wonderful beauty and outdoor life, which is indisputable), but I'm not sure it's really possible to ignore the politics. Just about every decision made by our mayor (especially under the new "strong" mayor concept) will affect us in some way, good or bad. Decisions on the budget affect our local transportation, our parks, our roads, police, fire, social services, etc., not to mention our wallets. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you fall on, those decisions will have a tangible effect on your daily life. Beware ignoring them.

[Fullback32]

Originally Posted by Carrera32

Fullback32 - I'd like to agree with you (especially about the wonderful beauty and outdoor life, which is indisputable), but I'm not sure it's really possible to ignore the politics. Just about every decision made by our mayor (especially under the new "strong" mayor concept) will affect us in some way, good or bad. Decisions on the budget affect our local transportation, our parks, our roads, police, fire, social services, etc., not to mention our wallets. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you fall on, those decisions will have a tangible effect on your daily life. Beware ignoring them.

Hi Carrera32, what I meant by ignoring, I was talking more concerning the social issues. When it comes to fiscal matters, I am most definitely paying attention.