Moving To Colorado Springs ?? (Black Forest, Superior: sales, houses, job market)

[TwigMN]

My wife and I are planning to relocate somewhere a little warmer than N.Minn. We first looked into the Carolina's, but don't think we could ever adjust to the heat and humidity of the South in the summer. We have visited the Pacific NW / Washington and liked it very much. We both have lived in N Minnesota our whole lives. (mid 40's now) We have had our fill of 2-3 weeks / months sometimes of below zero temps. I have driven thru Colorado, I-80 but never had a chance to stop and look around. We started to look at Colorado Springs from the "Best Places To Live" money magazine rankings. The weather averages are 20 degrees warmer in the winter and less humid compared to where we are now. The summer temps are similiar, and again seem to be less humid from what I have found online. The job market must be good to make the list of "BPTL".
Our home now is on 6 acres, very private but only 10-15 minutes to major Big Box stores. I'm sure we will have to make some adjustments to our current lifestyle moving to a big city such as CS. Longer commutes, less land, to stay in a affordable home. So can a person get a get a decent home for $200 - $250,000 with some privacy without having to make a long comute. And I have read that relatively small location changes can have a big impact on the weather. Like where we live now,we are 20 miles from Lake Superior, it can be a beautiful sunny day at home. 5-10 miles away its foggy cold and miserable. Looking for some feedback,opinions where to look / visit when we take our next vacation. We plan to visit sometime early 2008.
Thank you !!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by TwigMN

....can a person get a get a decent home for $200 - $250,000 with some privacy without having to make a long commute.

I think so, but it will take real searching. Most of the area is NOT like that. Most houses are in tightly structured subdivisions. I suggest you work with a realtor (I'm not one) to find a home that suits your wishes as best as can.

Best to you. FYI, we had a Duluth couple visit twice to look at COL SPGS, they love it, may make a move if jobs work out.

s/Mike

[dpitts]

You might want to look at Peyton. I have seen 2300 Sq. Ft. homes on half acre lot in the $200,000 to $280,000 range that were pretty nice. Most have a basement you can finish or is finished to add extra room. There is a safeway and Walmart 2 minutes away and within 20 minutes all big stores.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by TwigMN

My wife and I are planning to relocate somewhere a little warmer than N.Minn. We first looked into the Carolina's, but don't think we could ever adjust to the heat and humidity of the South in the summer. We have visited the Pacific NW / Washington and liked it very much. We both have lived in N Minnesota our whole lives. (mid 40's now) We have had our fill of 2-3 weeks / months sometimes of below zero temps. I have driven thru Colorado, I-80 but never had a chance to stop and look around. We started to look at Colorado Springs from the "Best Places To Live" money magazine rankings. The weather averages are 20 degrees warmer in the winter and less humid compared to where we are now. The summer temps are similiar, and again seem to be less humid from what I have found online. The job market must be good to make the list of "BPTL".
Our home now is on 6 acres, very private but only 10-15 minutes to major Big Box stores. I'm sure we will have to make some adjustments to our current lifestyle moving to a big city such as CS. Longer commutes, less land, to stay in a affordable home. So can a person get a get a decent home for $200 - $250,000 with some privacy without having to make a long comute. And I have read that relatively small location changes can have a big impact on the weather. Like where we live now,we are 20 miles from Lake Superior, it can be a beautiful sunny day at home. 5-10 miles away its foggy cold and miserable. Looking for some feedback,opinions where to look / visit when we take our next vacation. We plan to visit sometime early 2008.
Thank you !!

What line of work are you in?

[TwigMN]

Thanx for the input, sorry I didn't get back to this sooner. I was waiting for an email, this is the first time I have done this. I changed my settings so I should get notified when there is a reply.
I am an Assistant Sales / Used Car Manager with a GM dealer, my wife is
a secretary to the head of engineering with Cell One.(soon to be a part of AT&T) That is one of the reasons we are looking at relocating, not sure about her job and I would like to find something outside the retail auto industry. The job market up here is not so good, lots of work in Mpls./St.Paul.
But that is just to big and we really want to get away from the harsh winters. We both love the change of seasons, it just gets to cold for to long up here.

[slogan2007]

We are looking to relocate to CO Springs. What parts of town are considered "good"?

We are looking for a decent/safe middle class area in a nice neighborhood to raise our son and place him in good school district. My husband is an architect and I work in IT/eCommerce.

I hear the south part of town is not the best area... is this true?

Any insight of some of the nicer areas - but not too out of budget or pricey would be great!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by slogan2007

We are looking to relocate to CO Springs. What parts of town are considered "good"?

We are looking for a decent/safe middle class area in a nice neighborhood to raise our son and place him in good school district. My husband is an architect and I work in IT/eCommerce.

I hear the south part of town is not the best area... is this true?

Any insight of some of the nicer areas - but not too out of budget or pricey would be great!

True, a few parts of the southeast area are a bit sketchy. I always advise to look at the northeast, along the Powers Corridor, in the Briargate area, zip 80920, in the highly rated D20 school district. Use the search tool and keywords like: 80920 or D20 or Briargate or Cordera or Wolf Ranch to see all the postings that are here. This is the newer area, most everything up here is new and well kept. I'm assuming price range is $250k-350K and smallish lot size are okay.

Overall, most of town is good to very good.

s/Mike

[ranchosantamargarita]

I think you and your wife would love Colorado and the Colorado Springs area. My sister-in-law lives in Deluth Minnesota (although she was raised in Colorado Springs), and the weather there does not even compare to here. The temperatures are not as extreme here, but even if the temperatures were comparable, there is the humidity factor in Minnesota.

I live just east of Colorado Springs on 40 acres, but you can find five acre parcels (and up) within 15 to 20 minutes of Colorado Springs. The Black Forest, Falcon, Peyton, and Ellicot are areas that would be your best bet for your price range, or even Elbert if your willing to go a bit further.


Catherine
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