Relocating from Cleveland to Colorado Springs for Progressive Insurance (Fountain: maintenance, apartments)

[cruisethe7seas]

Hi!

My husband and I (both mid-20's, no kids) are contemplating a move to Colorado Springs in the future. He works for Progressive here in the Cleveland area and his boss said he has a lot of growth potential in the newer Co. Springs location.

Progressive will pay to sell our house (which is great as the market here sucks and its already been on the market for 5 mos. without an offer) and move us out there. But it is a huge step!

Any suggestions? What neighborhoods/developments are nice? What to stay away from? I NEED to use public transportation. We have 2 small 5 lb dogs (so we need a yard). I do nails so I'd like to work in an upscale salon or at the airport as a ticketing agent (travel is my other love).

I'd also like to be within walking distance to some retail areas/malls and stuff like that... am I asking too much?

Thanks :-)
j.

[Kar54]

The main Progressive site is located off of Voyager Pkwy in the Northgate area. There are numerous apartments in that area if you want to rent before you buy. Unfortunately, public transportation in Colorado Springs is a joke.

[Mike from back east]

Voyager Pkwy is near me. It's very possible to live walking or cycling distance from an office located on Voyager as homes & rents up here are affordable. IMO, best area is Briargate, you can walk to stores, schools, dog park, etc, and there is some bus service to Briargate, not sure how much.

Search in realtor.com on zip 80920, for either rentals or sales. This area is 2-4 miles from Voyager. Use the Search Tool in this forum on 80920 to see a photo tour of the area, most of which is new and extremenly low in crime.

Only area we ever tell newcomers to avoid is the southeast area, it can be a bit sketchy, but nothing like the typical 'bad areas' in major cities. The airport is on Powers Blvd, the main north-south drag on the east side of town, and it runs right by Briargate and is a good road for getting to both the airport or to an office on Voyager.

The local bus system is called Mountain Metropolitan Transit.
See: City of Colorado Springs - Transit Homepage

Route E4, Voyager Pkwy Express, runs up Powers, with a stop at Progressive Insurance. There are 4 runs each AM & PM.
See: http://www.springsgov.com/units/transit/RTE4.pdf

Route E3, Union Town Center Express, runs from the heart of zip 80920 (Union Blvd and Research Pkwy) to both downtown and to Progressive. There are 4 runs each AM & PM.
See: http://www.springsgov.com/units/transit/RTE3.pdf

Like Kar54 said, public transit here isn't much, not like Manhattan or DC or other cities with great subways running a few minutes apart, but it may be possible if the schedules fit his times and/or yours.

There are plenty of nail salons around here, you should have no problem. Many are walking distance in local shopping centers in Briargate, like Union Town Center mentioned above. Route E3 does go to Chapel Hills Mall, but the hours may not be workable for a shopping trip.

COL SPGS airport is tiny compared to DIA, but may grow if Frontier opens up here next year. Frontier just agreed to build a maintenance hub here, and hopes to offer more flights here in the future.

The bus runs are weekday-only. You'll need one car here. Things up here on the north side are not terribly spread out like a huge metro area, its entirely possible you could drive hubby ten minutes to the office then have the car for yourself.

s/Mike

[COflower]

Originally Posted by Kar54

Unfortunately, public transportation in Colorado Springs is a joke.

I agree with that statement. Not only does it take forever to get from point A to point B, the bustops in this town (especially in the more suburban areas like Briargate, Norwood, Steton Hills, etc...) are hard to find.

I live off Rangewood and Briargate Blvd and the closest bustop is at least two miles away.

When people say they want to move here, I tell them to buy a at least a beater car. I lived off Garden of the Gods and I-25 back in the day and it took me three hours to get to Security/Fountain to get a Colorado state ID. Just to get there. In a car, that would take about 20 minutes.

Granted they may have changed the routes and such but that experience lead me to keep my driver's license clean and maintain a vehicle.

[cruisethe7seas]

Wow, thanks for the info, esp. Mike!! I'll check into those links and such.

I should have specified that I am the only one that dosen't drive, so my hubby can drive to Progressive from anywhere. I just have a fear of cars that I can't get over. :-D

Our public trans in my city is pretty sparse too, some areas are nowhere neae a bus stop. It goes once / hour M-F and every 2 hrs. on Saturday, never on sundays. So give me at least that and we can plan around it. :-)

Thanks... keep it coming!!! :-)

j.

[Brill]

I made the Cleveland to Colorado Springs transfer with the same company as your husband earlier this year. I really love it out here.

I think the biggest difference from Cleveland is housing. Houses are alot more expensive out here. From what I hear(I'm a renter), you'd probably be looking around 200k at least. Depending on where you currently live you may have house close to that. I know there are cheaper options in Cleveland, not so much out here.

Other than that, price wise everything else is pretty close. I love it out here. Certainly glad I made the move.

[ranchosantamargarita]

I might suggest the downtown area of Colorado Springs, although you did not say what your price range was. Colorado Springs has greatly expanded their bus routes from what they used to be, so I am not familiar with the current service. There are a lot of Salons downtown and in the north area of the Springs. Also there is the Stetson Hills area which is the east side of Colorado Springs. A lot of new stores/restaurants have been built there in the last few years.


Catherine
[ moderator removed email to prevent spam ]

[Jubi]

I'm transfering with Progressive as well, but going from Austin to COS. I have about a 40 minute one-way commute right now, and I'm hoping to cut that about in half by moving to Manitou Springs (or at least near there). I've been looking forward to it for awhile. I'm still in the initial stages, but hopefully I will get the house I'm living in now on the market within the next couple of months. I am glad to hear you like it Brill.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Jubi

I'm transfering with Progressive as well, but going from Austin to COS. I have about a 40 minute one-way commute right now, and I'm hoping to cut that about in half by moving to Manitou Springs (or at least near there).....

Manitou to the Northgate area is a good 30 minutes.

[Jubi]

Well, that's fine. It's better than 40 minutes. I live "out in the country" now and I feel so out of touch with the city of Austin because of that. I don't want to be stuck in the middle of the city either, and Manitou seems to have a lot of the type of culture that I like. (I'm an artist) I'm looking to get a townhouse there and I keep seeing a particular complex. Know anything about it?
Condo/Townhouse/Co-Op - Manitou Springs, CO, 80829 - Realtor.com