Move to Colorado Springs from San Diego with pay cut. Worth it?

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by Carrera32

...very familiar with the San Diego foothill areas of Ramona, Alpine, Julian areas. I think the most comparable area in COS to those would be Woodland Park, as well as possibly Monument, Black Forest and the Palmer Lake area.

In distance, sort of (x2) but other than that, the similarities end unless you want to pretend that the prairie is the Pacific ocean and east of Powers is La Jolla.

It's really very hard to make comparisons between the two areas... Ramona will be a lot hotter in the summer and COS will be immeasurably colder in the winter. I lived in and around San Diego for 8+ years and north of Monument for 6+ now. There really are very few similarities... They're both in the US and have the same box stores. Other than that I can't think of any. Winters are brutal here compared in So Cal but a cakewalk compared to much of the midwest. The ocean is about an hour drive away from you now. From Springs it will be 6+ hours by plane if you factor in all your time getting to the airport, boarding, and everything at at the other end.. and that's only if you can still find direct flights to SD from COS for a reasonable flight. Otherwise tack on a couple hours more for layover, or driving to DIA, etc. Are you ready for that?

I love living here and would not go back to CA for several reasons, but to compare one to another is, well, apples to oranges.. which do you prefer?

[beezle1]

I came out to Black Forest from Orange County CA in 1994. For me it was totally worth it. My husband took a big pay cut, and I came without a job. We were able to buy a new home in Black Forest for less than our small home sold for in Laguna Hills. For us, it was that we wanted to get away from the crowds, crime, smog, etc in CA. We had vacationed in different parts of the country scouting out where we wanted to go and discovered Black Forest while on a trip to Colorado Springs and were hooked. I have NEVER considered going back to CA. However, you have to want to be in Colorado to be happy here, not just running from California.

[otowi]

There are some very nice new homes in the fountain/security/widefield areas, as well as older, cheaper areas. Fountain has kind of a neat, but very small and quiet, little downtown area. (i.e. 1 street, 1 block or so). Schools are pretty good in both districts. Ethnically about as diverse as this part of the country gets due primarily to proximity to the military bases. You can get some land in Fountain, not sure of prices, though. Overall these areas look pretty suburban, but there is pretty strong community in that area - a significant core of people tend to stay for generations.