Considering relocating to Colorado Springs... (Denver, Monument: rentals, hotel, buying a home)

[maryjh1976]

We are considering moving to Colorado Springs, we want to move soon, but unfortunatly do not have the resources to just up and move without atleast one if not two of us having employment lined up. We currently live in Las Vegas, NV and have grown tired of the hustle and bustle of the big city, things like horrible traffic, rude people, and poor education in the elementary schools. I spend 50+ hours at work, and need to slow down and focus on family first, but still have a career. We have a 9 year old boy who is getting a "big city attitude" and we are hoping returning to a more nature based community like we both grew up in will help. We also have a 16 month old boy who has breathing challenges, and a 21 year old daughter. We actually are in town now just kind of driving around, and checking things out.

We are curious about a couple things....rental housing, areas to settle, job market, and educational opportunities not only for our younger children, but also our daughter and ourselves. I am about a year from completing a Bacherlor's Degree but am currently in limbo on what I want to major in..I started in Accounting/Business, leaned toward Teaching for awhile, and am now considering DBA/Programming (I feel like I am having a midlife crisis). My husband is wanting to focus on certifications past what he already has...A+, MCP. Our daughter, well she has no clue what she wants to do with her life...LOL

I am currently an Accounting and Human Resources Manager for a small sole owner Corporation, and my husband is a Computer Engineer in the Casino/Gaming Industry (currently a contractor with Robert Half). Any tips on where to search for job opportunities beyond craigslist, and the newspapers?

Thanks,

Mary

[Mike from back east]

Mary: Sounds like you're ready for COL SPGS.

Suggest you go to the index of key threads, read the first few pages of Why Choose COL SPGS, then Briargate Photo Tour.

In a nutshell, I think you'd like the north end of COL SPGS (zip 80920, School Dist. 20) and on up to Monument (School Dist. 38).

Lots of good rentals here, both SFH and TH, much cheaper than buying a home at this time.

Other job sites are Monster.com and the temp agencies. Denver is the big dog in the area for financials. If no job in COL SPGS, it is commutable from Monument to S. Denver in an hour, but IMO that gets old quickly.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by maryjh1976

I spend 50+ hours at work.... a 9 year old boy who is getting a "big city attitude" ...







Any tips on where to search for job opportunities beyond craigslist, and the newspapers?

Why do you suppose your son is getting an attitude? From whom?



Try:
Monster.com
Careerbuilder.com

[maryjh1976]

I work 50+ hours, and yes I do understand that can be a very influential factor in my childrens attitudes, behavior, etc. That is why my husband and I are doing the research to move out of mainstream towns. He works graveyard, I have a demanding job. The children have quality care when they are with us, or with out daughter or their babysitter. But I think of several factors when I evaluate his recent changes in behavior. First off he is getting older and thinks he knows everything, and has to have the last word on everything. He is a large boy, and other kids are exceptionally cruel (having grown up with a weight problem I understand this very well). I also look at other kids in our neighborhood and town region, attidudes, gang type affiliations, disrespectful behavior to other kids, teachers, and parents, lack of responsiblity for their actions, nor remorse for bad actions, also parents who just kick their kids outside to play and don't care where they are, etc. My husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, and that was a rough patch for the whole family, he is in remission now, but I know I may have not been the most attentive mom during that time, and was all over the place with hospital visits, working to support the family on one income, and no family or friends in Las Vegas, but I did eerything I could to comfort and help him through the experience...I think this also matured him before his time. I know sometimes things like this are just life, and good kids can still find their way through, he is a good kid with a big heart, but he is heading in a direction we want to prevent.

Thanks for the advice, I have been reading the forum posts for a couple months now, finally decided to subscribe while I am sitting at a hotel here in town, we fly back to Vegas tommorrow night. So far we have liked everything we have seen, and look forward to being able to return in the near future.

[Mike from back east]

Mary, hope all works out for you, stay in touch with the forum.
s/mike

[El Mac]

Mary, you are a 'brave' parent tackling this situation early, before it becomes a huge problem. Kudos out to you!!! IF only more parents thought that way.

Good luck!

[bashep]

Hey Mary,

Another place your husband can put his resume' is Dice.com. You may have read that some people feel you need to have a local address and phone number to get calls. So, that may be something you want to look into.

Now, that you have seen Colorado Springs, what areas did you like? What did your son oldest son think of the areas? What time frame are you looking at?

[maryjh1976]

We liked the areas we drove through north of Garden of the Gods road, we saw some pretty neighborhoods from the I-25. We did not really get indepth with any specific area because we were trying to do a quick drive through as much as would could in the two days we were there, and you can only keep a toddler happy in a car for short periods of time. However, I think my husband is addicted to the Blackberry Pancakes at Cracker Barrel...LOL

We did however take a quick drive to Denver and quickly decided it was too much like Las Vegas for us. We peeked a monument as was earlier suggested and it was very nice looking, and not a bad drive from Colorado Springs. We also visited a friend we know from Colorado Springs and he lives near Academy and Bijou region which it think we heard termed as Central. His area seemed older, but the neighborhoods did not seem to become slightly downgraded until a bit south of him. I guess like they say there are good and bad pockets everywhere. Honestly we did not visibly see any areas were were like eeww no way would we consider living here, but we did see a few that we said hrmm maybe if we found something nice we liked but not our first choice, but then again we did not get everywhere.

We would like to say our anticipated move would be early spring, alot depends on us getting a quote to move our possessions, hopefully finding employment and saving up enough funds to afford all this and be sure we are atleast able to afford to live until we secure more perminant employment.

We took a look at dice.com and also I have urged my husband to make contact with the temp office he is currently working with here in Vegas and get advice on how the market looks for his skill set in Colorado Springs. He is only with temp because he was a full-time employee at a major casino corp for years and then took a chance on a small company system administrator position and the job turned out to be a joke. So to break back into the industry and keep food on the table you do what you have to do. Temp agencies tend to be short term fixes to immediate needs.

As for Alex he was excited and seemed to like the area alot, he wants us to find a place to live that has kids his age, and on the plane home I was like are you excited to be going home and he said yes, because I want my bed, but I want my bed in Colorado Springs. So I think that sums it up greatly. I read a few posts talking of lots of youth sports, and activities and I think even a mention of a YMCA summer camp. Alex will do well with a new start on school and friends. I hope to get there soon.

Since returning home our youngest is wheezing again, it was wonderful to be there a few days actually see him get a full nights sleep.

[Karen Livi]

Colorado Springs is a beautifull city, one of the most beautifull in the country. It is like the rest of CO on the dry side but if you are coming from NV you will be used to that.

The cost to rent or buy is very low in CO Spgs. But the job market is terrible, and I mean really terrible. I would be hesitant to move there without a job.

The main job market in CO is in Denver, and I have been living here for 20 years and don't recommend it. You can DM me directly.

Have you thought about Charlotte, NC? I think it will give you what you are looking for with a much better job market.

[maryjh1976]

We have not considered the east coast due to the humidity. My husband was diagnosed with a medistinal b-cell lymphoma over his heart in June of 2003. He had several chest tubes, open chest/heart surguries, one of the most aggressive forms of Chemo, and also maxed out the lifetime radiation treatments they will allow a person to have. Needless to say he has a loss in lung capacity and humidity makes his lungs and where they spread his ribcage hurt something terrible. Thats one of the two reason we looked at Colorado, his health and our 16 month old has breathing problems that seem to be terrorized by most everything. He breathed freely for the first time since he was a tiny baby this last week when we were in Colorado Springs.

Our 21 year old daughter just moved home from Charlotte, NC after a relationship gone wrong, somewhat another factor that town would not be a 1st choice...

Thanks,

Mary