Thoughts from a recent visit (Colorado City, Stratton: chapel, home, neighborhoods)

[orngkat]

We are scouting cities for a retirement spot and Springs has been on our list for a long time. I am a CO native and have always wanted to return. We are coming from a city that has grown much too expensive for anyone contemplating retirement without substantial means. Our property taxes are now approaching $10K per year on a 2 br bungalow so have to find a new place to call home if we ever want to retire. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of pretentiousness in most areas of CoS. Loved the wide roads with ample turn lanes (we have few of those) and were blown away by people actually stopping to let us cross the street or parking lot. Not just once, but several times. Here, they would just as soon mow you down. Surprised by the chain store areas out north (Trader Joes, Costco, etc) and would prefer to avoid the anywhere USA feel of that. Looking at central areas and absolutely love the parks. Love the fact that we can go to Garden of the Gods and not pay an entrance fee. Here, every state park and now many city parks, have either an entrance fee and almost always, parking fees. Loved the fact we could sleep with the windows open and hear crickets at night. Lots of pluses actually. We did wonder though why we saw so few out walking or cycling as it seems like the perfect place to do so.

[TCHP]

I never would have considered Trader Joe's and Costco as north. They seem more central to me with Chapel Hills, Shops at Briargate and Northgate being the northern entities. However, University Village is a new development, so it is going to look and feel like a lot of other new shopping centers. Tejon St, Colo Ave and Manitou Ave will all be unique. COS does have a lot of national franchise shops and eateries, so there are a lot of areas that will have a generic look to them around town. Best way to avoid that is to live in the central, southwest or west sides.

Time and location are big factors in foot and cycle traffic. I see a lot of walkers early in the morning and some in the early evening. Casual bike riders tend to be more weekend oriented. Weekends also see throngs of walkers in most regional parks as well.

[allprolab]

I'm surprised by your statement about no one being out biking or walking. Definitely a lot of that here. Maybe part of the reason you didn't see it is a lot of people use the trails and open spaces we have, such as The Pikes Peak Greenway, Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Stratton Open Space, Section 16, Ute Valley Park, Palmer Park, etc.

I passed a few dozen people on the Pikes Peak Greenway at 6:30 this morning.

There's a running group that meets at Jack Quinns every Tuesday and does a big run around downtown and the Greenway. Always a big turn out.

Lots of 5k, 10k, half marathon events.

Trust me, this is an active city.

[dr.frog]

Perhaps the thing that is different here than in many other cities is that there are relatively few people who walk or bike as a form of transportation rather than for recreation. E.g. living in the Boston area I crowds of walkers/bikers every day who were obviously on their way to/from work or class, carrying shopping bags home from the stores, etc. Here the city is very spread out and car-oriented, and with a few exceptions (e.g. Old Colorado City) stores tend to be concentrated in strip mall ghettos along major highways instead of mixed with or within walking distance of residential neighborhoods. Even if the strip mall is within walking distance of a residential development as the crow flies, it might be an unpleasant walk without sidewalks or crosswalks.

[orngkat]

Yes, that is what I meant...people in our present city actually ride their bikes as a form of transportation. I just didn't see any of that. Nor did I see people out walking at dusk like we do here.Lots of missing sidewalks too in the older section we stayed in.

[shanen]

Lots of people commute to work downtown. I ride my bike to work every day, sun, rain, ice or snow. It's rare I don't see at least a half dozen people on my short one mile ride biking as well.

[allprolab]

Originally Posted by orngkat

Yes, that is what I meant...people in our present city actually ride their bikes as a form of transportation. I just didn't see any of that.

Again, I think a lot of commuters use the Pikes Peak Greenway for this. Or the other trails and bike lanes. We might not have a ton of biking commuters, but it's not bad. I know several people who bike or walk to work.

[orngkat]

Sounds like we missed a great asset. Next time...

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by orngkat

Yes, that is what I meant...people in our present city actually ride their bikes as a form of transportation. I just didn't see any of that. Nor did I see people out walking at dusk like we do here.Lots of missing sidewalks too in the older section we stayed in.

I think where you stayed may have influenced this. I see plenty of morning and evening walkers in my part of the city. I also see a pretty consistent number of bicycle commuters heading down Templeton Gap Rd in the mornings, which does have designated bike lanes. However, I would say the widespread geography and overall hilly nature of CoS tends to scare off all but the most dedicated from tackling these as commuter methods.

When I think of missing sidewalks and older sections, I tend to think of parts of North Nevada and some sections of west Colorado Ave. Neither area is a particular hot bed of either of these activities.

[dr.frog]

Originally Posted by TCHP

When I think of missing sidewalks and older sections, I tend to think of parts of North Nevada and some sections of west Colorado Ave. Neither area is a particular hot bed of either of these activities.

I live off 8th street south of Walmart, close enough that it ought to be an easy walk. But there isn't a continuous sidewalk on either side of 8th street, and it's not always possible to cut through the parking lot of one of the businesses instead. So I either have to walk along the shoulder for some distance, or cross the busy 4-lane street at least once at a location where there is no crosswalk. Ditto for walking to the library or other businesses at the other end of the street. I pretty much always drive when I have errands to run, and if I want to go for a walk for exercise it's more pleasant to do it in Bear Creek park or the CCL open space next to it.