Wife & I visiting the springs in a few weeks, thinking of moving here. (Denver: hotel, houses)

[JDGentry15]

Both my wife and I have lived in Waco, TX our whole lives. My dad is originally from Colorado so I grew up loving the Denver sports teams. I've been to Denver twice, but never Colorado Springs and my wife has never been to Colorado. Our goal is to open up another location for my business in CS next year but before we do that we would both like to travel there to see how we like it.

My wife and I have two kids (3 and 4 months) and we are the non-party type so I do not care about the night life of CS but more of family fun. From what I read, I think we would want to live in the north east part of CS and avoid the southern parts. We will be here May 6th-8th and will be coming from Denver Airport. What locations/sites/etc would you suggest we see in our time here to make us fall in love with CS?

[otowi]

I don't think you should rule out southern parts of town until you have actually been here and get a look for yourself. There are plenty of great options that direction - the southeast pocket most people talk about isn't that bad and there is a lot more to the southern part of town than just that anyway. For example, you may really like Broadmoor Bluffs, Old Colorado City, Fountain, and more.

I wouldn't personally make the objective be to fall in love with CS because we really want this to be the right fit for you. I definitely think you should see Garden of the Gods and downtown, maybe the Broadmoor. Are there particular things that interest you? That might influence where you should go. And I think you should drive a grid pattern to get an overview of the city - for example, take Powers Blvd south from highway 83 down to where it joins the Interstate 25 in Fountain. Go back north up the Interstate to Monument/Palmer Lake. Come back down the Interstate to the N. Nevada exit and take Nevada/highway 115 down to Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Go east/west across town a few different routes as well - such as Woodmen Blvd, or Garden of the Gods and Austin Bluffs, and highway 24/Platte.

[beezle1]

As you are landing at DIA, perhaps rather than taking the interstate down to Colorado Springs, take Highway 83 (Parker Rd). Scenic, once you get south of Parker.

[smdensbcs]

Garden of the Gods Park, but then go across Hwy 24 and hike around Red Rock Canyon (less touristy)
Manitou (Arcade) and Pikes Peak Cog Railroad (though maybe not w/ a 4 month old)
Definitely take a stroll (in your case, literally) about the Broadmoor hotel and lake
Check out downtown


As others have said, don't necessarily count out central, west, and southwest parts of the city, or even Fountain. It may be that you indeed prefer to be in the sprawl of NE COS new build suburbia with every national chain store/restaurant you can think of nearby but it may be that's not your style and you may prefer the somewhat-more-unique-quirky-authentic aspects of the older areas of town. Older does not necessarily mean lower quality. Drive around the streets and neighborhoods surrounding the Broadmoor or north of Colorado College and you'll get what I'm saying.

[JDGentry15]

Thanks for the info guys...We wont be taking the kids, just the wife and i :-) also we will be goign through Parker since my dads friend lives there. Looking forward to the trip!

[Phil P]

I agree, take 83 down, not I 25.

You should be in luck though, there's no shortage of houses in with your desires, from all price and location ranges. Generally, I would avoid the north end by I 25 because you pay a premium to be close to the interstate. That's where the commuters to Denver live.

The east side is your best bang for buck. If you find you like it, there's a whole swath that would be potential candidates pretty much everywhere east of Powers Blvd. It's a little windier and open out there, but that's probably not too unlike Waco.

[LostintheMatrix]

If you don't mind me asking - what type of business are you looking to start?

[Mike Ryan]

I agree with some others, don't rule out any part of town. There's little pockets of hidden gem neighborhoods all over town that you might miss out on!

As far as what to see, I would definitely put Garden of the Gods and Rock Ledge Ranch on the list of things to do. Set aside some time to hike some of the trails there(Palmer trail is a favorite), they aren't difficult. Walk around Old Colorado City, grab a bite to eat downtown on Tejon St. Some of my favorites are Coquette (an all gluten-free place if that's important to you), Odyssey Gastropub, the Skirted Heifer, and Sonterra grill (Mexican). Drive down the road to Manitou and walk around doing the touristy stuff. Cave of the Winds is pretty cool, too.

That's all I got off the top of my head. Hope it helped!

[JDGentry15]

Again I appreciate the locals input! I am opening a second pet sitting and dog walking company, we probably like to live in the higher income part of town too.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by JDGentry15

Again I appreciate the locals input! I am opening a second pet sitting and dog walking company, we probably like to live in the higher income part of town too.

The highest income area is probably that around The Broadmoor on the southwest part of town. But there are several others!