Texans coming to the Springs (Colorado Springs, Littleton: home, neighborhood, quality of life)

[Bullitt007]

Welcome! I've been here 12 years now and absolutely love it here.

[bl415tx]

Originally Posted by BenBoosted

Juan,

We wound up buying on the North side in the Briargate area. Close enough where we can get into town/Manitou/OCC/etc and yet it doesn't add drive time for me to get to DIA compared to buying a house further south. On top of that we were really pleased with the D20 school district, especially after talking with some of the administration for the extra curricular activities that our kids have historically been involved with.

I think you made an excellent choice. What do you think of the so called West Hills, or zip: 80919?

[BenBoosted]

Originally Posted by bl415tx

I think you made an excellent choice. What do you think of the so called West Hills, or zip: 80919?

What little research we did into that area didn't show any homes for sale in our budget or that met our criteria.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by BenBoosted

As a former Texas resident who just moved to the Springs here's my $.02 so that others looking/researching a potentially move here can get some 1st hand information. I relocated from the Houston area for 3 mains reasons:

1. I've lived in the Houston metro (NW suburbs) for most of my life and the more I travel the more I realize how many truly beautiful places there are on this planet. I want to live in a beautiful place and I'm not getting any younger. Houston does have positives (lots of jobs, low cost of living, etc) but beautiful is one word that doesn't describe it.

2. I've had as much humidity as I can stand. I'm sick of sweating every time I go outside or get out of my car. Granted there are some nice weather days in Houston but they are limited to ~2-3 weeks per year where there is sunshine, a cool breeze, and low humidity. I'm sick of everything in my garage getting moldy from the humidity. We wanted somewhere with significantly lower humidity. We are NOT as picky about temperature ranges.

3. We have been awe-struck by mountains (big or small) since we first experienced them in living in Arizona (briefly back in the mid 90s). I wanted to live somewhere where I could actually have a view. Also see #1.

My wife and I approached this move in a methodical way. We got out a map of the USA, wrote down our requirements (cost of living that fit our budget, ability for me to do my job there, proximity to an airport, lower humidity, beautiful geography, quality of schools, etc). Any place in the 48 contiguous states that met our criteria we went and visited. Colorado Springs came out on the top of our list with Denver and Grand Junction as a 2nd place (the rest were towns/cities in Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and California in roughly that order). The point of this is that Colorado isn't the only place we looked/researched.

• I did NOT move here for the weed. Although I'm not complaining about that and what seems to be a nice revenue stream for the state.4
• I did bring my job with me
• I did visit the Springs on 3 separate trips to get a feel for the area as well as research school districts as I have 2 kids in high school

Although I'm still unpacking boxes and trying to settle in here's what I've noticed in my short time:

• Traffic and pot holes - Although the locals complain about this it's all about perspective. Compared to Houston metro traffic this is a piece of cake! Yes there are pot holes. Are there more than what I used to deal with? I don't think so... maybe... a little bit. Again, nothing drastic. As a comparison, if you live out in a Houston suburb (think outside of BW8) and want to go to a nice restaurant in downtown or the Galleria area you're looking at an hour + drive outside of rush hour. In that same amount of time I can drive to Denver International Airport. But if I want to go to a downtown restaurant, 15-20 mins tops. Toll roads? I've only found one so far on my drive to DIA, none in the springs. I would normally spend $8 round trip just to get from NW Houston to IAH. I was regularly spending $8-$12/day in tolls just to get to customer meetings or to fly in/out.
  
• Restaurants - I've seen some locals complaining that there's not a lot of choices/diversity/quality here. In the short amount of time I've been here, and what little I've yelp'd, been to, seen, etc. I'm not left for wanting. There's a TON more here than just chain restaurants (which I try to avoid chains as much as possible).
  
• Do you like beer?! Holy cow... There's roughly 20 breweries within 30 minutes of me in any direction! I'll be having a lot of fun as I explore these over the upcoming months! The beer and the views from some of these breweries it postcard worthy!
  
• Weather... the all important thing. I have yet to turn the AC on in my car or my house since I've been here. When I left Houston the heat index was knocking on the door of 100^ and this is June. I know it only gets worse in August and September. On the flip side I know that winter in the Springs will be something new to me with that white stuff called snow. However, my other relocated Texan friends keep telling me "it's no big deal, wait a day or 2 and it's gone". What gets me is even the locals say that. So if everyone has a consensus that the snow is "no big deal" I'll take it in stride. Meanwhile, the wife and I keep asking "how long are we here for vacation" because the views and the weather have been nothing short of magical. I hope that feeling lasts as long as possible (again see #1 on why we moved here). FWIW I don't own any 4wd/awd vehicles but I do have new quality tires on all of my vehicles.
  
• The locals... I've mentioned them some already in this post. Don't let the "Native" negativity towards all of the relocated folks, that you see online, get to you. Everyone I've met or talked to has been BEYOND friendly and nice. Now out of respect I don't tote my former state as better... After all I relocated here to find something better in terms of my family's quality of life so I definitely don't feel that way. I also ditched the Texas plates for green & white Colorado ones almost instantly and got my Colorado driver's license just a quickly.
  
• Cost of living - Gas is a little bit more expensive, but not much. Maybe 10% more. The Springs definitely DOES NOT have California gas prices! I do have a hot rod and the highest octane gas I've seen is 91 octane where I'm used to seeing 93 octane back in Texas. Vehicle registration - Colorado is more expensive as it's based on what you paid for your car (or MSRP) with deductions for age. As a comparison to register my wife's 2009 Ford Expedition back in Harris County it was $60-$80 (going off of memory). Here in El Paso County it was just over $220. Property Taxes - WAAAAAAY cheaper than Texas, however there is a state income tax. From my rough estimates I'll either come out flush or even just a tad bit ahead financially here when everything's said and done.
  
• Views on religious/conservatives - Although this isn't that big of a deal to me let me state where I'm coming from so it can relate to what I've observed. Coming from the Bible Belt in Texas I don't see more churches here than I did there. I don't see it as "more in your face" either... but then again take into account where I just moved from. The same thing goes for conservatives. I came from a "red state" so is it any more red here? I don't think so. I've seen plenty of anti-Trump stuff here as well as in conversations with other folks. There IS a mix here. For the record at the DMV I put my political preference as Libertarian.
  
• Other - For somebody who travels the 48 states for a living I can't get anywhere more "in the middle" than here. It's cutting my flight times down, on average, an hour. I'll take that! Additionally both of my teenagers have found jobs here within the 1st week of moving in. Maybe that last sentence should also go in my section about "The locals".

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I hope folks looking to move here find some benefit in this. The bottom line is after spending thousands of dollars of my own money to sell our house in Texas (realtor commission), to move, to buy a house in the Springs, to get all of the things you wind up buying when you move into a new place, vehicle registration fees, etc both my wife and I are glad we did this. We have already caught ourselves saying "I wish we would have done this sooner".

Just my $.02,

Thank you Colorado Springs!

Great post! My wife and I flirted with the idea of checking out Colorado Springs and friends have told us they think we would like it. We visited Denver a few years ago and loved it! We would be coming from the Phoenix area. OP, since you are familiar with Arizona and considered it as a possibility, what made you select CS over AZ?

[BenBoosted]

Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz

Great post! My wife and I flirted with the idea of checking out Colorado Springs and friends have told us they think we would like it. We visited Denver a few years ago and loved it! We would be coming from the Phoenix area. OP, since you are familiar with Arizona and considered it as a possibility, what made you select CS over AZ?

We lived in the Phoenix metro roughly 20 years ago. When we went back to visit recently, and consider moving back there, the traffic and population seems to have exploded in the past 20 years. When compared to the Springs we liked the idea of a smaller metro w/ less traffic, better views (i.e. Pikes Peak compared to something like Camelback), and more enjoyable temps during the summer for outdoor activites. As a side note, we did consider Flagstaff as well but the drive time from there to PHX was significantly more than my drive time from the Springs to DIA or even taking into account that there is a regional airport here (COS). Additionally the snowfall in Flagstaff is historically more than what the Springs gets (103" vs 37"). Because of that Phoenix and Flagstaff both lost out to Colorado Springs for us.

[hollyt00]

I've lived here for 16 years and I never tire of the mountains.

[StarrySkiesAbove]

Originally Posted by hollyt00

I've lived here for 16 years and I never tire of the mountains.

I have lived here for 45 and never tire of them either

[BenBoosted]

That is soooooo (yeah I needed that many o's) reassuring. I hope this awestruck fondness I have for the mountains last as long as possible...and now I FINALLY live within eye sight of them!!!

[otowi]

I am born and raised here in my 40s, and whenever I go away even for a few days I sure miss the mountains and our open views and rolling hills in general.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by BenBoosted

We lived in the Phoenix metro roughly 20 years ago. When we went back to visit recently, and consider moving back there, the traffic and population seems to have exploded in the past 20 years. When compared to the Springs we liked the idea of a smaller metro w/ less traffic, better views (i.e. Pikes Peak compared to something like Camelback), and more enjoyable temps during the summer for outdoor activites. As a side note, we did consider Flagstaff as well but the drive time from there to PHX was significantly more than my drive time from the Springs to DIA or even taking into account that there is a regional airport here (COS). Additionally the snowfall in Flagstaff is historically more than what the Springs gets (103" vs 37"). Because of that Phoenix and Flagstaff both lost out to Colorado Springs for us.

Based on your response it is very understandable why you chose CS. The Phoenix metro has exploded with growth and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. You already know What summers are like here so being able to go outside is a big plus in my book. Also, enjoying seasons sounds ideal. What struck me, however, was mention of Pikes Peak and better views than Phoenix? Many newbies cite the mountains in and around Phoenix as a huge plus for hiking and other recreational activities. Is it that much better in CS?