Good place for me to move? (business, cities, places)

[mooksmom]

Originally Posted by mdhaegele

Hi everyone! I have made the decision that I'm moving to Colorado in July. I have ten months to decide exactly where before I put money down

I visited Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs last month and fell in love. I loved Manitou and the West side, Old Colorado City area of Colorado Springs. I am hoping it would make a good fit for me. I love that it's situated in mountains and that it's close to so many parks (Red Rock open space is stunning!!! Nothing like that on the east coast, that's for sure!), I loved garden of the gods, just a beautiful area.

I live in Philly and would miss the great art and music scene. Does this exist at all here? It seemed it might in Manitou?

I'm a massage therapist and also a nanny and would like to do both once I move. Are there opportunities for me here?

I think I need a little guidance as currently my mind is thinking of where to start my Colorado journey. I do think Denver would be a great fit socially for me but I like the idea of being more connected to nature as opposed to city, but still being in a smaller city and really close to the big one. I also don't think I could afford a place without roommates in Denver (as a one income single lady, shooting for a rent of $600-$800 and found a few spots in Colorado springs). I guess I'm trying to feel out if I should live in the outskirts of Denver first to get a feel for Colorado and its neighborhoods or if I can do that in either of the Springs and be happy.

Please shoot me any thoughts, advice and ideas!! 😉❤

Just pick a spot and load up your vehicle. When you make a move like that you will end up moving somewhere else within a year or two. I have done this several times in my life and asking others to help me decide never worked. Rent a room in someone's home for 6 months or a year and then every weekend head out to other surrounding cities and events to EXPLORE where you might want to live.

[mdhaegele]

This is great advice. Thanks mooksmom! I have the feeling I will most likely find an area better suited once out there as well. Maybe Manitou will be perfect, but then again, being out there and experiencing all the cities and towns might draw me somewhere else completely. I do plan on getting an RV at some point soon so that might help matters even more!

[Dean Trails]

Originally Posted by MountainEarth

Manitou and Old Colorado City are unique, eclectic, creative, laid back communities. But if you crave big city night life you won't find it there. You will, however find a lot of dreamers, entrepreneurs, young families, old school hippies and hipsters alike. You'll also see a lot of weed, poverty, and crime has certainly been on the increase (as it has pretty much everywhere). But people are good. The West Side (including downtown) is far more socially & culturally progressive than most of the rest of ultra-conservative Colorado Springs.


Colorado is a state a LOT of people want to live in. So we see a lot of people move here with portable careers ... that is, careers they can do anywhere. Like massage. LOTS of massage therapists in the area, many of which are willing to take a lower wage in order to live here. If you bring something unique with you, or you are especially good at what you do, and good at building a clientele you may do just fine. The creme of the crop rises. But it will take time.

The advice to come during Winter is good. We really don't get the kind of snow you might think. October can see some big snows. But they melt quickly. November - February is generally quite dry & brown. We don't see snow on the ground all season. For that, you need to get much higher up and on the other side of the Continental Divide (where the ski resorts are). Our biggest snow months are traditionally March-April, though that has been increasingly shifting to April-May as the climate shifts. But again, Spring snows tend to melt within a few days. (They're beautiful when they're here though! Garden of the Gods or Red Rocks flocked in snow is an amazing sight to behold.)

Colorado's a beautiful place. But it's most certainly not the easiest place to live. Finding a good job and a place you can afford is a constant struggle for many. As John Denver sung in his 1972 classic "Guess He'd Rather be in Colorado" this is a place where "the only thing you earn is what you spend." Paycheck-to-paycheck is a pretty common lifestyle out here. So be prepared.

I'm not saying you can't make it, or trying to scare you in any way. Heck back in 1993 I was you. I graduated from college, saved up a little money, loaded the car and came to Colorado with a nascent plan myself. And I've never looked back. Been here nearly 25 years now. It can be done. But it takes work, and you need to be grounded. Living here and vacationing here are HUGELY different experiences. Good luck OP.

Wonderful advice and doubly good as it comes from a native of the area. Too often the advice for an area is someone that lived there 15 years ago for 6 months.


That said, how is Manitou for a young retiree? No paycheck required but looking for good restaurants, hiking and biking trails. Other amenities might be great to pass the time.
Housing seems older but very affordable. I will have to do homework on the taxes and such.


Thank you again for the good comments. I will be looking in to the other threads as well.

[TCHP]

Nearly 25 years of residency is pretty close to native status. That is long enough to have seen us transition from a progressive technology manufacturing community to an evangelical enclave that is tax averse to our current cautious but optimistic outlook that is finally dealing a backlog of civic issues.

Whether Manitou is a good retiree community over others parts of town would depend on what you want aside from restaurants, hiking and biking. These three things can be easily reached from nearly anyplace in the city as a cross town drive is not particularly difficult. Although in general, the westside and downtown tend to have the highest percentage of local restaurants, improved walkability, and a broader range of activities to do . Manitou is in the foothills so it has considerably more hills, mountains, and road grades to deal with than the rest of Cos. It also is more diverse in housing age than it appears on the surface. While the core of Manitou has retained a lot of its Victorian and Edwardian architecture, Crystal Hills, Crystal Park, and Cedar Heights are all within the Manitou zip code and contain custom houses built from the '70s to now.

[Mike from back east]

IMO anyone wishing to retire to Manitou would have to really love the vibe of the place, the pace of it, the cramped quarters, its tourist hordes, etc. For me, as a 70-year-old, I'd rather be in the ONEN area that's flat, walkable, decently quiet, has a few amenities and nearby access to many more as well as access to downtown.

[mdhaegele]

I am in my mid thirties and am hoping for folks 25-45 age range. Don't think I want to retire just yet!

[mdhaegele]

Ah never mind. I see that someone else was asking about retirement. Nevertheless, what is the age demographic in Manitou? I know it's a small town so I suppose that may matter more if you are looking for peers.

[TCHP]

Since Dean Trails did not give us more info than early retirement, I'm assuming a 55-65 age bracket. Whether the unending number of hills and climbs of living in Manitou are compatible with that age bracket or not, only they can decide.

mdhaegle, Manitou demographics break out something like this: 97% white, 51% female, median age of 45, 30% between 45-50 years of age, 25% between 25-44, 45% of homes are occupied by renters. One stat I did find interesting, there are 2% households in Manitou reporting occupancy by three or more generations.

I'm sure you know that Manitou is adjoining Colo Spgs so the above numbers only reflect the actual areas within the official Manitou town limits and not the west side in general

[rochester_veteran]

Originally Posted by mdhaegele

Hi everyone! I have made the decision that I'm moving to Colorado in July. I have ten months to decide exactly where before I put money down

Good thread, mdhaegele! I've subscribed to this thread as there's so many helpful posts about the neighborhoods and life in and around Colorado Springs. I'm planning on retiring at the end of August, 2018 and moving to Colorado at the end of September, 2018. My son, daughter in law and grandson (the apple of my eye!) currently live in Castle Rock and I want to live closer to them, but rents there are pretty high compared to where I currently live in Western New York. I've been researching living in Colorado Springs and found in my searches on Zillow and Craigslist, that rents are more affordable in Colorado Springs. I found several apartments available in the $750-$1000 range. Here's some links from the searches I've done:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_ren...42_rect/10_zm/

https://cosprings.craigslist.org/sea...labilityMode=0

[Mohobojo]

I've only visited CS so YMMV, but culturally 90% of U.S. cities seem to be a step down from Philly. If you're looking for culture and art, I doubt CS will satisfy you.