Newbie mistakes (Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Boulder: transferring to, school, living in)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Dave101

In my younger days as a radio DJ, the scariest part of moving to a new town was going on the air and then mispronouncing a local street or area name.

So as we prepare to move to “The Springs” I’m hoping you can help us avoid some “newbie” mistakes.

I already know that there is Briargate Blvd and Briargate Pkwy. Are there other duplicate or confusing streets.

Which street names or area names are we “newbies” most likely to mispronounce?

Are there specific streets that are typically referred to in a generic way (such as, it’s just past the “bypass”)?

Are there local sayings, nicknames (stores or ?) or idioms everyone understands?

What other mistakes do "newbies" to the Springs make?

If you are heading west on Hodgen Road you can make a left on one of two Black Forest Roads. I hope the Fire Department would work through this.

80132 - Google Maps

The whole CO-85, CO-87, I-25 routing through COS is confusing.

cos - Google Maps

The whole US 24 through COS is confusing. Does it run on Fountain? on Platte? On both?

cos - Google Maps

It's easy to get screwed up heading west on Woodmen on the west side of I-25. To continue on Woodmen you have to make a right turn off the main road (which turns into Rockrimmon).

cos - Google Maps

Ok, which is it? County Line Road or Palmer Divide Road? Palmer Line Road? County Divide Road?

cos - Google Maps

[Charles]

Originally Posted by kalipsoh

You'll hear some names everywhere and they have nothing to do with the same geographic area - for example, Palmer Ridge High School is nowhere near Palmer Ridge or Palmer Lake for that matter.

Palmer Ridge High School is right on the Palmer Divide (also called Monument Hill) and it will serve Palmer Lake. (Could you have been thinking of downtown Palmer High School?)

When D-38 asked residents for three potential names for the new High School I submitted "Palmer Divide High School" and "Tri Lakes High School". Guess what? Those two names were #1 and #3 (I think "Monument Hill" was #2, not sure...) in the tally. So I asked why the school wasn't named "Palmer Divide High School". I was told that "Palmer Divide" has too many negative weather connotations so D-38 bypassed their own poll and named it "Palmer Ridge".

[Dave101]

Charles,

Thanks, I'm pretty good at finding my way but my wife is quite geographically challenged. Now I know where not to send her.

I'm looking at all the map stuff, interesting.

Dvae

[kalipsoh]

Originally Posted by Charles

Palmer Ridge High School is right on the Palmer Divide (also called Monument Hill) and it will serve Palmer Lake. (Could you have been thinking of downtown Palmer High School?)

Yes, sorry. Guess I have PRHS on my mind since I keep reading about it as my son goes to Creekside in Monument. But now that there will be a Palmer Ridge High School and a Palmer High School...fun, fun! But, since as I said all the schools go by their district numbers in announcements, should help alleviate the confusion.

[COflower]

Originally Posted by Dave101

Charles,

Thanks, I'm pretty good at finding my way but my wife is quite geographically challenged. Now I know where not to send her.

I'm looking at all the map stuff, interesting.

Dvae

I don't think you need to worry about "newbie" mistakes. With the transient nature of the military and various DOD contractors and such, there are new people here all the time.

One thing your wife will need to learn is that most of the long-time locals will do is give you directions mostly in east-west and north-south relations. Meaning, instead of saying "Go right on Platte" They will say "Go west (or east) on Platte" West is always the mountains. Directional understanding is important here.

You get someone who's from the Front Range for a long, long time in a city where there are no mountains, we get confused. I got confused when I lived in Grand Junction because the Grand Mesa (the main geographical feature) was on the opposite side - to the east and Mt. Garfield was on the north/northeast. I was just getting used to it when I moved back to the Front Range.

[Swampy101]

Another thing I remembered that helped me, everyone said "Front Range" or "Palmer Divide" and so forth, this website has a map showing all the different areas and where they encompass with explainations.
Where Is That? - Denver Weather News Story - KMGH Denver

Of course you probably know that people refer to Colorado Springs as "The Springs". Military people tend to use COS in type, but they revert back to The Springs in regular dialogue.

Colorado is just so confusing on thier streets. Arapahoe in south Denver is in two or more places not even connecting each other for instance and many others like Charles pointed out.

[Pru22]

Don't forget Tejon Street with the j sounding like an h. I know it is simple but I have heard it pronounced incorrectly.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Pru22

Don't forget Tejon Street with the j sounding like an h. I know it is simple but I have heard it pronounced incorrectly.

How many pronunciations are there for "Uintah" and Hodgen?

[ryanek9freak]

Yeah, how about "Unitah" You don't know how many pppl pronounce that wrong. Or Sinton. ALot of ppl put the empahsis on the wrong syllable.

[janetjanetbobanet]

Originally Posted by Dave101

In my younger days as a radio DJ, the scariest part of moving to a new town was going on the air and then mispronouncing a local street or area name.

So as we prepare to move to “The Springs” I’m hoping you can help us avoid some “newbie” mistakes.

I already know that there is Briargate Blvd and Briargate Pkwy. Are there other duplicate or confusing streets.

Which street names or area names are we “newbies” most likely to mispronounce?

Are there specific streets that are typically referred to in a generic way (such as, it’s just past the “bypass”)?



Are there local sayings, nicknames (stores or ?) or idioms everyone understands?

What other mistakes do "newbies" to the Springs make?

Cheyenne Rd., Cheyenne Blvd., and Cheyenne Mountain Blvd. drive me
crazy, they are all close together. I learned to keep a map in the car of
the Springs all the time and learned to mapquest places before I left home,
I still do that one a lot. The streets curve and circle around in strange
ways here, even the major ones.