From So.Cal to Colorado Springs? (Black Forest, Woodland Park: apartment, renting, houses)

[Mike from back east]

The OP will find the space here they want, but within the greater COLO SGPS metro area there are precious few homes with an acre; that specific criteria will be very hard to find unless they go to Woodland Park or Monument or Black Forest or well out on the eastern prairie where you can get 40 acres if you want.

Our neighbors up the street have a 16,000 sq ft lot (@ 1/3 acre) and keep two Great Danes just fine on that property. You may want to challenge your own assumption that you need an acre for the dogs. COLO SPGS also has some dog parks, (use the search tool with keywords like dog parks or dog runs to find the posts on that). There's a good sized one over behind Rampart High School, corner of Lexington Drive and Union Blvd.

There is at least one Starbucks in Woodland Park, but if you can give up that acre lot then you can live in MANY existing areas of town. Though much of the far north and eastern parts of town are said to fit the cookie cutter / small lot image that a lot of people dislike, if you choose one of these areas you can walk a few blocks or a mile or two to a Starbucks and be minutes to all the other stuff you're used to. I don't see the materialism here that people talk about with SoCal or some other areas of the country. You really need to make a trip here to scope it out.

To see the far north end of town, aka Briargate, see this photo tour. The dog park is seen in post #6.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/color...briargate.html

[hiromi813]

Thanks for all the help!

Our price range is around 300k. We want to buy. We have no plans about having children. We are very open minded people and aren't too picky.

*Bashep* that description sounds great! Although, would around 300k cover a home in that area with that much land ?

I guess it doesn't have to be exactly a 1 acre lot...We have 2 dogs, a boxer and a shiba inu. Our Shiba Inu has fear issues of people and is dog reactive. We have a great behaviorist over here who owns her own daycare. I take them once a week to be socialized with other dogs and people. My Shiba went from being super dog reactive to being able to chill out with 20+ dogs at once.

I wouldn't feel comfortable taking him to a dogpark with his issues. I'm sure he would be fine, probably just give a few corrections to overly excited/pushy dogs. But things I learned out in CA was that most dog owners do not understand dog behavior and if your dog growls or snaps, they are labeled as "aggressive".

I know! I can't wait to visit there and check it out!

Thanks again for all the advice!

[Amery523]

If kids are even a remote possibility and you're wondering about the ability of your home to re-sell, you'll need to consider school districts in which to purchase. There are a lot of threads on this forum about Colorado Springs school districts.

Agree w/ suggestions of Woodland Park, Monument and Black Forest. Woodland Park is about 15-30 minutes from Colorado Springs (depending on area). Monument is a good halfway point between Denver and Colorado Springs. Black Forest is a little more remote and not immediately next to freeways.

I'm one of those Southern California natives....I've never felt anything other than welcomes with open arms. At least in my field (health care) I seem to find Californians all over the place!

[toxicavenger]

I don't think I have met many people who are Springs Natives. So I would say come on out but please do your research first and come out for a visit first. The best advice I have is to throw away any changes you want to make to city and love it for being itself.

[lalahartma]

I don't get this griping about possible 'agendas.'

Change is inevidable, and who knows, it may be for the better.

[toxicavenger]

my fault you are right. but it seems that most people are leaving where they are from for a reason. so why would people move from somewhere that they don't like anymore and change the new place to what the old place had? I completely understand that change happens but I had tried to change alot of stuff here when I first arrived and it seemed like I wasn't enjoying it for it was. so I am not trying to being negative I just want someone to come here with a open mind. so sorry if I cam off that away it was my intention.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by lalahartma

I don't get this griping about possible 'agendas.'

Change is inevidable, and who knows, it may be for the better.

And besides, what kind of "changes" can one person accomplish? He's not going to bring Trader Joes. He's not going to stop everyone from going to church. He's not going to organize thousands of gang members. He's not going to rally all the women in town to get boob jobs.

[sskkc]

He's not going to rally all the women in town to get boob jobs.

But what if he does?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by sskkc

He's not going to rally all the women in town to get boob jobs. But what if he does?

We'll make him the Patron Saint of Colorado Springs, strictly a titular position, no duties, just hang around and look good.

[kristie73]

I moved here from San Diego about 4 years ago with the intent to get away from the bigger city and high costs. We love Colorado Springs. I sure miss the mild temps in San Diego and the beaches but I don't miss the hour and a half commute and the house we lived in.

We moved to the North East side and love the neighborhood (Stetson Hills). We are on a quarter acre lot in a nice neighborhood with parks, schools, and shopping close by. I think you'd be very pleased with any area in Colorado Springs.

Like others said, you can check into Woodland Park. But there's also Black Forest and Falcon to consider. Good luck with your search.