Is Colo Springs becoming the next Denver? (Colorado Springs, Pueblo: home, to buy)

[BennyPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

So what. Phoenix nearly tripled in the same time period too, from 580k to 1.6M.

Dont get me started on Phoenix; I grew up there.
Phoenix is huge(land wise), the population is evenly spread out and traffic is only starting to get bad in a few spots.
Even so, Phoenix was a great place for a kid to grow up in the 60's and 70's.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by Tim Rankin

My opinion is that over time, it's inevitable that COS and DEN will grow together. If I was COS, I would start planning now to try and keep that from happening. If they took steps to limit development in the most northern portions of El Paso country, it may slow the process, and also provide for a [small] buffer.

They will grow closer together, but fortunately they will not grow together. Now that the Greenland Ranch property is open space, combined with the open space on spruce mountain -- there's not much more development that can be done in southern Douglas County, thank goodness. The small town of Larkspur may be able to grow slightly, but it also is constrained. Far to the east of I-25 there will be additional growth, in Elbert County. Castle Rock, too, will be able to build some more subdivisions to the extent that it can. But Douglas County is mostly done with rapid growth, I think, at least between County Line Road and the Southern extremities of Castle Rock.

Unfortunately, El Paso County hasn't taken any similar steps -- development has already encroached up to the county line, more's the pity on that. And, there's likely much more development to be done in that area.

[lalahartma]

^^^ Good point! There will always be a bit of a buffer!

[reginhild]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

I travel to Colorado Springs about every year. I just got back from there and the growth seems to be accelerating. Traffic in some places was as bad as any I've seen in Los Angeles.
In 20 years is the area going to be overpopulated, congested, and smoggy like Denver?

I have never seen traffic in Colorado Springs like bad traffic in Los Angeles. I HAVE seen the "bad" traffic in Colorado Springs when there is an accident on the highway comparable to the best/fastest rush hour traffic in Los Angeles.

[reginhild]

Originally Posted by tfox

They will grow closer together, but fortunately they will not grow together. Now that the Greenland Ranch property is open space, combined with the open space on spruce mountain -- there's not much more development that can be done in southern Douglas County, thank goodness. The small town of Larkspur may be able to grow slightly, but it also is constrained. Far to the east of I-25 there will be additional growth, in Elbert County. Castle Rock, too, will be able to build some more subdivisions to the extent that it can. But Douglas County is mostly done with rapid growth, I think, at least between County Line Road and the Southern extremities of Castle Rock.

Unfortunately, El Paso County hasn't taken any similar steps -- development has already encroached up to the county line, more's the pity on that. And, there's likely much more development to be done in that area.

Fort Carson makes a huge buffer between Pueblo and Colorado Springs. The land East of Ft. Carson is very flat and bland and there is a bottleneck created by the CS Airport and Ft. Carson. Development has always been very slow in that area compared to Northern Colorado Springs.

Planners have estimated that in 10-20 years the Woodman road and Powers intersection/overpass will be the new "center" of Colorado Springs with population spread evenly on all sides.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by reginhild

Fort Carson makes a huge buffer between Pueblo and Colorado Springs. The land East of Ft. Carson is very flat and bland and there is a bottleneck created by the CS Airport and Ft. Carson. Development has always been very slow in that area compared to Northern Colorado Springs.

Planners have estimated that in 10-20 years the Woodman road and Powers intersection/overpass will be the new "center" of Colorado Springs with population spread evenly on all sides.

Fort Carson is only a buffer on the west side. Not the east and the airport has no affect on that. Have you heard of Pueblo Springs Ranch? It will bring Pueblo to the El Paso County line and Fountain already is annexed down to the race track. Its up in the air as to who will annex the land south of there, Fountain or Pueblo but it could go in either direction. Either way I predict that in the next decade Pueblo and Colorado Springs are one big city.

[otowi]

Water is an issue that may prevent expansion between Pueblo and the Springs.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by otowi

Water is an issue that may prevent expansion between Pueblo and the Springs.

I do not know Fountain's water situation but Pueblo has more then enough and once we annex the land it will being the city of Pueblo right to the El Paso county line. I have even heard that in time Pueblo will extend into El Paso county as it makes more sense for the developments south of the race track to let Pueblo annex them because Pueblo does have more water and resources then Fountain.

[zenkonami]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Fort Carson is only a buffer on the west side. Not the east and the airport has no affect on that. Have you heard of Pueblo Springs Ranch? It will bring Pueblo to the El Paso County line and Fountain already is annexed down to the race track. Its up in the air as to who will annex the land south of there, Fountain or Pueblo but it could go in either direction. Either way I predict that in the next decade Pueblo and Colorado Springs are one big city.

Ick. I hope not. In California, the Inland Empire is made up of a sea of cookie cutter houses, industrial warehouses and low density (typically corporate driven) commercial blocks. There is scarcely any "green" space (it is Mojave Desert out there), and there are a good number of people who live there and commute into Los Angeles...probably not even a majority, but enough to back up I-10 every morning and evening for several hours (anywhere from 3PM to 9PM is a bad time to be on the highway.)

That is exactly what I would see happening if the two cities merged together by gobbling up the land in between. I'd rather they grew up and in than sprawling out. Even then, what's the benefit of constantly growing in population? Why not just work on quality over quantity? Personally, I'm willing to pay more taxes to live in a city that's well managed with a higher quality of life than one where the only way I could afford to live is to buy a home on the outskirts of town and commute in every day...and even that's often an *illusion* of being less expensive because it doesn't take into account the cost of distance and maintaining a larger home.

I'll never see the point of everyone moving to the edge of the city for it's low costs and great views when it only attracts more people to move into the ring outside of THEM, spoiling their property values and their view...and that's just the cosmetic aspect of it. We American's have not excelled at living responsibly.

I hope Springs and Pueblo can continue to improve what makes their cities attractive without sacrificing the things around them that make their cities attractive.

[zenkonami]

I just want to add, how much more interesting would it be (and maybe this is just a personal opinion that many disagree with) to hop on a train and cruise down the Front Range to do business or pleasure in one of the other small but well developed cities. There would be beautiful open western range and mountains to see in between, and then great cities with their own unique character and contributions to Colorado's culture, community and economy at each stop. (Not to mention the added benefit to the region from Cheyenne to El Paso if such a thing came to pass.)

I don't want Denver to become L.A. or New York...I want it to be Denver. That's what I like about it. Not too big, not too small. It's got it's warts, but it's got some great things unique to it as a city. Colorado Springs residents should continue to make their city a better city (as should Pueblo) and not a bigger one.

I think sometimes it's okay to be a small city, as long as you're a good city.