Comparing cities? (Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: home, schools, university)

[icequeen2008]

Hi!! I just finished comparing several Colorado cities to where I live in a SW suburb of the twin cities in Minnesota. I was wondering how accurate those cost of living calculators are? According the calculator Denver, Boulder. Castle Rock, were more expensive and Fort Collins, Pueblo, and Colorado are cheaper to live? Is this correct or even close. Bloomington Minnesota is very expensive and in some cities in Colorado our utility bills are 40% higher. Any opinions? Thanks.

[Mike from back east]

I'd say those C-O-L calculators are accurate. Consensus on this board is that Denver and Boulder are expensive, Castle Rock can be, and that Pueblo is the "bargain basement" of the bunch. Colorado Springs is rather affordable and Fort Collins is fairly well removed from Denver to not really have Denver prices.

[jazzlover]

Fairly accurate, although Colorado Springs is probably only marginally cheaper than Denver. The other part of the equation is incomes. You will likely find those less than Minneapolis/St. Paul--in the case of Pueblo, much less.

Taxes are a real killer in Minnesota compared to Colorado, but things like public services, schools, etc. are much better funded in Minnesota compared to Colorado--so that is the tradeoff.

[icequeen2008]

Yes we are taxed to death here but still the schools face tough financial problems. Its just plain crazy plus we used to have good services but our delightful govenor made sure services were cut drastically. Why is Pueblo so much cheaper?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by icequeen2008

Yes we are taxed to death here but still the schools face tough financial problems. Its just plain crazy plus we used to have good services but our delightful govenor made sure services were cut drastically. Why is Pueblo so much cheaper?

Pueblo is the step-child of the front range; an old steel mill working class town that faded and is now trying to re-invent itself. Nothing really wrong with it except that it's small, more desert-like and has little to offer in the way of culture and arts as compared to Denver.

[goyanks57]

Originally Posted by icequeen2008

Yes we are taxed to death here but still the schools face tough financial problems. Its just plain crazy plus we used to have good services but our delightful govenor made sure services were cut drastically. Why is Pueblo so much cheaper?

Mike is dead-on. Pueblo is the armpit of the front range. Its not a very progressive city and has an old-school, blue collar mentality. Yes, it is cheaper to live here than in other front range cities, but there is a reason for that. Our taxes are right in line with the rest of the state, but there just isn't that much to do here.

OK Josseppie, go ahead and tell us about how Pueblo is the greatest city in the world.......

[vegaspilgrim]

You left out Greeley-- very low cost of living, a lot of agricultural jobs. But the smell....

[Josseppie]

Pueblo is NOT the armpit of the state but yes we are the cheapest place to live. Pueblo has many cultural activities normally only found in larger cities because we are the hub city of a 20 county trade area. In fact I attend cultural activities at the art center that include Broadway shows like Avenue Q and gala's that are attended by people from all over the region. In fact Pueblo is home to KOAA and they are southern Colorado's largest news station and are just as influential as any tv station in Denver. Pueblo, also, has the states second largest publicly owned convention center and a Riverwalk that is second to none in the state and one of only 14 urban river walk's in the country. The Riverwalk area is becoming home to corporate headquarters and the first is the world headquarters for the Professional Bull Riders that is one of the largest sports organizations in the United States. Pueblo, also, has the state fair and Colorado State University - Pueblo that is the fastest growing university in the state.

So why is Pueblo cheap? That is because we are more of a working class town that is in the midst of a transformation to a alternative energy city with large companies like Vesta's who just built the worlds largest plant to construct wind towers and large developments like the one by AEHI that when developed will be the largest energy park of its kind in the United States. As well as a tech city as developers from Las Vegas are developing a area north of town called Pueblo Springs Ranch that when complete will have the states largest tech park.

Mike is right that there is more to do in Denver but then again I would hope so as they have a msa of 3 million people and Pueblo's msa is 160,000. However I would be willing to bet that once the Pueblo msa gets to 600,000 people we will be much better then Colorado Springs is now with a current msa population of 600,000 people but that is just my opinion.

[goyanks57]

What you have to realize, Josseppie, is that there are reasons why the rest of the state looks at Pueblo with so much scorn. The communities to the north of us all have their fair share of problems, but Pueblo's issues are far more visible because it is such a small community.

We get it, Pueblo has all of these PLANS for new industrial and tech parks, but until I actually see the buildings go up and major companies bring WELL-PAYING jobs to the area, I'm still going to call them PLANS.

You've made the point many times that CSU-P is the fastest growing university in the state. It may be growing fast, but what are all of us students doing once we graduate? There AREN'T any jobs right NOW, so several of the students are taking their degrees and their skills to other parts of the state and other parts of the country. What does that leave Pueblo with? The under-35 population (which is the FUTURE of the city) does not have enough college degrees to help the city move forward.

[Josseppie]

^

I fully admit that Pueblo has issues that must be dealt with including more jobs but that does not make us the arm pit of Colorado it makes us a city in transition. A good example is for decades Pueblo did not have a university because Denver always blocked it, sounds like jealousy to me but I am not sure why they blocked what was at the time the states second largest city from getting a university. That being said we did get one but it was not until the past 10 years that it became a major well known university. Now students are wanting to come here and that is why its growing so fast but the job sector has yet to catch up. However, with hundred of qualified students graduating every year from CSU Pueblo, soon to be thousands, do you think it will take long for the private sector to realize this and take advantage of the local talent? I know they are only plans but in order for development you first have to have plans and as of now there is no advantage for companies to move north as Pueblo has everything a major company could want with the bonus of having a better climate and lower cost of living. That is exactly why we have a growing university and "plans" for major developments. In fact as I was driving on I-25 today I saw a sign near exit 114, in Pueblo county, saying coming soon solar farm. So these plans are slowly turning into developments so I cant help but be excited.