Is Pueblo/Pueblo West that bad? (Denver, Colorado Springs: appointed, houses, university)

[indydon]

I have reviewed many of the posts concerning Pueblo/Pueblo West and have found that the majority of the posts are negative towards that area. I have friends in Colorado Springs who think my wife and I are crazy for thinking of retiring in Pueblo West. We are looking at modest homes in the 180k-200k range and have found quite a few that look very interesting. I would like to know what the negatives are about the area and would you advise against moving there? My wife and I have visited the area twice in the last year and have mostly positive vibes. Thanks

[McGowdog]

I have positive vibes about it too as we live in Pueblo West.

It's an up and coming burb of a historic town.

It's close enough from the Springs Airport while being far enough away from the Front Range sprawl.

NY City, it's not. The area is growing somewhat. A lot of military personnel and commuters live on the north end of Pueblo West and commute to the Springs. The north end isn't my favorite, but we'll see what it looks like in a few years.

You are at the gateway of a lot of outdoor activity out here. You can do a search on Pueblo, Pueblo West, Canon City, Colorado City, Rye, San Isabel, etc. to see what I mean.

For us, we also have a lot of family out here.

I lived in Denver for 15 years and have just been priced out.

Here's a few positive things on the Pueblo area that might balance things out a bit.

[tedmauro]

Nice post and pics.

I live east of Pueblo in the Vineland area. I play pool in Pueblo west every other Friday. I think Pueblo is a great place to live.

You can drive any where in Pueblo or Pueblo west within a reasonable time frame even during rush hour.

[Margaret Bodfish]

Is there a recreation center and senior center in Pueblo West? What about shopping centers? Are they within walking distance?

[Shyloh]

There is the Memorial Rec Center (230 E George Dr) and the seniors do meet there, but I don't believe there is a specific senior center... Don't quote me on that though.
PW is pretty spread out so to say anything is within walking distance is dependent upon where you live. The east side is where most every thing is (shopping, food, fuel) and the lots are typically 1/2 acre with all the city services (including sewer and natural gas). The north side and some of the acreage area are 1+ acre lots with septic tanks and propane. Not a big deal if you know how to live with it. As far as shopping there is a new Walmart, Safeway, and convenience stores and not much else, you have to drive the 20 min to Pueblo for the Mall and others. PW has a few good restauraunts, but they are not fancy... just good food. The better restaurants are in Pueblo along with everything else.
Don't get my wrong... I like PW much better than Pueblo because I like the lack of services and the less traveled areas, but that is my preference. If you want or need a lot of city services and conveniences close by then PW may not the place for you.
With that said there is nothing like going to visit PW in person. You may find it is just what you are looking for as we did. If you go with the expectation of a thriving metropolis you will be disappointed, but if you go expecting a quiet, friendly, spread out burb of Pueblo then you may be pleasantly surprised.

[edironhorse]

I bought property in 2001 just south of Pueblo on the old CFI Steel mill ranch. We absolutely love it out here. Parcels here are 40 acres or more. We retired and moved to Pueblo in 2005 from Fort Collins/Loveland area due to the extreme traffic and growth taking place up Northern Colorado. Since our move here we have started to become aquainted with both Pueblo and Pueblo West. I have learned to like Pueblo a lot for several reasons. Mainly the lack of heavy traffic. We do travel to town on I-25 as that runs all the way through Pueblo from south to North. However traffic on I-25 is very light compared to what you find north of Pueblo in Colorado Springs. In fact when you leave Pueblo southbound toward New Mexico, the traffic is almost non existent. The temperature here is very mild, warm in the summer, very little snow in the winter. South of Pueblo, we see deer, elk, antelope, hawks, quail, coyotes, tarantulas migrating through, rabbits, owls, turkeys, roadrunners, etc. Lots and lots of wildlife in this area. The town of Pueblo is a very historic town with loads of old west history and at one time was part of Mexico. Many famous old west characters traveled through here and even lived here. I enjoy living close to the mountains, feeling the romance of old west history here and also having access to good hospitals, restaurants, churches, and the old west culture within 15 minutes of my house. In addition, we also have the Colorado State Fair here every year.

I have several friends in Pueblo West and have traveled thru there a lot this past year and I personally am not impressed with it although it has some good points. Pueblo West (PW) is mainly desert semi arrid with few trees, almost no main street, is very scattered out over a large area with most properties being small acreages. The wind blows almost every day, and the weather is usually more severe in PW than in Pueblo. By that I mean it catches more rain, snow, wind, and more wind, and more wind, and thunderstorms than Pueblo does. Access to PW is from Highway 50 traveling east and west. There are 3 exits that cross highway 50 and auto accidents are frequent as they are not on an overpass. State Patrol and sheriff offices patrol this area daily. The traffic jam during morning and evening rush hours can sometimes be severe. The PW metro district is quite strict with regulations with building etc.. However if you are a horse person, than PW is great. When PW was planned, it included somewhere around 60 miles of equestrian easement horseback trails that owners can ride their horses on. Many properties owners in PW have horses, and other livestock. You can reach the BLM public land as well as the Pueblo Reservoir by horseback from these trails. There are also 2 very nice equestrian centers there that cater to all your equestrian needs. You often see quail running across the road and hear Coyotes howling some evenings. Recently, a new walmart and safeway were added as well as other business's. A free newspaper is delivered daily to all residents of PW. You can avoid using highway 50 completely if you are traveling north to Colorado Springs or Denver as Purcell avenue has been extened north to connect with I-25 northbound 8 miles north of pueblo. The roads in PW meander around with little or no organization and address's can be difficult to find. At the present propane gas is the only source of fuel for gas furnaces. However PW just reached an agreement with a natural gas supplier to install gas lines throughout the city which will help reduce the high cost of using Propane.

My recommendation is look both over and see what your needs are before you decide. I much prefer the city of Pueblo to Pueblo West. However if you really want peace and quite with access to the services offered in Pueblo,than look south of pueblo to the parcels being sold that were once part of larger ranches, such as the hatchett ranch, the CFI steel mill ranch, Verde Valley, etc... These areas all have very reasonable covenents to protect the value of the property and yet allow home owners the right to do most of the things they would like to while owning a larger acreage. Property values within Pueblo as well as Pueblo West are quite a bit lower that cities to the north so a dollar spent in Pueblo will gives your more value for the dollar. Overall, I feel this is a good area that is undervalued and is a secret which many people are starting to find out about. Good Luck in your search.

[McGowdog]

Nice recap of the area.

You made good comparisons of Pueblo, the county areas south and west, and the advantages/disadvantages of Pueblo West. I need access to an airport. That is part of the reason we don't live in Colorado City or Rye.

The traffic to and from Pueblo West on 50 is ferocious. That's why I have a park pass and sometimes drive around the res to get to Colorado City where I work.

You talk about the lack of trees and wind! Don't tell me you haven't experienced a little wind the last couple of days. But as you say, if it's not windy in P-Dub, I fall over!

[DOUBLE H]

Pueblo Reservoir is one of the top State Parks in the state. Darn good fishin' spot! Other good size reservoirs out east of there are John Martin Reservoir, halfway between La Junta and Lamar, and the Nee Noshe reservoir group, north of Lamar and borders both sides of 287. If you are into just one day trips, take 96 west. The town of Westcliffe is postcard pretty, also sporting some fish catchin' at Deweese Reservoir. You also have Lake San Isabel south of there. Not too many people outside the locals know of Silver Cliff and Westcliffe, and that panoramic view of the Sangre De Cristo (Spanish for blood of Christ) Mountain Range. And a bunch of high altitude lakes are up there, names like Lake of the Clouds and Kite lake. Now I'm getting psyched, better go fishing this weekend before gasoline gets to a zillion dollars a gallon!

[COflower]

I am not going along with "Puelbo West" sucks as many of my friends parents are retiring there.

It's fine. Property is abundant right now, it's very highly geered to older folks and from what I know, low in crime.

I, personally, would rather live in Cañon City at my coming age of 40 but PW is just fine. Not sure where the boneheads are coming out against it. My dad's partner in Cañon builds in PW and it's a fine area to live as far as I know.

Seriously, people liken living in various places of Colorado to living in east LA and it's just WRONG. I live in C Springs and feel comfortable enough to go grocery shopping at 2:00 am. I will admit that that area has had it's scene of rapes (yeah a woman was raped in my shopping center that I love), robberies and such...don't take that as the norm as I am still willing to shop and even bank (ATM lets me deposit checks anytime) at weird hours of the night.

PW can't be any worse than C Springs. Probably even more safe given the retirees I have known that moved there.

[AzExpert]

I lived in Colorado Springs for 4 years and probably went to Pueblo and Pueblo West at least 100 times. I think it only rained once in all those visits! It's always 5-10 degrees warmer than Colorado Springs. I really liked the lower altitude also. I think it's 4300 ft vs 6000 ft in Colorado Springs. It's known for having very mild weather, even in winter.
The impression of Pueblo when passing through on I25 is not good, but get off the freeway and drive around and it looks better. It's a blue-collar town so there's not a lot of flash, but the price is right if you live there. Lots of brick buildings and tree-lined streets. At 100,000 population it's just big enough to provide all the basic services and has a university. Driving is easy and low pressure, although I25 is poorly designed and sometimes busy.
Pueblo West is about 5 miles west of Pueblo and is also nice. The character is completely different, as it's totally suburban with no city center. Lots of homes on large lots built in the 60's-today. Mostly open prairie without many trees. The biggest asset is Pueblo Reservoir. I think it's about 2 x 4 miles in size and has a couple marinas and campgrounds.
I'd rather live in Pueblo West, but houses in Pueblo are a little cheaper. Neither city is expensive at all, however. You won't find a lot of BMW's, trendy nightclubs, or bad attitudes in either area. Try Boulder or Cherry Creek if that's your bag.