Pueblo VS Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Lakewood: home, university, camper)

[Josseppie]

I have been posting on here for a while now and it seems that whenever Pueblo gets brought up I am having to defend her from people who attack my city. I find that interesting that Pueblo is still the city that people seem to like to talk down even though we have had success is re-developing our downtown and attracting companies and our university is the fastest growing in the state.

Because of this I have decided to start a thread to see why people think that is the case. I have my own opinions but before I share them I would like to see what others think.

Please keep responses civil. Thanks!

[CTownNative]

I don't really think people look down on Pueblo so much, but they just don't think about it really. If you live in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Boulder, ect. you don't really need to go to Pueblo. But I voted not sure.

[tfox]

Yes, there's a bit of a look down the nose attitude towards Pueblo. Although to be fair Greeley is the town that gets the most scorn from Front Range residents, far more so than Pueblo.

[WyoNewk]

Pueblo doesn't look like much driving through on the interstate. First impressions are hard to shake.

We bought our current camper there about 3 years ago when our old one broke an axle just outside of town and we didn't want to waste a couple days waiting for repairs. We didn't see much of the city, but what we did see seemed a little run down.

[vfrpilot]

After traveling to Pueblo at least once aweek for the last 3 years, I can see why some folks could learn to like the area. I just don't see any reason to 'gush' about Pueblo. I think that is what brings out the negative comments about Pueblo. The best thing about the area is the cheap cost of housing. But doesn't that make a statement about the desireability of an area? The average value of a home in Pueblo in Nov,09 was $116k, in COS it was $191k. Most of the people I am in contact with working in Pueblo either live in the Springs or want to live in the Springs.

[Josseppie]

Interesting comments. I think its time I give my thoughts then people can comment on them.

I think it comes down to jealousy.

Sure Pueblo is not the best and we are defiantly not the biggest town in the state but we have what a lot of other cities want.

The first is location.

That gives us a climate that no other major city in the state can beat. Why in the winter we miss out on many of the storms and have mild days.

That also gives us easy access to the mountains as its just a short drive on either the Beulah highway or highway 50.

Being that we are so far south of Denver we command a large area of the state, 16 counties, and parts of New Meixco. Colorado Springs does not like that because the feel that should be them and Denver does not like that because in politics Pueblo is the only city that can and does stand up to them.

The second is our future.

In the past Colorado has always looked down on Pueblo as a "dirty steel city" but now we are a clean industry town and that is in our past and large developers are looking in Pueblo so its only a matter of time before we take off and grow. For example CSU Pueblo is the fastest growing university in the state, we could get the countries largest energy park and Pueblo Springs is being proposed that would have the states largest tech park. That scares many in the state because they know Pueblo's potential, you just have to look back in the past to see what she can do. And for political observers who like that the state is centered around Denver as Pueblo grows and tops 500,000 people that will no longer be the case. Then Pueblo will not only just stand up to Denver but tell Denver what to do as we will still be smaller but command a area just as large thus our influence will really dominate the southern half of the state.

I have more reasons but this is a nice start!

[j96g]

I can only comment on what i've read about in the forums. But one of the reasons I wanted to move to Colorado, and after doing some research chose Pueblo, was what Joseppie stated earlier. I wanted a town that got snow, but didn't have to deal with it as much. I wanted to still feel like there was a summer even if for a month or two. Coming from South Texas, hitting 100°F was nothing to me. I didn't mind/care and actually liked the population was about half hispanic. I thought it would help with the transition and food for the move. But I will be moving to Lakewood because of my job and now that I'll be there I don't see the need to go to Pueblo as Denver would have everything I need. Of course, I will go to the Colorado Fair.

Pueblo does remind me of McAllen, TX where I'm coming from. It has grown tremendously and may surpass Brownsville by population in 10 years or sooner! Counting the metro area it's coming close to giving Corpus Christi a run for their money. I see Pueblo getting there in about 10 years. We have things we didn't have before just 10-15 years ago. I hope Pueblo does grow and I can't wait to see it firsthand soon!

[mehhh]

I don't think there is a lot of nuance here. Pueblo has none of the standard things people associate with the higher quality of natural beauty relative to Colorado- the mountains. It's flat. The weather is significantly different than the cliche hot-spots associated with Colorado. Unlike the more Northern cities, it is somewhat "country" in its' love of rodeo, and so on. Not exactly new-age or progressive.

I could be happy in Pueblo, just like I could be happy roughly anywhere in The United States. It's a great country. But alas for the tastes of most people there is roughly nothing Pueblo has that virtually every other medium-sized city in The United States doesn't have.

Finally, silly, pathetic, and ultimately shallow as it may be, a huge percentage of people subconsciously dismiss areas based on a low cost of living. Life is a competition for many people in a capitalistic society who haven't done a lot of psychological work on themselves- that, is roughly 99.9999999% of the population. Areas with low costs of living are looked down upon automatically by those types.

As a long-time lurker, I don't really understand your desire to constantly defend yourself and your city if you're really happy there, but in some ways I admire your persistence.

[jporter20]

Pueblo is the forgotten city in CO. Not looked down upon, but not raved about. It's just......there.

JP

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by mehhh

I don't think there is a lot of nuance here. Pueblo has none of the standard things people associate with the higher quality of natural beauty relative to Colorado- the mountains. It's flat. The weather is significantly different than the cliche hot-spots associated with Colorado. Unlike the more Northern cities, it is somewhat "country" in its' love of rodeo, and so on. Not exactly new-age or progressive.

I could be happy in Pueblo, just like I could be happy roughly anywhere in The United States. It's a great country. But alas for the tastes of most people there is roughly nothing Pueblo has that virtually every other medium-sized city in The United States doesn't have.

Finally, silly, pathetic, and ultimately shallow as it may be, a huge percentage of people subconsciously dismiss areas based on a low cost of living. Life is a competition for many people in a capitalistic society who haven't done a lot of psychological work on themselves- that, is roughly 99.9999999% of the population. Areas with low costs of living are looked down upon automatically by those types.

As a long-time lurker, I don't really understand your desire to constantly defend yourself and your city if you're really happy there, but in some ways I admire your persistence.

You make some interesting points but keep in mind the rodeo is big in Denver and Colorado Springs as well as Pueblo and every county has a county fair.

Denver has the Western Stock show

Colorado Springs has the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo

Pueblo has the state fair, Little Britches Rodeo, and the corporate offices for the PBR.

I do agree that people can look down upon Pueblo because of the low cost of living, well until the large companies realize that is a benefit for them and move here. We almost got a corporate Headquarters to move here from the Bay area because of our low cost of living before the recession hit so I can see that happening once we recover. Then who will be laughing.

I think its funny that you mention that Pueblo does not have Colorado beauty because I hear that all the time and that is one I have to correct. Pueblo is on the front range but we have great views of Pikes Peak and the mountains. In fact Mr Pike first saw the mountain from Pueblo that later was named after him and started his climb here, there is a marker for it just east of the city in the suburbs.

So Pueblo has beauty and that is one area I have to keep reminding everyone.









Since a picture is worth 1,000 words here are 4 pictures or 4,000 words lol

Finally, why do I stand up for my city? That is simple, if people from out of state constantly read the negative attacks on Pueblo with no balance then they have no idea what it is really like and perception is reality. So I provide the counter balance to the negative responses so people who have no idea what Pueblo is like can see both sides and hopefully realize that it is a good place to live, raise a family and move their company, if they are looking.