Seriously considering move to Pueblo (Denver, Colorado Springs: where to stay, sales, low crime)

[skiwest]

Can anyone tell me what it's like there? I have been in touch with realtor and seen several houses on line. Houses are small there but prices are awesome even on some of the larger ones I've seen. What are some areas that we should stay away from as far as good part of town and bad part of town. Want good respectable neighborhood. Much shopping there? Malls, stores, etc.? How far away is good skiing? Are summers very hot? Does it rain a lot? Is winter long and hard, lots of snow? Never had to heat with gas before - is that expensive? I've seen taxes are really low there. Any info on Pueblo would be great! Thanks

[80skeys]

Pueblo is dry. Small town in the desert. Rather barren and brown. It's a rough place. It gets it roughness from the Old West mentality that it never quite grew out of , and the fact that it has a history of being a factory town. It has certain charms, but if you're coming from Maine, chances are you'd experience a real culture shock moving to Pueblo.

You wouldn't have to contend with weather. There's less precipitation than other parts of Colorado. If you drive about an hour due west of Pueblo, you hit some big mountains that offer good opportunities for hiking, camping, fishing. In the fact the best fishing I ever had in my life was up at Brush Creek out that way, about 15 years ago.

Heating with gas is less expensive than heating with electricity.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by skiwest

Can anyone tell me what it's like there? I have been in touch with realtor and seen several houses on line. Houses are small there but prices are awesome even on some of the larger ones I've seen. What are some areas that we should stay away from as far as good part of town and bad part of town. Want good respectable neighborhood. Much shopping there? Malls, stores, etc.? How far away is good skiing? Are summers very hot? Does it rain a lot? Is winter long and hard, lots of snow? Never had to heat with gas before - is that expensive? I've seen taxes are really low there. Any info on Pueblo would be great! Thanks

Moderator cut: let's not discuss other posters pleaseI'll touch on the not-so-great aspects. Pueblo is not a low crime town--some areas are worse than others. Sadly, some of the rougher parts of Pueblo are in the areas with really beautiful turn-of-the-century homes. Shopping is so-so, at best--an unimpressive mall, a Sam's Club, Wally World, etc., some strip malls, and a nicely restored small downtown shopping area with a few "niche" retailers. Anything more than that requires going to Colorado Springs or Denver. Any decent skiing is at least about a hundred miles away. Yes, the summers are quite hot, with many days over 90° F., usually several over 100° F. By Eastern standards, the humidity is low, but by Colorado standards, Pueblo can get some mugginess now and again in summer. Nights generally cool off fairly well. Look up the climate stats on Weatherbase and compare. Pueblo is semi-arid to arid, like most of lower elevations in Colorado, and is subject to frequent droughts. Severe thunderstorms with large hail do occur with some regularity. Winters are mild by Colorado standards, with not much snow--BUT that also means that the landscape is brown for a good 6-7 months out of the year--more than that if there is summer drought. Pueblo is quite "ethnic," with a quite large Hispanic population. If you are not used to living in that cultural environment, it can be a real culture shock. As I have posted before, Colorado has about the lowest effective property tax rate on residential property in the country, but Colorado also has a middling income tax, some of the highest combined local and state sales taxes in the country, and one of the highest fuel taxes. Both the state and local governments, including schools, are pretty severely constrained by constitutionally mandated spending limitations which really bite in a recession. As a result, many agencies that provide essential public services are now in severe fiscal trouble all across the state.

The best advice is come look for yourself. You will probably either love it or hate it--there usually isn't much middle ground. Understand, too, that the job market statewide, but especially in places like Pueblo, is pretty dismal and likely to stay that way for awhile.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by skiwest

Can anyone tell me what it's like there? I have been in touch with realtor and seen several houses on line. Houses are small there but prices are awesome even on some of the larger ones I've seen. What are some areas that we should stay away from as far as good part of town and bad part of town. Want good respectable neighborhood. Much shopping there? Malls, stores, etc.? How far away is good skiing? Are summers very hot? Does it rain a lot? Is winter long and hard, lots of snow? Never had to heat with gas before - is that expensive? I've seen taxes are really low there. Any info on Pueblo would be great! Thanks

Pueblo is about 110,000 people with a MSA of about 160,000 people. Pueblo has a mall, Riverwalk in downtown and many retail stores. We are about 1 1/2 hours from Monarch ski area and 3 to summit county. Pueblo gets little rain and snow and the winters are mild. In the summer it can be hot as the temputures get into the 90's and sometimes above 100 but seldom over 105. Our crime is not bad as I never feel unsafe to walk around at night, even in downtown, but I would live on the southside or the northside or downtown.

I am more then willing to answer any question you might have but you might want to look at this thread that I started:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/color...ml#post6736580

Good luck!

[goyanks57]

You really need to do your homework about Pueblo and come visit the city for a few days before you make a decision.

I think the weather is pretty good here. Spring is very short, usually only lasting the months of April and May. Summer is torridly hot, but not that humid, and lasts from June through the end of August. Fall is very nice and usually lasts from Mid-September through the end of November. Winter Lasts from December through February, and January is particularly cold and rough. The month of March is very crazy weather-wise, we can have 60-degree temperatures for 3 days and then get hit 6+ inches of snow overnight.

We are only about a 30-40 minute drive from the mountains, but the nearest ski area is at least a 2-hour drive away. Everyone I know says that the skiing in this area is great.

Economically, however, Pueblo is 25 years behind the times. The city was built on the back of the CF&I Steel Mill up until the 1980's. Since then, production at the mill has slowed to a crawl, and the city's economic base is still trying to find ways to re-invent and diversify itself. Most of the city's well-paying jobs belong to people who work in manufacturing or in health care professions. Opportunities for professional jobs are few and far between around here, as many local employers only require candidates to have a high school diploma. Thus, if you have a college degree, it will not have as much value here as it would in larger cities. I'm sure Josseppie will tell you how much the growth of Colorado State University-Pueblo will contribute to the economic development of the city, but right now, the next 5 or 10 years look pretty bleak.

Vestas, a manufacturer of wind turbines recently opened a plant just south of town, but there is so much competition for those jobs that it would be impossible for someone with less than 5 years of manufacturing experience to get one. There are plans to develop a couple of new areas for manufacturing plants to be built, but as of right now those are just PLANS.

As jazzlover said, the city is centered around Hispanic culture and values. My cousin married a man from Maine and the first time he visited Pueblo, he thought that he had crossed the Mexican border. This will likely be the same scenario for you. Once the 2010 Census numbers are released, I won't be surprised if the number of Hispanics in the city pushes 60%.

The city is very politically liberal. This is the product of the workforce being very unionized and the welfare cycle being very prevalent within the city.

The education system of the entire state of Colorado is in the midst of a budget crisis right now. Most of the major school districts in the state are having to make significant budget cuts, and for higher education, the state ranks dead last in the country in terms of the amount of funding that is made available for public institutions.

For shopping, we have a boring shopping mall, several cookie-cutter strip malls, and all of the other basic stores (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.). You can find much better shopping in Colorado Springs.

If there's anything else you want to know, post away!

[bostontopueblo]

You will need a job before you come here unless you're a retiree, if you know how to manage your money you can live beautifully off of SSN

[skiwest]

Thank you all for your helpful information.

[Katarina Witt]

What made you choose Pueblo? I've been in Pueblo many times, and know people from Pueblo. I think it's a nice place.

[skiwest]

My husband can transfer there within his business. We may also consider Denver and it's surrounding towns. Would love to hear about those places too. Where to stay away from and so on...

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by skiwest

My husband can transfer there within his business. We may also consider Denver and it's surrounding towns. Would love to hear about those places too. Where to stay away from and so on...

There is a lot about the above on the forum. Try searching the index. Questions are always welcome.