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I’d say scenery is definitely in COS favor as well. It’s right up against the mountains and has unique places like Garden of the God in the city limits.
COS is definitely a unique spot, nestled in a valley of a big 14er blob that's off by itself on the dividing line between plains and mountains. But it's a dry spot away from the other more postcardy sections of CO mountains. I'd say Tacoma is better geographically because it still has a nearby 14er (that's more scary being a volcano), but has options both east and west, instead running into ghost town America if you go one way. East of COS is the most ugh part of the entire Great Plains, no farms, just brown grass clumps.
COS is definitely a unique spot, nestled in a valley of a big 14er blob that's off by itself on the dividing line between plains and mountains. But it's a dry spot away from the other more postcardy sections of CO mountains. I'd say Tacoma is better geographically because it still has a nearby 14er (that's more scary being a volcano), but has options both east and west, instead running into ghost town America if you go one way. East of COS is the most ugh part of the entire Great Plains, no farms, just brown grass clumps.
I think we might have to agree to disagree. Tacoma is pretty but COS (Mostly the western part of the city) is gorgeous. Plus Mt. Rainier is nowhere near as close to Tacoma as it looks in pictures. The plains part of the Springs isn’t as attractive but the Western part more than makes up for it imo.
Mt. Rainier is nowhere near as close to Tacoma as it looks in pictures. The plains part of the Springs isn’t as attractive but the Western part more than makes up for it imo.
Mount Rainier looks huge in Tacoma, it's only 40 miles away. The pictures aren't exaggerating.
Last edited by Guineas; 12-10-2020 at 05:16 PM..
Reason: 60 miles is driving, 40 miles away actually
Mount Rainier looks huge in Tacoma, it's only 60 miles away. The pictures aren't exaggerating.
I went to school in Tacoma. It looks nice depending on where you are but nothing like in pictures. On ground level at least. In COS the mountains are less than 5 miles away and Pike’s Peak is only about 12 miles away from Downtown. They’re pretty much right in your face. I do enjoy the water and hilly topography Tacoma has to offer though.
I think we might have to agree to disagree. Tacoma is pretty but COS (Mostly the western part of the city) is gorgeous. Plus Mt. Rainier is nowhere near as close to Tacoma as it looks in pictures. The plains part of the Springs isn’t as attractive but the Western part more than makes up for it imo.
Pikes Peak is stunning in how close it is, but it's not the most recreationally accessible mountain, for drinking water and other reasons it's kind of a roped off mountain. A lot recreation for COS is actually in the foothills around Pikes Peak. The rest of the mountains of CO are about 2 hrs minimum away, which is a little bit of a haul. With 2 hrs of Tacoma, you can get to a lot of the cool stuff and more variety.
- Crime/safety - Colorado Springs
- Schools - don't know
- Housing affordability - Colorado Springs no contest
- Downtown - Tacoma
- Restaurants/Nightlife - Restaurants Colorado Springs/Nightlife Tacoma
- Shopping - Wash, specialty stores in Denver/Seattle, basics in both, Amazon delivers to both
- Weather - Depends. Both places generally have fantastic summer & fall. Do you prefer your winters & spring to be cold/snow or cold/rainy? No it doesn't snow every day in Colo Spgs and it doesn't rain every day in Tacoma
Colo Spgs is twice as big as Tacoma so not sure its really a good comparison. Scenery is pretty in both places. Tacoma is much closer to an international airport. Traffic is worse in Tacoma. There is the Tacoma aroma sometimes.
To each their own. I'm surprised with the support for Colorado Springs. Especially compared to Tacoma. Have yall been to both places? Would you really rather live in Colorado Springs? I'm not hating on it, but between the two Tacoma offers so much more.. The only exciting thing about COS is Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, and proximity to the mountains. All of which are amazing things. It just can't make up for the conservative, bland, city comparing it to Tacoma. Tacoma has great restaurants, unique districts, beaches, wildlife, a real functioning city center, a sense of community, mild weather, best views in the U.S. Like are you serious? lol We all have our opinion, I'm just a bit bewildered by people who are choosing COS.
To each their own. I'm surprised with the support for Colorado Springs. Especially compared to Tacoma. Have yall been to both places? Would you really rather live in Colorado Springs? I'm not hating on it, but between the two Tacoma offers so much more.. The only exciting thing about COS is Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, and proximity to the mountains. All of which are amazing things. It just can't make up for the conservative, bland, city comparing it to Tacoma. Tacoma has great restaurants, unique districts, beaches, wildlife, a real functioning city center, a sense of community, mild weather, best views in the U.S. Like are you serious? lol We all have our opinion, I'm just a bit bewildered by people who are choosing COS.
I think it's partly because of the criteria the OP chose. Crime/safety, schools, housing affordability and weather for example clearly go to COS (weather is subjective but most prefer COS weather).
I think with different criteria Tacoma could be the one to come out on top.
Pikes Peak is stunning in how close it is, but it's not the most recreationally accessible mountain, for drinking water and other reasons it's kind of a roped off mountain. A lot recreation for COS is actually in the foothills around Pikes Peak. The rest of the mountains of CO are about 2 hrs minimum away, which is a little bit of a haul. With 2 hrs of Tacoma, you can get to a lot of the cool stuff and more variety.
I wasn't necessarily speaking about recreation. Although I generally agree. But when it comes to immediate scenery (Specifically mountain scenery), I don't see how The Springs doesn't take it. Google Maps isn't the most accurate depiction of a place, as both of these look more impressive in person, but this is just to give a general idea of how close Mt. Rainier and Pikes Peak are to each city core.
I definitely agree that you can get to a lot of cool places from Tacoma and the region is beautiful. Areas like Point Defiance Park are pretty amazing. I guess it's not so much that COS easily takes it in the scenery department, but it's more immediate and dramatic imo
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Interesting how it isn't quite pinpointed, and could be a mixture of things according to Wiki. 
