Moving to Colorado Springs area: a good idea? (Denver, Pueblo: RV parks, homes)

[GoAvsGo]

My husband, son and I have been here 3 months and have no complaints.
If I were able to find a job, really any job, it would be perfect. Even thinking of starting my own business. Otherwise, Colorado Springs is a great place to live.

[beachbum13]

How is driving in the winter? With the slopes and being near the mountains. Is it dangerous and really icy? How long does winter really last? In MN it goes from Oct to March (6 months) this year it when into April and even the beginning of May. Now we are we've had a few tornadoes and lots of humidity. It is only May. sigh.

If I didn't want to drive in the winter, is the public transportation any good? Do they have a subway or light rail system?

I think the hardest thing will be determining what to do with my home in MN. I am thinking of renting it out as I don't think it will sell and it is worth 1/3 of the bank loan. Does anyone know if I HAD to sell it if the bank would let me make payments on 2/3 of the balance? Or would I need a lump sum at closing? I feel that without collateral they would require a lump sum.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by beachbum13

How is driving in the winter? With the slopes and being near the mountains. Is it dangerous and really icy? How long does winter really last? In MN it goes from Oct to March (6 months) this year it when into April and even the beginning of May. Now we are we've had a few tornadoes and lots of humidity. It is only May. sigh.

If I didn't want to drive in the winter, is the public transportation any good? Do they have a subway or light rail system?

Our public transit here consists of a few buses, nothing else, not really viable, so bring your car. Most any car will do around the city. If you want to go skiing up in the high country, a subaru with AWD is the car of choice here, but many others will do fine too. No need to sell your old car before coming here.

Snow comes but usually not much, usually melts quickly, and there are lots of plows. It can get icy once in a while but it's rare. Once in a while we'll get a real heavy dump of snow, but it's nothing to scare people away from living here.

Elevation matters. When snow is due, forecasters talk in terms of "snow lines," as in the snow line will be about 7000 feet; meaning rain below 7000 feet and snow above 7000 feet. Elevations change a lot here, from 5500 feet on the lower levels, like Fountain, on the south side of town to 7000+ feet on the north end of town, like Monument which gets a lot more snow. Then there's west of town, higher places like Woodland Park at 8500+ feet.

If you stay around town, snow won't be a biggie.

Winters here seem long, but a sunny, calm day in DEC-FEB with 50F can seem VERY pleasant, with people jogging in shorts. It's the dry air that makes all the difference; you'd freeze your butt off in MN if you tried that. We've had people come here from Duluth who simply love it here compared to back there.

We're a semi-desert, dry air, low rainfall, but at our elevation we don't get the blistering temps of AZ, NV, etc.

[hollyt00]

Driving in the mountains is more often than not different than driving in town. The ski areas are on average about a two-two and a half hour drive from here.

The continental divide changes things so much. We were planning to go camping this weekend, but there are fire restrictions in the San Isabel and Pike Nat'l Forests- and we don't typically go to an organized campground, so stage 1 fire restrictions apply to us. But the next Nat'l forests over (Gunnison, White River, etc) are all a-okay. Course they got a TON of snow, where we are sitting in a drought!

So often the snows in the mountains are way heavier than you'd get in the Springs.

I love it in the spring when it rains "down below" and it snows in the mountains, and you can see a distinct snow line across the mountains. I love it!

[Kar54]

Originally Posted by beachbum13

I was worried as I had seen some other comments about the city being filled with close-minded people and it made me concerned as I liked all the other comments and descriptions of the city. I can't wait to move there!

You hear about that over and over about COS. I'm a Denver native and have lived down here for 11 years. Own a business and have lived all over town. NEVER, NADA, NOT ONCE has anybody approached me, knocked on my door, come into my business and try to sell me a religion or condemn me for mine. I'm sorry but this stuff about the Springs being intolerant is pure 100% "fairy dust", the stuff of fantasy. Whew, sorry. I feel better now.

[Lindalou76]

Hi there! I've been in Colorado Springs for exactly 2 years. Here's my 2 cents. I've NEVER been approached by any religious person trying to "educate" me on their religion. My husband happens to be military, but I would say I live in a mixed neighborhood (Briargate area by Chapel Hills Mall)...some active military, some retired military and plenty of non-military folks. Everybody on my street waves when i drive by, vice versa. I think the winters are cold and long here, however I am from south GA so to me just about anywhere other than the southern states are cold! lol I adore summer & fall here though! I don't remember 70 at all in February.....the weather is very up and down here....all winter it could be 50 and sunny one day and 5 and snowy the next. I don't drive well in the snow, that said i can count on 2 hands how many times i had my husband drive me to work in his truck because i didn't want to drive in the snow. But again I did not grow up where it snowed so i have no real experience driving in it. But luckily it's usually gone within a day or two so usually no problem there. I have seen cars drive down a road and slip and slide everywhere. In fact we had a 20 something car pile up i believe last time it snowed, or maybe the time before that not sure. Everyone at my work was watching it (I work at USAA so we had some claims from that pile up). My daughter goes to district 20 and I am extremely pleased with them. I've only been to 1 library, but i thought it was very nice and friendly. People here seem friendly to me, I don't have people wave at me (unless they are neighbors) like i did growing up in GA (everyone waves in GA even if you pass eachother on the street) but noone seems rude or anything. Not sure about the dog parks, i don't have a dog. Lots of outdoorsy things to do here. I see people biking almost everyday unless it's snowing! Lots of fishing, camping, and hiking all right here. Hope some of that helped

[Warhorse500]

So...can any CO Springs residents chime in as to whether or not this is a good place to live?

It looks like I'm going to land a job at PAFB as a USAF civilian. While I'll be out there quickly to start work, my wife and daughter will lag behind in St Louis to close out her (wife's) job, get the house prepped for sale, etc.

As far as moving to CO is concerned, I'm all for it. I've got family up in Golden, and our current home---St Louis---is a glorified dump. The few times I've been to Colorado, I've loved every minute of it, and from what I hear, the Springs is a great town.

Can anybody offer some input on this?

Banning Lewis Ranch (BLR) looks great online...but all this bankruptcy talk leaves me concerned. I've been looking hard at BLR as a prospective place to live, but the bankruptcy talk that I've seen here and on various news websites leaves me feeling concerned...is it really that bad in that neighborhood?

My daughter will be of age to start school this fall---preschool. Can anybody offer recommendations on a good preschool?

Can anybody also offer input on what it would take to get a driver's license/vehicle plates? I've heard that CO's expensive, but I don't know how much so...

Lastly, I'm actually kinda stoked about getting out there! I've got family up in Golden, and the few times I've visited Colorado, I've loved every minute of it. St. Louis is no picnic---they're proud out here because they *only* came in third this year on the "Most Dangerous Cities in America" list---down from first! I'd love nothing more than to be able to get my family out there and get settled. It would be good to find someplace to put some roots down and stay awhile, and certainly the Springs looks good for that.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Warhorse500

... snip ...Can anybody offer some input on this?

By all means come to COLO SPGS, but forget BLR as the bankruptcy needs to work its way through the courts and the outcome may be awful for those who bought out there, and they only built about 100 homes of the 50,000 or so they planned. We'll both be old, gray and dead before 50,000 homes happen out there.

For your school aged girl I'd suggest you find a place in school districts D20, D38, D12, or near one of the excellent ones in D11. D49 schools are good too but they will be charging for bus service next year and a lot of parents out there are ticked.

We also recommend renting for 6-12 months to really get a feel for the area before buying.

[lalahartma]

I've had about 4-5 'religious' interactions since I moved here in '04, not bad, considering the hype.

[Carrera32]

Warhorse - Congrats on landing a job in CS before arriving. Much better to relocate with a job than without. A major move is a stressful enough adventure by itself without having to immediately start a job search once you get here. We moved here about 8 months ago from VA. We did a lot of research into possible communities in the West before choosing CS. We looked at cities up and down the West Coast, as well as in New Mexico and Arizona and other cities in Colorado. We also made three visits here for the specific purpose of getting a fix on how we'd feel actually living here, as opposed to just being a tourist. We love the weather (dry, temperate, relatively mild winters, NO HUMIDITY, NO BUGS), lower cost of living, the beautiful scenery, and the less hectic lifestyle. We were concerned about the ultra-conservative reputation, but that hasn't proven to be any problem. No question this is a politically conservative town (that just elected a conservative mayor, but he doesn't appear to be an ideologue), but we live in a neighborhood with a more moderate to liberal bent, and there are plenty of outlets that reflect our philosophy, both politically and socially. The point here is, that, regardless of your political or social leanings, be they liberal, conservative, or something in between, I think you'll be fine.

BTW Mike, since our backgrounds are similar, you're already old and gray, as am I (but NOT dead yet). Just kidding.