Considering moving to Colorado Springs with my family at the end of this year (Denver: house)

[Intelgents]

Hello,

I am in the US Army serving as an Intelligence Analyst in Georgia at Fort Gordon. My contract is nearly up and I plan to go to school full-time when I get out. I could be leaving here as early as mid-November and my hope is to attend UCCS starting in the Spring Semester there. I'm married, have three daughters ages 13,12,11 and a 6yr old son.

Question(s):

What neighborhood/area (with home prices around the $250k-$300k) would be a good fit for us? Of course we want what everyone else wants: good, clean schools, clean streets and safe neighborhoods, and access to shopping/entertainment nearby. My daughter will be a Freshman in HS next fall and Im hoping to stay in one place so they can all attend the same school and graduate from the same school - so we plan on staying for a long while.

Before I joined the Army we lived near Reno, NV. High elevation, four seasons, clean air, lots of outdoor activities, and lots of local events we found extremely enjoyable (as long as you stay away from the meth-dirty downtown area). The area was beautiful and we really enjoyed that kind of living.

Its my opinion based on what Ive seen/read that Colorado Springs is very similar to this. Would that be correct?

Anyway, Im sure Ill have more questions, but I thought I would start there. I was *this* close (picture my fingers pinched paper-thin apart) to committing to a school in Arizona, but I need to be close to an NSA facility (and there is one in Colorado Springs). My other options are Hawaii (great but not a place I would settle down forever), San Antonio (great place but unfortunately its in Texas), Washington DC/Virgina (not for us), and Augusta, GA (we just dont like the south very much, even with all its charm). So that leaves Colorado as my first-and-I-think-best choice.

Thanks for reading. Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.


-Chris

[Mike from back east]

The Rockrimmon area is excellent and a quick trip down Garden of the Gods Rd to UCCS.

I'm partial to Briargate, zip 80920, and recommend it too.

Either area will serve you well.

[stoneclaw]

Broadmoor may be too rich for your tastes, but I like communities like Rockrimmon, Garden of the Gods, Briargrate, and Pinecreek. Pinecreek is probably the newest area. Developed in the last 10-15 years and is considered a golf course community. Probably the best community within your price range with the best view of the mountain range.

[Intelgents]

Briargate looks perfect. I'll spend all day learning about it Im sure.

I like the look of Rockrimmon though. There are a few homes there that fit my budget. If we lived in Rockrimmon, would Air Academy High be the HS my kids would go to? That school looks great.

[Intelgents]

Ok Stoneclaw you just thew me a curveball. Golf is my 3rd favorite thing in the whole universe.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Intelgents

Briargate looks perfect. I'll spend all day learning about it Im sure.

I like the look of Rockrimmon though. There are a few homes there that fit my budget. If we lived in Rockrimmon, would Air Academy High be the HS my kids would go to? That school looks great.

From this thread, post #2, you can cross reference the zip of a home to a school district, then go to that district and look at their "boundary map" to see what school serves a given street/home, etc. Often times the MLS data will give the school data.

[Intelgents]

Never mind, disregard. It is garbage. (TCU - by naerly all opinion I have found)

[ryanek9freak]

There's no comparing Reno to Colorado Springs. Reno is gross. We have trees. Reno reminds me of Afghanistan.

[Intelgents]

Similar elevation, similar climate, similar air quality, similar types of out-door activities, similar western feel, similar size, similar demographics. Yes, its comparable.

We actually loved Reno. I had a 5 bedroom house on a hill overlooking the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain range, and we had plenty of trees. Where we lived it was new, clean, safe, and beautiful. Plus being 45 min from Lake Tahoe is one heck of a bonus. Lots of golf, lots of sun, lots of food, hot august nights, rodeo's, etc.

Having said that, the only gross part about Reno is downtown, which we rarely ever saw. That's where all the meth addicts and prostitutes hung out. Outside of that though, is gorgeous country.

Oh and Ive been to Afghanistan, recently. It didn't remind me of Reno.


I'm very much looking forward to Colorado Springs. Hopefully this will be my final settling place.

[seichewave]

Intelgents, I lived in Reno (Old Southwest area) several years ago and I think that it is VERY comparable to Colorado Springs in many of the ways you mentioned in your last post. Weather is similar, although I think that Reno has more predictable spring and fall weather, and COS gets way more summer precipitation. Overall we get more precipitaion than Reno annually, but we have the same sunny skies that Reno has most of the year. Our access to mountains (no Lake Tahoe, or Truckee River here unfortunately) and the outdoors is very similar to Reno as well. Still have a lot of highly educated and affluent friends there in Old Southwest, Caughlin Ranch, Arrowcreek, and Montreux/Galena and those neighborhoods are hardly like Afghanistan. Denver is much closer to COS than Sacramento is to Reno so when you need finer things in life it is much easier to get there. Ironically, there are sections of Colorado Springs that remind me of 4th street in Reno. You will be driving a longer distance to get to the ski slopes here that you did in Reno as well.