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I might be moving to Colorado in the near future and my city search is pointing me towards Colorado Springs because Denver does not seem to offer the job security for a mechanical engineer looking for work outside of the construction/HVAC industry. A Lockheed job would be great, but if a layoff occurs, I don't want to be high and dry in Denver. Additionally my wife is a chiropractor and will need to stay at the same office long LONG term, so this would be a permanent city home (after a test year living in an apt before finding a house). From my research, the briargate area in school district 20 looks great.
So since right now I need to be dissuaded rather than persuaded, I would like for as many haters (and lovers) to inform me what the worst things are about Colorado Springs. Just to get it started, I read a post from a blue collar CoS resident claiming there were:
Ultra conservatives (I love this! so don't post anything about anything political)
Acacia Park is a park for the homeless smelling of urine and pot smoke (not cool)
Across the street from Acacia park are overpriced nightclubs filled with drugs and criminals (Are police lax in the town?)
Very dense pockets of sex offenders and drug crimes (again, police?)
They complained about prices, but I have found CoS is pretty low on the cost of living scale (we will be looking for a house in the 200s)
Skiing or any outdoors activities (camping, hiking) locations are too far (1+ hour) away and inconvenient
Haloween and Trick or Treat are discouraged???
I drink Miller High Life constantly and would want to be able to purchase it every day of the week, but I read this qualifies as too alcoholic to be bought on Sunday??
Is public transportation still basically use-your-own-vehicle?
Is traffic bad because of sprawl, accidents, roads poorly designed or poorly maintained? Is there any news of this being resolved?
Smoking is illegal in restaurants in my state, how is it in CoS, any exceptions, bars, partial bar/restaurant? (I am a non-smoker that hates smoke)
Has the white water rafting suffered due to low river levels resulting from the water problems?
Verizon cellphone service is questionable? (IMPORTANT, I am a verizon user)
Pothole problems? (why such a problem?)
TABOR laws, referendum D? (road complaints)
I have developed this list with personal concerns as well as issues found when I searched the forum for "colorado springs terrible". I am posting this in the colorado forum because I figured the response would be greater than in the CoS forum. Please have at it, I want to know the worst things to worry about.
I might be moving to Colorado in the near future and my city search is pointing me towards Colorado Springs because Denver does not seem to offer the job security for a mechanical engineer looking for work outside of the construction/HVAC industry. A Lockheed job would be great, but if a layoff occurs, I don't want to be high and dry in Denver. Additionally my wife is a chiropractor and will need to stay at the same office long LONG term, so this would be a permanent city home (after a test year living in an apt before finding a house). From my research, the briargate area in school district 20 looks great.
So since right now I need to be dissuaded rather than persuaded, I would like for as many haters (and lovers) to inform me what the worst things are about Colorado Springs. Just to get it started, I read a post from a blue collar CoS resident claiming there were:
Ultra conservatives (I love this! so don't post anything about anything political) Probably not that noticeable. No John Birchers that I know of. There is a Colorado Springs Freethinkers too.
Acacia Park is a park for the homeless smelling of urine and pot smoke (not cool)
I'm not familiar with that park. Is there a city in America that doesn't have at least one park with people getting loaded?
Across the street from Acacia park are overpriced nightclubs filled with drugs and criminals (Are police lax in the town?)
See response above and extrapolate.
Very dense pockets of sex offenders and drug crimes (again, police?)
Not that I know of. I wouldn't know where to buy a dime bag in this town.
They complained about prices, but I have found CoS is pretty low on the cost of living scale (we will be looking for a house in the 200s)
See below.
Skiing or any outdoors activities (camping, hiking) locations are too far (1+ hour) away and inconvenient
Skiing is about two hours away. Compared to a place that is 30 minutes away, a person skiing five times per year will spend an extra 15 hours driving per year. Big deal.
Haloween and Trick or Treat are discouraged???
Where are you getting all this garbage?
I drink Miller High Life constantly and would want to be able to purchase it every day of the week, but I read this qualifies as too alcoholic to be bought on Sunday??
Double up on Saturday?
Is public transportation still basically use-your-own-vehicle?
Pretty much.
Is traffic bad because of sprawl, accidents, roads poorly designed or poorly maintained? Is there any news of this being resolved?
Traffic isn't that bad but I guess it depends what you are used to. I've been in Colorado 18 months or so and I've been in stop and go traffic a grand total of 15 minutes.
Smoking is illegal in restaurants in my state, how is it in CoS, any exceptions, bars, partial bar/restaurant? (I am a non-smoker that hates smoke)
I think it is illegal to smoke in restaurants but not sure about bars.
Has the white water rafting suffered due to low river levels resulting from the water problems?
Not sure.
Gay parade not allowed? (I'm all for no gay parade, straights don't parade their straightness!)
Not sure. Who cares anyway? Doesn't bother me and I don't think it really bothers most normal people.
Verizon cellphone service is questionable? (IMPORTANT, I am a verizon user)
Not sure.
Pothole problems? (why such a problem?)
I haven't noticed any major problems. If I see a pothole, I steer around it.
TABOR laws, referendum D? (road complaints)
Not sure what all that is (showing my ignorance...)
I have developed this list with personal concerns as well as issues found when I searched the forum for "colorado springs terrible". I am posting this in the colorado forum because I figured the response would be greater than in the CoS forum. Please have at it, I want to know the worst things to worry about.
The first thing I noticed about this post is that there is a perception that COS would have more job security than would Denver. This seems backwards simply because Denver metro is about five times bigger. I live just north of Colorado Springs near Monument because I thought (and still think) that there would be less job security in COS and the closer I lived to Denver the more opportunities there would be in both towns.
Most of the itemized concerns are trivial, mythical, or exaggerated.
Your research pointing you to D20 has been productive: Good schools, planned neighborhoods, and homes probably in your price range but probably a bit higher in reality (not sure, work realtor.com). Northern Colorado Springs is drivable to Denver too if you had to seek work there.
Back to your question. Where are you moving from? For me, moving from Southern California, the worst thing about moving to Colorado was (and still is) getting used to driving on ice. Icy roads happen off and on in winter and I find it pretty unnerving. If you are from another place where there is cold weather then you won't get too nervous I suppose.
My answers, where applicable. I don't live in Colorado Springs, but I've spent plenty of time there--over the last 40 years. Knew it back when, know it now.
Ultra conservatives (I love this! so don't post anything about anything political)
The Springs is conservative, in a weird sort of way. You have a fair number of "religious right" folks there, though I don't think that they are a majority, even though they would like everybody to think they are. You also have a lot of military and retired military folks who are pretty conservative. The irony is that the Springs has this conservative moniker, but it is the most dependent city in Colorado on federal (mostly military) spending. So, a lot of conservative Colorado Springs people complain about the bloated federal bureaucracy while it's paying their bills.
Acacia Park is a park for the homeless smelling of urine and pot smoke (not cool)
Acacia is close to downtown. Has the usual mix of transients, etc. hanging around.
Across the street from Acacia park are overpriced nightclubs filled with drugs and criminals (Are police lax in the town?)
There are quite a few seedy clubs in the Springs, mostly catering to military, especially along Nevada Ave. and Platte. Ave.
They complained about prices, but I have found CoS is pretty low on the cost of living scale (we will be looking for a house in the 200s)
I always go back to the local income/living costs comparison. The Springs is better than some places, but not great.
Skiing or any outdoors activities (camping, hiking) locations are too far (1+ hour) away and inconvenient
There is nice mountain country close to Colorado Springs. Just don't expect to have it to yourself. Yes, there can be bad traffic heading to the mountains, especially on summer weekends. Skiing is a couple of hours away.
I drink Miller High Life constantly and would want to be able to purchase it every day of the week, but I read this qualifies as too alcoholic to be bought on Sunday??
Liquor stores are closed by law on Sunday in Colorado. You can buy 3.2% beer on Sunday at grocery stores. Expect a few sneers if you don't drink Coors (based in Colorado), or Bud (big brewery in Fort Collins), or one of Colorado's many "boutique beers."
Is public transportation still basically use-your-own-vehicle?
Pretty much.
Is traffic bad because of sprawl, accidents, roads poorly designed or poorly maintained? Is there any news of this being resolved?
Yes, it's a mess. Given the current mentality in the Springs and all across Colorado, it will probably get worse until gasoline prices get high enough to strangle it. They've been building roads for 40+ years. All that has done is make more sprawl, more traffic, more gridlock, and more taxes.
Has the white water rafting suffered due to low river levels resulting from the water problems?
The closest rafting river to the Springs, the Arkansas River, has done OK--primarily because it is a major conduit for water for Front Range cities expropriated from western Colorado. You can read my posts elsewhere if you want my opinion on that.
Verizon cell phone service is questionable? (IMPORTANT, I am a verizon user)
I've had no problems with Verizon service in the Springs.
Pothole problems? (why such a problem?)
The weather. Colorado's winter cycle of freezing and thawing raises hell with asphalt. There will always be potholes. Also, expect to get your windshield cracked every single winter--this from the "sand" (which always seems to contain a few rocks) used to sand snowpacked and icy roads.
TABOR laws, referendum D? (road complaints)
You may read some of my other posts that touch on this.
Moving from the Southeast, but I have Wisconsin blood, can't wait for some real winter and SNOW! I was attempting to drag out the absolute worst side of CoS so that we would be prepared, that's why the number of trivialities and possible exaggerations are mentioned, just to get things started. The comment about job security was purely regarding my line of work, mechanical engineer doing design work. I found Lockheed, Ball Aerospace, HP, and General Dynamics up in Denver plus a whole bunch of HVAC companies in construction.
also...I hope any new complaints that I haven't mentioned will be posted as well. Specifics to certain areas of CoS are fine too.
Moving from the Southeast, but I have Wisconsin blood, can't wait for some real winter and SNOW! I was attempting to drag out the absolute worst side of CoS so that we would be prepared, that's why the number of trivialities and possible exaggerations are mentioned, just to get things started. The comment about job security was purely regarding my line of work, mechanical engineer doing design work. I found Lockheed, Ball Aerospace, HP, and General Dynamics up in Denver plus a whole bunch of HVAC companies in construction.
also...I hope any new complaints that I haven't mentioned will be posted as well. Specifics to certain areas of CoS are fine too.
There's lots of other engineering places: Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Sparta, Mitre, General Dynamics, Boeing. I'm in the same boat.
When the man busts me (for spending too much time on City-Data???) I can get to Denver for work if I have to....
Moving from the Southeast, but I have Wisconsin blood, can't wait for some real winter and SNOW! I was attempting to drag out the absolute worst side of CoS so that we would be prepared, that's why the number of trivialities and possible exaggerations are mentioned, just to get things started. The comment about job security was purely regarding my line of work, mechanical engineer doing design work. I found Lockheed, Ball Aerospace, HP, and General Dynamics up in Denver plus a whole bunch of HVAC companies in construction.
also...I hope any new complaints that I haven't mentioned will be posted as well. Specifics to certain areas of CoS are fine too.
You may not get a "real winter" in COS. Not by the Wisconsin definition. We came here from Illinois, were surprised how intermittent the winter is here.
Quote:
The first thing I noticed about this post is that there is a perception that COS would have more job security than would Denver. This seems backwards simply because Denver metro is about five times bigger.
I agree completely. This is true for practically evey occupation, including chiropractor.
Thinkin about moving to Black Forest Area from Glendora, CA. We were just there in January and loved it. Very clean, not over crowded, able to go out to dinner after 6:00 PM without waiting 40 min ect...... I researched the schools and came across District 20?? We are tired of the crowds, the over building, the freeways, the smog, ect.... I feel like we are always trying to keep up with our surroundings here in Glendora. We have been well off here in Glendora but you loose track on what's important to you. We've been to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Cal, and Colorado. We are in our early 30's with two wonderful boys. The only thing that we would miss here in Glendora are our wonderful friends and the great weather, minus the smog!! Please help!! Thank You
Thinkin about moving to Black Forest Area from Glendora, CA. We were just there in January and loved it. Very clean, not over crowded, able to go out to dinner after 6:00 PM without waiting 40 min ect...... I researched the schools and came across District 20?? We are tired of the crowds, the over building, the freeways, the smog, ect.... I feel like we are always trying to keep up with our surroundings here in Glendora. We have been well off here in Glendora but you loose track on what's important to you. We've been to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Cal, and Colorado. We are in our early 30's with two wonderful boys. The only thing that we would miss here in Glendora are our wonderful friends and the great weather, minus the smog!! Please help!! Thank You
You'll make new friends.
You'll be going from A weather to B+ weather. In fact summers in Black Forest are better than SoCal because it isn't as hot. You will not need air conditioning.
I moved from Thousand Oaks to just west of Black Forest in June 2006. D20 is excellent, as good as the best or better school districts in SoCal (like Conejo Valley where my kids were attending). The 40 minute wait in a restaurant thing is true however, where I live (and where you are looking to live, Northern El Paso County) is a little offset from the main shopping and dining areas. You will have to drive 15-30 minutes to get to something other than a chain restaurant. The good news is there is a lot of retail development occurring not too far from us on the north end of Powers (look at a map...the region I am referring to is the northern end of Powers north of Woodmen) and in Monument.
The things I noticed moving from SoCal to northern El Paso County:
A beautiful feeling of living in decompression - no traffic.
Sights of foxes and deer everyday. No kidding, everyday.
It is as sunny in Colorado as it is in California. Precipitation in winter is snow instead of rain. Sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, snow, sun, sun, sun ... If you live in a treed area the snow takes longer to melt.
There are several days each month in winter when the roads are icy in the morning (I leave home at 5AM so I get a lot of this). This is the number one thing I don't like about living in Colorado. But I'll take it in the overall trade off.
Beautiful landscape: Black Forest, the unblemished plains, the view of the Rockies and Pikes Peak
A convenient access to big city stuff in Denver with no traffic. Ever wanted to spontaneously go to a Dodger game even on a Saturday night? You probably though about it for two milliseconds until you realized even from Glendora (I know where that is) it will take you an hour just to the freeway offramp near Chavez Ravine, then another hour into the stadium then another hour to get out of the stadium, etc. From Black Forest you could get to anything in downtown Denver faster than you can get to anything in LA (Staples, Dodger Stadium, Kodak, Coliseum, etc.) eventhough Denver is farther away (about 55 minutes). Even better is going to a Colorado Springs AAA Sky Sox game. Seats on the field for $9. Better than major leagues for me.
Another great thing about Northern El Paso County: you can get to jobs in both Denver and Colorado Springs in a commutable driving time. Lots of jobs are on the south side of Denver (Denver Tech Center for example).
I might be moving to Colorado in the near future and my city search is pointing me towards Colorado Springs because Denver does not seem to offer the job security for a mechanical engineer looking for work outside of the construction/HVAC industry. A Lockheed job would be great, but if a layoff occurs, I don't want to be high and dry in Denver. Additionally my wife is a chiropractor and will need to stay at the same office long LONG term, so this would be a permanent city home (after a test year living in an apt before finding a house). From my research, the briargate area in school district 20 looks great.
So since right now I need to be dissuaded rather than persuaded, I would like for as many haters (and lovers) to inform me what the worst things are about Colorado Springs. Just to get it started, I read a post from a blue collar CoS resident claiming there were:
Ultra conservatives (I love this! so don't post anything about anything political)
Acacia Park is a park for the homeless smelling of urine and pot smoke (not cool)
Across the street from Acacia park are overpriced nightclubs filled with drugs and criminals (Are police lax in the town?)
Very dense pockets of sex offenders and drug crimes (again, police?)
They complained about prices, but I have found CoS is pretty low on the cost of living scale (we will be looking for a house in the 200s)
Skiing or any outdoors activities (camping, hiking) locations are too far (1+ hour) away and inconvenient
Haloween and Trick or Treat are discouraged???
I drink Miller High Life constantly and would want to be able to purchase it every day of the week, but I read this qualifies as too alcoholic to be bought on Sunday??
Is public transportation still basically use-your-own-vehicle?
Is traffic bad because of sprawl, accidents, roads poorly designed or poorly maintained? Is there any news of this being resolved?
Smoking is illegal in restaurants in my state, how is it in CoS, any exceptions, bars, partial bar/restaurant? (I am a non-smoker that hates smoke)
Has the white water rafting suffered due to low river levels resulting from the water problems?
Verizon cellphone service is questionable? (IMPORTANT, I am a verizon user)
Pothole problems? (why such a problem?)
TABOR laws, referendum D? (road complaints)
I have developed this list with personal concerns as well as issues found when I searched the forum for "colorado springs terrible". I am posting this in the colorado forum because I figured the response would be greater than in the CoS forum. Please have at it, I want to know the worst things to worry about.
Ultra conservatives (I love this! so don't post anything about anything political): Not always, go to Manitou, Hippie Capital of America
Acacia Park is a park for the homeless smelling of urine and pot smoke (not cool): Who cares, there's parks like those everywhere.
Across the street from Acacia park are overpriced nightclubs filled with drugs and criminals (Are police lax in the town?): That shcoks me, Police in Colorado are usually pretty strict, they do have lots of laws on liquor, drugs, and stuff.
Very dense pockets of sex offenders and drug crimes (again, police?): That would also surprise me if it was true.
They complained about prices, but I have found CoS is pretty low on the cost of living scale (we will be looking for a house in the 200s): Jesus people, a $200,000 home is a steal, especially if your from California. The average home price in America is $320K, for god's sake we don't live in the Philippines.
Skiing or any outdoors activities (camping, hiking) locations are too far (1+ hour) away and inconvenient: Not true, Pikes Peak ftw
Haloween and Trick or Treat are discouraged???: I wasn't there during Halloween, but even so tha's not right.
I drink Miller High Life constantly and would want to be able to purchase it every day of the week, but I read this qualifies as too alcoholic to be bought on Sunday??: Colorado, again, has strict laws on alcohol.
Is public transportation still basically use-your-own-vehicle?: Unfortunatley, pretty much. However, they are trying to encourge public transit. It pays more to be a bus driver there than a school teacher. But who wants to be a bus driver in Colorado. It's the largest interstate system in America.
Is traffic bad because of sprawl, accidents, roads poorly designed or poorly maintained? Is there any news of this being resolved?: Yes, again, it's a quickly growing network.
Smoking is illegal in restaurants in my state, how is it in CoS, any exceptions, bars, partial bar/restaurant? (I am a non-smoker that hates smoke): Restraunts probably. I know it's legal at bars, other than that I dunno.
Has the white water rafting suffered due to low river levels resulting from the water problems?: Possible
Verizon cellphone service is questionable? (IMPORTANT, I am a verizon user): Not true, my aunt has Verizon and she gets a signal throughout most of the state.
Pothole problems? (why such a problem?): Some places yes
TABOR laws, referendum D? (road complaints): Hmmm, can't say
We lived in Briargate for 5 years - a great place to raise kids and to live. D20 schools are considered the best in CoS, and of those probably Academy International for Elementary, Mountain Ridge for Middle School, and can't remember the high-school name - but really, pretty much any one of the d20 Schools would be good (there was one in Black Forest that didn't rate as high when we were there three years ago - but that might have changed).
When house shopping, have a good look at the neighborhood - not all of them are "going up", and others seem to have retained their standards over the years. We lived in the Windjammer Subdivision, between Union/Briargate/Lexington. It was considered one of the best subdivisions when we bought our house there, very low turn-over and very safe. Their hoa was a pain in the rear sometimes, but it was all for the greater good of keeping up the quality of the subdivision.
As far as conservatives go - those will be more abundant in the northern part of the Springs - Focus on the Family, New Life Church, and quite a few other christian organizations have their hubs there, and, it's also where quite a few retired air force people have settled. Though, compared to where we are now (SC), those are all screamin' liberals
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Relocating to CO. Springs CO. from Glendora ,CA
