COL SPGS vs Castle Rock (Denver, Colorado Springs: custom home, employment, movie theater)

[CS-Maybe]

How does Colorado Springs compare to Castle Rock in terms of housing, things to do, employment etc?

[bashep]

Well, Castle Rock doesn't have IT employment there, however you are very close to Denver, so the commute wouldn't be too bad. However, cost of living is more expensive there. So you will run into that. Castle Rock is a neat town and has great views. bashep

[janncobb]

My husband just got a job in the north end of CS and we will be moving from Grand Junction. All of our family lives in the Denver area, so we are trying to decide whether to move to Castle Rock and have him commute to work, or move to CS and drive a bit longer to see friends and family.

How is the commute from CR to CS? I've heard bad things about Monument Hill. Also, if we do live is CS we want to stay toward the north end. Other than Briargate what other nice communities are up north?

Does anyone prefer one city to the other, and can you tell me why?

Thanks so much for all your help.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by janncobb

My husband just got a job in the north end of CS and we will be moving from Grand Junction. All of our family lives in the Denver area, so we are trying to decide whether to move to Castle Rock and have him commute to work, or move to CS and drive a bit longer to see friends and family.

How is the commute from CR to CS? I've heard bad things about Monument Hill. Also, if we do live is CS we want to stay toward the north end. Other than Briargate what other nice communities are up north?

Does anyone prefer one city to the other, and can you tell me why?

Thanks so much for all your help.

Another advantage of living in Castle Rock is being able to commute to Denver if necessary some day for a job. CR to Northern COS isn't that bad, maybe 30 easy minutes. Plus there are two other alternative routes (CO-83 and CO-105 through Palmer Lake).

There is a luxury commuter bus between Denver, CR, and COS called FREX with free wireless high speed internet on board.

Other places to check out: Flying Horse, Gleneagle, Jackson Creek, Wolf Ranch, Cordera, Kings Deer, Bent Tree, Fox Run, Higby Estates, High Forest Ranch, Woodmoor, Palmer Lake, Stone Crossing, and Pine Creek. Some of these are communties and I think some are subdivisions. They probably all have web pages, not sure. Some are in the Monument area. They have their differences, acreage, track housing, custom homes, trees, prairie, etc, but all of them are really nice places to live with good schools.

[vfrpilot]

I have a friend who commuted from CR to the Academy for about 4 years. Monument Hill does become an issue, not impossible though, about 10 times a year. I would favor living closer to work than family and friends. You have to work 5 days a week(normally). How many times a week will you drive to family and friends? IMHO Both areas are nice. You might also look into Glen Eagle, Monument, and Black Forest.

[Mike from back east]

If I were driving 5 days a week to a job in north CS, I'd sure look at the sub-divs Charles mentioned as well as Briargate. Monument Hill is always a sticky wickett in snowy weather, and a daily drive from CR to COL SGPS seems like it'd get old in a hurry. I'd rather drive the extra to see the family once or twice a month than commute CR to COL SPGS 5-days/week. I did lots of commuting back in the DC metro area, people there would kill for a short commute.

[Amery523]

I guess it depends on what your idea of an 'easy commute' is. I'm from Southern CA. To me, an hour commute is not bad, quite do-able. Here in Colorado, most people look at you like you have two heads when you say an hour's commute is no big deal. Also, do you prefer big city (Colorado Springs) or smaller city (Castle Rock) or even smaller city (Monument)? Again, I am from a big city, so when we had to make the same choice as you, we picked the Springs. At the time, Castle Rock didn't even have a movie theater (apparently now they do though.)

I also used to drive from the Springs to South Denver five days a week, did this for 3 years. It took me 45 minutes because I was on the road so early in the morning (6am). I can tell you that Monument Hill on I-25 can get hairy in the winter time, but the good thing is that if you do spin around, nobody else is on the freeway at that time and you won't get hit. Ha ha. Seriously, adjust your speed down and you generally make it through just fine. It's the people with 4WD who think they can go normal speed in white-out conditions - just keep your speed down and you can make it from N. Springs to Denver just fine....you'll get there a little later, but ALIVE.

[Easy Street]

If your hubby is going to work in Colorado Springs, I'd say move to Colorado Springs. The trip to Denver isn't that bad on I25, and commuting every day to save a little time (maybe 20 minutes) on the occassional trip to Denver doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Rockrimmon is a nice area to check out, as well as Kissing Camels

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[deepblue38]

I use to live in Rockrimmon in Colorado Springs and thought it was very nice, great views of the mountains and I think more affordable than Castle Rock. I use to love Castle Rock but the city has grown so much and its very pricey.

[Topaz]

We lived in Colorado Springs for one year and we found that we were constantly driving to Denver for shopping, dining, and cultural events. That one year is how we learned that we enjoy bigger cities more than we realized.

I was really, really unhappy when winter weather conditions kept us from driving from Colorado Springs to Denver and that's a big reason we left the state.

If you enjoy large metro areas and all they have to offer, go for proximity to Denver.