Reading CDF Colorado Springs might be an option for me?

[CharlotteRJ]

It depends what part of town you live in. I talk to people out in Falcon or further east and the wind drives some of them crazy.

I notice the breeze, I like it. But you can also tell when a front is moving in - you get a whole night that's very windy. Seems like it's always garbage night.

True gloomy conditions are rare around here. We get enough *weather* to keep things interesting, but the sun is never far.

[dr.frog]

Re the wind. Most days are not windy, or there is just a pleasant breeze. In the summer when thunderstorms are frequent, we'll often get gusty winds from them even when there is no rain, but it doesn't last long.

Sometimes, though, we get spells of high winds lasting several hours with gusts to 50+MPH, complete with blowing tumbleweeds and dust. It seems to me that this most often happens in the spring, when a strong weather front is moving through. If you have a horror of wind this might not be the place for you, but most people here sort of shrug it off, I think. You might need to take down your bird feeders and make sure you haven't left any other loose items around your yard when one of those is coming through, and once a rotten section of my neighbor's fence blew down. To tell the truth, I don't find the wind here nearly as bad here as it was when I lived in Upper Michigan and we got whiteout conditions in the winter from the wind off Lake Superior, or the "canyon winds" in Salt Lake City.

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by Bideshi

Have you experienced discrimination in Colorado Springs?

Nope. And I didn't really experience in other places I've lived either. That's why I was wondering where you were that it was an especially bad problem, just for the sake of comparison. But if you feel like that would be bashing other cities, I guess that's your perogative. My guess is that it could be pretty bad in the south or even parts of the midwest, unless you count cities in VA, I've never lived in those areas. In CA, where I've lived for the largest chunk of my life, it was rarely an issue because I lived in cities which were very diverse, worked in professional environments, and had social circles with people of varied ages and nationalities… so there really wasn't much room for discrimination, or whatever you prefer to call it.

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by dr.frog

Sometimes, though, we get spells of high winds lasting several hours with gusts to 50+MPH, complete with blowing tumbleweeds and dust. It seems to me that this most often happens in the spring, when a strong weather front is moving through.

Spring meaning late March through mid July. And then of course there are the winter winds which start in october and end when it gets just warm enough to call them spring winds instead. Also for the rest of summer and into fall it often gets extremely windy at the head of storm or cloud front, but that is usually pretty short.


… It should be noted that it depends largely on what part of COS region you're talking about. It's less windy closer to downtown where it's lower in El and not in the mtns or on the prairie. But if you get higher in el to the north or further out onto the prairie east, wind is a much bigger issue. It can be really windy up in the mtns or even the foothills but it could also be less windy there if you're on the leeward side of a big land mass.

[beezle1]

Up on the Palmer Divide, wind+snow = drifts. Sometimes BIG drifts.

[dr.frog]

There's a map for everything nowadays....

WINDExchange: Residential-Scale 30-Meter Wind Maps

WINDExchange: Colorado 30-Meter Wind Map

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by dr.frog

There's a map for everything nowadays....

Interesting maps, Dr. I found them hard to read (even after zooming in) with no city/street or other manmade referencer points, so here is a version I made blended with google maps street view.

[MichaelDante]

Thanks for the additional personal info and especially the maps, very helpful. The wind is not an issue with me since I've lived in places that had it's share of high or occasional wind issues. Also coming from the Midwest I had to deal with regular severe thunderstorms and experienced 3 tornadoes. I'm more of a guy that prefers cooler weather than hot but due to family circumstances had to move temporarily to Sacramento.

I recognize there is no perfect weather or living situation and know along with the pros there will be cons, such as reverting back to Midwest mode during the winters again. However CS is definitely somewhere I will come out and visit for a few days since I never was a CA guy and love the thought of being in a city I can still drive or take a cheap flight to places I come to love exploring.

[lurtsman]

I've lived here for the last 2 years and I absolutely love it.

You definitely won't find discrimination here, especially in the nice places. In the poorest parts of the city, well ignorance and racism are like two peas in a ****** pod.

The weather is wonderful for people with SAD. My wife has it, and I appear to have some of the symptoms. It was a major factor that caused us to cross Seattle off our list.

The winter is very sunny. The wind isn't too bad. It FEELS (very subjective) to me like the wind is the worst in the Spring. That's because it doesn't blow very much in the winter, and it feels good in the summer. When it speeds up in the Spring, it makes it feel cooler right as I'm ready to transition out of winter. Otherwise, no problem with the winds.

The biggest question for will you fit in: Have you felt like you lost virtually every vote that ever went to the state level? If you voted on the losing side in every state issue in CA, you'll probably fit right in here. After they banned gay marriage and voted in legislation on what would be in porn (no idea how that bill got started), the state has become a nanny state looking for new things to regulate. In Colorado any sentence starting with "you need to" may be tuned out before the statement is finished. We need to be exactly who we are. We are very friendly to anyone that doesn't try to utilize the government as a weapon to make our choices for us.

You sound like a great guy that has done your research, so I think you'd fit in great.