I've finally arrived! (Colorado Springs, Woodland Park: apartment, new home, school)

[COSpringsBound]

After an exhausting solo road trip from New York, I've finally arrived at my new home in the Springs!

Some things I've observed so far:

1. The mountains are GLORIOUS, especially with the wet season bringing the greens. I love the diversity of the terrain where I can drive east and feel like I'm in Kansas, drive west and see the huge mountain wall. I love how every odd turn I make has me staring right at Pike's Peak. It really breaks up the monotony of routine driving. I know there have been complaints about it being too barren or brown, but I've noticed that changes when you drive to Woodland Park and view the mountains from an eastern vantage point.

2. Traffic is about all I could hope for considering it's a city. I've purposely driven in rush hour traffic several times and can't tell you what a HUGE relief it is to still be able to get places even in heavy traffic. Just for some perspective, prior to my move I had to take one of my luggages to a repair store 15 miles away during an early afternoon near the border of Queens. It took me two and a half hours, EACH way. Five hours of my life lost just to drop off a @&*$ suitcase. I actually had them ship the luggage back to me because there was no way I was going to do that again. Had I done that in rush hour, it likely would have padded 2 MORE hours to the total trip time.

Now, I live near downtown, and driving roughly the same distance from there to Briargate during rush hour took me about 40 minutes. WINNAH!

3. Downtown is awesome BTW, despite the lack of towering skyscrapers, I find it's just a right balance of urban amenities without being overwhelmed with an unholy mass of stinky, stinky humanity. I stopped by the post office one morning, got coffee, took a walk passing all the boutique shops and wondered where the hell everyone was. It was GLORIOUS. For introverts particularly, this is like heaven.

4. I know it's been raining a lot, but I'm enthused by all the sky art here: billowing clouds and storms putting on a show nearly every night over the mountains.

5. The local adage that if you don't like the weather, wait an hour, isn't true at ALL. It's more like 45 minutes.

6. Everything is so clean, especially the supermarkets. I've been to the southeast portion of the Springs, shopping there and in the Briargate region, and honestly the difference is so minute that it would be a mistake (and insult) to call the SE area ghetto. I've SEEN ghetto, trust me, this isn't it. Less affluent and more rough around the edges, maybe, but not ghetto.

7. I've never seen so many intersection cameras in my life. Initially I had a heart attack thinking they were all red light cameras, but thankfully no. Prior to moving, my old town in NY were throwing up red light cameras everywhere for "safety" but it became transparent it was a profit-generating scheme, causing a lot of controversy and public outcries.

8. I'm learning to master the fine art of swerving around potholes while still staying in lane. It's as bad as I expected, but I'm learning to quickly rely on muscle memory to swing and swerve around the worst of them as I explore my way around town.

9. People are generally much nicer and more outgoing. I found I actually had to stop, turn around and walk back to someone who greeted me or wish me a good day because I'm just not used to it.

10. A lot of people on the roads here seem to be in an awful hurry. Where's the fire?

11. Despite being in a hurry, they still won't beep the horn if you're one of the slow pokes hogging up the road (like me.)

12. Most people's dogs here are well behaved, so much that it's become noticeable. It's odd to run across so many dogs that don't incessantly bark their heads off like I experienced in New York.

13. The prices for staples and gas, etc seems to be right in the middle. Not dirt cheap, but not prohibitive like I've seen in NY. My money is going a lot further here, and while it's not below national average, I consider the tradeoff worth it for all the amenities you have access to nearby.

14. The sun REALLY beats down on you here. I was surprised that it wasn't the thin air I had to acclimate so much as the sun's rays lighting you up like a BBQ. I'll definitely need to get some SPF factor gear. Even when the temps are low you just don't feel it as the warmth of the sun mitigates it.

15. There's a lot of beggars on corners here that don't look like they need to be begging. One was even playing a violin.


All in all, I'm not so much happy as I am RELIEVED to be out of New York and living in a place that no longer feels like a prison. I can't wait to get my dog and start exploring the trails so I can truly start to appreciate the natural beauty the Springs offers.

[Lost Roses]

Welcome to Colorado! We're not much for horn honking around here, maybe a light tap if the guy ahead of you is zoned out when the light turns green. In fact, I believe you aren't supposed to use your horn in Colorado unless it's an emergency or there's an imminent accident.

And yes, the mountains are glorious!

[shanen]

Downtown is indeed awesome. If you want to grab coffee at Fifty Fifty or the Wild Goose sometime, PM me

Regarding driving slow, just stay out of the left lane and you won't have to get killed. kthx

[dr.frog]

Welcome to town! Yes, the sun is really brutal at this time of year. Long pants and sleeves or sunscreen if you need to be out in the sun, and you might want to time activities for early or late in the day. When you get out on the trails, bring plenty of water (for the dog, too).

[allprolab]

I think the cameras you're referring to are to change the lights for emergency vehicles.

[otowi]

I thought they were to change the lights when/wherever they're not on a set timer - at intersections with those cameras, they seem to stay red or green (depending on direction) until a car pulls up into the camera view, leading to a light change.

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by otowi

I thought they were to change the lights when/wherever they're not on a set timer - at intersections with those cameras, they seem to stay red or green (depending on direction) until a car pulls up into the camera view, leading to a light change.

That is correct.

[Rangerdude_Charlie]

Colorado Springs is such a beautiful city. I got lucky, I had a top floor apartment, and I had an awesome view of Pikes Peak. Loved being able to wake up and look out my window and see the mountains. When I first moved there, I got lost getting around and I just remember, get towards the mountain and that will get you back home. Nice to have a landmark like that to help, learning a new city! Sounds like you are enjoying your first day, here!

[LSUFANMICK]

I still have a few years until I will be there and I can't wait. A few more years of this Great Air Force life.

[Vision67]

Katherine Lee Bates was also awestruck from the beauty of the Pikes Peak area.

she wrote America the Beautiful

In 1893, at the age of 33, Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a short summer school session at Colorado College. Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem, including the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the "White City" with its promise of the future contained within its alabaster buildings; the wheat fields of America's heartland Kansas, through which her train was riding on July 16; and the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Zebulon's Pikes Peak.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful