Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What is it about Oklahoma that you don't like? I have never been there so I can't compare, but if you explain why you're not at home there, I might be able to tell you whether it sounds like you'd be happy in COS or not.
Honestly it's hard to pinpoint, but I think it's the blend of the southern and mid-western way of life that's getting to me. I don't like that I can't go out after 9pm on the weekends without seeing someone swerving all over the road. I think statistically the US is seeing a general drop in drunk driving statistics while OK has seen an increase. I had someone recommend that I take a case of beer with me for a long boring drive once like it was the norm, which I thought was crazy. I know one story about mom who was too hammered to drive at noon on a weekday and let her 10 year old drive around town, resulting in a car crash. Things like that aren't too unheard of around here, and that was in a town considered to have one of the best school districts in the city. I also dislike that people seem to throw multiple full-sized trash bags along the side of the road whenever they want? And then the wind blows the bags open and the trash blows into low lying areas like creeks and just sits there for years. Or it'll blow into a fence and wrap around the chain links and be there until someone decides to clean it up, which could be never. The people are friendly but closed off. I've met plenty of people but haven't made a close friend in several years. I also dislike that the population generally has large waists. I'm a "live and let live" type of person and I don't care about someones eating and exercise habits at all, but when everyone around you lives a similar unhealthy lifestyle it leaves me walking trails on my own. I guess this is also one of the worst states for meth use, though I get the impression it was way worse 5-10 years ago. Don't get me wrong, there are some positives to living here, but I can't get over how so much of this state just seems 'trashy'.
Honestly it's hard to pinpoint, but I think it's the blend of the southern and mid-western way of life that's getting to me. I don't like that I can't go out after 9pm on the weekends without seeing someone swerving all over the road. I think statistically the US is seeing a general drop in drunk driving statistics while OK has seen an increase. I had someone recommend that I take a case of beer with me for a long boring drive once like it was the norm, which I thought was crazy. I know one story about mom who was too hammered to drive at noon on a weekday and let her 10 year old drive around town, resulting in a car crash. Things like that aren't too unheard of around here, and that was in a town considered to have one of the best school districts in the city. I also dislike that people seem to throw multiple full-sized trash bags along the side of the road whenever they want? And then the wind blows the bags open and the trash blows into low lying areas like creeks and just sits there for years. Or it'll blow into a fence and wrap around the chain links and be there until someone decides to clean it up, which could be never. The people are friendly but closed off. I've met plenty of people but haven't made a close friend in several years. I also dislike that the population generally has large waists. I'm a "live and let live" type of person and I don't care about someones eating and exercise habits at all, but when everyone around you lives a similar unhealthy lifestyle it leaves me walking trails on my own. I guess this is also one of the worst states for meth use, though I get the impression it was way worse 5-10 years ago. Don't get me wrong, there are some positives to living here, but I can't get over how so much of this state just seems 'trashy'.
Ah, so it's "white trash" you want to get away from? Well, there's certainly white trash here but I wouldn't say it's the norm. Like I say, there's a lot of transplants from all over the country here so you get an interesting mix. I lived in the UK for a time and traveled to continental Europe and met people from all over the world - but until I moved to COS I never realize how few people from other parts of my own country I'd met. I realized I'd only ever really met people from the East Coast, like me. Now I've met people from all over the country too, and they'll all been really interesting.
Lots of people here are very outdoorsy and active - you can not go on a walking trail without passing other people out walking. I think BornintheSprings summed it up well by describing it as "suburban and outdoorsy". I think the main things that would turn some people off is how very republican it is - less so downtown and in Manitou but otherwise, it's very conservative. It is, after all, the home of Focus on the Family. If you lean left, it may not be the right place for you. If you're more central or right wing, you'll probably be fine here.
There are plenty of left-leaning people here in Colorado Springs. It is a huge misconception that Colorado Springs is so conservative. It is decidedly purple here - about a 60/40 split R/D in the 2012 elections. There are only 4 counties in the whole state with more registered Democrats than El Paso County - Adams (barely), Boulder, Denver and Jefferson.
Colorado Springs is certainly a city of the Rocky Mountain West with a little bit of a southern Midwestern mentality to it.
I had relatives who grew up in the Ramah area a very long time ago and they had a bit of a southern plains twang.
I have noticed that people for example who have been in Northern Colorado do not have the southern plains twang like they do if they are multi-generational Southern Colorado locals.
I think Colorado Springs is far from trendy and shouldn't even try, it has been trying to really hard to be like other cities in the state and it is working out very well.
Colorado Springs in the past has been a slow-paced, wide-open city with an introverted mindset. It is a very coupled and married city where people in general live and let live and really don't notice or care about others.
Despite it's reputation as a religious mecca, it feels more of a libertarian mecca where people could care less about others and what they do as long as it doesn't infringe on their rights.
I personally think it's a perfect city for outdoorsy retirees who like to be left alone and have a nice house with a huge lot. For other groups, not so much.
The evengelical mecca thing is very, very overstated especially now. It is the libertarian mecca in my opinion.
There was an influx of religious organizations in the early 90s and they had more clout then but it is basically disappeared and gone back to it's libertarian, live and let live roots.
People are really into themselves in Colorado Springs. It's more about staying home and working your garden or hiking in the parks as opposed to social events and festivals.
It is a city of 450,000 people and it is about 200 square miles, so it is really a very wide open city.
Colorado Springs is a mix of young, primarily struggling families and many upper-middle class to wealthy retirees. The city is huge about 25-30 miles from South to North so they live worlds apart.
The Northwest part of the city for example is McMansions on large lots with beautiful mountain parks and the Southeastern part is alot of really, run-down apartments with social problems just as bad as most big cities.
Colorado Springs in general is a very introverted city. People tend to come to this city either married, coupled or because of relatives in the area.
Last edited by lovecrowds; 09-17-2016 at 05:38 PM..
There are plenty of left-leaning people here in Colorado Springs. It is a huge misconception that Colorado Springs is so conservative. It is decidedly purple here - about a 60/40 split R/D in the 2012 elections. There are only 4 counties in the whole state with more registered Democrats than El Paso County - Adams (barely), Boulder, Denver and Jefferson.
Well, what I mean is, the conservatives tend to be VERY conservative, and they are in the majority, even if it's less of a majority than people realize.
There are plenty of left-leaning people here in Colorado Springs. It is a huge misconception that Colorado Springs is so conservative. It is decidedly purple here - about a 60/40 split R/D in the 2012 elections. There are only 4 counties in the whole state with more registered Democrats than El Paso County - Adams (barely), Boulder, Denver and Jefferson.
It is about a 60% Republican, 40% Democratic split as you indicated during elections.
I do think registered voters are 2 republicans, 1 democrat in El Paso County but it seems like Colorado unaffiliated voters tend to vote more Democratic.
Colorado Springs Democrats are mainly in the Southeastern part of the city and on the Westside of the city.
If political affiliation is that important to a person moving to Colorado Springs then south of Maizeland to the southern county line and from Academy to Manitou Springs would ensure living around more Democrats then anything else.
There are also different conservative factions in El Paso County. Broadmoor area will be more socially moderate, fiscally conservative while Briargate will be more socially conservative and fiscally moderate as they have much higher education taxes.
I believe there are two house districts that contain about 50,000 people each that swing from Republican to Democrat.
Northern Colorado Springs is very Republican. As you go further north, it gets more and more Republican until the Douglas County.
Lame...the vibe is lame. Saw it on some bumper stickers so its gotta be true..I'd simply read that as we are not on the hipster radar of pop culture. I'm fine with that.
So if there were 100,000 in 1965, reproducing at the average rate of 4%, that would translate to roughly 300,000 today. Since we are over 450,000 in Cos proper, that means at least 33% of the local population here is from somewhere else. If you factor this into the metro population area of 670,000, the percentage is even higher. Suffice it to say, the vibe is one of many transplanted people, most of whom are thrilled to be here, but also a few who loath it. That also means you can pick up on a variety of different nuances to different areas.
The city grew out from its core very irregularly in spots, so we do not have consistent aging of neighborhoods that radiate out from its center. There are some new areas in some of the core and their are actually some 25-35 year old places in some of the newest areas. This weird mixture of neighborhoods means they typically do not attract consistent groups of people to them, excepting some of the neighborhoods built within the last 15 years or so after the county got its zoning principles aligned with popular opinion.
Active is a actually as good a vibe to throw out there as any. An extensive park and trail system, recreational and competitive sports leagues, and proximity to the mountains all factor in to the experience here.
Varied is another title we could claim. Like many western cities, we have a broad range of persons, backgrounds, incomes, religions, and experience that call this place home. We lack the sheer numbers of a major metro area like Denver, so while we may have Caribbean or Ethiopian cafes, you won't get to chose from a dozen different varieties of either.
We also still hang on to a thread of our cowboy past since we did grow out of the riches of exploiting natural resources of the Victorian era by what could be viewed as very traditional western pioneers.
Military is obviously a title that gets hung on our mantle. Home to the Air Force Academy is the crown jewel of that, but we also have a sizable Army presence in Fort Carson. We have long been at the cutting edge of modern defense with Norad and now the Space Defense Wings station at Schriever and Peterson AFB.
Manufacturing was the hallmark of the '90s with nearly every major player in Silicon Valley having a plant here. The area was growing so rapidly at this time, the moniker "Silicon Mtn" was coined and used to describe the Springs. Changes in corporate policies and Federal tax structure combined to kill a lot of this effort although there are still over 300 manufacturing companies in the area.
We have real ranchers, redneck wanna bes, white trash, racial zealots, religious teetotalars, funky old hippies, barely scraping by military, mega dollar Federal contractors, uber rich part time residents, a whole lot of average Americans, you name it. Whether or not that can become your paradise depends on where you locate your home, who you associate with, what your recreational preferences are, and where you work. But ultimately, the vibe you get here will be the one you make for yourself.
The answer totally depends on what part of town you're discussing. COS has a lot of suburbs, but it also has some pretty hip areas, some areas with housing that feels like it is truly "rural mountain living," some very charming, historic neighborhoods and a few (relatively small) rough parts of town. Some previous posters were correct: it does seem like there are some very religious, conservative folks here, but there are also some very liberal people as well. In my opinion, this does sort of create a more "neutral" feel to things, at least in my daily activities. I am from the Dallas area, and I believe Dallas feels more conservative than COS. No comparison, actually. In Dallas, people would assume you were a conservative Christian. Maybe there are parts of town where that is true here, but that hasn't been my experience. I sort of like the diversity. Right-wing Christian radio can be good entertainment.
The takeaway is that you probably can find the feel you're looking for here. We don't have a hip scene that rivals Portland or Toronto, but I did get my hair cut this weekend in a barbershop on the westside where I was quite certain I wasn't "cool enough"....and I consider myself to be a reasonably hip dude.
The general vibe of Colorado Springs...hmmmm...I don't think Colorado Springs has a vibe. It's just a small city where a lot of people live and (and I know many are going to hate this comment) it overrates itself simply because of a big mountain.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
