Florida Girl Seeking Mountains (Denver, Holly: transplants, homes, living)

[mtngigi]

Originally Posted by BenBoosted

Ok... even something that may happen "eventually" doesn't seem to live up to the staunch stereotype I'm reading about here.

Just my $.02.

Unfortunately, there are people who seem to enjoy perpetuating the myth, as well as the unfortunate reputation that most of us like to stress is largely unfounded and something we'd all like to get past.

[abcdefg567]

Originally Posted by BornintheSprings

Like I said I to agree the reputation is overblown but I have run into a couple not sure why everyones jumping on me for saying that.

I'm not.

After reading here, I didn't really expect to see or hear any. Our house wasn't even expensive or near Briargate.

In not even a year, I definitely met a few. Nothing crazy, but not non-existent either.

The one good surprise, was that things seemed to be open on Sunday, more so than in Denver. Like swimming lessons....and it's busy. Obviously not everyone is at church.

[smdensbcs]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

FOTF has its HQ in COLO SPGS but most of its followers are all over the country, and they've cut back their employment in the city by hundreds of jobs over the years. They have an impressive set of building that would be the envy of any corporate mogul but I'd bet it's half empty now.

Having a number of "inside" connections there, I want to be careful how I describe this, but the unfortunate reality is that as the organization referred to here has scaled back and toned-down it's high-profile rhetoric in the past decade or so (to the enormous relief of so many long-time locals) it has had a corresponding diminution in fundraising. It seems that being THE lightning rod and a main player in the culture wars allows an organization to fund-raise VAST amounts of money from vastly wealthy donors (from all over the country and world) who want to encourage high-profile rhetoric. Tone down the high-profile divisive rhetoric and the fundraising dries up (not entirely but largely). That is the incredibly sad reality of our world. Hence "...an impressive set of buildings that would be the envy of any corporate mogul but I'd bet it's half-empty now." To refill those buildings they'd likely have to "out-Breitbart" the various other alt-right organizations that have moved in to take that space (and fundraising dollars that inevitably follow). I don't get the sense current leadership has the heart or stomach for such shenanigans (thank goodness). IMHO doing so is selling one's soul to the devil, both literally and metaphorically, so I and so many others locally are relieved to see the change in tone and attitude, despite the probable giant reduction in fundraising that change precipitated.

[MsMetal]

Originally Posted by BenBoosted

What are you folks experiencing that is so ultra conservative & religious especially in 80920?

I just moved here a few months ago and other than seeing the churches on the side of the road I haven't had anyone knock on my door asking me to go to church with them. Nobody has bopped me on the head with a bible. None of my neighbors have tried to "save" me. What am I missing because I'm not seeing this extreme religious based conservatism in the zip code I live in?

Actually, very near Mike from Back East.

Consider yourself lucky, I have had 3 different neighbors try to save me. Another neighbor highly offended b/c I wished her good luck with selling her house & that I'd cross my fingers for her. She told me she'd much rather I prayed for her.

Not so many people at the door, now that I moved & have a really long driveway, but we still get them & got them a lot more in the old house.

Been accosted in stores several times, including down south at the Goodwill off Powers, by a lady who told me "she loved me" & thought I was a "worthy person" & all I could think was 'B%tch please, you don't even know me, I could be an axe murderer'. Also, in a grocery store up here. I listed a bunch of the examples of things that have happened to me back in an old Woodland Park thread. It's not everyday, but it happens overtly, a lot. It happens discreetly even more. As in most of the neighbors assume you are very conservative & religious & it just gets very uncomfortable with neighbors & we are just polite-friendly with them, not close. We did live on a very small street though, so the neighbors were perhaps a bit closer than if you live on a street with 30 houses.

Ben, I'm guessing you're male, by your name & I do think people are more open to talking to female strangers, esp those that try to convert people in grocery stores & thrift stores. Maybe that's why you haven't experienced it or maybe you're not quite as far north, up by Focus & New Life. In my experience it has been common up here. I have a friend who moved here a few years ago in older Briargate & she says it seems to be more middle of the road there, though she still gets plenty of missionaries at the door.

ETA: Almost forgot, the guy who when I was house hunting here & he was mowing his lawn, I asked him about crime & if it was a safe 'hood & he told me that nothing bad would ever happen in this hood b/c "God has a protective fence around the neighborhood, so that nothing bad will ever happen here". Bear in mind, this was only that neighborhood, Mike from Back East's hood just down the street, well "God" didn't have a protective fence around that one LOL. Sorry Mike, you're on your own!

Recently with the fires, there was the whole thing about parts of the Navigators land being spared b/c they prayed so hard, that a miracle happened. There were a lot of even religious people offended b/c it basically implied that if they'd only prayed harder, there houses wouldn't have burned down.

You can call it a myth all you want, it's not a myth in my neighborhood & I'm not going to pretend like it is, just to make it seem like there isn't zealotry up here. Is everyone a zealot? No. Will you encounter it? Well, it apparently depends on your hood, but I most certainly have, a lot. I have no reason to make up all these encounters from neighbors telling me how to be saved to strangers accosting me while shopping, to another neighbor being hurt that I wished her "good luck" instead of praying for her & that doesn't even include the assumptions from pretty much everyone you do business with up here, that 'you are one of them'. BTW, most people have no idea that I'm Atheist/Agnostic, as I know there are plenty of "Christian based businesses" up here too. In fact, there's a whole directory of them. I've lived in many other states, I've never seen a Christian Businesses Phone Book before. I feel pretty confident that some of the businesses I use regularly would probably not welcome me if they knew the truth. There was even one business owner who was aghast that "your old man lets you drive". I am not making that up either. Talk about creepy! But that one wasn't even up north.

[BenBoosted]

Interesting insight smdensbcs, thanks for sharing and providing a bit of history and context.

MsMetal,

Yes I'm male. Interesting experiences that you've had. I'll be honest some of them I giggled at with the thought of "what if that happened to me" others I rolled my eyes at (not you... what others have said to you). Hopefully those experiences have slowed down in recent times. I haven't come across anything even remotely close to those scenarios...nor my wife, nor either of my kids. Time will tell, but at the same time I'm not all that offended by it. To each his/her own. Coming from the Houston area I would have had more knocks on the door with folks handing me pamphlets by now. In my limited experience 80920 is much more non-confrontational religion than 77377 where I moved from.

[Vision67]

My neighbors have not tried to "save" me.

Perhaps they have a different outcome planned.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Vision67

My neighbors have not tried to "save" me.

Perhaps they have a different outcome planned.

I remember what Billy Joel said in one of his songs about going to hell ....sinners are a lot more fun....

[TCHP]

Perhaps that is why a number of residents in my neighborhood seem to enjoy coming over to my place semi-regularly where we all sit around the fire pit sharing an adult beverage talking about what oddities we find throughout Cos.

[mount10air]

Colorado Springs is the best choice. A most beautiful City in so many ways. Good luck on your adventure.


https://www.bls.gov/regions/mountain...lorado.htm#eag

[Iowegian4]

Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost

But seriously, Denver sucks. Every time I am up there, which is about once per week, I find myself thinking "Why the hell do people live here?" What's especially funny to me is when I talk to Denver folks who seem to feel sorry for me that I live in the Springs. COS really is a great secret, so I don't correct them. They can sit in their traffic, look at the tiny dots on the skyline that they call "mountains," pay $600k for their 800 sq. ft. shanties and brag about how many Costcos they have. Fine by me. I'll probably be on my mountain bike.

In CO there is no life north of the ElPaso county line, only existence.