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Currently I work as an Operations Manager for a telecommunications company and have been in telecommunications for 7 years now. I know Denver has the Dish Network headquarters in Littleton, CO on the South side of Denver, so I may look there, but I would not mind trying a different arena as well. Telecom has been a very up and down industry since the economy took a hit last fall. I am just not sure what fields are prosperous in the Springs area, since my background is in people management and business strategy implementation. I have never worked in retail or sales of any kind, and looking for "management" on monster or careerbuilder is simply a nightmare, and for some reason if I enter "telecommunications" in the search engine, I get nothing but telemarket bs about working from home.
I have also been monitoring job oppurtunities with Serco. It may require me to take a step back in my career path due to limited available positions, but the growth potential within that company is great.
IIRC Comcast also has a large presence just west of Denver, out on Hwy 36 in the Denver/Boulder corridor (Denverites, correct me if I'm off the mark). Denver is the big dog city for 600+ miles in all directions, if there's telecom in the Intermountain West then chances are there's a significant presence here. With 3M people along the Front Range and the business center for the region, you'll find telecom and IT well represented here, though with the economy their hiring may be stagnant right now. Qwest is here too.
Here in COLO SPGS, telecom and IT that support National Defense is here and may have some offerings.
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Hey all, I'm Megan from Cleveland, OH. At this moment, I'm 22 years old and engaged. My fiance and I are looking to move out of Cleveland, we cannot stand the weather and the lack of outdoor activities to do. I am going to school right now to be an LPN and he is going into computers. The plan is to probably rent an apartment in Colorado Springs, but I would like a smaller city and a house with some land. Is the job market good in Colorado Springs? I'm born and raised here, but he is originally from Idaho. Were looking for a place that has a lot of outdoor activities and also a football team that can actually win a game (if you know Cleveland Browns...we suck.) Just wondering if Colorado Springs or any other city around there would be nice for the two of us. No kids yet but we will be having children after we are married, are there good schools here? Also looking for a place with low crime rate. I am actually in a city called Parma right outside of Cleveland, but living that close to the city is starting to take impact on our town. Not being racist, but a lot of black gang shootings are on the rise lately and I don't want to raise my children around that. I know I am asking a lot of questions but I also want to know if there are any lakes or bodies of water you can swim in? How is the weather there? We have four seasons here but its horrible. Long, snowy, icy winters and short humid summers, yuck! Last question, are there any close shopping areas and grocery stores nearby? Thanks for taking your time to read this..I'm sure I'll be visiting Colorado Springs before I make my final decision, but I want somebody's insight that actually lives there. Sorry I posted my questions on here...nobody was responding to my other post?!
COLO SPGS does not have sort of downtown or old industrial center that Cleveland does. I've been to Cleveland on railroad history tours and can tell you that COLO SPGS will SEEM like a small town by comparison.
We have very good to excellent schools all over the area, hard to go wrong here, but that is years off for you. We always advise newly arriving people to rent a year before putting down roots, as there is are so many nice areas to choose from, all along the Front Range (Fort Collins to Pueblo).
Virtually all swimming here is done in pools. A few lakes and reservoirs but they are too cold for much swimming, our water comes from snow melt and it's very COLD water.
Very little gang activity or violence here. None of the old eastern-style decaying inner city stuff here. I'm from Baltimore, I know what you mean about violence and industrial decline, etc.
Weather here is sunny, low humidity, feel great, no Lake Snow here. We get powdery snow a few times a year and it's gone quickly, though once every few years we'll get a heavier winter, but of the 4 full winters I've been here, only one was a heavy one but it's different from back east. Outdoor sports of all types, always something do at any time of year. You can jog in shorts in January one day and shovel snow the next. Millions live here, do not worry one bit about the weather.
We have 4 main hospitals here, many more of them in Denver. We have our share of computer work in the region.
Bronco's are doing well, and you CAN get tix under the "half price" deal they offer. The Nuggets, Rockies and AVs are excellent too. Denver has all the pro sports. COLO SPGS has the minor league / college teams, which are very affordable and accessible.
Most of the Front Range cities would do, though Boulder is known to be very pricey. If you like lots of nightlife, shows, museums, etc, there's a LOT more of that in Denver. Pueblo anchors the south end of the Front Range, it's warmer, drier and an old steel city, closest thing you'll get to Cleveland.
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Thanks for all the insight Mike. I am in no way looking for another city like Cleveland. Don't get me wrong, I'll always love my hometown, but it's going down in the dumps quickly. Also noticed people from other places saying we were rude (my fiances from Idaho and would wave at people and I would be like, what are you doing, they're gonna think your weird!) My fiance and I are more outdoor people, we love camping, hiking, biking, and kayaking. Any towns in Colorado that can offer that? As far as the nightlife, shows, museums, etc, we're looking for that too, but those are always things that we could drive to (not as important.) Just looking for a nice town with some land because I am hoping to one day open up my own dog shelter. Do you guys have any animal shelters in Colorado? No dogs right now, but when we move there I would like to adopt one and also help with volunteering. Sorry to go on, I want to be thorough with what I know before I move, but I heard Manitou Springs was more liberal? I'm very liberal and although I grew up Catholic, religion is not a big part of my life. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate what you have to say!
Thanks for all the insight Mike. I am in no way looking for another city like Cleveland. Don't get me wrong, I'll always love my hometown, but it's going down in the dumps quickly. Also noticed people from other places saying we were rude (my fiances from Idaho and would wave at people and I would be like, what are you doing, they're gonna think your weird!) My fiance and I are more outdoor people, we love camping, hiking, biking, and kayaking. Any towns in Colorado that can offer that? As far as the nightlife, shows, museums, etc, we're looking for that too, but those are always things that we could drive to (not as important.) Just looking for a nice town with some land because I am hoping to one day open up my own dog shelter. Do you guys have any animal shelters in Colorado? No dogs right now, but when we move there I would like to adopt one and also help with volunteering. Sorry to go on, I want to be thorough with what I know before I move, but I heard Manitou Springs was more liberal? I'm very liberal and although I grew up Catholic, religion is not a big part of my life. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate what you have to say!
Lots of bike trails all over the Front Range. Tons of mountain biking, hiking, camping, kayaking, rafting up in the mountains but the water is deadly cold especially during Spring runoff season in May-June. There are lots of nice towns in/around the mountains, but the big ski resorts are hard to afford for most folks. Towns like Salida and Buena Vista might work for you, but I'd think you need to come out here first in an apartment and then figure out your best spot for the long term. Use the search tool with the name of some of these towns to learn a ton about them. We have plenty of animal shelters here, you could volunteer at one to start with then someday do your own.
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Don't come to Colorado Springs for a week in March (or any month for that matter) and expect to have a good idea genrally of what the weather is like here. In March in particular the weather can be "all over the map"--some of our heaviest snows can occur in March. Or clouds and rain for days on end. Or cold dreary days and you think winter will never end. Or you could hit a stretch of warm, sunny, blue-sky days and think you're in heaven. But whatever weather you'd see for that week would be a misrepresentation of the "average" weather here, I think. It can just vary so much.
March through June or July are the wettest months here (we probably get 75% of our precipitation in those four months)--June can be a very wet, very cool month (I think there must be some very disappointed tourists who come for a visit in June some years). September through February are generally very dry months (perhaps 3 to 5 inches of precip total), in spite of the cold and occasional snow. That said, it can snow significantly in September (even before the official end of summer/start of fall) as it did this year.
But it was sunny and beautiful and in the 60s on Thanksgiving Day.
In short, the weather can be very variable.
That said, severe weather (flooding, hurricanes, etc.) is very rare if not nonexistent.
Intelligent Design vs Random Chance and/or believing in "magic" where something comes from nothing out of nothing and becomes something?
I like the first set of odds.
Let me guess, you expect tollerance FROM everyone else, but are not willing to show any towards people you may not agree with? I'm shocked.
To go back on topic: I've been lurking here for a while and reading a lot of links etc about COS. Question: Is this person's hatred towards the "people of faith" in COS common place? Just curious if there is becoming a "great divide".
Oh and I hate to tell you this omegaman but us "lunatics" are everywhere. BOO! lol
Evolution takes more faith to believe in than intelligent design or creation, and you don't have to be a scientist to understand why. You just need some common sense and an open mind.
Don't come to Colorado Springs for a week in March (or any month for that matter) and expect to have a good idea genrally of what the weather is like here. In March in particular the weather can be "all over the map"--some of our heaviest snows can occur in March. Or clouds and rain for days on end. Or cold dreary days and you think winter will never end. Or you could hit a stretch of warm, sunny, blue-sky days and think you're in heaven. But whatever weather you'd see for that week would be a misrepresentation of the "average" weather here, I think. It can just vary so much.
March through June or July are the wettest months here (we probably get 75% of our precipitation in those four months)--June can be a very wet, very cool month (I think there must be some very disappointed tourists who come for a visit in June some years). September through February are generally very dry months (perhaps 3 to 5 inches of precip total), in spite of the cold and occasional snow. That said, it can snow significantly in September (even before the official end of summer/start of fall) as it did this year.
But it was sunny and beautiful and in the 60s on Thanksgiving Day.
In short, the weather can be very variable.
That said, severe weather (flooding, hurricanes, etc.) is very rare if not nonexistent.
A big thank you to everyone who has posted information about Colorado Springs and the surrounding area here. It is invaluable to those of us considering moving there, like me and my wife. We are planning a trip to Denver and Colorado Springs, possibly in March, but we might have to wait until May or June. I don't think we'll be disappointed even if it's not sunny while we're there, as I'm sure it will be nicer than here in Minnesota. Everything we've seen and read in our online research looks good, and we're just sick of the really cold winters here!
I'm a mechanical engineer and my wife is a therapist (marriage and family stuff, mostly), and I haven't started the job search yet because we're not quite ready to move, but we will be very soon, so if someone could give me some ideas for where to look for mechanical design engineering jobs, that would be great.
We haven't really decided between moving to Denver or Colorado Springs, but we're pretty sure we'll like CS better. We're conservatives and Christians, and my wife's brother might move out here shortly after us, and probably live with us for a while until he can get a place of his own. He wants to work for Focus on the Family.
I'm a mechanical engineer and my wife is a therapist (marriage and family stuff, mostly), and I haven't started the job search yet because we're not quite ready to move, but we will be very soon, so if someone could give me some ideas for where to look for mechanical design engineering jobs, that would be great.
We haven't really decided between moving to Denver or Colorado Springs, but we're pretty sure we'll like CS better. We're conservatives and Christians, and my wife's brother might move out here shortly after us, and probably live with us for a while until he can get a place of his own. He wants to work for Focus on the Family.
Unless you have an active military security clearance, forget working as an engineer in Colorado Springs. There are military firms here but they will require a clearance (Secret or better) prior to talking to you. The engineering firms maintain offices in Denver or South Metro (Centennial, Highlands Ranch), not in Colorado Springs. There is a surplus of unemployed engineers in COS as nearly all the semiconductor fabs have closed and the last natural gas firm relocated all engineering functions to Houston. There are positions with the local utility but they pay 20% under market and everyone in town will know what your salary is under the Freedom of Information act.
I'm not a former military person but am a former military contractor. There is a huge military contingent here so you will need to be able to tolerate that mindset and there is a mindset (some will say otherwise). Some can, some can't. The engineering market in Denver has been quiet compared to other areas of the country. My friends in Denver have said the few firms that are hiring want prospective employees to bring work with them. These would include CH2MHill, Jacobs, Harris Group and Pearl. Having a PE will assist you in a job search but isn't easy.
There are plenty of therapist positions open but your customer base in COS will be very slanted towards military and/or former military personnel. Your wife will need a Colorado license and I don't know what the comity requirements are for that. If she is ineligible, pay is very low. My friend has a MS in Psych and working through the 4 years of required apprenticeship/practice prior to the exam. She makes 25k. Good luck getting on with Focus as they had 2 rounds of layoffs in 2 years.
Sorry to be a downer but Colorado does have a surplus of educated workers.
I can't imagine why anyone would go to the trouble of filling a FOI request just to find out how much I earn, but maybe you live in a different kind of community. I'm inclined to speculate that a surplus of educated workers is not the problem, and in any case a mechanical engineer can work in any number of industries. I understand the wish to live in a conservative, Christian environment and that is one reason we are settling in Colorado Springs. Focus on the Family is only one of many organizations that would allow someone to be active in service to God. It's not always about a salary. FWIW
I can't imagine why anyone would go to the trouble of filling a FOI request just to find out how much I earn, but maybe you live in a different kind of community.
I live in the community you want to live in. The utility company is owned by the city so all city employees (utilities included) had their salaries published by the Gazette in a database. I'm a chemical engineer so I have comparable job latitude. I wouldn't take a position with Utilities as I don't want to deal with envy from neighbors who think I make to much money at 50-60k a year.
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Colorado Springs Weather
