Had it with CA, planning to move to Springs area, but where?! (Denver: bank owned, real estate)

[hollyjulia]

Hi,
We are looking at finally getting out of California (after a lifetime of living here) and are really looking forward to the Springs area. I loved my visit a few weeks ago and feel that the beauty and the nice people will mesh well with my family. I only have zip codes to look at when seeing rentals on the net-80918, 80919, and 80920. I have a 12 year old daughter and want her to have friends of a similar age right away, plus she needs a "good" school. Outside of these zip codes, where should I look? The realtor I am working with only has a few listings, and the only criteria I know to search in on her web site is "North West, North East, and Briargate." I am only gravitating toward those zips because that is the area I really drove through. For a relaxed atmosphere, slower pace and family friendly area, where else should I look? Thank you so much,
Laura

[Buona sera]

What do you mean by relaxed atmosphere? CO springs isn't usually considered relaxed. That area is very very religious and military, if you call that relaxed. Monument up the road is more relaxed, with A+ schools, more outdoorsey. Maybe if you described what attributes you are looking for in a neighborhood. You can find out about the schools at greatschools.net.

[SoCalCroozer]

I lived 7 years in Colorado and 3 of those were in Colorado Springs. I LOVE COLORADO! Such a great state and a the Springs is a great place to raise a family. Eastern Colorado Springs i.e. the Powers corridor grew at a very fast pace a few years ago. We bought a wonderful 3 bedroom 2 bath house for $184K. We turned around and sold it for $220 right before the market tanked. It was in a Classic Home in Indigo Ranch. Briargate is very nice but one of the pricier areas. Western Colorado Springs is also a little older but very nice. I doubt the jobs situation is that great. Monument is also nice and affordable. Certain aspects of the Springs is very cookie cutter like most newly built up areas of the country.

The only thing I didn't like about Colorado Springs was a very big military presence and Focus on the Family and New Life Church is headquartered there if that tells you anything. Downtown is ok but nothing too exciting. If I could do it all over again I'd live in South Denver/Highlands Ranch area. I love that area.

Oh and I'm in Mission Viejo/Ladera area now

[MMichelle]

I've lived in the Springs for 29 years. I know the city well and have lived in several areas of the city over the years.

Looking for great schools - look at the SW, Cheyenne Mtn. Dist 12, Mantiou Springs is the smallest with a population of around 300 students (last I checked) district #14. Do not rule out District 11. D11 is so large that you will find good and not so good schools in the district. 5-10 years ago, I might have advised you to stay away from D11 - not so any more. There are some great schools there.

[Bideshi]

You sure want to avoid those military and conservative Christian types...

[lalahartma]

Well, CoS is relaxed complared to the East Coast!

[Ladybug24]

You can add 80922 to your list as well. Not too expensive but nice area.

[Mike from back east]

Laura, lots here to pick from.

I'm curious about that part about your realtor only has a few listings. Does NOT compute. There are THOUSANDS of listings in COLO SPGS. I'm not a realtor nor in the biz in any way, but that doesn't sound right to me. Maybe you need a better realtor? I just did a search in realtor.com for zip 80920 for homes priced up to $400k and it came back with 204 hits. If you can tell us more about your search we can zero in on good info for you. Key thing we need to know is price range. With one child it sounds like 3-4 BRs would be fine. I urge you to play around with realtor.com for a while, it's a lot of fun and you can see all the styles of homes and get a feel for prices. There are some realtors out there who specialize in bank owned repo's that can be quite a bargain.

There are lots of areas to look at for family friendly stuff, including Falcon, Fountain, and Monument to name a few.

This area is fairly conservative, but the reports are blown out of proportion on websites like Sperling's where malcontents badmouth the area. Just about any religion you'd want is here but I find everything nicely low key and friendly. We've addressed this many times in the forum, search on keywords like: religion, religious, conservative, etc. I see no more religious activity here than we did in VA (i.e., the Mormon boys come by once a year as do the ladies selling The Watchtower, all very nice people and nothing to worry about).

The options for outdoor sports and enjoyment can keep you busy year round but we don't have an ocean.

[COflower]

To piggy back on what Mike said...you can pull up the Pikes Peak MLS to poke around all listings:

Colorado Springs Real Estate - Official MLS Listings - PPAR.com

[Amery523]

We are on the south end of D-20, in 80918 and love it. Older homes, established neighborhoods with lots of kids, safe streets to play in esp. during school breaks and summer, and more importantly, lots of big trees!! The newer homes further north of us have fewer trees and the homes are a little more expensive as what you would expect with a newer home. You can always get a great school but it is harder to find that neighborhood with lots of friends for your kids. I can only recommend driving around streets on a weekend or during the evenings - see what ages of kids are out and about playing outside. A nice sunny day on a weekend would bring the kids out in droves. That will give you a good clue as to the potential playmates for your kids.