Colorado Springs, CO - Anyone Ever Been?
 

Just curious if anyone has been/lived in Colorado Springs; and if so, what their impressions were of the place.

My job-hunt (going on 5 weeks now) has yielded possibly near-perfect match, but it's located in Colorado Springs; good news is, the Wife's corporate office is located in Colorado Springs as well. She is 'game' for a move if the job manifests itself etc.


The wisdom of CP'ers is always appreciated (sans Midnight Douche)

It's not unlike any other metro. Some really crappy parts and some very nice parts. Very defense industry-oriented. The mountain is right there. Apparently has some gang/meth problems.

I prefer Denver, but I'm biased.

Cool; I'll definitely do some digging. The job I'm interested in, is 'in' the mountain; which is bit south of Colorado Springs; and the wife's company is more on the north end.

The one with the really big door in it?

I always get a strange feeling when I drive through it, can't say why exactly. It's just odd. Also the traffic is simply ridiculous. I-25 on a Saturday morning around 10 is not when you would expect to hit stop and go traffic for no reason. This happened to me several times so it seemed like it wasn't just a coincidence. All that aside though, I'd rather live in the Springs than a lot of other places. I agree with Donger though, Denver is way cooler if you can swing it.

I like the Springs, but recognize that it's politically and socially very conservative. It's got a big army base (which I understand is expanding significantly), and it's the home of Focus on the Family. If your tendencies lean to the left, you'll be in the minority, and it's not even close.

I did observational research in Colorado Springs for nearly seven years for a client, so I crawled all over that city. I'm not sure what bad neighborhoods Donger is talking about, unless he means the central part of the city. It's got older homes, I guess, but I definitely wouldn't say it's a bad neighborhood. Maybe I would classify some of the southeastern neighborhoods as a bit higher on the skank factor, when I think about it, but no big deal.

I thought the northwest and southwest parts of the city were quite nice. The northwest is probably a bit more affordable than the southwest, but I could easily live in either of those places, or in the central part.

My one annoyance with the Springs is that their development pattern tends to cluster restaurants and stores on specific streets, and I could never seem to find them when I needed them. I remember driving around looking for a restaurant for lunch - any restaurant - and taking 20 to 30 minutes to find anything. It was weird.

It's cool to be that close to the mountain(s), too. You can have a pretty middle-class home that has a superb mountain view.

Like Donger, I tend to prefer Denver, but I wouldn't have a problem moving to the Springs if I needed to.

Yeah, the highway traffic down there is horrible. I think there's a plan to widen it that's in the works, which will probably gum stuff up for a while, but man, they need it.

If you live there, though, you wouldn't spend much time on the highway and the rest of the road system is pretty good.

My brother has been there for about 12 years and loves it. I have never been up there in the winter but it has always struck me as a decent enough town.

I doubt that the Springs has bad winters, because it's only a little higher than Denver. You might occasionally get some weird snows with mountain being there, but Colorado Springs wouldn't be anything like the mountain towns.

I was just there 2 weeks ago. It has very few desirable old woodworking or blacksmith tools in the antique stores I looked in. Disappointing, but what you gonna do.

ROFL

By crappy, I meant some of the industrial areas, not neighborhoods.

I would take a Front Range winter over a Midwest winter any day.

based on the description and company; I suspect so. :D

Ugh. Get used to hating I-25.