What is Colorado Springs like?

I haven't lived here as long as you but my experience here has been almost the exact opposite from yours. I "transplanted" here from Virginia.

The drivers here are way more courteous than drives I've seen in VA, MD, CA, TX, FL, the list goes on. For example, I used to commute on 295 that goes from DC to Baltimore, MD. The speed limit is 75. If you're not doing 90 and tail gating the car in front of you, you'll get honked at and cut off. Zippering the merge lane? What's that? 9 of 10 times that someone is being a dick on the road has out of state plates.

I also almost never smell MJ here. like maybe once every several months at most.

I go camping about once ever 3 weeks and haven't really had a problem. On labor day weekend I went camping on Madano Pass (2hr south). There are no reservation there and there were almost no other people there.

 

a little older of an article but facts nonetheless. I am also a firefighter so I get info that other people don’t get. I like Colorado Springs just fine but it is getting worse.

https://krdo.com/news/local-news/to...colorado-drivers-still-among-worst-in-the-us/

 

I don’t think it will be my last duty station. I’ve got about a decade left.

 

Yeah I looked into gun laws. Over 21, carry a pistol with a 12+1. Was glad to see concealed carry is still allowed.

Wanted to get an AR soon as a trophy gun but I guess I’ll have to have one of those baby magazines until I move somewhere else if I get out there.

 

When I was living in Colorado that law was not enforced and several firearms dealers were blatantly selling regular capacity magazines in spite of the law. Has that changed?

And would the OP be exempted from that law being active military?

 

I remember when the base class 6 still sold stuff to 18+ even after every state went to 21.

 

Well... I'm late to the party on this thread. My wife and I were married right outside of durango 23 years ago. I've been coming to Colorado since I was 9 and my wife and I have been coming out here for 23 years. The year after we were married we would start every vacation in Colorado Springs and take a different path across the state and end up in Durango and the San Juans.

We moved out here in May of this year. We live in Briargate at the moment (well, actually my daughter does). She has an apartment here and we have a 4WD Mercedes Benz Conversion Van that we plan on traveling the West in once she gets completely settled in. Her rent with all utilities in a very nice gated apartment complex is right around $1700. Some of the nicer apartments where we came from had less and cost more. So I will argue that the cost of living out here is not much more (if any).

Colorado Springs has changed quite a bit since we first started coming out here. But I will have to disagree with the cost of living out here. I find very little difference in the cost of living out here than where we came from. It is essentially the same as far as rent goes for her apartment, groceries cost the same here as they did back home, fuel is always an unknown as it always fluctuates, restaurants are no more expensive out here than where we came from, etc...

"If" you live on the Northern end of the city then everything is really nice. The further South you go the more sketchy it gets. That doesn't go for everywhere down South but in the Northen part of the city is just nice. We are directly across the freeway from the Air Force Academy. We have not noticed anything unusual living up in this area. And there are plenty of things to do within 45 mins from the city. Plenty of hiking, camping, dispersed camping, etc...

The one thing that will hit you hard is the price of insurance. My daughters car was insured for $89 a month before we moved. Now her car insurance is $237 a month. Colorado has the 5th highest insurance rates in the country due to all of the hail storms that come through along with the snow in the winter. My daughters car got some pretty good hail damage about a year before we left to come out here. I had it repaired but now it looks like someone took a hammer to her car because of all the hail. The first three months we lived here, I could count on both hands the days that it didn't rain. And with the rain comes the hail.

Here is a video I took of golf ball size hail that lasted for well over an hour hitting my van. Luckily I only got a couple small dents in the hood. Only I know they are there but it still bugs me. But I'd say over 50% of the vehicles out here have moderated to extreme hail damage. I've given up on my daughters car bacause what's the use? It's just going to get beat up again.

This is golf ball size hail filmed from the 4th floor of my daughters apartment. This particular hail storm lasted for well over an hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW1ElgJtNqA

One thing that I've figured out is if there is a 20% chance of rain? It's going to rain here. And most likely hail will follow. That being said... This year, in a three month period, Colorado Springs got more precipitation than the city gets in an entire year. It broke every record since records were kept according to the National Weather Service. So that is an anomaly.

One thing I love to hear is people complain if the temps happen to hit 90 degrees here. There is little to no humidity here so it's just 90 degrees. Where we moved from it wasn't uncommon to have multiple weeks at a time where the temps were well over 100 degrees in the summertime with above 80% humidity. So I just kind of roll my eyes when people start complaining about the temps if they happen to get a little bit warm. Go back to where I came from and you will understand what hot really means.

I'm sure the Springs has it fair share of homeless but it is no different than any other major city. The most I ever see is people standing on the street corner begging for money. We had that same thing from where we moved from. So it's no different here.

I "personally" find very little downsides to living here. If you have a dog / dogs, it is one of the most dog friendly cities I've ever been in. Leash free dog parks everywhere. And the city parks (especially up North) are pretty impressive.

As far as housing costs go. It's not any different from where we moved. We sold our house back in May for $410,000 and just took that money and put it in our investments. So when we do finally settle down? We will buy a townhome in the Northern part of Colorado Springs for about the same money we sold our house for. Of course you can find cheaper houses but my cut off line is Woodman Ave. I will not go any further South than that. I'll stick to the Northern part of the city.

Now... Marijuana is "technically" not sold in Colorado Springs unless you have a medical card. But it is literally a 10 min drive up to Monument and there are two dispensaries up there. So if you partake like I do (most every day), then it is extremely easy to drive up and get whatever you want. And it is cheap. I realize that isn't for everyone. But if that is you? Well then it is no big deal.

On a final note... There isn't any place you can go in the city without having pretty amazing views of the mountains. Denver doesn't offer that because the mountains are much further away from the city. I can literally walk out the front door and I'm greeted with the front range.

So I'll completely argue against the cost of living out here. As far as a medium / large size city goes, it's one of the nicest that I've lived in. Everything is convenient, plenty of things to do, plenty of unique resturants, etc... So we've had no issues with cost of living.

Take that for what it's worth. It works for us.

 

I like this. Sums up the difference in outlook between a country guy from up north (me) and what I presume to be a city guy from south/east? Near total opposite viewpoints about the exact same city.

 

I will add to this, I have lived all over the US and Briargate is the only place where somebody repeatedly broke into my vehicles parked outside.

I used to live right off Mirage.

 

Yes. We moved from Arkansas. I worked for the Little Rock FD for 28 years and got to retire when I was 48. We bought the van and my wife also retired at 48. There is NOTHING to do in Arkansas and it's a long story on how I ended up there considering I grew up in Hawaii and California. But it was always our plan to settle down in the Springs. Weather seems to be the biggest issue (hail being the worst). Everything else? The cost of living is no different other than vehicle insurance. The only fluctuating cost is fuel. But that goes for everywhere. Diesel when we first got out here was around $3.35 a gal. Now it's close to $4.50 a gallon. But that is something that I can't control. But as far as all the other essentials and non essentials such as going out to eat etc... The cost is no different.

 

"So far" no issues with that. Not so say it won't happen because that can happen anywhere. We live about a block away from the Promenade. It's a gated community and I don't know if that makes a difference or not. But with our van looking like it does? It's not exactly subtle.

Camping from a week or so ago outside of Woodland park in dispersed camping.

 

Maybe it's been getting better then. Here is something from May of 2023 that list CO as #19. This could also mean that CS is worse than the typical Colorado driver. One interesting thing about this other study is that we're surrounded by the worst drivers. Here is the link, the tiles are interactive. https://www.fatherly.com/news/map-worst-drivers-in-us-texas

 

I agree that Colorado Springs has changed A LOT since we started coming up here 23 years ago. It has grown so much over the last 20 years or so. And I have to agree with you about the drivers also. LA has the worst drivers I've ever seen but it seems some of those drivers have migrated here. I-25 is almost always backed up most times of the day and road construction coming in from the South just makes it worse. The freeway onramp lights are a joke since it seems no one "really" pays attention to them.

But... I think the same can be said for "most" of the cities and towns in Colorado. When my wife and I were married in Durango 23 years ago, Durango kind of seemed like this little hidden gem in the San Juans. It seemed the only reason anyone went there was to ride the train up to Silverton and back. It wasn't crowded and was just a nice place to vist. Now, it isn't remotely close to what it used to be. Overcrowded, panhandlers on every corner that you literally have to step over them, and I suppose what really kind of ruins it for me is the sheer amount of dispensaries. There are 5 of them in a 6 block radius. But the one that really pisses me off is the one that is on Main Street. It has a big green neon sign pointing the way to get your weed. I don't need that and it ruins Main Street. If I want weed I can find it easily. I don't need a big green neon sign pointing the way.

And since you brought up the smell of Marijuana... I suppose I am part of that problem in the Springs. Because I do partake often. But I'm a huge proponent of legalization so it fits me just fine. But I also understand that not everyone holds my view on marijuana and I respect that. But... Since it is legal in so many parts of the state? I don't really count that as a negative to Colorado Springs since it isn't sold here without a medical card. But as I mentioned earlier, it's so easy to drive 10 mins to Monument and go to a dispensary there that it kind of makes it a moot point of why it isn't legal in Colorado Springs when it is so easily available in Monument or Manitou Springs.

As far as the mountains being overrated? I'll have to disagree with you there. Even in the summer we had zero issues with finding dispersed camping outside of Woodland Park on the back side of Pikes Peak. During the weekend it "might" get a little more crowded but not by much. I try to say away from actual campgrounds at all cost. If you camp in dispersed camping you basically have to have a dedicated rig like we have that will run for days on end with lithium power system we have in the van. Either that or you are tent camping. But finding a nice campsite hasn't been an issue. And there is just something to waking up each morning and walking out the front door and seeing the front range right there in front of you.

I do have a lifetime NP Pass but I almost refuse to go to a NP during peak season. But I get in for free and half off of the campsites. So I'll just wait until the offseason.

Is Colorado Springs the perfect city? No. It has all the problems that other large cities have. But it's much better than where I came from so I'll take this anyday.

 

i've been in springs since 2009. graduated high school here in 2010 and graduated from uccs. now i have a job/career here in my field and bought a house a couple years ago. grew up on fort campbell in kentucky and am out here now.

different parts of the city feel very different, as others have mentioned. i've lived east on powers, west in manitou (pretty much west colorado springs), patty jewett area a bit north of downtown, and now have a house in ivywild south of downtown.

personally, i love colorado springs. its a big little city i guess. i wasn't a fan when i was over on the east side on powers. that feels like suburbia. a lot of chain restaurants and stores.

now that im a lot closer to trails, downtown, etc, i enjoy my time a lot more. disclaimer, im like right at the edge of here be dragons and the 1%

if you do move near penrose or canon city, they have been doing a lot of construction on hwy 115. its a shit show now but will be smooth driving soon.

the map below was made almost 10 years ago by idk who, but gives an idea on the different areas. the lines have blurred a bit. there might be an updated one floating around somewhere

 

Looks like my daughter lives in the "Not quite 1%". Need to work on that.