Whoever coined “the great outdoors” may have been talking about Colorado Springs. Nestled at the foot of the Great Rocky Mountains, the city stays humble to its roots as a resort town giving tourists and residents alike an incredible natural palette within which to frolic. Residents can marvel at the incredible rock formations at the Gardens of the Gods and the 14,000-foot Pike’s Peak. It’s called “Little London” because so many immigrants from England moved here in the 1900’s but more importantly in 2018, US News & World Report named it the most desirable place to live in the United States.

Local POV: 
*The best part of living here is being adjacent to the outdoors. If you like hiking/biking or getting away into the mountains then it's a great place. The air is relatively clean here (though it's getting worse).*



Proximity to the Rocky Mountains

The Best Thing About Colorado Springs?

The weather is so perfect for hikers, skiers and those who appreciate natural beauty, but it’s murder on those who are sensitive to high, altering altitudes and dry climates. It’s so dry, in fact, that one should definitely test it out before moving here. 

Local's advice:
*Drink lots of water. I drink probably about a glass or two more of water per day than when I am in the midwest.Lotion and lip balm are musts.Humidifiers help, but it can take a few days to bring up the humidity of a room and home.*

*Eventually, your body will adapt some, but I still end up drinking quite a bit more water in Denver than when I travel to more humid locations. With the higher altitude, you breathe a little deeper and expel more moisture, then on top of that Denver has dry air. So both will dehydrate you.*


The air

The Worst Thing About Colorado Springs?

While there is a downtown area in Colorado Springs, and plenty of people enjoy going out here, the lifestyle most notable is built around the outdoors. The mountains, rivers and thousands of trails and foothills means hiking, biking, skiing, snowboarding, fishing, rock climbing, camping and just living in the shadow of Pikes Peak and a short drive to the Rockies is central to the adventurous spirit of those who live here. Moving here for the bars and restaurants and growing cultural scene seems to miss the point (although good to know they’re available). Take advantage of those for sure, but move here for the rest of it. 

If you want to see what locals get up to during the year then check out the Colorado Springs calendar of events: https://www.coloradosprings.com/events/#!/


Lifestyle In Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs was recently cited by Brookings as the fastest growing city for Millennials in the country. There are plenty of reasons for this growth but one of them is that it is rated by a Thumbtack annual survey as the fourth most business-friendly city in the country. The largest local employer base is the military and defense industry. In particular the military industry is focused on space and missile defense and so the aerospace industry is a high flyer here. The high-tech and tourism industries are also prominent, with manufacturing of electronics components a core piece of that employment base. Many of those manufacturing jobs are shifting overseas and the service industry is taking over some of that for job opportunities. 
The Springs is also home to the US Olympic Training Center and 24 different national federations for Olympic Sports. This heavy sports influence reinforces the health, fitness and outdoor lifestyle culture of the area. 


Workstyle In Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs offers a decent life. It’s relatively safe, has highly rated schools and provides a degree of comfort from the rest of the world. The weather is fairly mild and schools are good. If you are conservative or politically independent you will feel at home. While more progressives are moving into the area to escape the costs of west and east coast cities it remains a more conservative choice than Denver or Boulder. 



It's Decent

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**The Best Thing About Colorado Springs?**  Proximity to the Rocky Mountains

Whoever coined “the great outdoors” may have been talking about Colorado Springs. Nestled at the foot of the Great Rocky Mountains, the city stays humble to its roots as a resort town giving tourists and residents alike an incredible natural palette within which to frolic. Residents can marvel at the incredible rock formations at the Gardens of the Gods and the 14,000-foot Pike’s Peak.

**The Worst Thing About Colorado Springs?**  The air

The weather is so perfect for hikers, skiers and those who appreciate natural beauty, but it’s murder on those who are sensitive to high, altering altitudes and dry climates. It’s so dry, in fact, that one should definitely test it out before moving here. 

**How You Living?** Outdoors

Colorado Springs is lovely. It’s picturesque and provides endless trails. Though it is relatively low in crime, Colorado Springs, like other similar-sized cities, has seen a recent rise. It’s also a very conservative place, home of Focus on Family and banning the sale of recreational marijuana -- available at dispensaries over most of the state. 

**Why You Should Move Here Now?** 

Colorado Springs offers a decent life. It’s relatively safe, has highly rated schools and provides a degree of comfort from the rest of the world. The weather is fairly mild and schools are good


Colorado Springs is part of what is called the Front Range urban corridor. This is a region of cities located along the eastern face of the Southern Rocky Mountains. It runs along the I-25 highway corridor from southern Colorado to Cheyenne Wyoming. It is called this because the Front Range is the mountain range you first encounter when you’re heading east from the rest of the U.S. Colorado Springs is only an hour’s drive south of Denver so locals craving a bigger city can scoot up pretty quickly. You’re also just about 2 hours from Wyoming and 4 from New Mexico so if you’re hankering to get out of the state it’s all pretty close. 


The Area

Knob Hill is the Urban Arts District of downtown Colorado Springs. A huge push of culture, arts and music has turned this into one of the hotter neighborhoods in the city. Plenty of new cocktail bars, microbreweries and classic dive bars make it the place for those looking for serious nightlife. Downtown/Old North End is another prime choice. The area is filled with classic Victorian homes, some of which were converted to offer reasonable apartment rentals, and interestingly, house a lot of the commercial district - restaurants/bars, coffee shops and boutique shopping.  
- Knob Hill
- Downtown
- Old North End
- Briargate
- East Colorado Springs - DINKS
- Powers - Dinks


Young Professionals

Knob Hill

Old North End is a very cool choice for couples who want to live amidst beautiful Victorians built with gold-rush money in the 1900’s. It’s located near Colorado College, so you get some of that youth vibe but without the frantic bar scene of some college neighborhoods. The neighborhood has apartments for entry level living but also condos and full homes for purchase as you move up in the world! Patty Jewett is another popular choice for couples and singles looking for a fun neighborhood and some commercial district, but want to avoid the intense bar scene of downtown. The homes in this neighborhood are smaller than the Victorians of Old North End but have similar old school charm as many were built in the early 1900’s. 
- Old North End
- Patty Jewett
- Powers


DINKs/SINKs

Old North End

Colorado Springs doesn’t really have a dedicated LGBTQ neighborhood like other bigger cities. Briargate is an upscale neighborhood on the north side of the city that comes closest. It’s a bit more popular with the LGBTQ community than others but living here ain’t cheap. Politically, Colorado Springs is conservative and also deeply religious and that has likely held back some growth in the LGBTQ+ community. Population growth from the coasts is changing things however, to the chagrin of some locals and to the joy of others. Some locals claim that the Springs is less about being Conservative and more about being Independent (live and let live) so perhaps there’s hope for all!


LGBTQ+

Briargate

Briargate is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Colorado Springs for virtually all demographics but in particular families are flocking here. Located in Northeast, which is blowing up with new homes, shopping and family amenities, this is where a lot of families start their search. The Northeast area has one of the best school districts in the county, is extremely safe, and offers a short commute downtown and a shorter drive to Denver if you’re making that commute. Woodmen and Northgate are other Northeast neighborhoods pulling in families that should be your starting point if you’re looking for a suburban lifestyle within the city confines. 
- Briargate
- Woodmen
- Northgate
- Palmer Park


Families

Colorado Springs is a popular retiree city, particularly among the military family community. There are plenty of 55+ and retirement communities but as with many cities, empty nesters and retirees often choose Downtown as a more active alternative. This is where the action is and being able to walk to restaurants, bars and year-round events make it an increasingly popular choice for those ready to get out of their suburban home and live in the middle of it all. 

Living downtown also gives retirees close access to some of the best healthcare in the state. Combine that with an extremely active community across all age groups and you get a perfect combination for empty nesters/retirees who seek active and healthy golden years. 

Colorado Springs

Downtown

**Pros and cons of living in Colorado Springs.**

The best part of living here is being adjacent to the outdoors. If you like hiking/biking or getting away into the mountains then it's a great place. The air is relatively clean here (though it's getting worse).

Those are pretty much the highlights in my opinion. Arts, entertainment, and food are all significant downgrades from CA (or Denver). Our roads are a disaster. The city sprawls from horizon to horizon. There's no city planning. Very few water features. Loads of homeless and lots of property crime. For some reason those have gotten way worse since COVID. Having just come back from a trip to Phoenix I realize that this subreddit is right - our drivers are some of the worst.

To sum it up - we're a small town that has grown way beyond it's social, criminal justice, and hard/physical infrastructure and you will absolutely feel that. But the people are mostly friendly, the views are great, and we have ready access to the mountains.

**Pros and cons of living in Colorado Springs.**

Reasons not to live here : the criminal justice system is broken. Criminals are released without support and commit more and more crimes. If your car is stolen it’s better than replacing your third converter. No body cameras. The da hasn’t ever heard of manslaughter.

Reasons to move here: homes are cheaper than cali. Lots of sun. Lots of nice people. Decent food. Doesn’t rain much. Doesn’t look like a lot of snow in the future. Red rocks. Nature hikes.

The elevation can be worse for some people than others. It messed with me, but not my wife? Honestly rent before you buy so you can decide.

**What is it like to live in Colorado Springs, CO?**

We moved here from Atlanta about 6 years ago.

Housing is expensive compared to Atlanta but not quite as expensive as you would find in California. It’s not terribly far off though. Buying a home here has been quite the experience. It’s a seller’s market and for something nice you will have to bid on it. Colorado Springs local government works hard to control affordable housing. They do what they can to keep the “undesirables” and poor people from moving in which is a shame. It’s mostly middle and upper-middle class white people (seems like 95%).

The winter here lasts about 6–7 months but it’s not as bad as what you might find in the mid-west or northeast. We don’t get as much snow as you might think. In 6 years, we’ve only had one occasion where it snowed more than a foot (was in April of 2016 but it was mostly slush). It can be dry here but not as much as I was expecting — we seem to have a lot more rainy days than I would have thought. That at least keeps the summers from getting too hot. We have a few 90 degree days but they feel nothing like the south’s hot days. We have never needed an AC since moving here.

Some years you do get close to 300 days of sunshine which is great but not always.

The natives are great. They’re not high strung and are very laid back. Regardless of religious affiliation or political persuasion, they’re very polite but can take a while to get to know — they’re in no hurry which is different than the South. The other folks seem to be mostly from California and Texas. Those can be a bit difficult to deal with until they learn to relax and take it easy. Compared to other places I’ve lived, there is almost no traffic except for construction or accident-related (people tail-gate badly here).

Nothing in a town this size anywhere in the world compares to the natural scenery here. It is breath-taking and alone can make you feel very grateful and happy to be here. It just comes with a price.

I work remotely for a company in California, so I’ve not had to look for a job here. If you don’t work in defense contracting, you had better know someone otherwise, you probably won’t make as much money as you would in other parts of the country working an equivalent job. As I mentioned, housing is expensive and does not keep up with wages like it might in other parts of the country. On the other hand however, property taxes and utilities are very inexpensive.

Overall, I like it compared to other places I’ve lived (Atlanta GA, Mobile AL, Eastern NC) but I do worry about being able to afford staying here.

**What is it like to live in Colorado Springs, CO?**

As far as big cities go, you can’t go wrong with Colorado Springs. A neverending plethora of things to do outside, if you’re into that sort of thing. Don’t let people tell you it’s too conservative or Christian, that simply isn’t true. Colorado Springs tends to lean a little to the right, but it’s more of a Libertarian lean that anything. People here tend to vote more based on fiscal policy than social agendas.

More of a live and let live mentality (coincidently the Libertarian party was founded in Colorado Springs). We are a don’t tax me and leave my guns alone city, but generally accepting of alternative lifestyles and marijuana.

Weather can be literally anything at any time. I’ve seen it snow in June, and I’ve seen it 80 degrees on Christmas. You learn after being here awhile that you never go anywhere without layers of clothing at any time. That and sunscreen. Because of the altitude, you can and will get sunburned very quickly, even in the winter, and right through your hair.

It’s a very good place to raise children (so long as you avoid the southeast side), and if you’re prior military, you’ll definitely feel at home. If you live on the south side of town, you can sometimes hear Revele and 155mm Howitzers firing. Sounds like freedom to me.

Even if you’re a flaming liberal, you’ll be fine here, although I’d suggest you perhaps chose a home on the west side or even Manitou.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Window To The Rockies

Looklyloo Score: 80

We're on it!