Colorado Springs, Colorado

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.

**PROS and CONS of Living in Colorado Springs 2022 **