Any Mach's in/near Colorado Springs

[04dsgSD]

I am thinking about heading out there once my time in the Navy is up. What are your thoughts on the area, job market, housing, etc? Any help would be great.

[cobrasjj]

As a native to colorado and a life long resident of the springs I think I can help you out! Much like any other town it has goods and bads and it really depends on what you are after. We are, in my opinion, a mid to large city w/ a small town mentality. not that that is entirely bad but we still have a lot of the good ole' boys clubs (gotta know somebody or be able to pull a string) if you know what I mean. We are literally busting at the seems when it comes to our population vs capacity, which is why we have so much construction, commercial/ residential and road rebuilding and repair. From the time I was a kid in the mid 80's unitl now, the population has almost tripled. Industry is nilche, zip, zero. Unless you have an established career, have a string to pull w/ somebody, sell retail, are a priest (MANY churches) or are a waiter , jobs may be hard to come by, although not impossible. For such a large town entertainment is lacking...this town is essentially dead by 9-10 pm weeknights, not much later than that on the weekends. The wage is seemingly decent compared to similar jobs in other areas of the nation. the cost of living, as with everywhere else is increasing. An average house (new) in the springs will run mid to high 200's, low 300's depending on where you want to be. Older homes can be had for 120's on the south side (near the army base) to high 100's to low 300's the further you move north ( towards the air force academy) Average rent Id guess is 500/month for a 1 bedroom, 700-800/ month for a two bedroom appartment, houses (average size) a couple hundred more a month. The outdoors on the other hand is a whole different story. vast open spaces, many national parks and seemingly thousands of acres of forest are their to be enjoyed. camping, hiking, offroading, rockclimbing, canoeing you name it the springs has it just miles away. The climate is neutral, low humidity, high 70's average temp during the summer. Rain is occasional, most likely in the afternoon. winters offer unpredictable snow patterns, accumulation lasting maybe 1-2 days,and its usually gone by the next week. In reality it isnt a bad place, if you can stand the qwirks. Like I said ive been here for years and have no intentions of leaving. One look at that peak in the morning takes all the bad and makes it good. any other questions shoot me a PM and Id be happy to help!

[batman13]

Wow there are more of us here! I am in Pueblo! Which is a little town about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs. I soent many years at Ft Carson and choose Pueblo because it is growing but really has the small town mentality, not to mention it is sooooooo much cheaper to live here! I retired from the Army in 2005 as a Captain, I spent 8 years enlisted before becoming an Officer and do not regret a single minute of it. Colorado Springs is nice but you have to admit the housing cost is crazy and it is becoming so congested, I can drive from Pueblo to the south end of the Sorings quicker that I can drive from the South end of the Springs to the north end! My house is about 3,000 sq ft and I have about $240,000 in it. In the Springs if would cost you well over $500,000 to have the same size house and you probably couldn't have the acre and half that I have unles you go way out east. I actually have a rental property on the East side off of Powers and Constitution and it is about 1100 sq ft. In 85 I paid $98,000 for it and today it was aprasied for $210,000! Do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the springs it has just grown so big so fast that I think Pueblo is such a better deal and it has everything the Springs has to offer except cheaper and not all the traffic. Please any fellow Mach's hit me up here on this site or email me @ bearcaudill@hotmail.com!

Batman!:)

[The_Machingbird]

Like the two people before me, I too am from Colorado. I'm up in Longmont which is about 5 miles (if that) from Boulder. And a good 35-40mi from the Springs. But having been there many times, I find it to be a cool area.
Thought I'd keep it short,
TMB