Want to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado, DON'T! - 6/22/2020

If you want to move here you will screw yourself permanently. All those involved in real estate here work together. You will pay 15,000 to 20,000 over asking price which is still 1 year ahead of actual value. You will be stuck in that home for no less than 15yrs before you will break even. You will pay maxed out junk fees, ex. 750 for an appraisal which I got three quotes on ans 200 to 400. You will pay 5 plus points and all parties will max out their profits on the deal burying you in a home you'd better want to be buried in. This is life in the springs and that just moving here. I came from California were prices are high they are now high here. Vist and see for yourself but bend over if you want to live here. The real estate market is full of crooks and they do not negotiate. If your constipated move here and you wont be anymore and if you do move here you deserve everything you get. I live here and it's just like Vegas in 2009. People owe twice what their property is worth.

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Nice place to raise a family - 4/13/2020

Colorado Springs is a nice place to live and raise a family. For the number of people that live here, ~750k in the metro area, the roads aren’t that crowded, at least not where I live or typically drive. That said, in the summer, highway 24 can get pretty congested heading west toward Manitou Springs from I-25, as thats where most of the “touristy” spots are, and Manitou itself gets very crowded for the same reason. Compared to other cities with the same population size, however, I’d say traffic is probably lighter here, but my other experiences are mainly the Twin Cities and Phoenix, so take that with a grain of salt. The weather is.... interesting... to say the least. Prime example, it’s April 2020 as I type this, and on Saturday it was sunny and 74 degrees. My yard is turning green and and I spent much of the day outside. The next day, Sunday, we didn’t get above 30. That’s pretty typical throughout the winter, we’ll have several bright/sunny days, all the snow will melt, and you can comfortably be outside with just a sweatshirt, talking 50’s to low 60’s here, but then we’ll get hit with a snowstorm and you get stuck inside your house for a day or two. And that’s not just November through March that this happens, no, no, no. This can happen anytime between October through May. But then we’re back into the 50’s or better again, all the snow melts, you’re outside, and have to open your windows because it’s gotten too warm inside. Yes, even in December/January we’ve had to open our windows to cool down the house at times. All of the people I’ve met have been friendly/respectful for the most part. I don’t see too many people holding doors for each other, and certainly a lot more people consumed with whatever is on their phone than there used to be, but outside of that I see a lot of smiles, friendly waves/nods, “how do you do’s?”, etc. Religion: this concerned me before moving here. To be blunt, I am not religious and was worried that I’d have Jehovah's Witnesses, Evangelicals, Mormons, etc all trying to convert/“save” me. What I found, however, is that unless you seek it out, religion pretty much just stays in the background. I’ve made some really good friends of all faiths, including several fellow atheists/agnostics. As for shopping, there are some decent places, but both malls (Citadel & Chapel Hills) are pretty weak compared to the Denver area malls. I’m not a big shopper, but my wife/daughter are. If that’s your thing, be prepared to commute to Denver for the best shopping experience. Ok, that’s enough

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Would not recommend moving to Colorado Springs - 3/19/2020

I feel that Colorado Springs is pleasant but no where near great. Its really over rated. Its become very crowded, congested, crime-ridden and the cost of living here has been soaring. There are alot places in the area that are in the lower economic scale, places are little run down, in distress and not very well kept. Been looking at relocating to a better place and better fit than Colo Springs.

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Disappointed in Colorado Springs. - 9/20/2019

Eh - Recently moved to Colorado Springs from Denver to get away from the high Cost of Living, Crime, Congestion and the Crowds. We were wrong for thinking this place was any better As the saying goes out of the frying pan into the fire. There was recently a drive by shooting less than a mile away and another shooting later that night in the same vicinity. Cost of housing has skyrocketed to near Denver levels as well. There are alot of neighborhoods that dont have an HOA and houses have overgrown weeds and trash in their yards. Traffic and congestion is nearly as bad as Denver was. Electricity and Water are much higher than anticipated. Doubt if we stay here very long and already looking elsewhere to relocate.

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No going back - 8/3/2019

I've lived here 3 different times due to my work. Every time I've gone back it has grown drastically and cost of living and housing has skyrocketed. It's not what it used to be when I first moved there in 1982. I moved away permanently last year with no looking back. I don't miss the hail storms or wildfires that pelt the area. And don't have to worry about the presence of mountain lions.

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Going downhill - 5/13/2019

I've lived here for 15 years. You need to update your average price of a home because it has gone up dramatically in the last two years. According to our local paper, the current average price of a home is $303,450. Apartments are unaffordable. The scenery and activities available are great, but it is getting very crowded and the crime has gone way up. I moved here from the south and one of the reasons was the low crime rate. Now it seems like there is a shooting every day, drug busts are rampant, and wrecks are increasing exponentially....so much so that they are putting in red light cameras at multiple locations (and they aren't helping.) The freak weather is so bad that insurance rates have skyrocketed. If I could afford to move, I would.

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There are better places for sure. - 4/14/2019

Not the worst city, but certainly not the best either. People are rude...Hillbillies at best, not the brightest. Women are not attractive at all! have you have heard of the ugly stick? If not,Just ask one of the local gals as I'm sure that they can tell you all about how it feels to get beat all to hell with one! Pace is expensive, getting worse every day too. Sorry if you don't like my opinion, just telling it like it really is. go ahead come on out here and find out for yourself if you don't believe. Oh, and make sure you have good car insurance. Between the baseball size hail and the

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Awesome or Horrible depending on the neighborhood - 2/10/2019

I bought a house in Colorado Springs, on Cheyenne Blvd, about a mile from S. Nevada, in 2002. Prices in general weren't so high then. Plus, that S. Nevada area that bordered us was extremely blighted (to say the least!). In 2007, we moved overseas and have rented it out ever since. During that time home prices gradually increased. Then, the city finally started tearing out that dingy blighted mess that was S. Nevada Ave. It's being replaced with fine shopping and dining places, etc. The dinge is gone. Basically, anywhere on the west side, below or on the mountains, is great. There are also some really fine areas around downtown; neighborhoods full of the original Victorian houses. This includes the area around Colorado College. But there are bad areas too. Much of the South Academy Blvd. area is crime-infested. Along the central and North Academy Blvd, it becomes a blah, boring, area, full of the same sorts of generic neighborhoods you'll find anywhere else. And where 'fine dining' equals Super China Buffet and Golden Coral. So really, it's like most other cities, in that it can be either great or totally suck depending on which area you live. The only real problems city-wide are that some people can't handle a lot of snow in the winters, and sometimes in the summer there are golfball-sized hail stones during storms. But everywhere in the world has some problems. CA has earthquakes. Hawaii has volcanoes. Oklahoma has tornados. There's no perfect place, anywhere.

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Love the mountains but can't afford to live here - 1/23/2019

I grew up in Colorado Springs, left to join the military, and came back because the mountains will always be home, but regular people can't afford to live here anymore. The cost of living is ridiculously high, starting with housing that has risen at an unnatural rate and will likely crash if COS history is any indicator. Buying a house? Expect to pay more than asking price, and in the last 2 years, houses have sold within a day or two of coming onto the market. Rents, including substandard apartments, have risen due to demand, and they fail to live up to the expectations of those paying $2000 a month for the privilege of not being homeless. Yes, homelessness is an issue here. Of course it is. There's no affordable housing. The waitlist for subsidized housing has been closed for a decade. They bulldoze homeless communities but fail to do anything substantive. In the past, they've bussed homeless people out of town, which doesn't really solve the problem. Average American workers are out-priced, much as they were in Aspen and Vail years ago. The average people I know (and I'm an educated professional) look to move farther out, but there's only so far you can go. Traffic is exactly as others have said. It's one of the highest incidence of tailgating in the country, people are rude (and they're my home town!), and the roads have not grown to accommodate the number of people who have moved here in the last 5 years. Potholes will ruin your tires, suspension, shock absorbers, etc. Crime has escalated in the past 10 years. The public transportation system is pathetically inadequate for a city this size. We're in a perpetual drought (so when Sperlings says we get 68 inches of snow a year, they must be looking at data from a hundred years ago). Honestly, I could go on for pages, but the truth is that I love the mountains, and Pikes Peak will always be home, but I can't afford to live here anymore, and even if I could, I wonder if I'd really want to considering the current state of our city. How we showed up on 2 "best places to live" lists in 2018 is beyond me.

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Very Disappointing - 12/4/2018

On the west side of this city it's very picturesque, quaint and majestic, but it's east side is just blah. Also, this place is maybe the worst singles scene in a city this nice. The women here are just unattractive as all get out. I don't know what it is but they can't hold a candle to women in Albuquerque where I came from. A poor, crime ridden and jobless wasteland that still has far more and better looking women. Something about military towns that are like this. Anyway, this city is too crowded, expensive and lame. Colorado in general is highly overrated and I'm going to be moving on when my lease is up. The mountains and climate are the only pluses. Too many cons and not enough pros for me to want to stay here.

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From great to good. - 6/17/2018

Its beautiful here lots of sunshine, late afternoons you experience wind and thunderstorms which are in and out within an hour then sunshine again the winds stick around longer. Summers are awesome for temperatures, the winters do get cold at night and much warmer during the days. Moderate traffic almost never stopped traffic unless an accident, tailgaters are terrible here as well as people that cut over at the last second. Patriotic city lots of military and good people, one of the few cities in Colorado where you can be proud to be an American and there will be many others like you. Taxes are a little high but utilities are dirt cheap and they include all of them on one bill which is awesome. Homeless are on most street corners downtown which is appalling because most are young working age with super low unemployment at just above 3% no excuse to be begging unless your a drug addict and lazy. Vehicle registration is very expensive if you have a newer car. If you buy a house try to buy north of town its a little more expensive but you will get less crime and a very nicely built home for your money with breathtaking views everywhere. If you are a vet or active duty tons of businesses give you a military discount which is nice. Were getting a lot of people from western California who left because of the high cost of living but unfortunately they are voting how they did there and taxes have been going up the past few years but other than that its a great place to live.

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Gotten Worse - 3/23/2018

I've had the privilege of living in Colorado Springs on three different occasions due to my line of work. The first being in 2009. At first sight, my wife and I loved the town, especially the views and weather. A year later, we moved to DC and really missed the Springs. Fast forward three years and we're back in Colorado for round two. Unfortunately, this is when we noticed a noticeable decline in the town. Everything from the legalization of marijuana, increased traffic, ignorant drivers/tailgaters, increased prices for everything, and CRIME. The Springs took a turn for the worse, so we decided to pack up and move back to DC. Oddly enough, DC got worse as well. Now we're back in Colorado, round 3, and somehow gotten even worse. Everywhere we go, it wreaks of marijuana, homes are expensive, and the roads are terrible. This place reminds me of the alternate 1985 of Hill Valley from Back to the Future 2 where Biff is a millionaire and the town is run amuck. The upside to Colorado Springs is plenty of outdoor activities and great weather. Update 2022: after a few more years in the Springs since writing my original review, we finally left for good. Everything I previously wrote is still relevant times 3.

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Nothing but a trashpit... - 3/6/2018

I was going to move here to be closer to my sister but I left after only two months. During which time I received a parking ticket (for being legally parked - parking guy had to admit he was wrong in traffic court), being pulled over and forced to show DL, registration, and insurance because I was out driving at 1PM (broke no law, mind you, just got stopped for being out late), and being in two separate traffic accidents (one on Colorado Avenue, another one on Cheyenne Mtn. Blvd.). In addition to that, the cost of living is absurdly high (which is why so many people there live on the streets and panhandle on corners), jobs pay minimum wage or at the most $10 per hour even if you have a Master's Degree, and all the nice hiking places are now home to all the drug-addled weed-smokers. And, yes, I don't doubt the teacher who was treated well always had a job - the education system is horrible and instead of firing the bad ones, the just shuffle them around from one school to the other like they don't get what's wrong. Moved back to my small Kansas town and I'll never leave again.

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Bordering on 3 to 4 stars - 1/22/2018

It really was not a bad place to live. I had a divorce here, and had trouble with my ex, and left because of that. But I was a mainstay teaching in the schools here - they always gave me a chance! In other places, mostly I have been given a fair chance except where I live now (nothing fair about where I live now!) I found it to be a pretty good place, for a big city. Lots to do, I was in the Music scene and it was fair. And if I needed more, Denver was right down the road. Law enforcement never hassled me, and was pretty positive to me. I had some issues with a Presbyterian church, but I think that was the nature of the denomination. I still care about some people there - maybe they still care about me (its possible and I don't know). It was home a long time, but I do recommend it. But it does help if you are affluent - but honestly, I didn't do too badly on a modest salary either.

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Good but declining - 1/6/2018

This place was great until weed attracted waves of junkies who now infest the trails and parks with garbage and crime. Its close to the mountains which are much nicer. The economy is great here and self employed people will always have customers. Colorado will soon turn into the next California though and that will surely change. Taxes in Colorado Springs have raised significantly in the last few years. I came here to escape California, so its still great in comparrisson.

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correction - 11/1/2017

I misspoke, sales tax is 8.25%

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Moved here for Grandchildren - 10/26/2017

Have lived here for 4 years now, moving from Northwestern Pennsylvania. I want to go back! Car registration for 2000 GMC pickup per year- $95.00, 2007 Ford 500 -$100 and 2013 Ford F150- $295.00. Car insurance 6 month premium for GMC and Ford 500 is $600.00, $350 per 6 months for Ford F150. Two of our vehicles have hail damage, our house, garage and sheds sustained $22,000 hail damage last year. We paid extra for a "hail resistant" roofing system when we got it replaced to minimize having to reroof it before we can leave. By the way, our roof was replaced in 2010 before we bought it because of hail. Colorado Springs boasts over 300 days of sunshine. Our experience has been yes, it starts out sunny each day, then the clouds roll off the mountains because the mountains create the weather and the storms start up each afternoon with the potential for hail possible, not each day mind you but enough to keep you on your toes. Wind deserves it's own mention because it's always present. The wind drives the tumbleweeds, the garbage cans and the smoke from western fires towards us. Having lived in Pa all my life, my body is used to the plants, pollen and allergy inducing things there, Not HERE. The smoke from fires causes sniffling and itchy eyes and throats plus the various western plants that we are not used to. We miss our maple syrup season, strawberry season, peaches, corn on the cob, apple season, grape season and our woods, lakes, streams and trees. We were going to move to woodland park, but the mountains like to catch fire. We were going to move to black forest, but it catches fire. We live in the plains now. We bought our manufactured house on 9 acres for 232,500 in 2013 and zillow zestimates it at 314,000 now. Traffic is crazy! The city is trying to fix the roads. Sales tax in the city is 8.75% including clothes, candy and pop. In the county where we live it is 5.13%. They want to pass a tax on how many miles a person drives each year to generate more money. Most shopping centers have people sitting in cars watching what you do so they can see if you might have something they want, if so, they will break into your car. We run a humidifier most days because it is so dry. Your hair dries out, your skin is itchy and static electricity is a constant companion. On the positive note, our property has a full unobstructed view of the whole mountain range and we have peace and quiet because we travel over 20 miles one way to get to our jobs in the city.

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Too expensive too much crime - 10/4/2017

Too many negatives to write, only good thing is mild weather summers which you can get in a lot of places. Some nice people also but not enough worth staying here.

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Perfect! - 4/13/2017

I was worried, moving from Los Angeles, that this would be too "small town" for me. If you're from a big city, it does seem small, but it grows on you. The beauty in every direction is unparalelled. The people are so friendly, once you stop dressing like a city-slicker. ;) Housing is getting very expensive, though, and traffic is frusterating. But I have to say, I couldn't have asked for a better first military assignment. I lived there for three years, and loved it. Tons of outdoor areas and dog parks and hiking trails.

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Colorado Springs not all change is good 12-2016 - 12/1/2016

My husband and I moved from Tampa, Fl to Colorado Springs in 2002. The city was smaller than Tampa, had less traffic and friendly people. The mountains are beautiful and you never get tired of them. Starting in 2012 we started to notice a lot of new housing and commercial shopping centers going up. Roads began to become neglected and potholes are everywhere. There is not enough funding to keep up with them. Taxes are raised for water projects, school funding, and road repair. Traffic has double and it reminds me of Tampa again. A recent article in the Gazette (November 2016) states are homeless vet population has grown 24 % while other states are down 11% on average. The legalization of marijuana was the reason given. We have homeless begging on every intersection street corner. The will come up to you in the parking lot and ask for funds. They can be aggressive. Some are honest enough to write signs like "need money for weed" This was not the way it was when we moved here. You rarely saw anyone begging on a street corner. The weather is wonderful, the mountains still beautiful. Great place if you love to bike or hike. The taxes are getting higher every year. So good and bad to living here. We are looking for smaller cities with less taxes to retire. Hope this helps someone.

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