Overrated
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4/27/2021
I've spent the better part of 15 years in Colorado Springs and have recently decided it's time to depart. It used to be possible to overlook the many warts of Colorado Springs because the cost of living was reasonable (for reference I'm an electrical engineer), but it's much more difficult now to overlook those items with the rapid and sustained increase in cost of living here. Frankly, the juice is not worth the squeeze these days.
Issues:
Traffic flow in the city is worse than a backed up airport toilet. There are virtually no major routes north-south/east-west through the city that don't have traffic lights every 1/4 mile. Recently it seems these lights are all uncoordinated and you are constantly driving into red lights. With the increase in traffic and no emphasis (or plan) by the city to try and manage the traffic flow in a sensible way it's miserable. Traffic volume isn't terrible (yet), but I simply don't see any way it's going to improve. The city doesn't have the money to fix major bottlenecks due to lack of planning for the growth here (major intersections at Powers Blvd should have been built as overpasses, etc).
Drivers:
This seems like a complaint in all major cities, but I travel through the western US a fair bit and Colorado Springs seems uniquely bad now. It's a constant race to see who gets to the next red light first, everyone else be damned. Admittedly, the lights are timed to reward speeders and punish those who drive the speed limit. Turn arrows at major intersections have at least a few cars blatantly running red turns in each cycle (primary flow has a green light and vehicles are still turning). Lots of unregistered vehicles on the road (which you can assume also don't have insurance) and zero enforcement of it. The police are too busy being distracted by the never ending string of convenience store robberies.
Roads:
A never-ending battle with potholes. I would not want to drive a sedan here. Every major freeze-thaw cycle obliterates the roads and major hail events in the summer also create foot deep craters. Speaking of foot deep craters, the road department just continually slaps new layers of asphalt on the roads so watch out for the communications manholes in the road that are 10 inches below grade.
Infrastructure:
The city has let developers run rampant and the impacts are starting to be seen. Infrastructure is being pressed to the limit and is breaking down. We've had several large water main breaks recently that disrupted major intersections in town. Drainage is terrible and there are continual efforts to apply fees to residents in order to pay for storm water drainage infrastructure that developers should have had to deal with years ago instead of passing the impacts and costs on to the city and residents. Major thunderstorms in the summer turn roads into torrents of water (conveniently timed during rush hour).
Recreation:
The idea of pure weekend mountain bliss is completely false. The mountains are overrun with people now. Making matters worse, EVERYONE here is going one direction on the weekends: west into the mountains. There are only three routes west into the mountains for the entire population of the Front Range so you can do the math. If a squirrel so much as squats on the side of the road, traffic is completely hosed and your weekend mountain bliss consists of sitting in traffic for 4 hours each way.
Culture:
There’s a general lack of culture here compared to other high priced metropolitan areas. Not in terms of the residents, but just the feel of the city and uniqueness. There are no parts of town with their own character, it’s all just suburban sprawl and big box/chain establishments.
I could go on and on, but the point is made. I could have recommended Colorado Springs years ago based on the fact that it isn’t perfect but the cost of living was reasonable; that no longer applies. If you’re coming here, seriously consider your options, priorities, and whether your perception of Colorado Springs matches the current reality. If you want to live in a high priced location with minimal culture, poor infrastructure, unceasing sprawl, etc. this is your place. The view of the mountains is nice, but you get used to it after a while. It may be great for some folks that haven’t been exposed to it yet, but I’ve grown weary of it and have chosen to move on.
If I had to sum it up in one word: overrated.
Ben | Colorado Springs, CO