# Moving to Colorado Springs...tell me all about it



## filly (Feb 6, 2003)

Saw a similar post a while back, but not many replies. I'll be moving there (hopefully) from New Orleans this spring. Not because I'm a Katrina evacuee (my house had relatively no damage), but because I'm getting out of the Navy. For those of you who live there, what can you tell me about where to live. I'll be working in Colorado Springs, so I would imagine commute shouldn't factor in at all. Highest priority would be that the area is in a great school district, as I've got a 2-year-old. Also, I guess I'm looking to lay down no more than $220,000 for a home. We're very excited about the move. Gonna have to get used to the winter, though, as I've never really experienced a true winter. Thanks for any info.


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## ColoradoVeloDude (Oct 7, 2005)

*Welcome. . . .!*

I moved here from the SF Bay Area in 1982. Wasn't that big of a change. The weather is a bit cooler, but also there is no humidty to speak of either. We get all kinds of weather here: it doesn't get too hot in the summer and most snow storms are over in a day or so (and the snow gone a day or so later). Everything in town is within about a 20-30 minute drive from everywhere else. The rush hour lasts about 45 minutes and can easily be avoided by leaving earlier or later. Major construction for the next year or two along I-25 (adding lanes). Cheyenne Mountain, District 20 and 49 are the good school districts

From a cycling perspective, it's a great place too. Lots of hilly terrain to train on and you can usually pick a route to avoid the cars. There is flat stuff here too.

Access to the mountains is easy and Denver is about 1 hour away. Lots of cycling activities during the summer. Look these up:

www.bvbf.org
www.ridetherockies.com
team evergreen triple bypass (you'll have to look it up)
www.bicycletourcolorado.com
www.bikesprings.org

There are more out there too!

More info at: 

www.springsgov.com
get a live picture of Pike's Peak: wwww.pikespeakcam.com


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## FTF (Aug 5, 2003)

ColoradoVeloDude said:


> Denver is about 1 hour away.


 How fast are you driving, and at what time of night, 1am?


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## filly (Feb 6, 2003)

thanks for the info. is colorado springs one of those towns where you have to live in the school district to send your kid there?


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## FTF (Aug 5, 2003)

filly said:


> thanks for the info. is colorado springs one of those towns where you have to live in the school district to send your kid there?


 Yeah, but you can submit to go to a different one, but it's really hard from what I understand. 

I went to school district 11, it wasn't that horrible, and didn't mess me up too much. I hear academy is slightly better, and cheyenne mountain is good too. Pretty much the state of public education in colorado is pretty poor right now.


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## luvmybike (Aug 19, 2002)

*Moved here in January*

We love it... I have a two year old and came with much the same priorities as you; need to be in a decent school district.

Yes, District 20 (Acadamy) and Cheyenne Mtn are nice and are very good districts and we started looking in those districts. But the housing prices reflect it. District 11 is the large Colorado Springs City School district. It varies quite a bit more but we found that, atleast based on test scores and resources, some of the schools with in D-11 were competetive with the upper level districts. Especially those that are directly adjacent to the better school districts. We ended up buying a house in the portion of D-11 that borders D-20 and the grade schools are very nice. For reference we are in the NW corner.... So our school system have grade schools that feed Holmes Middle SChool and Coronado High. We ended up at 250,000 on a house. We started in the 180,000 and had a very hard time finding something. The ones we liked went so fast we did not get to see them when they were not under contract. We bumped up to 200,000 and ended up at 250,000. Houses were flying when we came. It was crazy. I think that may have slowed down a little. The neighborhod is great and we are pleased. I can walk to Ute Valley Park (around 500 acres with great hiking trails some fun MTN biking trails), the liquor store, subway, pizza shop, starbucks, and a walgreens, another park for my kid to play in, a public pool and the vet. 

If you have to drive I-25 to get to work it can be a pain in the a$$ but honestly there really is no reason to get on the highway. I live 11.5 miles from my work. Using bike lanes and parts of the bike path system I can commute by bike in just over a half hour which you can do pretty much year round. Even though some of the mornings are cold temp wise it is so dry it does not feel that bad. And when I drive, I can easily get to work without getting on I-25 and have yet to be stuck in traffic. The east side of town is growing like a mad house. I don't really like it out there but there are a ton of new homes (empty) out there and you can get a lot of house for your money. It was not for us. The downtown is small and safe.

The riding, IMO, is awesome. I came from small town, midwest, so I have had to get used to the traffic but once I learned my way around there are plenty of empty streets. You can get great rides in from home. The mountains are right here and you can get up to in elevation with a quick drive and take some rides on some pretty empty rodes. We went to Breckenridge (under two hour drive) two weekends ago. Fantastic riding around there. Great cycling culture in the state. Lastly, no humidity, no mosquito's and the snow really does disappear fast. We had about four inches monday and it was gone Tuesday afternoon.

Alright... that si alot of crap but I kow when I moved here I posed the same question on MtBR and got some very helpful info and I appreciated it. Just trying to return the favor. PM if you want any info in particular. I would be happy to track it down for you...


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## filly (Feb 6, 2003)

cool...awesome. thanks for all that info. my wife is spending all of her time online looking at houses and such. a little shocked to hear you had to bump up to 250k. hopefully we can avoid that!


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## crmaanbe (May 3, 2005)

*I'm quite sure*



filly said:


> cool...awesome. thanks for all that info. my wife is spending all of her time online looking at houses and such. a little shocked to hear you had to bump up to 250k. hopefully we can avoid that!


that you can find a great home in good school districts for under 200k. We live in D11 but my children go to a private school so I can't help you out too much with the assignment issues. For homes I would definitely buy new as comparison prices with used homes is very similar. I have access to very trustworthy realtors, if needed let me know. Your going to love the biking around here for both mountain and road - plenty of easy access for both and this is a very cycling-friendly region in my opinion. Good luck with everything"


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## lou_cutlass (Feb 11, 2005)

FTF said:


> How fast are you driving, and at what time of night, 1am?


Depends on from where to where as always...north end of town to Park Meadows mall...30 min. Of course thats when traffic and the fuzz cooperate. 

I'm here from IN and I love it here...mostly. It's a great place with lots to do and bike friendly for the most part. The north end of town has some really nice places, but prices are also up. I'm no experienced home-buyer, though, so I can't really help you with that.

Andy


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