I LOVE LOVE LOVE Colorado Springs!
I've been here almost 20 years, moved here right out of college. I still remember driving here from the east, the mountains getting bigger and bigger and thinking, how close am I going to get to those mountains? I couldn't believe it when my destination was at the very base of the Front Range. I've lived in northern Virginia/D.C., southern Virginia (college), San Diego and even the Phillippines (my dad was in the Navy). I have never been struck by such beauty. Even now, I look at the mountains and tell my girls, Aren't they amazing? They've come to appreciate how the clouds hug the mountains, a hawk perched on a streetlight, the beautiful sparkling snow.
Having come from the East Coast (hot, humid, hazy, traffic....) the bright blue sky gets me every time. We have 300 days of sunshine here. Yes, it snows, but being a mile closer to the sun means it melts quickly. Summer is (now) my favorite season - I don't like being too hot, though we can hit the 90s and it can get very dry. I don't have oily skin anymore, but lotion and chapstick are always with me. Fall and Spring are shorter seasons than on the East Coast and winter can be long. But there are always days here and there when it's 60 degrees in the winter. And it doesn't feel so cold! The lack of humidity in the winter makes a big difference, too.
Colorado is a very fit state. My mom's friend was just visiting from Texas and she told me, "Everyone here is so thin! They are always outside!" People here love to hike, bike, run ...
One thing I noticed immediately was how nice people are. They just start talking to you. I noticed that at my bank, the grocery store, the post office .... and once you get settled, it's really seems like a small town. In reality, it's pretty spread out, and I prefer living right in the foothills of the mountains. But there are so many options. Housing prices vary greatly, depending on the area of town.
I would say we're pretty average for jobs. In today's paper there was a report that said we had the largest increase in new jobs in 10 years. There are several military bases, including the Air Force Academy and NORAD - our troops are appreciated here and an important part of the community.
My sister moved here as soon as she graduated from college, and my parents moved here when I was pregnant with my first daughter. None of us could ever go back, though I still love to visit.
After living all over the world for the first 1/2 of my life, this is the only place that feels like home, and I'm so happy my 2 girls are being raised here.
Hope this helps!
