COS is no longer the sprawly metro it once was

[Phil P]

Holy crap! I recently drove behind the Cinemark on Powers and was blown away at the number of apartments between there and Marksheffal. This type of development usually comes with town centers, walking areas, parks etc. But COS doesn't seem to be throwing that in as part of the package - it's kinda baffling. I was expecting to see a new Cherry Creek or Park Meadows type of development as well, but that's not there, it's just like they shoved more apartments in and didn't add much besides some new restaurants on Marksheffal. Why would you live in an apartment and still have to drive more than 2 miles to everything?

Powers seems like it will just be more of a cluster for accidents and traffic. The city does a decent job of making walking / biking paths, but there sure as heck isn't ever going to be public transportation in COS.

Downtown and South Nevada have a lot of cool things going on. Anything east of academy or North of Woodmen just isn't exciting, unless you're talking about the interior of the house.

What the heck is up with Interquest? How many burger restaurants does a place need??? It's pretty bizarre, especially as Colorado is supposed to be a health conscious place. Apparently not in this stretch of the woods.

I like Taos more, I just can't really get excited about Colorado Springs' gameplan.

[otowi]

The answer to your question in paragraph 1 is simple - mortgages are out of reach for a lot of people, and apartments have been at nearly full occupancy, so people go wherever they can afford the rent and find a room, etc. There are a lot of new ones being built now, though, so occupancy rate should start going down. Also, I think some people, even though they need or want to live in an apartment, do not prioritize being close to amenities and want to be away from the noise, traffic, etc. I lean that way - I don't want to be where everything is going on. When I want to be where things are going on, I'll drive there, but for my home, I prefer it is quieter. But I don't think there is a game plan re: city development. It is just whatever developers can hastily push through most of the time. I do wish we had more thoughtful city planning like existed in the early days of the city.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Phil P

What the heck is up with Interquest? How many burger restaurants does a place need??? It's pretty bizarre, especially as Colorado is supposed to be a health conscious place. Apparently not in this stretch of the woods.

I like Taos more, I just can't really get excited about Colorado Springs' gameplan.

I'm not trying to step on any toes, but the sort of person who buys a house in a place like The Farm is probably a lot more likely to want chain restaurants than someone who buys a house in the Old North End. Colorado Springs has massive city limits. Most metros with our population would have a central city with 250-300k, not 500k. As such, a lot of these places would not normally be in the city limits. They'd be suburbia, and we'd expect suburban things, like tract housing and chain restaurants, from them.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by otowi

The answer to your question in paragraph 1 is simple - mortgages are out of reach for a lot of people, and apartments have been at nearly full occupancy, so people go wherever they can afford the rent and find a room, etc. There are a lot of new ones being built now, though, so occupancy rate should start going down. Also, I think some people, even though they need or want to live in an apartment, do not prioritize being close to amenities and want to be away from the noise, traffic, etc. I lean that way - I don't want to be where everything is going on. When I want to be where things are going on, I'll drive there, but for my home, I prefer it is quieter. But I don't think there is a game plan re: city development. It is just whatever developers can hastily push through most of the time. I do wish we had more thoughtful city planning like existed in the early days of the city.

I wouldn't necessarily consider any of these tucked away and quiet either, they're pretty darn close to a major thoroughfare for noise and traffic. Part of the reason I moved to Taos was I hate background noise , so I definitely understand that. But these developments seem sloppy, it's neither quiet or convenient. Denver's 2016 examples were better like Lowry or S Broadway. For the same price they were back then too in Denver... The new stuff in COS is just not that good of a deal, seems like you have to leave the major metros anymore to get something decent.

Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost

I'm not trying to step on any toes, but the sort of person who buys a house in a place like The Farm is probably a lot more likely to want chain restaurants than someone who buys a house in the Old North End. Colorado Springs has massive city limits. Most metros with our population would have a central city with 250-300k, not 500k. As such, a lot of these places would not normally be in the city limits. They'd be suburbia, and we'd expect suburban things, like tract housing and chain restaurants, from them.

It probably is the way suburbia is in places like Florida as well, though usually you find more Pho or or Mediterranean things mixed in the tumble. Just doesn't really fit the standard CO stereotype, but COS doesn't many times.

[TimAZ]

I grew up in COS in the ‘60s-‘70s. When I visited last year, I was glad that I left after graduating high school. Sprawl and cookie-cutter strip malls as far as the eye can see. The mountains are still as beautiful as ever, but the rest is interchangeable with 90% of urban America.