Honest opinions on CS (Colorado Springs: rentals, house, job market)

[Mommado]

My family is seriously considering relocating to either Colorado or Oregon. Colorado is my prefrence. A bit about "us"...My husband is medically retired from the Army, our son just got out of the Army and will be moving with us. We have two daughters, 20 (in college) and 16. We would like to rent a house in the 1000-1200 range. I am a teachers assistant and school bus driver. A few questions....

What is the weather REALLY like? We're coming from NC with hot summers and chilly winters but neither are unbearable.

How is the job market? My son will be using his GI Bill to go to school, but will work part time. My daughter may have to wait a year while we establish residency to return to school, so she would work full time, either waitressing or retail. I would like to stay in education but I'm not sure if thats realistic or not?

Are my housing expectations realistic? Where would the areas be to look for housing? Remember, I still have one in HS. What are the areas to stay away from?

Does anyone have experience with the VA and its medical care?

We want to be in an area that will allow us to make some new friends, especially the kids and that is just a nice, happy place to be!

Thanks so much for your help and if there is anything I haven't thought of, please share!!!!

Leslie

[Mike from back east]

The climate here is dry, with low humidity that feels wonderful compared the muggy buggy eastern climate. Mostly sunny. Low rainfall, about 13-inches per year. Most snow melts out quickly in the bright sun we get.

Weather is changeable; right now we get 55F one day, 35F the next. Some days are quite windy. Mid-summer is the rainy season, with T-storms popping up on any given afternoon all over the area, though they miss some areas today, they will hit other areas tomorrow.

Jobs are tight; best bet is a military background in a specialty that is in high demand and a valid security clearance. Some teaching jobs, hard to get right now with budget crunches all over.

Good educations available here, son will have a number of fine options to select from.

Most areas are family friendly with very nice people except for a few pockets around.

Your housing budget is a bit low. Check out ppar.com for buying or renting a SFH and look at padmapper.com for rentals.

No experience with V.A. here, though the many veterans on this site may soon offer up an opinion.

[SheridanL]

I don't know about NC but, here in Colorado, you have to have a CDL, class B, to drive a school bus. That being said, obviously that would be your highest paying job. If you came here, to change your drivers license, you would need to get a small photo (like on a passport) and take it with you to the drivers license bureau so they can convert your CDL to Colorado. Just telling you this so you don't have to wait in line for nothing!JFYI

[SeaLover]

i was a school bus driver in COS...you may have to take a few short classes through the school district you choose to cover the different requirements that CO schools may have that differ with NC. I was in class with other transferring drivers who had to take supplemental courses to be certified in CO...also, some districts in CO require Mountain Driving Certification because of the terrain. that includes COS....Good Luck

[fuzyneko]

My husband is about to get out of the Army and we have been stationed here since November of 2008. I will admit that it's not someplace that we love but lot's of people seem to. We are both from California and were stationed up near Seattle, Washingont before this. If you are picturing Colorado Springs as if you were going to live near the Rocky Mountains then you will be very disapointed...as we were lol. The mountains are pretty but mostly rocky. Most of the time to me it is dry and brown and just ugly. If you are used to the beach you will be sad too, there aren't any real large bodies of water anywhere! It's a decent sized town so there is plenty of shopping and things to do but they just aren't our kind of things. Again, we loved washington where it was green all the time and there were beautiful trees everywhere so I admit I am a bit biaised. As far as your rent amount is concerned it's too low. We rent a 1600 sqft house for $900 a month but it is not in a beautiful part of town to say the least. If you want a very nice looking place then you would need to spend at least $1400 usually. The more north you go from base the more expensive it gets. I'm sorry I don't have more answers to your questions. I have been a stay at home mom so I don't know what jobs are like and we aren't out of the Army just yet so don't know how the VA treats you once you get out. Personally if I were you I would chose Oregon. It's beautiful there, much greener, and just overall an amazing place to be. When my husbands gets out we would love to live there or in Washington. Hope some of this information helps... :/

[knrstz]

Originally Posted by fuzyneko

If you are picturing Colorado Springs as if you were going to live near the Rocky Mountains then you will be very disapointed...as we were lol. The mountains are pretty but mostly rocky.

What does that even mean?

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by knrstz

What does that even mean?

I think it means she prefers green and wet to brown and dry. Colorado is only green if we get descent spring rains. Washington and Oregon are places where the moss grows all around the trees.

[knrstz]

Well the rockies are the rockies and cascades are quite different. I understand why someone might prefer one to the other but I'd can't imagine how anyone could think pikes peak is ugly. I've not seen many major cities with a massive mountain presence like CS in the country. Although Portland and Seattle are beautiful in their own way, their moutains are much further away. To each their own, I guess. I'd take blue skies and brown land over gray skies and green terrain. The PNW has blue skies about like Colorado has green terrain, a very small time of the year.

[hollyt00]

Well, it makes sense that the Rocky Mts are... rocky.

Just sayin'.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by hollyt00

Well, it makes sense that the Rocky Mts are... rocky.

Just sayin'.

That's exactly what I was thinking....