1. More transplants. When I lived in Virginia, almost everyone I knew was from the East or the Midwest. In Colorado, people come from all over. Lots of people grew up in Virginia or Pennsylvania, came to Colorado, and never went back. For example, there are five people on our Service Adventure Support Committee at church. One of the five is a Springs native. However, of the other four, there's one from California, one from Kansas, one from Maryland, and one from Pennsylvania. And Daniel's from New York and I'm from Virginia. Seven people, seven home states.
2. Distances seem shorter. Maybe it's the 75mph speed limit on the interstates. But I also think people are just used to traveling farther to get from one place to another, and it's not as big of a deal. Wide open spaces are the norm in the West, unlike living among the crowded cities of the East.
3. As far as cities go, the Springs is pretty spread out. It's not at all uncommon to travel up to 30 minutes just to get across the city. Going north or south is easy because the interstate runs straight through, but east and west can take a lot longer. We do have a decent number of bike paths and lanes, but the lack of public transportation infrastructure still leads to an unfortunate dependency on cars. Luckily, a lot of the places I regularly go (library, bank, grocery store, thrift store) are within two miles of our house.
4. The Broncos are everything. I'm sure I don't need to explain this one.
5. Fitness reigns. According to this map of most frequently Googled questions, everyone thinks of Colorado as a remarkably fit state. By some rankings, Colorado Springs clocks in at the second fittest city in the U.S. The Springs is best friends with the Rocky Mountains, so it naturally draws in a lot of sports and outdoors enthusiasts. People mountain bike on their lunch hour and run half marathons on their days off. Every time I go for a hike, I am inevitably passed by at least one person who is running the trail. And, perhaps as a result, Colorado is the state with the lowest obesity rate, at least as of 2014.
Living here, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I've never been skiing. (Though we have plans to go in a few weeks.) And before another six months passes, I want to check off another Colorado Springs rite of passage: hiking the Incline, a one-mile hiking trail that ascends 2,000 vertical feet.
6. There's a relationship with the natural world that's unlike anywhere else I've lived: a beautiful, sometimes whimsical, blending of urban industrial commerce with a passion for nature. Hiking boots are pretty much the standard footwear at my church on Sunday mornings. There's a sign in the parking lot of a Costco/Lowe's/huge shopping center that says TRAIL HEAD THIS WAY. (Where else can you find that??) And although we live quite close to downtown, we routinely see deer walking through our yard, thanks to a forested block nearby.
All in all, there's a lot to love about Colorado Springs. I'm excited to see what else I learn in the next six months!
3. As far as cities go, the Springs is pretty spread out. It's not at all uncommon to travel up to 30 minutes just to get across the city. Going north or south is easy because the interstate runs straight through, but east and west can take a lot longer. We do have a decent number of bike paths and lanes, but the lack of public transportation infrastructure still leads to an unfortunate dependency on cars. Luckily, a lot of the places I regularly go (library, bank, grocery store, thrift store) are within two miles of our house.
4. The Broncos are everything. I'm sure I don't need to explain this one.
5. Fitness reigns. According to this map of most frequently Googled questions, everyone thinks of Colorado as a remarkably fit state. By some rankings, Colorado Springs clocks in at the second fittest city in the U.S. The Springs is best friends with the Rocky Mountains, so it naturally draws in a lot of sports and outdoors enthusiasts. People mountain bike on their lunch hour and run half marathons on their days off. Every time I go for a hike, I am inevitably passed by at least one person who is running the trail. And, perhaps as a result, Colorado is the state with the lowest obesity rate, at least as of 2014.
Living here, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I've never been skiing. (Though we have plans to go in a few weeks.) And before another six months passes, I want to check off another Colorado Springs rite of passage: hiking the Incline, a one-mile hiking trail that ascends 2,000 vertical feet.
6. There's a relationship with the natural world that's unlike anywhere else I've lived: a beautiful, sometimes whimsical, blending of urban industrial commerce with a passion for nature. Hiking boots are pretty much the standard footwear at my church on Sunday mornings. There's a sign in the parking lot of a Costco/Lowe's/huge shopping center that says TRAIL HEAD THIS WAY. (Where else can you find that??) And although we live quite close to downtown, we routinely see deer walking through our yard, thanks to a forested block nearby.
All in all, there's a lot to love about Colorado Springs. I'm excited to see what else I learn in the next six months!
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