Colorado Springs the #2 place to live in the USA?

Don’t worry so much about Bert. Everyone who’s been around here a minute knows he’s an aggressive idiot. He’s perpetually jealous and envious of Don being the older brother who accomplished more in the sport. Just be glad to not be them, I sure am.

I don't care about the CS climate, I live in Southern California. But how's your weather been in that paradise?

While Colo Springs has a considerable fundamentalist vibe mixed with a sprinkling of progressives, I wouldn't knock it for having military around. These people lay their azz on the line for your freedom - allowing anyone on this board to enjoy their running or hole up in their parents basement and play call of Duty. Meanwhile, they may be shipped out on a moment's notice or have just returned from some hell hole where they had to endure 100 pounds of gear in 120 degree heat or sub zero weather. Thank you current and former military for your service.

I really liked living there, but definitely for the location not the city.

The weather is great, you get the odd chilly day, but the snow rarely stays, and more importantly you get lots and lots of sunny days.

Beautiful scenery. Many great trails, running or biking, great climbing, skiing an easy drive. I felt whether I had an hour or a week, there was always a fun outdoor 'adventure' to get into. Super important to me personally, the trails and areas were not very busy, often felt like you had the trails to yourself, although that had changed dramatically by the time I left. I can't stand the conga lines you get in Boulder or out west.

The city though does suck, like someone else said, it's just strip malls and suburbia. You get the traffic of a good sized city, but no downtown hub, there's very little open after 10pm.

In certain areas there are a lot of country boy wannabees out on the weekends, shooting piles of garbage in the ditch. I like shooting too, but there are ethics and safety elements that should be maintained - a couple mountain bikers got hit by stray rounds. They were very concentrated to one road for the most part.

If I had to live in the US, I can't think of many places I'd rather live (maybe South Lake Tahoe?), but I feel like that's very specific to what I like, and it wouldn't be a good fit for many people.

I can see why your family might want to move away from you.

As with most cities, there are some areas of Colorado Springs that seem more livable than others. I live in the Old North End, just north of Colorado College. I've never had to commute, never had to deal with the "strip malls and suburbia" that some here are talking about, and excellent trails, manicured grass fields, flat surfaces and hills, and at least one high-quality track are all within easy running distance. I love the weather and the neighborhood, and on the rare occasions that I need or want to go downtown, it's about a five-minute drive (maybe two miles) to get there. There may be better places for me to live, but I don't recall ever finding one. (I've never been to South Lake Tahoe, so I can't comment on that suggestion.) I suppose if I were still a hard-core competitive runner, I might consider moving from an altitude of 6,100 feet altitude to something over 7,000 feet, which would be easy enough to do, but I'd probably be giving up a few conveniences, including the variety of running options. The talk about Southern California seems odd to me, but it's a big area, so I imagine there are some places there that I'd find pleasant.

Again, though, I want to emphasize that each person should consider his or her own priorities; the rankings lists are mainly just for selling magazines, not unlike the U.S. News rankings for colleges and universities.

Looks like CSTC Elite finally folded? Juli Benson moved to Philly years ago.

I know that Juli was at the University of Pennsylvania at some point, but I met a young woman at the Colorado College track this year who said that she was being coached by Juli, and I had the impression that was an important reason for her stay in the Springs. (She was in the process of transferring between two East Coast schools.) As for CSTC Elite, I don't know much about it and had only a vague idea that it existed. The most elite runners I've seen around here in recent times have been the Kenyans who were recruited for the U.S. Army team -- very pleasant individuals who jogged a lot, ran fast a lot, and -- contrary to widespread beliefs -- had real Army jobs in addition to their running. I don't know what most of them are doing now; some were clearly in a position to make much more money as professional runners after their Army commitments were satisfied.

It is strange, I know that Benson took the Penn job in 2016 yet the club was apparently active through at least the OT in '21.

Then there's that weird Colorado Track Club that's apparently a bunch of civilian Kenyans with a shop where you can spend lots of money though the person behind the venture seems pretty secretive.

coloradotrackclub.com

Colorado Track Club

Open link

For sure. I actually lived right off Bear Creek park, but most people I knew lived in Cimarron Hills. If things were a little more concentrated, I think it would have a more interesting, vibrant downtown.

But yeah, without getting in my car, I could do Section 16, mt cutler/muscoco, red rock open space, the Greenway, etc. That's darn hard to beat.

You must be high. Boulder is better than COS on the homeless front... riiiiight. In Boulder, they own most of Pearl Street, the entire band shell park downtown, Eben Fine Park, every underpass. that is just for starters. What about the giant clean out of their massive bike stash under 28th, just north of Taft, that was more than $2 million in bikes and bike parts. In just ONE location. Running Boulder Creek is worst idiocy then running Monument Valley Park south of Bijou.

Keep in mind Boulders population is a small fraction of the Springs. It is much worse in BoCo.

If we are talking about nutty evangelicals though...

I've spent almost no time in Boulder, so I don't have much to say about its running paths. But it's interesting that you mention Monument Valley Park south of Bijou in Colorado Springs. When I moved to Colorado Springs in the 1980s, I lived and worked right next to Monument Valley Park at Bijou, but only rarely ran through the park south of Bijou. It just felt dangerous much of the time. (I think it may also have been fenced off for a while.) Once in a while, I'd read or hear something about a body being found in the area, or a fire breaking out in some encampment or collection of trailers near the main running trail, and when I did head south, it was always with some trepidation, as though one of the denizens along the path might suddenly pounce on me. A female friend (and excellent runner) told me that she wasn't going to allow herself to be intimidated, but when I asked whether her intent not to be intimidated was worth the risk, she realized I had a point. I've stayed away from that area for many years, even though I remember some excellent running paths and a connection to Bear Creek Park. From the comments, I assume it's gotten worse over the years, which is a shame, but it's obviously a problem shared by many other cities and outlying areas. I've seen much worse throughout California.

Where are the good/safe areas to live in COS- for both paved/flat running and also trails (if it’s possible to live in one spot and access both by foot)?

We run the SF trail from MVP to Bear Creek all of the time. It's as safe as anywhere, they re-did the entire trail, opened it up, took out trees, etc.

The section from Bear Creek to Kohl's is a bit iffy, but again I've never had an issue. Kohl's to Fountain is great.

Also there are tons of great places to run around Colorado Springs, the list is long.

"Co Springs is great. In the winter it only gets to -10 and it gets as high as 30".

"There are great trails, you just have to avoid the homeless and know not to go to certain ones."

"There is a beautiful old section of town, if you just pretend the strip malls don't exist its an amazing city"

I don't have to throw on any qualifiers when I talk about cities that are actually nice.

I'm glad to hear that. I may give it a try again. I do remember having some excellent runs there. I remember a dark tunnel on the route connecting the Monument Valley Trail (or Santa Fe Trail) to Bear Creek Park. It was short but creepy. I remember it was next to a big store (sounds as though it must have been Kohl's). Is that still part of the connecting route? It seems as though it shouldn't have been necessary.

I imagine Bear Creek Park has been greatly improved since I was last there. I remember hearing about a lot of changes when it was being turned into a more suitable area for championship cross country races.

Daily murders that go unsolved, cost of living is getting worse, Apartment complexes going up everyday (and not enough people to house them ) think before moving, check your finances.