There has been a ton of gay news lately like GLAADgate, Marriage Equality in New York, homophobic rants by Southwest pilots, Obama’s fraudulent survey response, or wait maybe it was not, and much much more. And as newsworthy as all of those are and as strong of opinions as I have on all of them, I am not in the mood to cover them.
Instead I want to discuss Colorado Springs. Whenever I am outside of Colorado Springs, I always get asked why would a gay person choose to live in Colorado Springs? With Focus on the Family, New Life, Amendment 2, and the city being so conservative why would you live there?
My first response is always that Colorado Springs is a beautiful place to live with in my opinion some of the best weather in the country. Being in the shadow of Pikes Peak, being minutes away from Garden of the Gods, and only a few hours from some of the best skiing on the continent are what drew me to Colorado Springs.
I normally get brushed off for that part of my response, but I continue. Colorado Springs is home to some of the oldest gay organizations in the country. With the United Court of the Pikes Peak Empire opened in 1973 and our Pride Center opened in 1978 the gay community has been thriving in Colorado Springs for a long time. Colorado Springs is also home to one of the largest private funders of LGBT rights with the Gill Foundation. So despite the belief that there is not an active gay community in Colorado Springs, the opposite is true with a very active community.
No, there is not a gayborhood. However, there are 5-6 gay bars and Colorado Springs, and yes we even have a bathhouse. The Colorado Springs PrideFest draws approximately 20,000 people each year. That is quite the turnout for a <400,000 citizen city. Oh, and PrideFest only draws a dozen protesters.
And, by the way, despite the fact that Focus on the Family and New Life Center are in Colorado Springs, most of the residents wish they would leave. New Life Center is not as ridiculed as Focus but they still receive their fair share of attention. However, everything Focus on the Family does receives immense amounts of negative attention and they are frequently called out for their donations for anti-gay causes. In fact it has been 6 months since this happened, but I just saw a comment made yesterday asking why Focus donated $100,000 for Prop 8 a week before they laid off a significant amount of their workforce.
So, yes Colorado Springs is a conservative city. Yes, there are days I wish I did not live here and lived in a gayborhood. Yes, there are days I just want to scream you idiots at many of the city residents. But Colorado Springs is a good place to live as a gay man. There are the downsides, but the community is a close knit community without tons of infighting. And like everywhere you will have your religious zealots, but if you learn to ignore the few you will find Colorado Springs very accepting.
July 4th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
colorado springs is very conservative, VERY conservative. they are the evangelical church capital of the United States. Trust me.. i’m on your side, however, there are many wackos here. however, there are many accepting people, it seems the older generation is less accepting.
September 1st, 2011 at 8:50 am
I live in Texas, I’m 29, and my parents want to move to colorado springs. I’m thinking of going also, however I’m not sure if it would be a good move. I’m looking for good reasons to go. Any advice??
September 1st, 2011 at 10:50 am
Matthew there are several questions you have to ask.
1. Are you willing to live in a town that is fairly right of center and most people think Obama and all Democrats are going to destroy the world and that Republicans are Gods gift to mankind and can make no wrong? George Bush was also king.
2. Are you willing to live in a town where every time a gay news story comes up many people talk about how gay people should just die and go away?
3. Are you willing to live in a town where 1/3 of people view any form of taxes as an affront to humanity?
4. Are you willing to live in a town that socially has probably the worst reputation of any city in this country?
5. Colorado Springs is a very beautiful place with a lot of activities to do outdoors. And despite all of the right wing nut jobs there are more liberal people too who will support you and fight hard for you even though they know they will probably lose. Are you willing to put up with the right wing idiocy in order to enjoy the beauty of Colorado Springs and the ability to be close to your family?
If you want to be close to your family, yet not put up with the vile of Colorado Springs then I suggest Denver, Boulder, or Fort Collins. All are within 2.5 hours of Colorado Springs. All also have their fair share of problems, but they do not have the reputation to uphold that many in Colorado Springs feel needs upheld.
September 1st, 2011 at 4:45 pm
I think you for the advice, and from what you have said seems that you have never been to west texas. I live in Midland texas. This town was built around the oil feilds, everything you have stated I deal with now. So I move ther and will have the same ignorant people, and yet get a cooler temp and can hike and climb. Not a bad trade.. Thanks..
September 1st, 2011 at 4:54 pm
I guess there is one thing I should add. Depending on your career choice finding a job in Colorado Springs could be very difficult. There are more large companies in the Denver/Boulder area and a job hunt will be easier. Colorado Springs is very much a army/tourist town. Due to that there are not as many “professional” jobs as you would find elsewhere.
September 1st, 2011 at 9:52 pm
I am a phlebotemist, and its been my experience that hospitals just can’t get enough of them if they are willing to work any shift, that’s one of the reasons I chose it. Thank you for the heads up, I’ll let my father know, contractors have a harder time with jobs. Getting out bidded is common and a pain in the ass. We will be move probbably after the trip to Peru. Then again we might go after the move. We are going to help rebuild a village and show them the best ways to clean the water. Again thanks for the heads up.
September 2nd, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Well,, hhmm,,, I just spent an hour looking at houses in colorado springs. I’m not poor but I sure as hell don’t need a million dollar house, and that seems to be all that I can find. The lowest price I’ve found was nine hundred thousand dollar houses. So um HELP!!!
September 2nd, 2011 at 3:14 pm
In Colorado Springs it is all about location. The exact same house could range from $200,000 to $350,000 depending on the location.
I don’t know what you are looking for that you are only seeing $900,000 houses. But prices range from $170,000 for an entry level house to $2 million or more for mansions with spectacular views. A 4 bedroom 2 bath 2,000 square foot entry level house in a suburbia part of town without the greatest views can be found for $180,000 to $250,000. Also property taxes in Colorado are incredibly low with a $200,000 house in Colorado Springs paying around $1,000 in property taxes per year. (Do not know how this compares to texas but in Ohio the same house would have between $3,000 and $6,000 per year.)
As a general rule of thumb the further west you go the more expensive the houses are going to be. Going north from downtown will go from really expensive, to affordable, to really expensive. Far east of town tends to be fairly cheap, but is also further away from the mountains. Going south tends not to be the greatest neighborhoods although there are some good areas around there.
September 3rd, 2011 at 10:01 am
I found some houses for good prices, don’t know why at first I only found million dollar houses. Anyways I’m not sure if I’m gonna do a house or a apartment first. All I know is I need out of this damn heat.