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when people talk about Colorado Springs
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they talk about the beautiful mountain
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views the hiking trails the natural
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beauty and the quality of life here they
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paint this beautiful picture and make it
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out to be this desirable place to live
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in and a top destination to visit but
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Colorado Springs is definitely not a
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magical fairy land for everybody in fact
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a lot of people when they move here they
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realize it's not what they pictured in
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their minds now don't get me wrong I
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love living in Colorado Springs it's my
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home it's where I've lived and I've
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lived here for almost 4 years and I've
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been to a lot of different places I've
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seen a lot of other places and every
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time I come home it just feels right but
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that's not the case for everyone and if
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this is your first time here my name is
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Iris and I've been living in Colorado
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Springs for a very long time as a real
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estate agent in the area I've seen a lot
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and I hear a lot of what people can't
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stand about living here and in today's
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video I want to be super transparent
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about the 10 things you're going to want
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to be able to handle if you're going to
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be moving to Colorado Springs but make
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sure you stay all the way to the end
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where I'll share the top reasons people
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don't like living in Colorado Springs
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and not a lot of people talk about this
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because I guess it's taboo or they don't
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want to make it seem like the springs is
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a horrible place and it's really not but
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I'll go into that uh a little bit later
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in the video Let's H the first thing
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that you need to be able to handle to
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live in in Colorado Springs and it's the
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dry winter months fall is incredible
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here if you've ever been to Colorado
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Springs in the fall you know that it is
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so incredible L beautiful it's what I
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call the gift before the dread Winters
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can be brutal not every winter is
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terrible but I'll explain first it's the
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cold temperatures if you're coming from
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cold weather you'll understand but if
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you're not and you're coming from hotter
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weather imagine this Winters in Colorado
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Springs can get pretty cold especially
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at night the cold dry air and the
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windchill can make it really
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uncomfortable for people who are not
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accustomed to The Climate one of my
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least favorite memories is having to go
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out when kids have their Sports and just
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feeling that ice cold wind on your face
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it's not fun it literally hurts and some
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people love it most people actually hate
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it so then there's the snowfall and the
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ice even though we don't get as much
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snow as other parts of Colorado the
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random snowstorms can still make driving
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and commuting really difficult I
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remember one year where the city was
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shut down because the roads were so bad
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it was like a sheet of ice and everyone
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was getting stuck in the streets and
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sliding into to other vehicles and the
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light post I hated driving in this
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weather cuz it would take me over an
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hour to get home the streets and the
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sidewalks will get super icy leading to
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really dangerous conditions especially
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for our older folks and it's definitely
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not fun to have to drive to work in so
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another thing is the wind I didn't
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realize how bad the wind was here until
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a few years ago we kept buying an
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umbrella to go out in the back deck
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umbrellas would just snap in half and
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break and I'm like what is going on here
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I'd never realized how windy it was um
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until that occurred and maybe I just
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never paid attention to it you might not
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like the wind Colorado Springs
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experiences strong winds especially in
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the winter and can make these
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blizzard-like conditions even when it's
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not snowing those are the worst storms
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and then you've got a bomb Cyclone like
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what in the world is a bomb Cyclone
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whatever it was it knocked out all of
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the Power and took one of our trees down
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and the whole fence with it but are the
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worst stores because it's just nothing
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but cold wind and the sound is actually
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really pretty when we do get to
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experience it you also have to consider
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the dry climate now the dry climate is
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an issue because it can cause dry skin
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chapped lips and respiratory issues so
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the lack of humidity in the winter makes
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this worse and the static electricity is
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awful however one benefit that I do like
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about it being dry is that I don't have
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to deal with a ton of mold and um when
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I'm putting dishes away I don't have to
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worry about
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um the moisture sitting on the cups or
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plates or whatever for two long towels
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from the dryer that the moisture doesn't
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stick too long so you don't have to
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worry about mold so that is one plus
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about the dry climate there's also
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shorter days in the winter which can
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contribute to Seasonal effective
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disorder and that makes the winter feel
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longer and maybe that's my problem
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because these Winters feel like an
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eternity sometimes with everything being
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dead outside the trees without leaves
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and the brown grass it can really be a
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buzz kill like I said it's really
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beautiful when it's snowing outside but
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when we don't get the snow and it's just
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cold uncomfort discomfort then um it's
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not as fun you get higher heating bills
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it gets dark at like 5:00 but it is a
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great time to leave the state for a
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warmer weather some people complain
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about the weather changing too quickly
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but I kind of like it because you can
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get snow and sun in the same day and
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it's just fun but the weather's not bad
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every day so it's not that big of a deal
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and most people do get used to it after
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living here for a while moving on on to
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the next thing number two Colorado
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Springs might not be your jam if you are
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looking for a big City Vibe some people
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like me love this but others find the
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laid-back atmosphere less appealing
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compared to larger cities like Denver
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nightlife and entertainment options in C
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Springs are more limited fewer late
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night dining spots the clubs I mean we
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have a few nightclubs downtown but
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nothing super exciting to go to and
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cultural events can be a downside for
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those who are looking for more of a
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vibrant Urban experience big cities tend
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to have that Melting Pot of a culture
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and while Colorado Springs is becoming a
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lot more diverse it doesn't have the
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same level of international communities
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like the restaurants we do have some
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restaurants but not a ton and events
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like the larger cities offer so another
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reason some people might not love coloro
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springs is the limited public
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transportation again that small City
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Vibe we don't have as many options as a
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sprawling City for those that are used
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to like Subways and Tramps and we really
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have a car dependent lifestyle here and
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that can feel frustrating now shopping
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in Colorado Springs can feel limited
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especially for people who are used to a
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variety of high-end boutiques large
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department stores that you typically
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find in bigger cities but Denver is only
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an hour away so if you do need that um
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shopping experience then there you go
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Denver is the place to go we also don't
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have like the big Sports complexes and
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Major League Sports but we do have local
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sports you can watch baseball we've got
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soccer and then if you want to watch
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basketball or football you can always go
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to the Academy Colorado Springs has a
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slower much more relaxed pace which
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might not appeal to those who thrive on
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the energy and hustle of a fast-moving
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Urban environment City type Vibe okay so
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the next thing number three why you
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might not want to make Colorado Springs
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your home is the growing homelessness
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problem this is quite obvious here and
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it's radically changed over the last
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several years the amount of panhandlers
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I've seen has increased so much we're
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seeing it even in the really nice upper
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class neighborhoods where I've never
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seen it there before there were always
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little pockets you know downtown wests
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side where you would see it um but now
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it's kind of becoming a thing all over
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the place you've got people playing
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music in parking lots I actually this is
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a funny story we saw someone playing a
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violin asking for money and they had had
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you know their violin out their speaker
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and it was beautiful beautiful music and
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someone walked up to that person and
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they were like stop playing the music
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and as soon as they stopped playing the
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violin the music kept going so it was
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just funny I'm like oh man this is so
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beautiful it turns out it wasn't really
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them playing I just thought wow they're
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just faking it out here but that's a
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Side Story now when you search it up
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online you don't see really high numbers
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for homelessness um unsheltered they
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call them we do have a lot of pan
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handlers but that doesn't mean I guess
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that they're um homeless it just they're
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just out there you know and I'm just
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going to keep things real with you and
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tell you things that no one else is
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going to tell you I think it's worse
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than what we're being told it's
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everywhere it's campsites it's the
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shopping carts with all the belongings
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so even though the numbers say that it's
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not as bad and that there's actually a
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decrease it doesn't feel like a decrease
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at all now each year the US Department
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of Housing and Urban development
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requires communities to conduct a one
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night point in time count of people
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experiencing homelessness unsheltered
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people living in El Paso County
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decreased by 177% from a high of
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1562 in 2019 to the 20123 count of
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132 per that pit data and according to
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the Colorado Sun last year Colorado
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Springs Police issued 899 tickets to
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people who were homeless 600 for
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trespassing on private property 117
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tickets for illegal camping in public
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spaces and 182 for camping within 100 ft
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of a Waterway police are saying that
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they're going to enforce these laws to
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prevent the city becoming trashy their
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words or the article's words and in some
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of these areas there is a lot of trash
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which is sad because that was one of the
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things that I used to love was so proud
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about how clean Colorado Springs was
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before we move on to the next thing I'm
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super excited to share that we have
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merch now so if you want to check out
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the items below this video 50% of all of
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the proceeds are going to go towards our
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community donating to the homeless the
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Springs rescue mission mission and also
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helping uh make sure that our families
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are fed and if there's any needs in the
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school so 50% um if you want to
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contribute and get some really cool
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Colorado swag um that would greatly
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support the mission and um support the
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channel as well so thank you thank you
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so much now the next thing that you need
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to handle or avoid Colorado Springs over
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is the cost of living utilities
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including electricity and heating tend
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to be a little more reasonable here with
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monthly costs averaging between $200 and
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$400 a month for a standard home and
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those heating costs could rise during
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the winter because obviously the cold
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grocery prices in Colorado Springs are
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close to the national average so for a
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city hour size they're pretty decent
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expect to spend around $3 to $500 per
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month on groceries depending on diet
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obviously preferences and your family
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size our kids are older so they eat
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everything in sight we probably spend
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closer to 600 or more a month on
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groceries again we've got kids that are
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um in their teens and three boys so we
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spend a lot healthc care costs in
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Colorado Springs are slightly above the
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national average but the city offers a
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wide range of Health Care Facilities
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like the military hospitals private
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clinics and we've got a lot of these
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cool clinics that are popping up that
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are more natural homeopathic type of
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healing natural healing so that's kind
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of cool I'd rather take oils than uh
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prescription pills any day if it works
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obviously there are some things you have
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to take pills prescription for but if
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it's something natural um that could be
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an alternative love that lots of
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different options there the current city
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tax rate combined amount is
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88.2% property taxes in Colorado Springs
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are relatively low compared to other
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states which helps offset some of the
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higher housing costs now when it comes
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to those taxes we have a breakdown on
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the colorado.gov website so you can see
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where all those tax dollars percentage
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amount wise are going when it comes to
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dining out recreational activities and
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entertainment in Colorado Springs it's
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pretty relatively affordable compared to
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larger cities that are similar however
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the cost of dining at upscale
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restaurants can still add up and of
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course you've got your Resort um
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activities like skiing those can get
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pretty expensive but I mean just your
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day a day are you're going to be fine I
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think we spend probably around $50 for a
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meal like a nice meal dinner out for two
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my husband and I with the food there's
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so much food that you get in the springs
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I'm sure it's like that everywhere but
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we get a lot of so my husband and I have
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been sharing meals and getting pretty
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full off of just sharing one meal and
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it's better for our weight sharing a
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meal is a great way to not overeat for
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dinner and save some money so I mean
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we're not as expensive as Denver we're
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actually pretty affordable comparatively
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outside of housing unless you ask a
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local here the next thing that you have
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to be able to handle is high home prices
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the housing market has seen significant
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growth with the median price hovering
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around $450,000
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to $500,000 in 2024 even though the
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springs is more affordable than Denver
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it's still relatively High compared to
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the national average you've got people
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wanting those Mountain views those
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hiking spots those neighborhoods we do
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have a lot of luxury homes that people
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love here nice Big Lots larger size home
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compared nationally but again higher
00:13:21
than the national average and renting in
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the springs can be expensive as well
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with the average rent for a one-bedroom
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apartment around 1,300 to5 00 per month
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that's a one bedroom apartment and if
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you need a two-bedroom apartment you're
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looking closer to $1,800 or more I have
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a listing that is on the market rent is
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$1,800 for a two bedroom but it is in
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the Broadmore so if you're interested
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please feel free to reach out uh we can
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get you set up with that but um it's a
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really nice neighborhood but really
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you're just paying for those views
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single family homes um are going to be
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running around $2,500 per month on
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average and so how much do you need to
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make to to afford living in Colorado
00:14:00
Springs well it depends if you just want
00:14:02
the one-bedroom apartment averaging like
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I said 13 to, 1500 per month you'd need
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an income of up to $60,000 to be
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comfortable assuming that you're
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following the guideline of housing not
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to exceed 30% of your income now to
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afford a home in Colorado Springs and
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maintain a comfortable lifestyle you're
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probably going to be looking at a income
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of
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$125,000 to $150,000
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per year obviously these estimates can
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vary depending on the lifestyle choices
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and specific housing situations but it
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provides a general guideline for living
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comfortably here number six on the list
00:14:41
is the Eternal construction from housing
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to revitalization road projects Parks
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Military and Commercial development
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there's a ton of construction going on
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in Colorado Springs I've never seen so
00:14:54
much construction besides in bigger
00:14:56
cities like Denver and New York and I
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have a full video video on some of the
00:14:59
newest developments coming in 2025 so
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I'll link that up for you and by the way
00:15:04
if you appreciate these informative
00:15:06
videos do me a huge favor I put a lot of
00:15:10
effort for you guys into these videos to
00:15:12
help you with your move to Colorado
00:15:13
Springs if you want to just hit it with
00:15:15
a thumbs up that would be super awesome
00:15:17
that would really make my day and if you
00:15:19
want more content like this make sure
00:15:21
that you are subscribed cuz I'm always
00:15:23
posting videos about Colorado Springs
00:15:24
living here um all that fun stuff and if
00:15:27
you need help buying real estate you can
00:15:29
book a free consultation and the link is
00:15:32
in the description and at the end of the
00:15:33
video now the seventh reason why
00:15:35
Colorado Springs may not be for you is
00:15:37
the rising crime in the area yes a lot
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of people on YouTube are not going to
00:15:42
talk about the crime on um that's going
00:15:45
on here for one as real estate agents
00:15:48
we're not allowed to steer but generally
00:15:50
speaking and looking at some of the
00:15:52
stats here in the area um people don't
00:15:54
like to talk about it it's a question I
00:15:56
get asked all the time when I'm working
00:15:57
with home buyers relocating into the
00:15:59
springs and I always refer them to
00:16:01
certain websites that are linked um
00:16:03
Below in the description so you can look
00:16:05
there as well one of those websites is
00:16:07
niche.com where we get a c rating based
00:16:10
on violence and property crime rates but
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62% of the people who responded say that
00:16:15
they feel pretty safe and that there are
00:16:17
some safety concerns but generally feel
00:16:19
safe I am with that 62% some even said
00:16:23
that they had no safety concerns very
00:16:25
few people in fact only 3% say that they
00:16:28
don't feel safe safe and there are high
00:16:29
safety concerns again larger City larger
00:16:32
problems it comes with the territory
00:16:35
unfortunately the eighth reason why you
00:16:37
might want to avoid Colorado Springs is
00:16:39
that this is a sprawling City the
00:16:41
springs is the second most populous city
00:16:44
in Colorado but it really doesn't feel
00:16:46
that way because we're so big we're 195
00:16:49
square miles spread out which actually
00:16:51
makes us bigger than Denver as far as
00:16:53
land goes but there's a lot of space
00:16:56
where Builders are building we've got
00:16:58
new development is popping up everywhere
00:17:00
the problem is the lack of water sources
00:17:03
now we actually just had a huge snow
00:17:06
winter snow fall and so that bought us
00:17:09
another 3 years for water so hopefully
00:17:12
we don't have any issues going forward
00:17:14
but that can slow down the growth of our
00:17:16
city by not having available resources
00:17:19
for Builders for new communities the
00:17:22
ninth reason you may want to stay far
00:17:25
away from Colorado Springs is the risk
00:17:27
of Fire
00:17:29
with the risk of fire being higher than
00:17:31
a lot of other states two things can
00:17:33
happen here first the cost of insurance
00:17:35
is screaming high and then two if we
00:17:38
don't get enough snow and rain we could
00:17:40
go into a drought and anything can catch
00:17:42
a fire like cigarette butts car Sparks
00:17:45
sloppy fire handling those years are the
00:17:48
worst because it seems to always be
00:17:51
extra windy and with that wind comes
00:17:53
more possibility likelihood of a fire so
00:17:56
you have neighborhoods like black forest
00:17:58
and Mountain Shadows that still have
00:17:59
scars to this day burnt trees you can
00:18:02
see it as you're driving by these
00:18:04
neighborhoods from the past fires and
00:18:07
homeowner insurance again is much higher
00:18:09
in these areas it's such a challenge
00:18:12
because people come here for the trees
00:18:14
right to live that mountain life but
00:18:16
then there's always this fear of a
00:18:18
potential fire now many homeowners are
00:18:21
better at proper mitigation these days
00:18:24
so that's a big plus that helps out a
00:18:26
ton people are catching on uh lenders
00:18:29
are requiring it so I do feel really
00:18:31
good about that now the 10th and final
00:18:34
thing that you need to be able to handle
00:18:36
if you're moving to Colorado Springs is
00:18:37
the hail places like Fountain and
00:18:39
Widefield they get it way worse than we
00:18:41
do it seems lately um and it does happen
00:18:44
here and just like the fire we're all
00:18:46
holding our breasts to make sure every
00:18:48
year that we don't get pounded with hail
00:18:50
now the average cost of homeowners
00:18:52
insurance in Colorado Springs is between
00:18:54
$1,500 and $2,000 per year for a
00:18:58
standard policy and this is higher than
00:19:01
the national average which hovers around
00:19:03
$1,200 per year but not as high as other
00:19:06
parts of Colorado that have even greater
00:19:09
risk of wildfires or extreme weather
00:19:11
premiums are going to range depending on
00:19:13
the size and value of the home the
00:19:15
location the level of uh coverage
00:19:18
obviously homes in higher risk areas
00:19:20
like those that are near the trees like
00:19:22
black forest Mountain Shadows Woodland
00:19:25
Park those are going to be um a little
00:19:27
bit more prone to the higher um premiums
00:19:31
of up to over $2,500 per year now there
00:19:34
are ways to lower your premium like
00:19:37
getting a grade for roof shingle on the
00:19:40
house um or obviously bundling but the
00:19:43
damage to your property because of
00:19:44
weather related things can really put
00:19:46
you in a bad mood just know that the
00:19:48
hail is not an everyday thing it's not
00:19:50
like we're constantly being pounded by
00:19:53
hail and it's not in every area and
00:19:55
sometimes when we do it's just like it's
00:19:58
just hail it's going to happen again a
00:19:59
lot of us just drive around with the
00:20:01
cracked windshields and the hail and and
00:20:03
the dents all over not the end of the
00:20:05
world all right so I've given you a lot
00:20:06
of reasons why people can't handle
00:20:08
living in Colorado Springs but I also
00:20:10
want to share with you all the reasons
00:20:11
why people love moving here so check it
00:20:14
out next and if you need help buying or
00:20:16
selling real estate again please feel
00:20:18
free to reach out call text or book my
00:20:21
calendar I'll see you on the next one
