jumpingbum - funny that. I see people who live in various cities on a message board specifically dedicated to where people live and they same the same thing about their cities. These are usually people that have no family or friends in their city...

I think it's a matter of unhappiness in your own life rather than the place being the problem. Granted I would not do well in Boulder (politically speaking) but I loved Denver.

As for comparing anything on the east coast to C Springs? Uh, I thank the gods every day I live in Colorado. The east coast is fine to visit but I personally wouldn't want to live there.

I say this, if you are that unhappy here and feeling a bit butthurt because Colorado isn't New York, Connecticut, Maryland or whatever, feel free to move back to where you came from. The beauty is, you're not forced to be here from what I can tell unless you are here via military but you made that choice to join...

BTW, the majority of people that live here on the Front Range are from elsewhere (ie: transplants) and want to shut the doors out to newcomers. I've lived in Colorado almost 41 years - born and raised - and the attitude you describe has mostly come from those that came here, found a great place to live and don't want to share it with others; unless they are crotchety old farts. That's a comment reserved for a different time...

(shrug) Believe what you want, Colorado Springs and the rest of Colorado is a great place to live and you will only make of it what you give it. If you dislike it so much, please go back to where you are most comfortable.

Wait, what?

"Small says this makes the city too dependent on the economic tides."

Aren't 80% of the people dependent upon the "economic tides"?

Tell the homeowner fighting to keep his/her home that a 600% increase in property taxes are a good thing for them when they try to juggle house payment, child-care, keeping food on the table all the while having the mortgage company knocking on their door.

Tell that to the renter that is finally able to get out from under adding to someone else's equity/investment. With an increase like that, you can count on first time homeowners unable to find a home that fits their lifestyle.

Tell that to the renter who finds that their rent shoots up dramatically because a landlord is not going to just absorb the increase. This will leave a lot of renters living in areas they otherwise would not want to live in (yeah, being snobbish here) for safety, schools, general lifestyle choices.

Tell that to the companies that want to set up shop here that their employees will find their mortgage payments/rentals so extremely high, any earnings they make go against the 30% rule.

Seriously, Small needs a reality check. This doesn't just hit a homeowner, this hits every citizen and every business in the city. It's bad for everyone and just like most of us, the city needs to look hard at what services are needed versus what is there and how to hold onto programs that perhaps don't suit the community as a whole. I am sure some people have stopped getting their morning foofoo latte from large corporate chain that will not be named in order to keep healthy food on the table. I'm sure many have learned to give themselves manicures in order to keep clothes on the kids...

Priorities...not making living and doing business in this city more expensive.

PS Small, have you looked for a job lately? It's not easy, even with decent skills.

In all fairness to KOAA, you can still get their signal (at least in C Springs) on channel 30 via analog for a while if the digital signal goes out again.

I had a problem after I rescanned last night but I also had a problem with KKTV on a different TV. I got a hold of "Juice" this morning and he had me rescan as their digital signal went out for about 4 hours and that happened to be when I rescanned the other TV...so I got my KOAA back today - he was very nice and understanding. I rescanned my big TV and while I am getting KKTV, their signal is still in bad shape. Ever since KKTV "fixed" their tower after the lightning strike, getting their station has been hit or miss. I had that problem with their analog signal too so it's really not surprising.

But yeah, perfect signal this morning on KOAA and I must say, getting a digital signal on an analog TV it's never looked better. Let's hope that all stations nationwide get the bugs worked out, especially in areas like around here where lightning can really mess with anything electronic!

Thanks for having the phones manned (womanned too?, hehe) for this transition. I like keeping my $ for things other than having cable or satellite. I've saved $9,000+ over the years (since 1995) since I got rid of cable and that's a good thing!

I live in Briargate and see foxes (one loves to bask in the sun in the neighbor's yard) and have seen coyote around as well. If people want a homogeneous urban setting with only squirrels and pigeons, please move to Chicago or NYC. We have to learn to live with the wildlife and that's part of the charm of living on the Front Range and other places in Colorado.