Lakewood vs Golden vs Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs

I flew into Colorado Springs October 4th to check out apartments. Having done plenty of research in advance, I had narrowed my search in the Springs down to just two apartment complexes in the southwest corner of the city. After checking out both of them I was free to explore the city for a couple days.

I had a nice view of Cheyenne Mountain (and Carls Jr) from my hotel...


In just a few minutes I was in the mountains...



Even when driving aimlessly I stumbled across parks with beautiful scenery...


And I decided to take a hike...






It's beautiful here...

Lakewood

First off, let me say that my whole reason to live in Colorado is to get away from the big city and be near the mountains. Even though I wasn't technically that far from the mountains in Lakewood, I couldn't see them from most parts of the city. Except for the weather, Lakewood felt a lot like a suburb of Dallas. It's very flat and has lots of traffic. So it really didn't appeal to me. And for that reason I didn't take any pictures in the area.

Golden

When I arrived in Golden I was surrounded by 270 degrees of mountain views. It's a spectacular place.

This is the typical view of pretty much anything within 5 miles of downtown Golden...



I went straight for the mountains once again...


Did a little hiking...



And a little more...



Then I got out of there because it felt like it was about to rain. But before I left I snapped this picture...

My Decision

In the end Colorado Springs was my favorite. Even though I liked Golden too, Colorado Springs is big enough to have every modern convenience. And southwest Colorado Springs is a particularly nice part of the city. Everyone I met there is very nice, traffic isn't too bad, and I somehow just felt more comfortable there than anywhere else. I will be moving in a few months.

More pictures here...