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Colorado Springs, Colorado
The City of Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. At 372,437, it is the second most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 47th most populous city in the United States.[1] This count differs significantly with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs' 2007 estimate of 402,417.[2] In 2007 the Colorado Springs MSA had 609,096.[3] Colorado Springs is located just east of the geographic center of the state and south of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. At 6,035 feet (1839 meters) Colorado Springs sits over one mile above sea level, though some areas of the city are significantly higher. The city is situated near the base of one of the most famous American mountains, Pikes Peak, at the eastern edge of the southern Rocky Mountains. Colorado Springs was selected as the No. 1 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006.[4] OverviewThe United States Census Bureau estimates that in 2007 the population of the City of Colorado Springs was 402,407 (48th most populous U.S. city),[1] the population of the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area was 609,096 (84th most populous MSA),[5] and the population of the Front Range Urban Corridor was 4,166,855.[5] 
Pikes Peak towers over the city. Colorado Springs is not exempt from the problems that typically plague cities that experience tremendous growth: overcrowded roads and highways, crime, sprawl, and government budget issues. Many of the problems are indirectly or directly caused by the city's difficulty in coping with the large population growth experienced in the last 20 years and the annexing of the Banning Lewis Ranch area for 175,000 future residents. In 2004, the voters of Colorado Springs and El Paso County established the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority[7] and adopted a 1% sales tax dedicated to improving the region's transportation infrastructure. Together with state funding for the Colorado Springs Metro Interstate Expansion (COSMIX)(2007 completion) and the I-25 interchange with Highway 16 (2008 completion), significant progress has been made since 2003 in addressing the transportation needs of the area. Currently the City is trying to overcome a $23.3 million budget gap created by falling sales taxes and rising expenses. [8] A large number of religious organizations such as Focus on the Family and churches make their headquarters here, particularly Evangelical Christians. For decades, several high-tech businesses have or once resided in the city, including a number of computer chip manufacturers from Intel, to the chip foundry INMOS in the 1980s, to Hewlett-Packard since the 1960s. The Mountain West Conference has its administrative headquarters in Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is also home to a large number of military installations (see below) and important national defense agencies. It is also home to the United States Air Force Academy. History
General Palmer, City Founder
Statue of General William Palmer in front of Palmer High School. Within two years his flagship resort the Antlers Hotel opened, welcoming U.S. and international travelers as well as health-savvy individuals seeking the high altitude and dry climate, and Palmer's visions of a thriving, quality resort town were coming true. Soon after, he founded the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, a critical regional railroad. He maintained his presence in the city's early days by making many grants or sales of land to civic institutions. Palmer and his wife saw Colorado Springs develop into one of the most popular travel destinations in the late 1800s United States. The town of Palmer Lake and a geographic feature called the Palmer Divide (and other more minor features) are named after him, and a bronze sculpture of Palmer on a horse without its front legs raised (denoting a natural death and not one caused during battle or afterwards from being fatally wounded in battle), is prominently displayed downtown in front of Palmer High School, the center of a busy intersection. Old Colorado City and the Pikes Peak Gold Rush
The Pioneers Museum (old court house) contains displays of the city's founding and history. Colorado Springs' present downtown location, where General Palmer first founded the city, was partly due to Palmer's dislike of nearby rough-and-ready Colorado City (now called Old Colorado City, and not to be confused with present-day Colorado City) and its many saloons. Palmer ensured his new planned city stayed alcohol free by buying a huge tract of land to the east of Colorado City. Legally, Colorado Springs stayed dry until the end of Prohibition in 1933, but practically, alcohol was readily available. Conveniently located druggists advertised whiskey, ale, stout and beer for "medicinal purposes." In its earliest days of 1859–1860, Colorado City was a major hub for sending mining supplies to South Park, where a major strike in the Pike's Peak Gold Rush was found. After the Cripple Creek gold discovery in 1891, ore mills in Colorado City processed much of the gold ore at the Golden Cycle Mill using Palmer's railroads. The affluent, who made money from the gold rush and industry, did not stay in Colorado City but built their large houses in the undeveloped downtown area of Colorado Springs (i.e Wood Ave.). Early pictures show several large stone buildings like Colorado College, St. Mary's, the library, and the county courthouse sitting in large empty plains. This is unique during this period, to pre-build a city's civic infrastructure in stone with wide streets laid out before there was a population to justify the expense. Colorado City remained the county seat of El Paso County until 1873, when the courthouse moved to Colorado Springs. W. S. Stratton, early benefactorIn 1891, Winfield Scott Stratton discovered and developed one of the richest gold mines on earth in the nearby Cripple Creek and Victor area, and was perhaps the most generous early contributor to those communities and to Colorado Springs. After he made his fortune he declined to build a mansion as the other gold rush millionaires were doing; instead, in later years, he lived in a house in Colorado Springs he had built when he was a carpenter in pre-gold days. In Colorado Springs, he funded the Myron Stratton Home for housing itinerant children and the elderly, donated land for City Hall, the Post Office, the Courthouse (which now houses the Pioneer Museum), and a park; he also greatly expanded the city's trolley car system and built the Mining Exchange building, and gave to all three communities in many other ways, great and small. As Stratton's generosity became known, he was also approached by many people looking for money, and he became reclusive and eccentric in his later years. Spencer Penrose, early benefactorSpencer Penrose also made his mark on Colorado Springs in its early years—though not until two decades after its founding. Penrose started as a ladies-man and an adventurer. After making a fortune in the gold fields of nearby Cripple Creek in the 1890s, he married Julie Villiers Lewis McMillan, and settled down. Penrose used his wealth to invest in other national mineral concerns and financed construction of the Broadmoor Hotel, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, the Pikes Peak Highway, what is now known as Penrose-St Francis Health Services, and established the El Pomar Foundation, which still oversees many of his contributions in Colorado Springs today. End of the Colorado Gold Rush and the start of health tourismThe flow of gold and silver ebbed as the decades passed, and Colorado City's economic fortunes faded with it; the miners and those who processed the ore left or retired. Because of the healthy natural scenic beauty, mineral waters, and extremely dry climate, Colorado Springs became a tourist attraction and popular recuperation destination for tuberculosis patients. The healthy waters in Colorado Springs contained so much natural fluoride that some peoples? teeth developed Colorado Stain. In 1909, Dr. Frederick McKay of Colorado Springs discovered the Colorado Stain connection and that a little fluoride added to water would prevent cavities, according to the permanent health exhibit at the Pioneers Museum. In June, 14th, 1950 Colorado Springs annexed Roswell which was founded in 1888 by coal miners and became a neighborhood. Other locations such as Austin Bluffs, Broadmoor, Woodman Valley, Pikeview, Papeton, Knob Hill, Ivywild, Stratton Meadows, Stratmoor, Elsmare, Cimarron Hills, Kelker, Stratmoor Hills, La Foret, Gleneagle, Skinners, and Colorado City (now called Old Colorado City) became the part of Colorado Springs. Old Colorado City however is located on the west side of Colorado Springs is a historic district and on the National Register of Historic Places. Its old Victorian brick buildings and main street currently offers several tourist, boutique, and antique shops. Latter 20th Century military boomColorado Springs saw its first military base in 1942 shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked. During this time the U.S. Army established Camp Carson near the southern borders of the city in order to train and house troops in preparation for World War II. It was also during this time that the Army began using Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. It was renamed Peterson Field and used as a training base for heavy bombers (the airport and base still share parts of the flightline). 
Hi-res Kodachrome of downtown Colorado Springs, 1951. After the Korean War, Peterson Field was renamed Peterson Air Force Base and was permanently activated. In 1954 Camp Carson became Fort Carson, Colorado Springs' first Army post. Later that same year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower selected Colorado Springs, out of 300 other sites around the nation, to be the site of the Air Force's military academy. A new and growing Army post, an Air Force Base, and the Air Force's military academy together jump-started Colorado Springs' growth. The military boom continued and in 1963, NORAD's main facility was built in Cheyenne Mountain. This placed NORAD directly next to Colorado Springs and permanently secured the city's military presence. During the Cold War the city greatly expanded due to increased revenue from various industries and the prevailing military presence in the city. In the mid 1970s, Ent Air Force Base was shut down and later converted into the United States Olympic Training Center. Military presence was further increased in 1983 with the founding of Falcon Air Force Base (later changed to Schriever Air Force Base), a base primarily tasked with missile defense and satellite control. Fort Carson and Peterson are still growing and continue to contribute to the city's growth. Air Force Space Command is located on Peterson AFB. Geography and climateGeography
The sign greeting travelers into Colorado Springs on Interstate 25 southbound from Denver. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 186.1 square miles (482.1 km²), of which, 185.7 square miles (481.1 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²) of it (0.21%) is water. ClimateColorado Springs receives 15.42 inches of annual precipitation. Average snowfall for the area (included in the previous annual precipitation calculation) is 5.5" in November, 5.7" in December, 5.0" in January, 5.1" in February, 9.4" in March, and 6.3" in April. Due to unusually low precipitation for the past few years before 2006, Colorado Springs has had to enact lawn water restrictions. Average January low and high temperatures are 14°F/ 42°F (-10°C/ 5.5°C) and average July low and high temperatures are 55°F/ 85°F (12.7°C/ 29.4°C). Colorado Springs has relatively mild winters, with large snow accumulations in the downtown area relatively rare, a strong warming sun due to the altitude, and only occasional episodic periods of sub-zero cold snaps and blizzards from October 31 to March/April. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Colorado Springs was 101°F (38.3°C) on June 7, 1874 and the coldest temperature ever recorded was -32°F (-35.5°C) on January 20, 1883. Colorado Springs is also one of the most active lightning strike areas in the United States. This natural phenomenon led Nikola Tesla to select Colorado Springs as the preferred location to build his lab and study electricity. Demographics
A downtown cafe on a Friday night. There were 141,516 households out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06. In the city the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males (Note: City statistics do not include the demographic influence of five military bases). The median income for a household in the city was $45,081, and the median income for a family was $53,478. Males had a median income of $36,786 versus $26,427 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,496. About 6.1% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over. Tourism
Colorado Springs Skyline, August 2007. TransportationColorado Springs is served by an extensive bus system called Metro (short for Mountain Metropolitan Transit). Metro also operates the Front Range Express (FREX) service, which connects Colorado Springs to Denver and several other metropolitan areas. Although the Metro system serves much of the city and its nearest suburbs, it lacks service to many important areas and has only limited hours of operation. Taxicabs are available by phone or can usually be chartered at the airport or downtown. In order to combat congestion the Colorado Department of Transportation is in the process of widening the Interstate 25 corridor throughout the city from four lanes (two in each direction) to six lanes. This project has officially been named COSMIX (Colorado Springs Metro Interstate Expansion) Ultimately, the plan is to make the interstate eight lanes through the city when funding becomes available.[9] This plan is similar in nature to Denver's T-Rex expansion plan. 
A Metro bus navigates past a parking garage in downtown. Two additional grade separated interchanges are currently under construction in order to alleviate congestion at some of the city's worst intersections. Both the intersection at Powers and Woodmen and the intersection at Austin Bluffs and Union are being converted into grade separated interchanges. The former, when completed, will be a partial cloverleaf, and the latter will be an urban diamond. A third interchange is being considered at the intersection of Woodmen Road and Academy Boulevard (SH83). In addition, there are plans to develop a "Front Range Toll Road", a privately-owned turnpike, which would begin south of Pueblo and end around Fort Collins. This toll road would allow rail and truck traffic to avoid the more highly travelled parts of I-25 along the Front Range. Initially, the project had support but has since been highly contested because of the need to condemn the land of many private citizens, through the use of eminent domain, to make room for the corridor[11]. Colorado Springs is served by the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. In the state of Colorado, only Denver International has more passenger traffic. The airport has experienced a higher recovery rate in the post-9/11 era than the rest of the country[12] and is in the process of expanding its maintenance facilities, taxiways, and runways to accommodate future growth. In 2005 it served approximately two million passengers.[12] SportsOlympic Sports
The United States Olympic Committee headquarters and training facility.
The city has a particularly long association with the sport of figure skating, having hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships 6 times and the World Figure Skating Championships 5 times. It is home to the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame and the Broadmoor Skating Club, a notable training center for the sport. In recent years, the World Arena has hosted skating events such as Skate America and the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Local Teams | ||||
| Name | Sport | Founded | League | Venue |
| Baseball | 1988 | Minor league; Pacific Coast League | Security Service Field | |
| Soccer | 2004-Folded in 2006 | United Soccer Leagues; USL Premier Development League | Security Service Field | |
| Soccer | 2007 | Premier Arena Soccer League; National Premier Soccer League (National Division III) | Security Service Field | |
| Rugby | 1969 | Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union; USA Rugby; (National Division II) | Bear Creek Park | |
| Cricket | 1999 | Colorado Cricket League | Rose Bowl, Memorial Park |
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