I assume with a grabby title like that, you’re a nerd like me and like to see the stats. A lot of people who are new to Colorado Springs like to know things like crime rates, which neighborhoods are safe, what parts of the city to avoid, that kind of thing. Let's go! I definitely have opinions on all of those things! I can show you what neighborhoods have lower crime rates, I just am not allowed to say "this is a bad neighborhood" because I’m a real estate agent. Isn’t that wild? That’s a whole different topic, but it doesn’t stop me from pointing you in the right direction so that you can still get the answers you’re looking for. I can’t blanket a neighborhood or zipcode or part of town, but I can let you see what kind of crime is happening and where it’s happening in Colorado Springs. Then, you’ll know what I know! Where are the safe neighborhoods in Colorado Springs?Ah, what you're looking for is the crime rate! When people talk safe neighborhoods, I assume they are referring to "how often are violent or other crimes happening," or "are there sketchy people walking around in this neighborhood?" You will want to reference a copy of the Colorado Springs official website's Neighborhoods map. Don't waste time looking at some other real estate agent's neighborhood map when you can go to the source and get a beautiful full color map that will show you EVERY neighborhood. Ok, now that you've given that a look, use it with the list below. Here is what the low crime rate neighborhoods in Colorado Springs include:
*Note that there are many pockets of great, safe, neighborhoods within all of Colorado Springs, and the above list is not all inclusive, nor should you necessarily stick to just these neighborhoods. The cheaper the neighborhood is, the more likely it is to attract more crime. I am using Colorado Springs online crime maps to base my above list on, and you can too! If you're still here, I assume you're willing to look at a bit more information on crime rates in Colorado Springs, like other websites you can check out. You got it! Before I direct you to some information, I will summarize where you can find what I'm about to show you: Colorado Springs crime maps Colorado Springs Subreddit Google Maps - Colorado Springs Colorado Springs news outlets Facebook groups Take a quick look on Reddit, if you use that website, and look up that same question on the Colorado Springs subreddit: What are the safe neighborhoods in Colorado Springs? What are the bad neighborhoods in Colorado Springs? What are the crime rates? You’ll get lots of opinions, and from what I have seen in those threads, there is a lot of overlap for many answers, and I think that’s helpful. Below are some suggestions for websites that can help you determine where you would like to live in Colorado Springs, based on the crime rates: My Neighborhood UpdateThe My Neighborhood Update site is based on calls in to local participating police agencies. The calls may or may not actually be followed through on, but just a call in from someone counts on this site. Sex assault crimes are not included in the Colorado Springs Police Department's upload to My Neighborhood Update. For that, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/police-department/page/your-neighborhood For this site, you will need to type your city in (Colorado Springs of course) and you’ll need to zoom in close enough to the city to start seeing results. You can narrow down based on property crimes, violent crimes, traffic, proactive policing, noise, and disorder. CommunityCrimeMapCommunityCrimeMap is run by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. On this site you can search for a lot more types of crime, like arson, assault, burglary, homicide, motor vehicle theft, robbery, sexual assault, and general theft. I had problems getting the site to bring up results when I typed in the city, so I manually zoomed in to Colorado Springs to see the results, heads up, if you run into issues. Otherwise, it's a great site for crime rate info! CrimeGradeCrimeGrade is the third one I like. On this site you can just go straight to Colorado Springs and see the crime rates, but in a color-coded system as opposed to individual hits. It lets you zoom out in a sense and see the bigger picture of different areas and neighborhoods of the city. But wait? What about crime in Colorado Springs in general? What is that like? That one is easy also. Take any of the above sites, and type in your current town or city you live in, and compare! You’ll probably learn some things about where you live that you didn’t know before. You could also compare to any other city you have in mind, for a reference. You can use CrimeGrade, for example, and just scroll further down the page where they will compare the overall crime rate, violent crime rates, and property crime rates of other cities like Denver and other nearby metro areas, and you can also look at other cities by similar population. Colorado Springs News OutletsOther websites you can use to find out local information about Colorado Springs, which will give you local neighborhood use you might find interesting about the neighborhood you're interested in, include: Colorado Springs Independent (Indy) Colorado Springs Gazette (subscription based news) KOAA News 5 KKTV News 11 KRDO News 13 There are other crime rates websites for Colorado Springs also if you do a Google search, but those are my recommendations for a few sites that look to be a reliable source for that information! Now a disclaimer, I’ve lived in Colorado Springs since 1994, and I have never used a website to look at crime rates in Colorado Springs to base where I want to live. Granted I’ve lived here a while and know the city, but when I’ve been on crime rate sites to look at the Springs, and they start comparing Colorado Springs to other cities, is where they lose me. For example, CrimeGrade rates Colorado Springs an “F” in crime and safety, and Denver is a “D.” The overall crime grade letter doesn’t really mean anything, as it’s an average of the city as a whole. What’s the difference between D and F? They both fail. If the Springs was so ridden with crime, we wouldn’t have the housing boom we have now. So to give a letter grade I feel is misleading. To further my point, take a look at this Patch article about Colorado Springs being one of the safest cities in America, as of the end of 2019, when the article was written. You can also look at Niche's Colorado Springs crime and safety poll, which I think is a better way to figure out crime in Colorado Springs in general. Crime and safety is very subjective, and more information, and LOTS of other people's opinions, is the answer. Facebook GroupsAnother mention is to look up neighborhoods on Facebook to see if you can find any local community pages for very niche local news for the specific neighborhoods you are looking at. The big popular neighborhoods like Banning Lewis Ranch for example, has its own FB page. A lot of smaller communities will not have this feature though, so it's hit or miss. Colorado Springs Google Maps for crimeAnother great way to know about a neighborhood’s specific quirks, and what kind of people live there, is to use Google Maps, yes Google Maps! You can do the street view on a particular address and go from there to click through to other streets, which allows you to virtually see a whole street, and a whole neighborhood, straight from your phone or computer. Start with my work address on 215 W Rockrimmon Blvd. From there, click through to the streets you want, and Google Maps will show you what the neighborhood looks like from the street, without ever having to leave your house! Talk to your neighbors!Of course, you could do the same thing in person, if you’re in the Springs, just start driving in different neighborhoods and get a feel for how you like them. If you are in the Springs, this is the route I would recommend, over all other ways of finding out about crime, or what you think of a particular neighborhood. If you go see neighborhoods and houses in person, what you and/or your real estate agent can do at that point, is after you go see a house, or let’s say you want to get the scoop on a neighborhood before you start looking at homes there, what you do is you start talking to neighbors! Go find people in their front yard, or if you can’t find anyone, knock on some doors and tell them what you’re doing: “Hi, I’m Kevin and I’m looking at buying a house on Adirondack (give them the actual street you’re on), do you know anything about the neighborhood that you’d say would be important for someone new to know about?” You could start a conversation with someone who actually lives there and get their input about crime, safety, schools, the neighborhood quirks, all of that. You could ask your real estate agent for their opinion, but it’s only one opinion. Your agent’s job is to represent you in the purchase or sale of a house, professionally. A great agent will always be challenging themselves through continued education and constant interaction with the real estate market. They can show and guide you in their field of expertise, and there is a right and a wrong way to write contracts and stay out of legal trouble. There is no right or wrong answer on where to live in Colorado Springs, or where not to live, or what do you love/hate about Colorado Springs, or pros and cons. Those are all subjective answers, and that’s what a real estate agent is not supposed to do, is give their subjective opinion on where is a good place to live. All they can do is help you buy or sell a house. So for real estate agents, they can’t tell you where, but they can tell you how. Their singular opinion on a neighborhood, since they are in a position of trust, may steer you away from neighborhoods that you might actually like, and that’s where fair housing violations come into play. Again, a real estate agent cannot legally give you their opinion of if a neighborhood is "safe," or if a school in a particular neighborhood is a "good" school, without likely violating fair housing laws. For more info on that, visit: https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/articles/what-your-real-estate-agent-cant-tell-you If your real estate agent is willing to tell you, “These neighborhoods are in the bad part of Colorado Springs,” they’re scaring you into not wanting to move there, right? Due to the standards of professionalism we as agents have, we cannot steer people away from any neighborhood. The client has to choose their own places they don’t want to live. Obviously, the prices will likely affect where most buyers choose to live also. This is another reason I say to actually talk to your neighbors/potential neighbors. You will quickly get a good feel for what kind of people your neighbors are, and how THEY feel about the crime rates and safety in their neighborhood. Why would you base your opinion on one agent’s neighborhood preferences, when they may not even live in the neighborhood you’re looking at, when you’ve got people who actually live there who can tell you all about it? So in summary, use the above websites to gather information about the neighborhoods in Colorado Springs you are interested in, and use the above sites (AND others if you like!) as a supplement for getting some quick opinions from others, but when you think you have 2 or 3 neighborhoods you want to focus on, actually talk to people who live there. Go take your dog or your kids for a walk in that neighborhood and be friendly with people! That’s the best way to learn about Colorado Springs.
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