Gazette: Data Collected on Downtown Better Block Experiment

Published in The Gazette | September 24, 2012 | Written by Rich Laden

A 24-hour experiment to gauge the public’s reaction to traffic and parking restrictions on Pikes Peak Avenue is over, and proponents now will assemble data they’ve collected to present to downtown advocacy groups and perhaps the Colorado Springs City Council.

Better Block Pikes Peak, a volunteer effort coordinated with city government officials, took place from noon Friday to noon Saturday last week along Pikes Peak Avenue, between Nevada Avenue and Tejon Street downtown. Traffic was reduced to one lane in each direction, while parking spaces along a median were blocked off to cars. 

The goal was to see how pedestrians and motorists responded to the temporary restrictions and possibly use that information as part of urban and traffic planning efforts around the city.

Supporters felt the effort was a success, mainly because they received a lot of input from members of the public — both positive and negative, said John Olson, a coordinator of the Better Block effort and managing partner of EVstudio Planning in Colorado Springs.

“It’s all good information,” Olson said of the comments they received. “It’s data that we need and it’s one experiment so that we can learn from it, and hopefully as a city, it’s helpful.”

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/experiment-145032-block-hour.html#ixzz27n7WOFWR

CSBJ: Disaster Loan Presentation for Waldo Fire Victims Set for September 28 in Colo Spgs

Published by the Colorado Springs Business Journal | September 20 2012 | Written by Monica Mendoza

Representatives from offices of Sen. Mark Udall, Sen. Michael Bennet and the U.S. Small Business Administration will be in the Springs this month to discuss disaster loans.

The representatives will be in Colorado Springs from 11 a.m. to noon Sept. 28 at the Colorado Springs Together office, 6840 Centennial Blvd.

Business owners, nonprofit organizations and residents affected by this year’s wildfires and related flooding in El Paso, Larimer and 15 adjacent counties are invited to learn more about SBA Disaster Loans, including requirements and eligibility.

The deadline to apply for loans for physical damage is Oct. 9. Homeowners and business owners have until May 7, 2013, to apply for SBA assistance for economic damage. The Colorado Springs Small Business Development Center also will participate in the presentation.

The event is free but there is limited seating. RSVP to Angela_Joslyn@markudall.senate.gov or call 471-3993 for more information.

Read this article on CSBJ: http://csbj.com/2012/09/20/disaster-loan-presentation-sept-28/comment-page-1/#comment-69498

The Gazette.com: For Your Convenience: 7-Eleven Adding Stores

Published by The Gazette | September 16, 2012 | Written by Rich Laden

It might seem as if there’s a convenience store on every street corner in the Pikes Peak region. 7-Eleven dominates the market with dozens of stores, while Loaf ‘N Jug and Circle K are among chains with multiple stores.

Even so, more locations are on the way as convenience store chains see continued opportunities for expansion in high-growth areas of the region, and as time-strapped consumers continue to clamor for the quick, in-and-out service that convenience stores offer:

•  Dallas-based 7-Eleven, which has roughly 50 area stores, says three to four more are planned this year and another five to six are coming in 2013. Among the new sites: A former Bennigan’s restaurant near Academy Boulevard and North Carefree Circle will be razed to make way for a store, while another location is targeted on Woodmen Road, west of Marksheffel Road. 

•  Loaf ‘N Jug, an arm of the Kroger grocery chain that owns Kings Soopers, has about 20 stores. Another store is planned southeast of Northgate Boulevard and Voyager Parkway on the Springs’ far north side. 

• Circle K, based in suburban Phoenix and with about 20 locations in the area, plans a store on the city’s northeast side, at Tutt Boulevard and North Carefree. 

• Midwest-based Kum & Go has aggressively entered Colorado Springs with plans to build 20 to 25 stores over five years. Its first location opened in May at Academy and Vickers Drive. Stores are under construction east of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway, west of Powers Boulevard and Woodmen Road and at Powers and North Carefree, among other locations. 

• San Antonio-based Valero, which operates corner stores under the Valero and Diamond Shamrock names, has about 30 area locations. A spokesman said the company plans no additional stores in the area, but occasionally looks to remodel and expand existing locations. 

“They sell time,” Jeff Lenard, a National Association of Convenience Stores spokesman in suburban Washington, D.C., said of the popularity of the stores. “When they started back in the 1920s, they sold staple items like milk and bread and eggs after the groceries closed at 5. Over time, what they have sold has changed, but they (continue) to sell time. It’s get them in, get them out, get them on their way, and do it without a hassle.

Read the rest of the article on The Gazette: http://www.gazette.com/articles/stores-144657-adding-convenience.html#ixzz26rNmJ7bq

CSBJ: Colorado Springs Hosts 2 Top Universities: USAFA and UCCS

Published by The Colorado Springs Business Journal | September 13, 2012 | Written by Monica Mendoza

Colorado Springs is home to two top colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 Best Colleges rankings.

The U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs both made the list of the best in the country.

The U.S. Air Force Academy tied the U.S. Naval Academy as the No. 4 top undergraduate engineering program in the nation. Several Air Force Academy engineering specialties also received top rankings, including: No. 2 in aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering, for the 12th consecutive year;  No. 5 in civil engineering; No. 5 in computer engineering. The USAFA was tied for No. 6 in electrical engineering, with the U.S. Naval Academy; No. 8 in mechanical engineering; and No. 56 in undergraduate business program, tied with several other universities.

A recent addition to the U.S. News & World Report best college rankings is the category of how high school counselors rank national universities and national liberal arts colleges.  These rankings categorize the Air Force Academy as a liberal arts college, and high school counselors ranked the Air Force Academy in a three-way tie with West Point and Harvey Mudd College as the No. 2 best liberal arts college in the nation.

Each of the rankings are compiled using several weighted factors including undergraduate academic reputation as determined by academic peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs also is among the best public regional universities in the Western United States and its College of Engineering and Applied Science is a national leader, according to the magazine.

Read More: http://csbj.com/2012/09/13/usafa-and-uccs-tops-in-the-nation/

Gazette: Rising Housing Prices Elevate Colorado Springs Living Costs

Published in The Gazette | September 7, 2012 | Written By Wayne Heilman

It’s still a relative bargain living in Colorado Springs. But rising housing prices in the Springs area pushed local living costs to the closest they have been to the national average in 7½ years, according to a quarterly survey.

Living costs in the Springs were 3.9 percent below the national average during the second quarter, up from 4.5 percent below the average during the previous quarter and 8.2 percent below the average a year earlier, according to the survey by the Arlington, Va.-based Council for Community and Economic Research. That is the closest to the national average the council’s cost-of-living index for the city has been since the end of 2004. The index hit a 20-year low in the second quarter of 2011 in comparison with the national average.

“That our growth in housing prices is so far ahead of the rest of the nation is surprising,” said Tom Binnings, a senior partner of Summit Economics, a local economic research and consulting firm. “On the whole, that is good news from the standpoint that our housing sector is growing stronger.”

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/local-144368-prices-push.html#ixzz2660u2ebg

InsideRealEstateNews: Colorado Ranks 5th in the Top Ten Strongest Housing Markets

Published in Inside Real Estate News | September 4, 2012 | Written by John Rebchook

Colorado boasts the nation’s fifth best housing market, according to a report released today.

The report by 24/7 Wall Street said home prices in Colorado have risen by 7.3 percent in 12-month period ending in July, with a median home price of $240,00.

______________________________

5. Colorado
> 1 yr. home price change: +7.3%
> Median home price: $240,000
> Unemployment rate: 8.3% (20th highest)

__________________________________

“The Colorado housing market was not badly damaged when the housing bubble broke,” according to the analysis, which ranked Arizona as No. 1, with a 16.6 percent year-over-year increase in home prices.

The online service, which provides analysis and commentary on a variety of domestic and international equities and asset classes, including real estate, based the ranking of the top 10 housing markets on a number of sources. They included:

• The Corelogic Home Price Index.
• Foreclosure data from RealtyTrac.
• Fiserv, an information management company that provides data for the Case-S&P/Case-Shiller home price index.
• Trulia, the online real estate search site.
• Unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The analysis said that home prices in Colorado dropped 9.5 percent from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2012, the 18th best among all states.

“The market’s recovery rate will put it in the middle among the 50 states,” the report said. “Colorado home prices are forecast to recover at 3.7 percent between the first quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year, the 22nd-highest increase. Over the longer period from the first quarter of this year until the first quarter of 2017, prices are expected to improve 2.4 percent per annum, which ranks it 42nd.”

Independent broker Gary Bauer said that the national report reflects well on Colorado and the Denver area. He said he thinks the trend it is showing, and the state’s record, are in line with what he has read, although he may quibble with the exact percentage changes in the analysis.

“I tend to agree with them as far as their conclusion, but I’m not quite comfortable with their numbers,”
Bauer said.

“I think a lot of markets are taking two steps forward and one step back, which no longer seems to be the case with our market. We seem to be making incremental steps forward and are not backsliding.”

To read the entire report, please visit 24/7 Wall Street.

Gazette: Balloons Over Colorado Springs Celebrate Labor Day

Published by The Gazette | September 3, 2012 | Written by Andrew Wineke

Cool temperatures and light winds allowed scores of balloons to soar over the city Monday morning. Thousands of onlookers cheered and clapped as the balloons took flight as part of the 36th annual Colorado Balloon Classic.

Winds had grounded the mass ascent on Sunday. By Sunday evening, though, the balloons were back in action for the Balloon Glo, where the balloons go up at night. 

Click here to read about the Balloon Glo, and see photos

Click here for a balloon photo gallery

Click here to read this article on The Gazette

Photo by Mark Reis of The Gazette

Photo by Mark Reis of The Gazette

Photo by Mark Reis of The Gazette