For this evaluation I used the stream/bike trail as the northern border, Wahsatch Ave as the western, Union St as the eastern, and Platte Ave as the southern border.
East Colorado Springs was born out of the second period of annexations was during 1889-1890. The neighborhood continued to fill up through WWII. Because of its development history there are many cute bungalows and other modest older homes along with consistent sidewalks and pretty good connectively. But largely due to its low population density, retail amenities are sparse, and there is not real cohesive business district other than a couple auto centric stretches along Union Street.
I consider East Side a pleasant semi-urban place, but not a 1-car neighborhood due to the lack of walkable amenities and so so public transit service. Obviously my hope is that the neighborhood can densify and eliminate its single family only zoning, which I suspect occupies the majority of the neighborhood.
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Two wonderful bike trans along the western and north edge of Dwtn. Decent number of bike stations.
* Good sidewalk infrastructure overall; hit or miss with ADA curb cuts.
* Great economic and generational diversity.
* Decent # of schools with pretty good ratings; semi-walkable as the district is so spread out.
* Decent # of rentals but not a ton. 1-beds lease btwn the mid 1K to mid 2Ks. More 2-beds available at a similar price. Good # of 3-bed rentals that are a bit more expensive.
* Some affordable housing in the neighborhood.
* Good array of parks including Shooks Run that runs north-south through most of the district. Recreational trail along it and several smaller parks. There is also Boulder Park (a medium sized park) and the extensive Memorial Park just south of the East Side borders.
* Attractive historic housing, but nothing spectacular.
* Excellent Tree canopy.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Density is pretty low for an urban era.
* Public transit is decent is spots but pretty mediocre/ poor in the northeast section of East Side.
* Walkability overall is ok. Very spreadout district with not a lot of amenities within walking distance.
* Racial diversity is pretty limited.
* For-sale are pretty expensive. Decent # of one-beds that sell btwn 300K-500K, 2-beds btwn 300K-700K, wide arrange of 3 & 4 beds selling anywhere btwn 400K-1M. No condos here. No sign of affordable hsg here.
* Cultural amenities in the East Side are pretty limited. Some restaurants & cafes but mostly located along Union Blvd which is very auto centric oriented. A couple nice cafes and breweries in the SW corner of the district close to Dwtn. A couple art galleries, community theaters, and live music venues. Decent access in the SW corner to Dwtn cultural amenities.
* Some retail amenities including a Safeway & Walmart, a major hospital, drug store, a couple salons, a couple dessert joints, a few gyms, several churches, and some other random retail. The issue is that most retail is auto centric and very spreadout.
* Sense of place is certainly lacking here as there are no urban business districts.
* Good amount of auto centric crap in-fill especially along Union Blvd.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 