The City of Colorado Springs is the second most populous city (after
Denver) in the state of Colorado and the
48th most populous city in the United States.[5] The city is the county seat of El Paso County.
Colorado Springs is located just east of the geographic center of the state and 63 miles (101
kilometers) south of Denver, the state's capital
city. 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.
Overview
The United States Census Bureau estimates that in 2005 the population of
the City of Colorado Springs was 369,815 (48th most populous U.S.
city),[5] the
population of the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical
Area was 587,500 (84th most populous MSA),[6] and the population of the Front Range Urban Corridor was 4,013,055.[6]
Today, Colorado Springs has many features of a modern urban area, such as parks, bike trails, urban open-area spaces, business
and commerce, theatres and other entertainment. It was first established as a posh resort community, though the older mining
supply center of Colorado City (now Old Colorado City) was merged later, and the tourist industry has remained strong and offers
many activities and attractions. In July 2006, Money magazine ranked Colorado Springs the best place to live in the big city
category, which includes cities with 300,000 or more people. [2]
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 [3] 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.
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 resided in the city, including a number of computer chip
manufacturers from Intel, (Intel's plant is for sale) 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
Balanced Rock (foreground) stands near Steamboat Rock (on the left edge of the image) in
Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
General William Palmer, City Founder
Colorado Springs was founded in August 1871 by General William Palmer, with
the intention of creating a high quality resort community, and was soon nicknamed "Little London" because of the many English
tourists who came. Nearby Pikes Peak and the
Garden of the Gods made the city's location a natural choice.
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 many important civic institutions in the community.
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 Pike's Peak Gold Rush
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, and
in fact, Colorado Springs stayed dry until the end of Prohibition in 1933.
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. Eventually Colorado City was processing 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[4], St. Mary's, the library, and the county courthouse[5]
sitting in large empty plains. This is unique during this period, to pre-build a city's civic infrastructure in stone with wide
streets [6] 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 benefactor
In 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 benefactor
Spencer 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 the Penrose-St Francis Health System, and established the El Pomar Foundation, which still oversees many of his contributions
in Colorado Springs today.
The End of the Colorado Gold Rush and the Start of Health Tourism
The 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.[citation needed] During this time, the city of Roswell was annexed and, in 1917, Colorado
Springs also annexed Colorado City (now called Old Colorado
City). This neighborhood in the west side of Colorado Springs is a historic district recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. A bustling main street of businesses, such as
tourist and antique shops, still retains its old Victorian and brick style.
Latter 20th century military boom
Colorado 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 the Second World War. 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.
The Army expanded Camp Carson, a venture that increased growth in Colorado Springs and provided a significant area of industry
for the city. After World War II the military stepped away from the Springs, Camp Carson was declining and the military was
activating and deactivating Peterson Field irregularly. That all changed when the Korean War
erupted. Camp Carson, which had declined to only 600 soldiers[citation needed], was revitalized along with many other parts of the Springs. In 1951, the
United States Air Defense Command moved to Colorado Springs and opened Ent Air Force Base (named for Major General Uzal
Girard Ent, commander of the Ninth Air Force during World War II).
After the Korean War, Peterson Field was renamed Peterson Air Force Base and was permanently activated. In 1954 Camp Carson
became Fort Carson, Colorado Spring's 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 Schriever Air Force Base
(formerly Falcon 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. Headquarters, Air
Force Space Command, is located on Peterson AFB.
Geography and climate
Geography
Colorado Springs is located at 38°51′48″N, 104°47′31″W (38.863443,
-104.791914).1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 482.1 km² (186.1 mi²). 481.1 km² (185.7 mi²) of
it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (0.21%) is water.
Climate
Colorado Springs averages 300 days of sunshine per year, and 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
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 360,890 people, 141,516 households, and 93,117 families
residing in the city. The population density was 750.2/km² (1,942.9/mi²). There were
148,690 housing units at an average density of 309.1/km² (800.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.66% White, 6.56% African American, 0.88% Native American, 2.82% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 5.01% from other races, and 3.85% from two or more races. 12.01% of the population
were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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.
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.
Much of the Springs tourism comes from the area it was built around, most famously Pikes
Peak. The city is host to numerous trails and parks due to its close proximity to the Rocky Mountains, making the city a
popular destination for its scenery. With the mountains as close as they are the Springs has also gained notoriety for its rock
formations and other geological features.
For a list of events and attractions, please visit the Colorado Springs
Tourism article.
Transportation
Colorado 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.
Colorado Springs has the worst traffic congestion for a city its size.[7] In order to combat the 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.[8] This plan is similar in nature to
Denver's T-Rex expansion plan.
Several suggestions have been made to create a loop around the city though none have been implemented. The original plan to
convert Powers Boulevard, a major eastside expressway, into a bypass for I-25 was abandoned, but is now being reconsidered by the
city council amidst stringent opposition from a large developer responsible for the construction of a large commercial complex
along the road.[9] Easier access to the airport has also
been suggested. Overall the new thoroughfares would include one (or two) loop freeways, a spur into the city connecting the main
freeway and the loop, east-west expressway upgrades, and easier access to the Colorado Springs Airport.
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[10]
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[11] 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]
Sports
Olympic Sports
Colorado Springs is home to the United States Olympic Training
Center and the headquarters of the United States Olympic
Committee. In addition, a number of United States national federations for individual Olympic sports have their headquarters in Colorado Springs, including:
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
- Colorado Springs hosted the 1962 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (together with Denver).
This nullifies a popular Canadian claim that the 2008 IIHF World Championships in Quebec City, PQ and Halifax, NS will mark
the first time this event is organized on the American continent.
Economy
Colorado Springs' economy is driven primarily by the military, the high-tech industry, and tourism, in that order. While the
main force behind the city's economy is the military, the city is not completely dependent on it. The city is currently
experiencing some growth mainly in the service sectors and has been identified as one of the nation's top ten fastest growing
economies.[13] Colorado Springs is also one of the nation's
leaders in lender available housing, nearing its top record set in the late 1980s [7].
On January 17, 2007, Steve Fehl, an Analyst at the Pikes
Peak Workforce Center [8] announced that many of
the better jobs being created in Colorado Springs are for service positions in upscale call centers for the insurance, support,
and financial industies. These large businesses find the quality and quantity of available college educated workers an incentive
to locate to the city. Mr. Fehl also believes Colorado Springs still remains a difficult market for job seekers outside the
defense sector. With future growth in the defense sector expected when the approved funding is released to defense contractors,
creating employment for those with active security clearances. This growth should offset some of the recent softening in
information technology and complex electronic equipment manufacturing
sectors.
Defense industry
The defense industry is a significant portion of Colorado Springs' economy with several of the largest employers coming from
this sector.[14] A large segment of this industry is
dedicated to the development and operation of various projects of the missile defense agency. The aerospace industry also has had
an influence on the Colorado Springs economy. The defense sector has planned several changes, moving in and out personnel,
building and shutting down, over the next few years. Still, they are among the largest employers in the city and the overall
trend is some growth.
Significant defense corporations in the city include:
High-tech industry
A large percentage of Colorado Springs' economy is still based on high tech and
manufacturing complex electronic equipment. The high tech sector of Colorado Springs area has decreased its overall presence in
the Springs' economy over the past six years (from around 21,000 down to around 8,000), notably in information technology and complex electronic equipment. [15] Due to the slowdown in tourism, the high tech sector still remains second to the
military in terms of total revenue generated and employment. [9] It is projected by this trend that the high tech employment ratio will continue to
decrease in the near future.[10][11] Besides the high tech sector, there are also several research and development firms located in Colorado Springs. [citation needed]
Because of Colorado Springs’ central U.S. location, available reserve of highly educated workers, and business friendly
climate; several companies have plans to either expand their current operations in Colorado Springs or have considered Colorado
Springs as a competitive area for relocating or opening a business.
High tech corporations with connections to the city include:
- Verizon Business – Software development - Formerly WorldCom and MCI, has a fairly large engineering presence. At its peak during
the mid to late 1990s, with over 5,000 employees, MCI was the largest private employer in El Paso County (Fort Carson and the
City of Colorado Springs were ranked #'s 1 and 2, with MCI coming in 3rd overall).
- Hewlett-Packard – Computing – large sales, support, and SAN storage engineering center. The location was built by Digital Equipment Corporation, renamed Compaq in the 1998
acquisition of Digital, and finally renamed Hewlett-Packard after the 2002 merger.
- SNIA – Computing - home of the SNIA Technology Center
- Agilent – Test and Measurement Manufacturing - In 1999, Agilent was spun off
from HP as an independent, publicly-traded company.
- Intel – Chip fabrication, built in 2000. Intel has put this
facility up for sale, and plans to leave Colorado Springs. Local economist believes a loss up to 4,154 jobs possible if facility
is not sold and shut down. [12]. Intel is planning to cease operations around the beginning of 2008. [16]
- Atmel – Chip fabrication. Formerly Honeywell
- Cypress Semiconductor Colorado Design Center – Chip fabrication R&D
site
- Sanmina-SCI Closing facility around Dec 07 to Jan 08 (800 jobs).[17]
Military
Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs.
The United States Military plays a very important role in the city. Colorado Springs is home to both Army and Air Force bases and their numerous support
bases around the county.
Fort Carson is the city's largest military base, and until mid-2006 was home to the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, which relocated to Fort Hood, Texas. By 2009,
Fort Carson will be the home station of the 4th Infantry Division,
which will nearly double the base's population. Fort Carson is host to various training grounds for infantry, armor, and aviation
units (specifically the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior). Fort Carson is also the headquarters of the
second and third battalions of the 10th Special Forces
Group.
The Air Force has critical aspects of their service based at Colorado Springs which carry on missile defense operations and
development. The Air Force bases a large section of the national missile
defense operations here, with Peterson Air Force Base set to operate large sections of the program. Peterson AFB is
currently the headquarters of the majority of Air Force Space Command, the
highest level of command in the Air Force.
Peterson is also headquarters for the United States Northern Command
(USNORTHCOM), one of the Unified Combatant Commands. USNORTHCOM directs all
branches of the U.S. military operations in their area of responsibility which includes the continental United States, Alaska,
Canada, and Mexico. In the event of national emergencies the President or Secretary of Defense can call upon USNORTHCOM for any
required military assistance. Service members from every branch of US
Military are stationed at the command.
Schriever AFB is home to the 50th Space Wing that controls warning, navigational, and
communications satellites. It is the location of the global positioning system
(GPS) master control station and GPS Operations
Center and the US Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock used to synchronize GPS satellite time. Schriever is also developing
parts of national missile defense and runs parts of the annual wargames used by the nations military.
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a
component of America's missile defense system, is located in Cheyenne Mountain Air Station. When it was built at the height of
the Cold War it caused much anxiety for the residents of Colorado Springs (see trivia).
Although NORAD still operates, today it is primarily tasked with the tracking of ICBMs, but the military has recently decided to place Cheyenne Mountain's
NORAD/NORTHCOM operations on standby and move operations to nearby Peterson Air Force Base. [13]
The north end of the city is home to the vast United States Air Force
Academy grounds, where cadets train to become officers in the Air Force.
The campus is famous for its unique chapel and draws visitors year round. The Air Force sports programs belong to the Mountain
West Conference and they consistently compete for championships in football (including the Commander in Chief's trophy) and
basketball.
Religious institutions
In recent years, Colorado Springs has attracted a large influx of Evangelical
Christians and Christian Organizations. At one time Colorado Springs was counted to be the national headquarters for 81
different religious organizations, earning the city the tongue-in-cheek nickname "the Evangelical Vatican". According to the 2006
DEX phone book, there are 84 separate categories under "churches" with hundreds of individual churches listed.
The city and surrounding areas also host hundreds of churches and synagogues of many faiths and denominations, including a
mosque.
Evangelical groups with headquarters at Colorado Springs include:
Education
Universities, colleges and special schools include:
The city's public schools are divided into several districts:
Private schools:
Colorado Springs City Government
The city is a Council-Manager government, with a City Counsel and Mayor
that meet regularly to approve budgets and projects, while the city manager deals with the
day-to-day aspects of running the city.
Organizational Chart of Colorado Springs City Government
The City
In Fiction
- Clive Cussler sets a chapter of his thriller "Cyclops" in Colorado Springs, featuring
an action scene between the President's personal investigator and a man supposedly involved in a top secret colony on the
moon.
- Robert A. Heinlein, noted sci-fi writer during the genre's Golden Age, lived in
Colorado Springs during part of his career. His novel The Moon Is a Harsh
Mistress featured at one point the rebel moon government raining rock-filled grain canisters down on NORAD's headquarters inside Cheyenne Mountain, incidentally destroying
Colorado Springs because of the great amount of kinetic energy released on impact.
- Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz lived
briefly in Colorado Springs in 1951, on North Franklin Street. Linus and Lucy Van Pelt were neighbors of his, for whom he named
characters. He painted a wall of his home with some Peanuts characters. The wall was removed from the home in 2001 and
donated to the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California.
- Several scenes of Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987) were filmed at the Broadmoor Hotel. Several courtroom scenes in the Perry Mason
movie series were filmed in the courtroom exhibit at the Pioneer's Museum (formerly the El Paso County Courthouse).
- The Incident(1990) was filmed in the courtroom exhibit at the Pioneer's Museum (formerly the El Paso County
Courthouse).
- Strangeland (1998) was filmed in Colorado Springs.
- Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, an Emmy
Award-winning dramatic television series starring Jane Seymour, was set in
this town. Though there was some historical accuracy, the character was based on a woman from nearby Cripple Creek and the majority of the events and settings were fictional, and actual filming was
done at the Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills, California.
- The TV series Stargate SG-1 has
several episodes which at least partially take place in Colorado Springs; additionally SGC is based out of nearby
Cheyenne Mountain, and most of the team members are shown to reside in Colorado
Springs. A new fountain in the
America the Beautiful park in Colorado Springs is a remarkable homage to a Stargate.
- The movie Independence Day makes reference to the destruction of
NORAD.
- In the movie The Sum Of All Fears the Russian president asks a military
advisor how many people live in Colorado Springs, as he weighs the ramifications of the use of nuclear weapons against the city. This highlights the strategic importance of the military-centered
city.
- The film WarGames featured the NORAD facility quite prominently, even though only
exterior shots were actually filmed on location.
- By including Colorado Springs as the home of inventor Nikola Tesla, played by
David Bowie, the film The Prestige dates itself
to the years 1899 or 1900, when Tesla used the city for a series of electricity experiments. The Cliff
House at Pikes Peak in nearby Manitou Springs is the basis for the
hotel used in the film.
- Under the fictional name of Cody, Colorado, the 2006 movie "Fast Food Nation"
features a fictional meat packing plant set to a number of panoramic shots of Colorado Springs, including Pikes Peak, Cheyenne Mountain, the Front Range, as well as the McDonald's located on Academy Boulevard and
San Miguel Street.
Notable residents
- Actor Michael Boatman
- Artist Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968)
- Silent film star Lon Chaney was born in
Colorado Springs on April 1 1883. The Lon Chaney Theatre is named
for him.
- Nine time MLB All-Star pitcher
Goose Gossage was born in Colorado Springs on July 5,
1951, and graduated from Wasson High School.
Retired from baseball, he currently lives in Colorado Springs.
- Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton was born in Colorado
Springs.
- Focus on the Family founder James
Dobson
- Chris Elrod, Christian comedian and writer lived in Colorado Springs during his high
school years.[14]
- WWE Superstar wrestler Bobby
Lashley is billed from Colorado Springs.
- Keith Lockhart, former conductor of the Pikes Peak Symphony, current conductor of the
Boston Pops
- Actor Chase Masterson
- Cassandra Peterson (also known as Elvira,
Mistress of the Night) attended General William J. Palmer High
School in downtown Colorado Springs. She graduated in the class of 1969.
- Professional kickboxer, wrestler and actor Bob "The Beast" Sapp was born in Colorado
Springs and attended Mitchell High School.
- Serbian-born American physicist Nikola Tesla built a laboratory in Colorado Springs in
1899 for his experiments in the wireless transmission of electrical power. Reportedly he shot lightning from his lab back into
the sky during a lightning storm. The site of the lab is now a residential area. The address is the intersection of Foote and
Kiowa streets.
- Model Leeann Tweeden worked briefly as a waitress at a local Hooters in the 1991-1992 timeframe.
- Automobile racer Bobby Unser was born in Colorado Springs on February 20 1934.
- Former British ice dancer Christopher Dean
- Playwright, Activist, Poet, Photojournalist Robert Charles Vaughn
- Radio Personality Dan Hardee was born and raised Colorado Springs.
- NFL wide receiver Vincent Jackson of the San Diego Chargers and graduated from
Widefield High School
