Springs: Gorgeous scenery, mostly conservative people, "big town" but not "big city", decent prices on land but high cost of living (welcome to Colorado), close to tons of stuff: Denver/bigger city, anything outdoors you like except an ocean.

I like the Springs and have some family that lives there, but you'll find it's nothing like LA or California in general. Coloradians are more "western-like", not as cultured but with an appreciation for beautiful things. The state is also experiencing a stupidly huge growth in population from, hey! California and all the problems that brings. It's good/bad because it's changing the economy, feel, and culture of just about everything.

I'd say get used to driving. The traffic isn't great (still nowhere near as bad as CA) but you have to drive LONG distances to get to what you like doing. The mountain towns/resorts do have great festivals for the musically inclined and a few trips there and you'll never want to leave.

Eh, my .02

Found a great article which touches on the same issues I raised earlier by Tom McDonald, the National Director of Music and Commissioner on Church Worship for the Assemblies of God.

Bridging Generations In Worship

http://music.ag.org/resources/forte_smpl_bridging.cfm

"Our dilemma
How to minister to multiple generations in worship is a serious dilemma. Never before in church history have we had four generations present in one service: builders (G.I. generation, silent generation, war babies), boomers, busters (Gen X), and bridgers (Gen Y, millennials). The dilemma unravels further when we consider divergent musical tastes of the older and younger generations."
.
.
.
" But many well-intentioned pastors and worship leaders make changes too fast after being elected. Conversely, long-timers who have not changed their approach to corporate worship in a decade suffer from the same sword. Either extreme is problematic.

This quick-fix approach to the worship life of a church, without bringing the congregation along philosophically, asks for difficulty. Lack of communication about changing worship leaves parishioners with the unfortunate choice of interpreting the pastor’s ideas without context. Worship is a personal journey into the presence of the Lord. Long-term church members travel a road well-worn and trusted. By changing the style of the transportation midstream, the cart often gets in front of the horse. Frustrated, the faithful exit the worship encounter without connecting to God. "
.
.
.
" Further, quantum leaps in worship style for reasons related to visitor friendliness tend to alienate the church’s base. This also leaves the wistful pastor in a tentative position, now relying on new members and the foggy commitment of visitors to hold the bag for the budget."

WTF?

Obviously I digressed...sorry. Back to the subject at hand, SM might be getting ready to go or has already been:

http://www.csfineartscenter.org/
http://www.blackroseacoustic.org/index.htm
http://www.daveblackphotography.com/...-road/0504.htm
http://artwebsite.org/
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/current/list_art.html
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/current/music_toc.html
http://www.coloradolinks.net/Colorad...anizations.htm
http://www.christianhappenings.com/?state=CO
http://www.seminars4worship.com/temp...ID=&CID=170838
http://www.hcjb.org/

eh, that's enough...good luck SM.