Also there seems to be a migration into the city areas as a post out to the suburbs with taxes are much higher and cultural  events and other things of interest abound! 

In reading about population growth I have seen a lot of comparisons to net-in migration growth rates vs net natural change and in some instances net in migration is increasing while net natural change is decreasing creating flat to 1% growth in that market.

If the main employer goes out and limited jobs are available then it creates a net migration away from that town to other areas where more jobs are available.

To your point, Idaho Springs may be up and coming but it will be many years before the masses migrate to this city.

Additionally, I migrated from flipping to lending so since I have been on 3 sides of the table (buyer, seller, lender), I might be able to help you see projects from the lender's eyes also.

And if investing outside of your own backyard, make sure you understand the long term potential of that market in terms of migration, employment and infrastructure growth and have experienced and qualified boots on the ground to help, including an investor FOCUSED real estate licensee.Last but not least, keep in mind the Colorado Springs real estate market ranks 15th out of 50 top U.S. markets. :)All the best!

@JJ Pawlowski's advice I agree with in terms of targeting, although I tend to migrate towards B-grade properties as long as I buy very low and do my own rehab.

In my older years though I have migrated toward collecting old coins, so this find was awesome for me.  

You already see the migration within the US from the North to the Sun Belt.

Regardless of what method or treatment you choose to employ (I'm talking to everyone here) you MUST do it under containment to make sure that you don't allow spores to migrate to other unaffected areas.