Wellington, how much will it change in next 10 yrs? (Denver: low income, real estate)

[NW Crow]

I have passed thru Wellington in past and dug up a bit of info a few times. Today my passing curiousity registered again and I thought I'd ask a few questions I couldn't find immediate answers to on my own.

I see the population has pushed to nearly 7,000.
Mostly young family commuters to FC it appears. Is the housing deveopment so far mostly owner builds and local builders or have any major sub-divison operations started or been put on the board? Is the town board still into growth or is there a real debate about trying to stay a small town? Open to new apartment complexes or not interested? Has the Board itself seen an influx of new residents on it or is it still old family controlled? How quick do you think it gets to 10k population? Have they done any recent major annexations or currently considering? Do you think they ever get to plus 20k? Are there new industrial and office park plans afoot or is it far too early and sleepy for that yet? Any significant new retail in last few years?

How is the soil for gardening? Is the wind as bad on west and south sides as north? Can you walk around the nearby reservoirs or are they mostly off limits?

[NW Crow]

Talk of new high school and population projections at the end of this: North Forty News
Not sure how well grounded the projections are, but sounds like current pop. boom expected to continue big time.

[jwiley]

There were some large builders that had acquired land from a developer back in 2006, however with the fallout from the real estate collapse they never really built that out but from my understanding the builder still owns most of the lots. From what I remember the lots are enough for 800 new homes on the east side of the highway. Part of that build out is supposed to be multi family housing whether they are apartments or town homes with low income housing qualifications is still up for debate. I do not know if they have annexed anything recently but they had annexed plenty of land around the town to grow to over 25,000 people by 2005, so land is not an issue.

The town itself seems to still have visions of grandeur wanting to be the next Windsor, the problem is that Windsor lost much of it's charm and much of it's tax base through their population growth while losing many of their productive jobs when Kodak went out of business, and is now a true bedroom community.

While the people commute to Fort Collins or Loveland for work, there are plenty of people that also commute to Cheyenne for work, you also have a group that works in the oil field and commute longer distances but work 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off so they are out of town half the time.

Last I heard their only grocer in town closed, and they are still struggling to figure out how to attract any decent size employers, they are just to close to Fort Collins to create the demand, and unlike Windsor they are not in the center of 3 larger population centers where they can draw people to live from surrounding areas.

I did not garden but the soil is not the greatest, and most of the reservoirs around Wellington are pretty small but are state or federally owned so you can walk around and fish if licensed, but most are not places you can put anything larger than a small fishing boat.

Now the wind, I lived between Fort Collins and Wellington for years, and the wind is something I never could get used to. Cheyenne Wyoming is actually the windiest city in the country, and with Wellington being so close to there and with the way the wind comes through that area of the mountains and from the north the wind can drive you crazy. While I am sure it was not as bad as I remember it now, it seems as if the wind was howling every night, and getting 20-30 mile an hour gusts was a pretty normal day. The wind was the number 1 reason why we moved further south as we enjoyed everything else about our house.

[NW Crow]

Thanks for the response.

Losing the grocery store is a pretty bad sign. May be too close to FC indeed, though at some point the bedroom community dwellers should create enough I dont want to drive back into FC demand to restore at least one modest grocery store.

[Colorado Rambler]

^^^

Opportunity is knocking! Open up some chic organic foods outfit to cater to the needs of the well-heeled Wellington community who will soon be starting to arrive from NOVA. The Denver region seems to be determined to double in population at least once every other year, and you'll be right in on the ground floor. Today Wellington, tomorrow Peets!

[NW Crow]

More likely an IGA type.

With the growth of the front range and the way housing / land prices go, there probably needs to the equivalent of a new Windsor every year for those who need lower housing prices or want relative "room". Of course it isn't all concentrated in one town but the market demands Louisville to transform to accomodate upscales, Johnston to perk up, Timnath, etc. Wellington may be one of the least likely sounding but it too is finding an expanding role, though it will probably develop in an uneven, uncomfortable way.

[StealthRabbit]

Wellington will blossom (as it has)

if you want something more stable.
"Watch Nunn Grow!" (I've been watching for over 50 yrs...)

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

More likely an IGA type.

With the growth of the front range and the way housing / land prices go, there probably needs to the equivalent of a new Windsor every year for those who need lower housing prices or want relative "room". Of course it isn't all concentrated in one town but the market demands Louisville to transform to accomodate upscales, Johnston to perk up, Timnath, etc. Wellington may be one of the least likely sounding but it too is finding an expanding role, though it will probably develop in an uneven, uncomfortable way.

Many of the cities are trying to be the next Windsor, but it is not that simple, Windsor happened to be in the perfect position between 3 employment areas in some cases 30- 40 minutes away from each other. If a couple live in windsor and 1 works in Loveland and the other in Greeley they both will have basically the same 20 minute commute or if 1 works in Fort Collins and 1 in Greeley it is about 20 minutes to each. Louisville is also in a very similar situation with both Boulder and Broomfield being reasonable driving distances.

There are very few towns in that situation. Johnstown is too far for many people to willingly commute to Fort Collins or the Denver metro area (although that can change when I-25 is expanded further north than Longmont) limiting the attraction to most people and only leaving Loveland, Greeley, and Longmont as reasonable areas to work outside of the oil field. Timnath does seem to have a few that commute to Loveland and Greeley, but it is limited as you are basically 5 minutes from Fort Collins.

Wellington is a true suburb of Fort collins, people are moving there usually because they cannot afford the house they want in Fort Collins. Where it is positioned makes it considerably harder to commute to many other areas of the northern front range to work. With the weather problems all winter they are not likely to attract a ton more people willing to commute to Cheyenne which is 35 minutes on a good day and is often closed on a bad day, leaving Fort Collins as the main area to work. Given that they will have a hard time attracting the bigger money citizens that they seem to want.

Wellington is developing into a lower middle class and working class town, even more so than it was originally. I never see it becoming an the next Windsor, in fact I do not even see it becoming the next Loveland, I see it becoming more of an Evans (with greeley)

[Littlekw]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

if you want something more stable.
"Watch Nunn Grow!" (I've been watching for over 50 yrs...)

I love the sign in Nunn that proclaims that. Can't blame a little town for being optimistic. I lived in Victor for years and they're still convinced they're going to be the next Silverton.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

I have passed thru Wellington ...
How is the soil for gardening?

Is the wind as bad on west and south sides as north? Can you walk around the nearby reservoirs or are they mostly off limits?

Yes the wind in Wellington is near WY levels. (constant, fierce, and brisk).

Unless you need to be near Cheyenne... Go to nearby and very convenient Berthoud, "Garden Spot of Colorado"
Berthoud, Colorado - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Official Web Site of the Town of Berthoud, Colorado