Northeast Colorado (Denver, Fort Collins, Pueblo: ski resort, hotel, house prices)

[Stephk0424]

I hear alot of things about the Front Range area and the Central area of CO but I don't hear very much about the Northeast part of the state. Are there any good cities to live in there? We will be visiting Estes Park in March and my husband and I like to look at houses in the areas we visit to see what it would cost to live there. I have heard that FT. Collins and surrrounding areas are nice but that the job market is not so good. We wouldn't mind visiting further out but I would like to stay in the Northern areas of Colorado. My husband will be in the tourism/hotel management jobs and I am an administrative assistant. Houses around here (Gulfport, MS) have doubled in price since Hurricane Katrina. ( So many were destroyed) I would just like to hear some general info and opinions. I want to get out of the hot, humid weather. I want some places to look and narrow down my research.

Thanks for any help you could give,
Stephanie

By the way the weather here is sunny and 62 degrees. A nice day for a change.

[Josseppie]

Northern Colorado is a very nice place to live. Here is what CU said about the Fort Collins/ Loveland/ Greeley area.

oNorthern Colorado (Larimer and Weld counties) - This region is expected to experience growth of 1.9 percent, or about 4,000 jobs. A substantial number of those jobs are expected to be in high-paying sectors. Emerging clean energy technologies may stem recent job losses in manufacturing. In 2006, 33 firms and organizations employed 2,132 workers in northern Colorado's clean energy cluster. In 2008, two renewable energy companies will open new facilities in the region, creating 1,100 jobs.

[bluescreen73]

When you say "Northeastern Colorado" I think Fort Morgan, Brush, Julesburg, Sterling, Wray, and Yuma. All of those towns are heavily agricultural, all but Sterling and Ft. Morgan have fewer than 10,000 people, and they're probably not what you're looking for.

As for Ft. Collins the job market there was hit VERY hard by the .com meltdown. While conditions have gotten better there are a few things you need to consider.

1) It's a college town and there are almost 27,000 students on campus. Drunk, rowdy college kids may or may not be your cup of tea. Plus CSU has a Restaurant/Resort Management program so some of those newly-minted college grads will be in direct competition with your husband.

2) Houses along the Front Range are pretty expensive. A quick check of average house prices between Gulfport and Fort Collins shows that housing in Fort Collins is almost twice what it is there ($128,900 vs $233,500). Granted that's 2007 data so the gap has probably shrunk a little due to the housing meltdown, but it's still considerably costlier.

3) The whole area has grown much faster than the infrastructure. As a result traffic is horrendous. When I moved to Fort Collins in 1992 to go to CSU, the population was around 90,000. Since then it's swelled by almost 50% to 134,000. The Tri-City area of Greeley, Fort Collins, and Loveland has a population count in excess of 400,000 people.

Now, I'm just playing the Devil's Advocate. The Northern Front Range is a beautiful area (thus the reason why it's growing so rapidly). If we could afford the housing we'd move back because all our family is there, but we're not quite ready to give up our nicely sized house in TX for an oversized piano crate in CO.

[Stephk0424]

I hadn't thought about the college program. Thanks for the info. It gives me more to think about.

[Josseppie]

Have you thought about other parts of the state? Southern Colorado is nice and less expensive, warmer and has not over grown their infrastructure while having the same amenities that Fort Collins has. Here is a link to the Pueblo and Southern Colorado thread on this site:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/colorado/523455-pueblo-southern-colorado.html

[Stephk0424]

No i haven't really checked into them yet but I am thinking about it. We just want to be in an area that gets snow and I kinda wanted to be near the mountains. We were originally going to stay in Pagosa Springs before we found Estes Park. It looks like it might be a nice area. We aren't set on any one area in particular. I will check Southern Colorado out too.

Thanks

[Josseppie]

Pueblo gets snow, but it melts so the roads are rarely bad. Pueblo is about a hour and a half drive to Monarch ski resort, known for Powder. You can be in the foothills in about 30 minutes, going to Beula. Prices are low here and you have all the amentias of a large city but none of the headaches.

[Stephk0424]

Thanks, I will check it out. One question, what is your humidity like in the summer? Also is the job market still pretty good in Pueblo and the surrounding area?

[Josseppie]

Our humidity is quite low, we are a dry climate, as all of Colorado is. As far as the job sector goes, like everywhere right now it is tough but there are some bright spots, here is what CU predicts for Pueblo:

oPueblo County - Historically, Pueblo County has experienced moderate population growth. This trend will change when the Pueblo Springs Ranch is complete. The 23,000-acre subdivision in northeast Pueblo County is expected to have about 75,000 households, or 200,000 people when completed. The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk Project has begun to pay the economic dividends its creators intended. In August 2007, the new 44,000-square-foot headquarters of the Professional Bull Riders Association was dedicated, and new restaurants and other establishments have opened near the new building.

We are more of a manufacturing center but we do have other industries as well.

I have more information on the Pueblo and southern Colorado page.

[tfox]

Just so you know, Fort Collins/Loveland/Greeley is known as NORTHERN COLORADO. Northeastern Colorado is the agricultural high plains towards Nebraska.

When you go to Estes Park, you'll have the opportunity to go through Loveland on the way up and back. You can check out the town as you go, and Fort Collins is only about 10 miles north of Loveland. The job market is not really all that good anywhere right now, so if you move you really have to take that into account.

As for your question about humidity, there isn't much anywhere in Colorado any time of year. Compared to anywhere east of the Mississippi you could safely say there is NONE. However for those of us accustomed to dry air, the eastern part of the state does at times get a southeasterly wind that can blow the humid air up our way, particularly in spring. Metro Denver and most of Northern Colorado are affected by this only a few days a year at most. The eastern plains, including Greeley, slightly more so.

Pueblo is really enjoying a renaissance right now, so I think it's worth checking out, but I will say that Pueblo has never been known for having a lot of jobs even in the best of times. In comparison, northern colorado is going to offer a larger employment base in many fields, though both are small-time compared to the economic magnet of Metro Denver. That said, your field may be different than others, so it's hard to make a blanket statement.