Don't Want to Regret Quick Move... HELP! (Denver, Fort Collins: real estate, to rent)

[marchesefam]

[SIZE=3]My husband works for a larger insurance company in Denver, but will work from home, primarily in the Ft. Collins area territory. We'll be relocating sometime in the next 60-90 days. We've visited the area as tourists before, and love the safe, community, quirky, down-to-earth feel that the area has. We're looking primarily at Ft. Collins, Windsor and Loveland. Here's a little about us and what we like My apologies for the lengthy post in advance!
Hubby and I are in our early/ mid 30's with 2 small children and a dog and cat. Child #1 (girl) is 20 months old, born with a congenital heart defect. She's happy and healthy, but we'll still be spending more time than average at Denver Children's. Child #2 (boy) is 7 months old. We'd like a safe community with good schools, nearby parks, not too remote (I don't need tons of land or anything) and don't mind an older home. I'd even be willing to do some minor fixer upper work. New is also okay, so long as it's not the "California" club.... I would love to say that I don't shop at big-box stores, but I do, but prefer not to live right on top of them.
6 years ago we relocated to Surprise, Arizona (Phoenix) sight-unseen. If I had it to do over again, I would have chosen either Moon Valley, N. Phoenix, Chandler or east valley-ish. I'm scared to make the same mistake again, but also don't want to rent for 6 months to a year, as we'll be hiring movers. I'd rather do it one-and-done, and move into our semi-permanent home.
I'm a stay at home mom, so I'd like to be in a neighborhood that is friendly, has parks, good schools, lots of kids, and the potential to meet other moms like me. I'm socially liberal and very tolerant culturally.
We're looking to stay under 300k.... what do you reccomend? I appreciate the help!
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[Mike Weber]

Lots of possibilities in both Windsor and Fort Collins.

Fort Collins requires parks be built in every square mile of the city, so you are rarely far from a park. Windsor is not such a large place that you will be far from a park, either. In the original part of Windsor, there is a great park on the shore of Windsor Lake. Loveland also has several parks scattered throughout the city, including one on the shore of Lake Loveland. Individual schools in each vary a bit, but the schools are highly rated in all three towns. There is good school info here at this site for specific http://www.city-data.com/schools-dirs/schools-CO.html

While not the rule, many young families in Fort Collins seem to be attracted to the communities on the south part of town where there are newer homes and community swimming pools. Living on the east side of Fort Collins, east side of Loveland, or in Windsor will save you 20 minutes on your drive to Denver, over a home on the west side of either Loveland or Fort Collins.

If you can afford the time to spend several days in our area, it will likely give you some time to see some homes with a real estate professional and still have time to explore on your own. Be sure to see the neighborhoods after school or on the weekends to observe the "kid activity".

Some of the subdivisions that have homes in the price range at which you are looking are:

Fort Collins: Brittney Knolls, Collindale, Golden Meadows, Ridgewood Hills (Loveland Schools), Huntington Hills, Harvest, Observatory Village, Parkwood, Stanton Creek (Loveland Schools), Sidehill, Rigden Farm.

Loveland: Boyd Lake, Seven Lakes, High Plains Village,

Windsor: Greenspire, Poudre Heights, New Windsor (Brunner Farm), Peakview Estates, Windshire, Westwood Village, Water Valley

You may also want to consider Timnath. There is a new community called Timnath Ranch that you may find works for you.

[sbalva]

It's not even close....you want to live in Fort Collins, not Windsor or Loveland....Fort Collins is steak, Loveland and Windsor are hotdog....FC is well planned, manicured and has a heartbeat, a sense of community.....you also want to live on the EAST side of Fort Collins! By east side I mean anywhere east of College Ave, otherwise it will take you 30-40 minutes just to get to the interstate

[docwatson]

you also want to live on the EAST side of Fort Collins! By east side I mean anywhere east of College Ave, otherwise it will take you 30-40 minutes just to get to the interstate.

Good advice. If you're making regular trips to Denver ... it's not so much how far north or south you are, b/c once you hit the internstate, the exits are just a couple miles (minutes) apart; but getting E-W thru town can be difficult. Indian Hills, Parkwood, Observatory Village, Rigden Farm would put you on the east side but relatively close to downtown. Parkwood seems to be a nice well-established neighborhood with great trees. Observatory/Rigden will give you more of the "new urban" feel. East side of old town is an option but I don't think there's much under 300K for a family unless you are willing to compromise on space - I could be wrong. One little area is Circle Drive and it's right on Prospect.

There are also nice neighborhoods around Fossil Creek Parkway (more typically suburban) and south of Harmony (more "new urban") but I generally prefer the north half of town. Traffic on Harmony can be bad out to I-25. I find traffic on Prospect out to I-25 much calmer, and while that may change in the future, I don't think there is a whole lot more development planned around there. Prospect was definitely my preferred way to get out to I-25 and back into town.

If you are socially liberal, tolerant and have school-aged kids, I would recommend Fort Collins over surrounding communities.

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by sbalva

otherwise it will take you 30-40 minutes just to get to the interstate

WOW that's an exaggeration! I lived on Taft and Drake (pretty far west in Ft. Collins). At WORST, it would take me 15-20 mins. to get to I-25.

Fort Collins is the way to go over both Windsor and Loveland.

If you are looking for more suburban feel, I would stay south of Horsetooth (East-West Street, Ft. Collins is set up on a really easy grid with major streets every mile). If you want less strip malls, better access to parks/bike paths, and things you can actually walk to, stay North of Horsetooth. The town is not huge, but I would definitely say there is a bit of dividing line between the north and south parts of town.

If you chose to live around Old Town the commute out to I-25 is atually one of the fastest in the city. Mulberry is quick from the highway. But people are correct that the eastern side of the city will be quicker to get to the highway (but also further from the trails and fun of the hills on the Western edge of town, so I guess you will have to decide which is more important to you).

Good news for your pets is you'll be in one of the most densely vet. areas in the country!

I really don't think you'll regret moving to Fort Collins.
Good Luck

[Cosmicstargoat]

Originally Posted by marchesefam

I'm a stay at home mom, so I'd like to be in a neighborhood that is friendly, has parks, good schools, lots of kids, and the potential to meet other moms like me. I'm socially liberal and very tolerant culturally.
We're looking to stay under 300k.... what do you reccomend? I appreciate the help!

Listen to Mike. He is a pro.