Any New England transplants in FC who could weigh in? (Denver: to rent, home)

[MelissaJane927]

There is an opportunity for us to relocate to the Fort Collins area from the Boston area in the next couple of years. I'm trying to get a sense of what it would be like for us, and I'm wondering if anyone else has made a similar move.

We are in our mid-forties, with two five-year-olds. We are progressive liberals and mostly agnostic (might join a UU church; one of us a spiritual atheist, one is a nonreligious New York Jew). My husband uses a wheelchair, and we are not very outdoorsy people. A great education for our kids is a high priority for us; there's a Montessori school in Fort Collins that goes through grade 6 which we are interested in, to give you an idea of what that means for us. We aren't especially crunchy-granola, however. Tolerance of differing ideas and a polyglot culture are valuable to us.

I am a mostly lifelong resident of greater Boston (have also lived in Providence and Philadelphia). I love my blue state bubble; I love the emphasis on education and the generally highly educated population, I love the cultural opportunities (theater, music, etc, though honestly we don't take much advantage at the moment thanks to the five year olds!).

I fell in love with Colorado when we traveled and hiked there extensively in the 70s; Northern CO wouldn't be my choice, but that's where the job opportunity is (Greeley, actually). I am not looking to replicate New England, and I'm not expecting CO to be similar to it, or even wanting that. I'm trying to get a sense of just how someone with similar experiences would evaluate life in the Fort Collins area.

When I hear people complain about the FC-Greeley commute, for example, I think, how does it compare to commuting down route 93 or on 128 into Boston? I have a roughly 20-mile, 40-minute commute now (from Acton to Chestnut Hill, if you know the area) which can easily be over an hour in traffic, and I think it's a pretty great commute, really.

I'd love anyone's thoughts, whether you're from New England or not! Thank you.

Oh - and I'd also love any specific suggestions of areas we might find especially attractive or unattractive to live in. Thanks!

[NanaLina]

We lived in Loveland for seven years, and worked in fort Collins. You are in for a culture shock.
People are polite, but not friendly. I have never heard so many antisemitic statements in us before , guess people felt comfortable telling me since I am not Jewish. The first thing people will ask you is what does your husband do for living, and what church do you go to. You may want to prepare a good answer for both of those.
Also, Greeley stinks. Really.
Schools look good on paper but be prepared to be annoyed because teachers do sneak in religious stuff in, for example our child learned that the most important thing that happened in roman empire is that Jesus was born.

[Juliemac]

Melissa, Not from New England but a fairly recent translplant to FoCo. I make the drive from SE Fort Collins to Greeley a couple of times a month for work (during rush hour) and it's 35 mins to the far side of Greeley at most. Pretty drive in your rear view mirror on most days, too . I have no young kids, mine are college-age here, so cannot speak to school quality personally. I will say, no one has asked me about my husband's job or church choice... we are not affilliated with any church. honestly, that WAS an issue where we moved from, a very religious, conservative area. We were thrilled to move to a place where being a Democrat is not my dirty little secret anymore. NanaLina, it sounds like your experience was different. I perhaps just run in a different circle since I have no young kids and work in human services here. I would be equally shocked had I encountered what you have. Best of luck, Melissa.

[Lugnuts]

I am not from NE but my ex-girlfriend is. We lived in Ft Collins for a while. The ex's sister also lived there and that's why we moved there-she wanted to be close to family. They are both Mainas and they both went back east. If you look at the front range on a map of the US, it is pretty isolated-very,very different from the east coast-MUCH lower population density. All the people that I met from NE also eventually went back. I am not sure why. I think that the cultural difference sent them packing. It's not that they disliked CO, they just preferred the east coast vibe. They seemed to think that CO was a great place to visit but they couldn't see putting down roots here. Everyone is different, maybe you'll like it. It would be wise to rent for the first year until you know for sure. I have only driven through Greeley and I have no experience living there but a lot of people bad-mouth it. Maybe someone who lives there will chime-in. Good luck.

[Mandinkalya]

I'm from the east coast, and I love it here! I never want to move back

[NanaLina]

On the other hand, we met wonderful people in Larimer county as well. Loveland has many artists and sculptors - a lot of them are progressive, as well as some folks near the University. Like living in any other place, you will find good people who are similar to you and your family in Fort Collins. It is probably just me - but i felt like having a foot-n-mouth disease a lot there - and I did not get into politics, or religion much.
I don't know anything about Montessori school. Heard good things about Rivendell school. Our kids were in one of the schools that rates 10 on greatschools. The school was good - probably the best one can get in Colorado public system, but we felt there was a lot of fluff, and that we still had to work with kids a whole lot at home to fill in the gaps in education.
The parks are amazing both in Loveland and Fort Collins - both cities spend a lot of money on parks and it shows. BIke paths, hiking are great. You can't beat sunshine - more than 300 days per year. We only had two bad winters with 2 weeks of snow shoveling - the rest of the time weather is perfect.
RMNP is also amazing. Many trails that are kid friendly.
For cultural happenings - Denver is about 1 hr away.
Best of luck to you and your family!

[enikkor]

We're not from NE. We're planning to retire within Loveland or Ft. Collins area. We are in the long process of deciding between the two places. I'm not worried about the unfriendly folks. If they're polite, that's good enough. I think anybody can find friends if they have common interest. Outdoors opportunities abounds. I'm sure I will find something I don't like, but it's true in Boston, NY or other places. Some say jobs don't pay well, but we're retiring/

[somedaysomeway]

FC to Greeley is nothing like commuting into Boston. Whole nother world. It's not even like staying north or south on 128/95.

Schools here are pretty great. It's hard to find a bad one. My kids go to a public charter school, which fits our family very well. I know there is a UU church here.

I'm still renting (house) and still getting to know the area and neighborhoods. One thing that has struck me is that there are "good" neighborhoods adjacent to "bad" neighborhoods all over. There isn't a particular section of town that I've found so far to be one extreme or the other. I've found eight or nine neighborhoods I wouldn't mind living in; we're taking our time with homebuying. While Old Town is the coolest part of town, with three kids we decided that space was more valuable and I have less problems than I ever thought I would living in FC "suburbia." Every neighborhood has a park and the bike trails get you pretty much anywhere you want to go.

I find FC to be very tolerant. Whoever said "people are polite, but not friendly" -- I could not disagree more. I am a Boston native and love my hometown but it took me moving away (which I did over a decade ago) to realize how rude people come across. My niece just visited me for a few days (lives in Quincy, MA) and she absolutely could not get over how friendly and nice everyone was compared to what she is used to. Different strokes.

[Melissa927]

I'm so grateful for everyone's replies. Somedaysomeway, you made me laugh out loud - whenever anyone complains about unfriendly people ANYWHERE, I think, yeah, depends on what you're used to!