Fort Collins v. Boise (Denver, Boulder: housing, condos, rent)

[Deselminator]

My wife and I are considering moving out west from Iowa sometime in the next couple of years and I am currently torn between Fort Collins and Boise so I'm looking for some feedback. Here are the things we're looking for:

1. Better weather - Iowa winters suck...they're long & cold, the summers are hot and humid, and not dry and sunny enough for my standards.
2. We do want all 4 seasons and from what I understand both places offer that.
3. Snow - While my wife enjoys some snow, I could care less either way, but I don't want to be buried in snow. I'm a bit concerned about the amount of snow Ft. Collins gets in the winter. We've had over 50 inches here this winter and I'm sick of it From what I hear the snow tends to melt more quickly in Ft. Collins which would be nice, but does it really snow in May there? According to the climate graphs it does!
4. Mountains - Obviously both are close to the mountains, but which offers better access to them as far as hiking, biking, camping, etc? Also, I'd like to see snow-capped peaks in the winter. Not that brown crap you see in NV or AZ.
5. Sunshine - One of the main reasons I want to move out west is for the sunshine. I know that CO gets year-round sunny weather, but I like the idea of the long, really sunny summer days that Boise offers. I don't mind a cloudy winter as long as it doesn't last forever and it isn't too cold. I guess that's my biggest hang-up as far as winters are concerned...I can handle the snow or clouds as long as it's not horribly cold. How do these places measure up for sunshine and winter weather?
6. Cost of living/housing - I don't want to spend a fortune to live somewhere, especially to buy a nice house/condo. I realize Iowa is cheap by most standards, but I live in one of the most expensive areas in Iowa and it's still fairly affordable. I know both Ft. Collins and Boise will be somewhat more expensive than Iowa, but how affordable is decent housing, both on a national and regional scale? I don't want to spend $300k + to get a nice home.
7. Downtown scene - How vibrant is the downtown scene in both cities? I've briefly been to downtown Ft. Collins and I loved it. It reminds me a lot of downtown Iowa City actually. I want a clean, safe, downtown where people actually hang out. And one that doesn't shut down at 9 p.m. either. Also are there affordable, nice condos or apartments downtown?
8. Jobs/wages - I currently work in both banking as well as the hotel business, and my wife works in the insurance business. We don't absolutely have to stay in those lines of work, but what types of jobs do Boise and Ft. Collins offer in these areas? Or what types of jobs do they offer in general? How are the wages? And could anyone compare the wages to the Iowa City area wages?
9. Location - I like the proximity of Ft. Collins to Denver, as I enjoy the big city amenities from time to time, and Denver being only 1 hour away is a big plus. Besides Denver, however, there is really no other cities worth taking a day or weekend trip to near Ft. Collins in my opinion. Boise, on the other hand, isn't overly close to any other cities, but there are several places...Portland, Seattle, SLC, that are good candidates for a weekend road trip.
10. Air service - We enjoy traveling, and while I don't think Ft. Collins has much to offer for an airport (correct me if I'm wrong), Denver is only an hour away. I'm a bit concerned about the Boise airport's size, and the fact that it would be 5 or more hours to a major airport from there. I want somewhere where I don't have to spend $400 - $500 + to get a flight on average. Generally, it seems, the larger airports tend to be cheaper, but maybe that is not the case with the Boise airport. And I would like many flight options too.

Well I think that's all I can think of for now. I would appreciate any feedback you all can provide. Thanks in advance!

[Tom Emmerling]

Originally Posted by Deselminator

My wife and I are considering moving out west from Iowa sometime in the next couple of years and I am currently torn between Fort Collins and Boise so I'm looking for some feedback. Here are the things we're looking for:

1. Better weather - Iowa winters suck...they're long & cold, the summers are hot and humid, and not dry and sunny enough for my standards.I come from Eastern Colorado and my wife from Nebraska. Those are some rough winters out there. I was pleasantly suprised at the difference when I came to Fort Collins. There are times when we get a really good snow. We had 4 feet of snow about 5 years ago that snowed everyone in for days. But those kind of storms are few and far between. I really like the snow this time of year because it is usually gone by the end of the day and the sun is shining bright.
2. We do want all 4 seasons and from what I understand both places offer that. Yes we get all four seasons.
3. Snow - While my wife enjoys some snow, I could care less either way, but I don't want to be buried in snow. I'm a bit concerned about the amount of snow Ft. Collins gets in the winter. We've had over 50 inches here this winter and I'm sick of it From what I hear the snow tends to melt more quickly in Ft. Collins which would be nice, but does it really snow in May there? According to the climate graphs it does!Again I think that is few and far between. If it does it is gone by the end of the day. We did have the snow stick around last year for a LONG time in the depth of winter. But this year has not been too bad.
4. Mountains - Obviously both are close to the mountains, but which offers better access to them as far as hiking, biking, camping, etc? Also, I'd like to see snow-capped peaks in the winter. Not that brown crap you see in NV or AZ.I can not tell you about Boise but the mountains are very easy to get to from Fort Collins and there is no shortage of hiking/biking/walking trails. We do have snow capped mountains. Very pretty to look at!!!!
5. Sunshine - One of the main reasons I want to move out west is for the sunshine. I know that CO gets year-round sunny weather, but I like the idea of the long, really sunny summer days that Boise offers. I don't mind a cloudy winter as long as it doesn't last forever and it isn't too cold. I guess that's my biggest hang-up as far as winters are concerned...I can handle the snow or clouds as long as it's not horribly cold. How do these places measure up for sunshine and winter weather?Again we had a couple weeks this year that were at zero or below. If you can make it through those days then the rest of the year offers plenty of sunshine. It is a different kind of cold here. I imagine the weather in Iowa is a lot like Nebraska so the winters here will be nothing for you.
6. Cost of living/housing - I don't want to spend a fortune to live somewhere, especially to buy a nice house/condo. I realize Iowa is cheap by most standards, but I live in one of the most expensive areas in Iowa and it's still fairly affordable. I know both Ft. Collins and Boise will be somewhat more expensive than Iowa, but how affordable is decent housing, both on a national and regional scale? I don't want to spend $300k + to get a nice home.Right now it is a great market for buyers. I am finding very nice houses for my clients in the 180,000 range. It all depends on where you want to live and how big of a place you want. If you are looking for land with your house you are going to pay a little extra. As far as down town Fort Collins it is more expensive. The property there is in demand. You are looking to pay as much for a small condo as you are a house.
7. Downtown scene - How vibrant is the downtown scene in both cities? I've briefly been to downtown Ft. Collins and I loved it. It reminds me a lot of downtown Iowa City actually. I want a clean, safe, downtown where people actually hang out. And one that doesn't shut down at 9 p.m. either. Also are there affordable, nice condos or apartments downtown?I think for the most part downtown is a safe area to be. Fort Collins police actually have officers assigned to that area specifically to keep the bar patrons under control. There have been a couple of incidents in that area but that is to be expected when you live in a fair size city. I take my wife and grandchild down in that area all the time and have not had any problems.
8. Jobs/wages - I currently work in both banking as well as the hotel business, and my wife works in the insurance business. We don't absolutely have to stay in those lines of work, but what types of jobs do Boise and Ft. Collins offer in these areas? Or what types of jobs do they offer in general? How are the wages? And could anyone compare the wages to the Iowa City area wages?Many people say it is hard to find good work in Fort Collins, I myself have never had an issue with that. In fact Fort Collins is having a big push right now for more businesses to come to the city. There have been several hotels built in the Loveland area and more being built right now. I would look at the county and city websites to see some jobs offered by them. They give you the wages they pay and that might give you an idea of how we compare to other cities. (fcgov.org and larimer.org)
9. Location - I like the proximity of Ft. Collins to Denver, as I enjoy the big city amenities from time to time, and Denver being only 1 hour away is a big plus. Besides Denver, however, there is really no other cities worth taking a day or weekend trip to near Ft. Collins in my opinion. Boise, on the other hand, isn't overly close to any other cities, but there are several places...Portland, Seattle, SLC, that are good candidates for a weekend road trip.I guess that all depends on what you are looking for. Many of our cities around this area are good tourist type cities. Take for instance Boulder, Estes Park, and Steamboat Springs. All offer very interesting shopping and great scenery. Chyenne is also very close, it is good to visit during Frontier Days. Greeley also has some good shopping there. There is also Skiing west of Denver. So there are plenty of other towns worth visiting in this area.
10. Air service - We enjoy traveling, and while I don't think Ft. Collins has much to offer for an airport (correct me if I'm wrong), Denver is only an hour away. I'm a bit concerned about the Boise airport's size, and the fact that it would be 5 or more hours to a major airport from there. I want somewhere where I don't have to spend $400 - $500 + to get a flight on average. Generally, it seems, the larger airports tend to be cheaper, but maybe that is not the case with the Boise airport. And I would like many flight options too.Denver would definately be a great place for that. It is only about 1 hour away and you have plenty of options. We also have the Loveland airport which offers cheap flights to Vegas. I think they will add more flights in the coming years. I believe they are discussing that now.

Well I think that's all I can think of for now. I would appreciate any feedback you all can provide. Thanks in advance!

Hope this helps you out. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Deselminator]

Tom, I appreciate your input. Anyone else have any thoughts or advice for me? One concern I have about the weather that I forgot to mention before is the wind. According to the climate graphs, Ft. Collins is VERY windy year-round. Is this as bad as it seems? I wouldn't mind as much in the summer, but if it is really that windy in the winter months I would think that it would make it seem very cold. I would appreciate any feedback on this as well.

[Deselminator]

Anyone else have any thoughts, comments...advice? Surely Tom isn't the only one with an opinion on this matter, is he?

[duke1946]

lived in FC for 5 years...from 1980 - 1985...one year had wind gusts well over 100 mph...wind can get annoying...what is really bad though is the wind after soil has been plowed or bladed for construction ....the blowing dust and dirt can be pretty awful in spring...otherwise very nice town...snow usually not problem due to "Cheyenne Ridge"..jobs could be problem though....high tech industry not what it used to be...

[Deselminator]

Thanks for the input. I'm not too worried about high-tech jobs, as I highly doubt I will be working in that field. Unless of course the area is so dependent on these jobs that it could ruin the job market altogether if the high-tech industry slowed down. Then it might be a concern of ours. 100 mph winds though? I really hope that is the exception rather than the rule in Ft. Collins! That would be a bit excessive for my tastes!

[tfox]

To answer some of your other questions, Fort Collins does have a nice "Old Town," and College avenue north of Mulberry looks like the small city main street that it traditionally has been. It's still pretty quiet compared to Downtown Denver, as you might expect. As for places to live downtown, Fort Collins does have a fair number of apartments and older homes, but recent trends have seen these areas appreciate far quicker than the rest of town, so it might have pushed it a bit out of your range. Nevertheless, there are places within "hiking" distance of Old Town if not walking distance that might fit the bill. You might want to avoid about a half mile radius around CSU campus, however, simply because the undergraduates can get rowdy sometimes.

As for cost of housing, it's probably more expensive overall than Iowa; last time I checked the averages for housing have been in the low 200s for a single family home, but anything new-ish will probably be in the mid to upper 200s or higher. As I mentioned, the historic areas have really soared in recent years, but the price of housing overall has been pretty level for a long time now (since about 2001 at least), and is now likely falling slightly in some parts of town. In your post, you mentioned that you don't want to spend 300k for a nice house -- depending on your definition of a "nice house" - you may very well have to spend at least that much. The less expensive parts of town tend to be the north part (excluding the historic core), particularly as you get more and more out of sane commuting range to Denver. The southern part is newer, and has more commuters, so that tends to drive up the prices somewhat.

Fort Collins job market has frankly never quite recovered till now from a late 1990s tech boom and the subsequent technology bust. While the big names are all still there, but they hire relatively fewer people. The town has had some growth in other sectors, like the biotech sector, for example, but the job market is known to be sluggish, and pay tends to lag what you could get for the same job in, say, Boulder or Denver.

[aapye]

you keep mentioning Boise but then mention Iowa? .. do you mean Iowa or Idaho ( which is where Boise is)

[Deselminator]

I mean both actually. I currently live in Coralville, Iowa (near Iowa City if you're wondering), but my wife and I are considering moving to either Boise, which is in Idaho , or to Fort Collins. Hence the title of the thread, "Fort Collins v. Boise."

[Deselminator]

My post above brings me to another point...albeit one that is ever so slightly off-topic. Do you have any idea how many times I've talked with someone from another part of the country and that person asks me something like, "Iowa? Is that where they grow all the potatos?" And then I respond with "No, that's Idaho you're thinking of. We only have corn here. In fact, I bet you're surprised that we have running water and electricity too, aren't you?" Believe it or not, I've actually been asked if we have such things as electricity and indoor plumbing in Iowa! Then I usually want to slap that person in the face for being dumb! Ok, not really but still...it's rather annoying at times.