Please tell me good things about FC (houses, friendly)

[icthy]

Thanks all. I really appreciate everyone that took the time to send in their thoughts. We decided to move to Ft. Collins, and are looking at the West side where I can walk or bike to work and avoid traffic issues! Like i say, I was negative in my review, but I consider myself fortunate to have a good job and soon our first house! I can't wait to get off the East Coast and into mountains again.

I'm not an expert, but I have friends into city planning, and I gather many planners and architects have though of ways to add character and aesthetics to new developments (see the book "The Pattern Language", as an example). For instance, you can zone in such a way that you encourage density heterogeneity and develop neighborhoods as self-sufficient units; this adds visual character and reduces congestion. Where I gather FC went wrong is they spread through housing developments by specific companies. This tends to breed homogeneity, and developers (at least in FC), seem to like to institute Homeowners Associations, which further suppress individuality and visual character.

So, my humble opinion: sprawl is due to lack of creativity or political will by city and county government, and those of us that don't like it can help by complaining to our representatives.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by icthy

So, my humble opinion: sprawl is due to lack of creativity or political will by city and county government, and those of us that don't like it can help by complaining to our representatives.

Actually, from when I lived in Fort Collins, the city council IS aware of the problem and actively trying to take steps to ensure that future development is mixed-use, transit-oriented, etc. Fort Collins has also done a great (if belated) effort of surrounding the city with a ring of open space to preserve some semblance of separation from its neighbors. Of course, the developer interests continue to push for more sprawl, so it's important to remind elected officials that citizens are looking for a different way of going about things than the past few decades.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by icthy

True, Fairbanks does get rather dark. But, according to a friend who grew up there, the summers make up for it. I think, living in AK, one could have quite a range of unique experiences, as well as meet interesting people, whereas I worry living in FC would be like living in suburban anywhere, with the bonus of having access to nice, but crowded, backcountry.

I have a friend who lived in Anchorage, and she said the long winter nights did get to her. I think one can meet interesting people anywhere. The backcountry isn't real crowded once yu get off the most popular paths.

[Rumblebelly]

Okay, here is my experience with camping in the mountains west of Fort Collins. Granted, I didn't do any backpacking. Just car camping. If you are a backpacker, there is little need to read further.

We were best off sticking to the forest service roads, from Pennock Pass to North Signal Mountain, but even then it was sometimes difficult to be out of sight and sound of other people during the weekends. There would be a lot of wheeling, dirt bikes, and target shooting during the day. I also had some great luck camping along the south end of the Laramie River and hiking in a couple hundred feet into the woods. This was just south of the Rawahs, a truly beautiful range. The further west (past Cameron Pass) or north you go (up by the Wyoming border), the better off you are. I heard backpacking in complete seclusion is extremely doable though. The campgrounds along the Poudre are usually full during the weekends.

It gets really dry, even in the mountains. Fire bans often occur in the summer. Sometimes it's illegal to have a campfire unless it's in an established campground and even charcoal grills are restricted. Make sure you check the forest service/county websites and use common sense.

I'm sure I'm missing some spots and I assume most are not going to be willing to talk about their favorite areas for obvious reasons.

[icthy]

Thanks again everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing the Rawahs...we could see them from near Laramie when we lived there, but we never found our way into them due to having a baby. I'm looking forward to doing some exploring, and I'm very glad to hear you can get away from people while backpacking (although fellow backpackers are quite nice).

[RangerDuke08]

Hi Itchy,

Obviously you've seen the situation in Colorado which isn't just Fort Collins but within any major town/city in Colorado (2% growth rate which equates to 100,000 people a year in our State). Which only proves it's a great place to live. Fort Collins used to be a lil agricultural college which has now made it's way up the food chain to being ranked #124 in the national amongst schools such as Kentucky and Catholic University, being a college town, with a vibrant old town and affordable living yet 1 hour driving distance to all the conveniences of downtown Denver and with the front ranges right next door it has attracted a lot of transplants and will continue to do so. In fact Larimer County is projected to grow up to over 300,000 people in 2016. So there's quite a steady growth and while housing prices will go up and so will cookie cluster communities expand, it is still affordable today with a median housing price of $250,000 but a decent townhome can still be bought at $150,000 you just need to shop around.

I currently live in Fort Collins, although I am moving next year, I feel it is a great town and worth investing in for 3 reasons, one it is probably the safest town in the U.S., I would not worry having my kids run around and secondly with the growth projected I don't think you would lose out at all when the housing market turns around and you decide to sell your house, the greatest thing though is it's such a healthy lifestyle we have out here, you can bike anywhere and Horsetooth Reservoir, Boyd Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park are all near by. I do understand what you mean about lacking character though, Fort Collins has it's fair share of hippies and cowboys but most people are really middle-income, suburban folks who want to work, raise a family and enjoy the great outdoors once in a while and part of the reason what makes it such a safe place. Good luck with the move which ever you choose!

[in_the_gloaming]

Several years ago on my way up to Virginia Dale, which is N. W. of Ft. Collins, I saw a very interesting rock the early settlers along the Oregon Trail used as a landmark. Its' visable for several miles. It's a rock in the shape of an old flatbottomed sidewheeler riverboat steamwheeler, with twin smoke stacks an upper and lower deck, like you'd find on the lower Mississippi River.

I went up there to look at some land that was for sale. Unfortunately, the realtor didn't hve anything I really wanted, so I returned to Denver.

Virginia Dale is within 10 miles of the Colorado Wyoming State line.

[Sockeye]

Thats known as Steamboat Rock, and was indeed a reference point on the Overland Trail. In fact, the Nature Conservancy and local landowners last year successfully passed a huge conservation easement for most of that Laramie Foothills area. Soooo, no McMansions or McRanches there. Hurray!

[icthy]

Hi again. We *are* moving to FC and are going to spend a week there looking around for a house. One concern I have is that we will end up buying a house in an area with a homeowner's association. It seems somehow wrong to me that someone can tell me what color to paint my house given it is my property...so, I'm wondering: will various homeowners associations aggressively enforce conformity? I'm worried someone is going to get all uptight if I do something like plant a garden. Any thoughts

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by icthy

Hi again. We *are* moving to FC and are going to spend a week there looking around for a house. One concern I have is that we will end up buying a house in an area with a homeowner's association. It seems somehow wrong to me that someone can tell me what color to paint my house given it is my property...so, I'm wondering: will various homeowners associations aggressively enforce conformity? I'm worried someone is going to get all uptight if I do something like plant a garden. Any thoughts

Your best bet is to make sure you know the covenants of the HOA before buying the house in that area. It's really all about doing your homework.