Moving to Denver or Ft. Collins area. Tell me about Ft. Collins..... Skiing and family focus. (Lakewood: ski resorts)

[GeoMatt]

Short story. Job offer potentially pending. Get to pick which office I work out of - Denver (Lakewood) or Ft. Collins (Downtown). Wife and I are in our early 30s, two boys 3yo and 3mo. Like rural living to city living. We currently live on 5 acres outside of Santa Fe, NM and would like to find something similar. School system quality is important, as it is one of the reasons for relocating. Currently looking at the areas to the west of Ft Collins. Pine trees and hills/mountains=good, flat = bad. Masonville?

Skiing wise I know it is longer drive from Ft. Collins to developed ski areas, making getting out to teach my kids a bigger effort. As for myself I rarely ski at resorts; skiing 90% backcountry. What are the options beyond CP? I know what the Denver area routine would be.

Thanks in advance for the in put!

[eggmama]

Fort Collins is FOR SURE where you want to go to raise a family! I was born and raised there and now that I have a family I have been looking for somewhere just like the FOCO. As far as activities for the boys the city is awesome. they have super affordable activities at the YAC which is in the parking lot of the old mall on foothills and college ave. the EPIC is a fun place also, (Eldora Pool and Ice Center) prospect and lemay ave. I used to work at both places teaching classes for kiddos. Crafts, rock-climbing starts at age 4, swimming lessons, curious twos, ice-scating lessons, tumbling, great weekend classes with various themes like dinosaurs. etc. awesome pre-schools and such.
As for the old-town part It's great for you guys, Tons of family friendly restaurants, a spalsh park, and as for you guys, great yummy trendy like places. there is an awesome chocolate bar, Poppys and Elliots are a fun tappas and martini bar, theres yoga places everywhere.
Pretty much its that small town that has EVERYTHING! and the people ARE friendly, outgoing, and enviornmentally counscious w/o being over the top!
The old town has that homie feel with the big trees drapping over the roads, the older houses are awesome, and a hot commodity. having CSU right there helps to keep it lively, & hip and makes for an educated population. I would suggest living West of College and North of Elizabeth to get the perfect old-town experience. however the closer you get to Loveland the newer it gets and that has its pros as well. (i went to high school in loveland) and I LOVE it too!!! BEAUTIFUL, and safe, just not a lot to do!

[tfox]

Sounds like Fort Collins is definitely what you're looking for with the possible exception of resort skiing. I'm not into backcountry, but from what I understand there's plenty of it available west of Fort Collins. It's mainly proximity to population that drives the ski resorts to I-70, not the lack of snow or skiiable terrain. Cameron Pass, which you already mentioned is the only place I've personally actually skiied west of Fort Collins, so someone else will have to give you input on that.

If you just want to take your kids up, you probably could go to Eldora, which is west of Boulder; conditions there are just okay, but it is close and you really won't have to deal with traffic, which is nice.

You're likely to be able to find your foothills property for much less money west/northwest of Fort Collins than in Metro Denver. Even finding something of size five acres for reasonable price would be difficult in Jefferson County, west of Denver.

[Tom Emmerling]

I agree that Fort Collins is a great place to raise a family. You will pay more for an acreage but they are around. As far as Masonville it is a very beautiful area. You may want to check out the Bellvue area also. And as for skiing there is a small ski resort just inside Wyoming that is perfect for teaching. It usually is not very crowded and it is fairly close by.