Fort Collins / Loveland Neighborhoods (Center, Elizabeth: for sale, real estate, apartments)

[Alibaba]

Hello everyone,
I am almost in my 30's now and (hopefully) relocating to Fort Collins in the near future for a job opportunity. I currently reside in Dallas which is a royal pain in the... and I welcome small town life. I grew up in northern California and feel that CO is better cultural fit for me. I am interested in finding out more about neighborhoods and taking full advantage of small city life. I am selling my home in (what I believe is) the most fun and artistic part of Dallas - it has a nice community vibe (for Dallas). I am looking for something similar in the Ft Collins / Loveland area. I like historic homes... but am open to new construction for the right community. I would really like character and safety - access to outdoors stuff and non-chain restaurants/stores would be awesome. If any one has a few insider tips for me, I would greatly appreciate it. I will be working in the historic downtown area of Fort Collins and need to be within driving distance at least (it would be even cooler to walk.) Also, i probably won't buy a home for a few months at least and will need temporary living arrangements... any cool apartments/condos/rent house ideas are welcome. I don't want to live around college students... not because I hate them, but because I have to sleep. = )
Thanks!!!! Alison

[tfox]

Originally Posted by Alibaba

I like historic homes... but am open to new construction for the right community. I would really like character and safety - access to outdoors stuff and non-chain restaurants/stores would be awesome. If any one has a few insider tips for me, I would greatly appreciate it. I will be working in the historic downtown area of Fort Collins and need to be within driving distance at least (it would be even cooler to walk.)

Fort Collins is really two towns: a historic one (north of Prospect), and a new growth one, south of Prospect. The latter is frankly just anytown, USA: big-box stores and tract houses, so I think that it's not going to be what you're looking for, so look north of Prospect.

Fort Collins downtown area is called Old Town. It's centered around College and Mountain Avenue and extends in about a 1/2 mile radius in all directions. There are some lovely historic homes in that area, but the last 10 years have really seen a run-up in housing values, so you may have a tough time finding an old victorian that you can afford.

The north side of the Poudre river is pretty undeveloped right now, and in the past has been known as run-down despite its proximity to Old Town. The city is working hard to change this, but last time I was there, it's probably still like that.

The "campus area" is kind of on the southwest side of Old Town, mostly south of Mulberry Ave and north of Prospect. Most of the college hangouts are on the north side of campus and immediately to its west (across Shields). So, you probably want to make sure that you're not right next to campus.

So, if I were you I'd look in two places: First, look east of College and north of Elizabeth or so up till Old Town. The closer you get to Old Town, the more expensive, so you can scout out that area. Another area you can look at is immediately west of Old Town around Mountain Avenue, east of Shields.

Hope that helps. Fort Collins is a great town; I'm sure you'll like what you see.

[Sunflower23]

Hi there. My family and I are coming out to visit your lovely state this February. We are looking to relocate and get a fresh start. My husband and I are in our mid 30's and have one son (16). We currently live in lovely Southern California (YUCK), well I should not talk bad about our state, it has been very good to us for the most part, but I am over it and looking to get out. We are currently looking in the loveland area and seem to have seen some wonderful properties for sale. I looking to see if anyone has a trusted Real Estate Agent that they could recommend us to contact. I was also curious if you could offer some advice as to which areas to stay away from, which High Schools do you recommend.
I currently work construction as my husband does. We are not relocating for employment reasons, but others. What is the job market like out there? Not just in Loveland but within the surrounding cities as well.

I am looking forward to hearing from anyone about Colorado and whatever advise you can offer us. Thanks for you time and have a wonderful day.

[bco24]

Fort Collins is alright, its getting bigger by the second, traffic there is pretty bad. It's almost like its over populated, I admit there shopping district is probably the best in the area. As far as crime, its no different then the surrounding towns, the gang problems has increased in the past years. People try to cover it up and act like they dont have one.

[JSGOOFN]

I am looking to moving to Ft Collins and when I visited there in December I scoped out a few apartment communities east of town. A good website to check is www.northerncoloradorentals.com. They have a ton of listings for condos and houses all over the area - not just Ft Collins. In Loveland, just off I-25 on Rt 34, there is a development called Centerra. Lots of townhouses and condos and a few apartment communities. I think you would like those. I drove along Timberline Road and just to the west of it. There are a bunch of apartment communities there but as one of the other said, it is just like Anywhere USA with all the shopping areas and strip malls. But if they were not there, we would be complaining, I'm sure. Good luck!