Why Do You Stay In Fort Collins? (Denver, Colorado Springs: living, cost of living)

[Sockeye]

Originally Posted by bproven

I'll agree with the isolated comment. There is truth there. I think Northern CO (Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley) really need to think about enhancing the local airport in order to make it less isolated. I am thinking something like what CO Springs has done with their airport. This is the next step to making FC and northern CO not so dependent on Denver. It would probably help Cheyenne WY out as well considering they are pretty much in the same boat.

So in other words, you'd like FC to become more like the place you left. Not going to happen. With energy costs and dying airlines, FC may actually become even more "isolated" than you think in the near future.

[bproven]

Originally Posted by Sockeye

So in other words, you'd like FC to become more like the place you left. Not going to happen. With energy costs and dying airlines, FC may actually become even more "isolated" than you think in the near future.

Not really - I don't want Fort Collins to become New Orleans LA metro area - I would not wish that upon any city. However, I think it does need a good regional airport (or optionally better regional transportation) if it expects to draw business (jobs) and stop the constant whining I hear from some locals about the fact the No CO and Fort Collins salary, job prospects stink. Although as much as some people do whine (and they may be the loud minority) I'm not sure why they stay.

Personally, I like (love?) FC and plan to never leave. No place is perfect but FC is pretty darn nice IMO

[mammag]

I have read many posts here about attitudes and opions of Fort Collins. Just wanted to chime in here however feel ther isn't enough time or space to post. As a Fort Collins native now in Thornton I can only say in a nut shell.... FC has had the same attitude - anti growth, comercial etc for more years than I can remember 40+. How they came back with such a rating in Money Mag's is beyond me. Yes, it's a beautiful place to live, however the view out your window will not feed or cloth you.

[MB_Princess]

Ok I had to register to come post here, I have lived all over the country, Big Cities, Smaller Cities, in the middle of no where places, Me and My husband moved here in July of 2006 with our kids. All I can say about Fort Collins is

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it here. Out of all the places I have lived, this is the best HANDS DOWN!!!

It's not he big city with the constant hustle and bustle and crowded-ness but it has EVERYTHING you could need. It's a great city for kids, I can feel good about raising my family here, I can see my tax dollars being put back into the community, the abundance of nice parks and bike trails, it's a city where you can actually go out and do stuff, a lot of stuff people take for granted unless you have lived in other places.

I mean one of the cities I lived in WA was a nice little city, we didn't have much you had to drive 20-30 mins to get to a lot of major stores but it was safe, and I thought wonderful. Man it didn't even compare to here, do take my dog on a walk there wasn't even sidewalks along the roads and stuff I would walk on the edge, never thought about it until we moved here. I mean seriously I could work on promoting Fort Collins I love it so much.

[tfox]

Actually, it's not so much that Fort Collins doesn't have jobs. It does have quite a few. A lot of cities of FC's size would kill to have employers like CSU, HP, Agilent, AMD, Intel, LSI Logic, etc.

The problem is simply that salaries tend to be low relative to the Boulder and Denver areas, so the population is a bit on the overeducated/underpaid side. It's mainly due to the presence of CSU churning out new grads with advanced degrees every year, plus it's a town that people tend to get attached to. I'll bet that similar college towns, say, in Oregon (Eugene, Corvallis, etc) have a similar dynamic.

On the other hand, there's a lot of people who simply don't care. They may be making less in Fort Collins than they would in the Denver area, but they may have no desire to leave.

[sberdrow]

When I lived there it seemed like most folks were on hard times. The whole place, especially loveland seemed like they were on food stamps and looking for the jobs that were not there. I worked in Denver, which was a long drive. I got a job in Longmont to save on gas, but it was still pretty far. Im glad to be somewhere else. People where I am now just seem to have a better attitude about their future.

The weather was not my friend either.

[supercar]

I live in Loveland, so not exactly Fort Collins. I really like the area. We've been here a little over 11 years and we rarely go to Denver anymore to do things. It seems there is plenty to do in northern Colorado.

I do commute to Longmont for my job. That is easier from Loveland than from Fort Collins. My pay is good, but I have a lot of concern that if/when this job goes away I may have a really hard time finding a good replacement job. We are pretty well rooted here and I really don't want to move.

I think if I felt a lot of job security and knew there were a lot of other good jobs in the area I would feel a lot better.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by supercar

I live in Loveland, so not exactly Fort Collins. I really like the area. We've been here a little over 11 years and we rarely go to Denver anymore to do things. It seems there is plenty to do in northern Colorado.

I do commute to Longmont for my job. That is easier from Loveland than from Fort Collins. My pay is good, but I have a lot of concern that if/when this job goes away I may have a really hard time finding a good replacement job. We are pretty well rooted here and I really don't want to move.

I think if I felt a lot of job security and knew there were a lot of other good jobs in the area I would feel a lot better.

what do you do, if you don't mind me asking. I couldnt find any decent jobs in Longmont. I took a low paying retial job before giving up.

[supercar]

I'm an engineer. I came to the area in '97 and for a while things seemed OK around here. Ever since the tech bust on 2000 the high tech jobs seem to be slowly decreasing in number.

[Mike78613]

Originally Posted by supercar

I'm an engineer. I came to the area in '97 and for a while things seemed OK around here. Ever since the tech bust on 2000 the high tech jobs seem to be slowly decreasing in number.

Hang in there man! Don't worry, but try to be conservative with your funds. I find a lot of activities in Colorado are free. 9-11-01 didn't help and choosing Bush didn't make it any better. Lets pray that are recession will not be as bad as expected!