Commute Fort Collins to Denver (Boulder, Thornton: home, job market, transfer)

[MovetoFC]

My boyfriend must live in Fort Collins, but I have an established career in Denver. While prior posts have intimated that the Fort Collins-Denver commute is not the smartest thing in the world, unless and until one of us gets another job, it appears that the Fort Collins-Denver commute may be part of my future.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has done the commute, specifically:

> Public transportation options?
> An RTD bus that I might take from points north?
> Experience with Van Go?
> Best time to leave for morning/afternoon commute? (I have a flexible schedule.)

Thanks!

[suzco]

Originally Posted by MovetoFC

My boyfriend must live in Fort Collins, but I have an established career in Denver. While prior posts have intimated that the Fort Collins-Denver commute is not the smartest thing in the world, unless and until one of us gets another job, it appears that the Fort Collins-Denver commute may be part of my future.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has done the commute, specifically:

> Public transportation options?
> An RTD bus that I might take from points north?
> Experience with Van Go?
> Best time to leave for morning/afternoon commute? (I have a flexible schedule.)

Thanks!

Can't answer your specific questions, as I haven't done the commute, nor do I know anybody who has done that commute long term. Everyone I know who has tried to do it, didn't choose to continue to do it; none found viable public transportation options.

All of my friends who've faced that dilemma, where one of the couple works in Denver, and the other in Ft. Collins, have ended up living in Longmont, Firestone, or Frederick, with a not impossible (though not great) commute, for each of them.

[livecontent]

The farthest Route North is Route L, Longmont. It goes to/from Hwy. 66, just north of Longmont. Many people who commute to Denver from Fort Collins drive to Longmont and Park. It would work well if you worked downtown because the Route L ends at Market Street Station. If you worked in other areas, it could be a real long commute with transfers.

It is certainly easier for your husband to drive north to Fort Collins, from somewhere in between Denver and Fort Collins, than having you drive to Denver.

Livecontent

[wxjay]

I don't mean to pry, but why must your boyfriend live in Fort Collins? It's very rare to hear that someone MUST live in a particular city. He could still live to the south and get to Fort Collins easily.

[tfox]

Unfortunately, I know of no public transportation options at this time. There are established carpool networks that I recall, including vango, that you can consider. You can also lookup ridearrangers. You won't be the only one doing this, so there are carpools you can look into.

I echo the other posters that this is NOT a good idea. This part of I-25 is a bit of a mess its entire length, and it's getting worse all the time. And, like it or not, I-25 is probably going to be your route (287 has WAY too many traffic signals), and that's the only other reasonable option. 287/119 is a reasonable option for Longmont/Boulder, however, but that route is also full of problems and dreadful gridlocked traffic on the last 10 miles.

So, you're well advised to live somewhere with very easy access to the highway. If you're set on Fort Collins, your best bet would be somewhere in the far southeast part of the city, close to the 393 (aka Carpenter Road) interchange. However, a more sane location would be near he I-25 exit 240 east of Longmont (Frederick/Firestone area). Even there, though, this location is easier for your boyfriend than it is for you, since he's reverse commuting and you're having to go into the teeth of traffic, so another reasonable option would be somewhere in the northern parts of Thornton/Northglenn, (around 144th ave). The latter location is where a number of Intel/HP/Agilent employees live when having to balance spouses' jobs in the Denver area.

[tyrbo52]

try to schedule morning commute to Denver sometime after 9. It's not bad really up until around 3. Coming back, on the other hand, is pretty heavy from 4-6.

[Katarina Witt]

Unless living in Ft. Collins is a requirement for your bf's job, I would suggest some sort of compromise.

[montanafarrier]

I'd just move to Longmont and call it a compromise. Longmont is a nice town.

[sunsprit]

Having done the I-25 at Hwy 52 (South of Longmont/North Erie) commute into Denver for 5 years and before the traffic density got as high as it is now, I'd advise you to compromise on the job situation ... and find (jobs) where both of you work in the same locale. By the time you reach 120th at I-25 in the AM rush hour, traffic is almost at a standstill ... in good weather and clear days. In bad weather and snowy conditions, it's a very time consumptive commute, especially if there's any accidents on the route. Heading home in the PM is just as bad.

So, if there's any possibility of finding work where both of you can minimize your commute, it would be worth it. The I-25 corridor from Ft Collins South is a real hassle for a daily commute.

[lone sailor]

Originally Posted by MovetoFC

My boyfriend must live in Fort Collins, but I have an established career in Denver. While prior posts have intimated that the Fort Collins-Denver commute is not the smartest thing in the world, unless and until one of us gets another job, it appears that the Fort Collins-Denver commute may be part of my future.

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has done the commute, specifically:

> Public transportation options?
> An RTD bus that I might take from points north?
> Experience with Van Go?
> Best time to leave for morning/afternoon commute? (I have a flexible schedule.)

Thanks!

I'm not trying to be a counselor or anything here, but he's your boyfriend, not your husband. If you don't like what he's doing, you don't have to go along with it. If he is unwilling to compromise and you feel that it's in your best interests not to move so far from your job market, then do what's best for yourself. You have to look out for yourself, cause from the sounds of it, he's obviously not going to.

With that said, it's a commute that many will tell you isn't fun and will growing tiring, quickly.