From Ft. Collins to Boulder (Denver, Fort Collins: apartments, buying, theater)

[sidburn]

I am a CSU graduate who may be relocating to Boulder for a job offer in the near future. I know the two towns have a long-standing college rivalry and that Boulder has a reputation for being very liberal and expensive (compared to FoCo) to live in. Besides these factors, how does Boulder compare to Ft. Collins in terms of nightlife, the sort of people who live there, entertainment, nearby attractions, etc.? What's the best way to find affordable living there that caters to college/college graduate-age people?

[Mike from back east]

Many answers will be found in this existing comparison thread.

[mark747]

I'm really surprised by the numbers of people wanting the inside track on finding "affordable" housing in Boulder. Boulder housing is nothing like Fort Collins. Affordable housing for Boulder is by Denver Airport.
Seriously, even Longmont, Louisville and Niwot are not really affordable if you are looking at it from the rest of the country's point of view. They are more affordable than Boulder and Boulderites LOVE to rundown Longmont like it's Detroit or something-it's like a full time job for some of them commenting on the Daily Camera everyday-but even Longmont is more expensive than the average place in the rest of the country. South longmont is probably best as far as it's an easy commute and still affordable, but expect that to go away as Twin Peaks Mall gets redeveloped and light rail goes in and 10,000 jobs from Conoco Phillips are added to the area-probably much of this happening in the next five years. Growth in Boulder county is going to double in Longmont in next 20 years. City of Boulder isn't expected to expand much. They've run out of areas to develop and much of land between Boulder and Longmont is designated open space-though county does sell that off when convenient. A lot of artsy people are moving to downtown longmont and places like Prospect where they've had a crash in housing prices in last few years. Writers, musicians, jewelery makers, painters and owner of Boulder Theater are in Prospect. They've got an art fair out there every year. That's an easy commute as it's almost in Niwot.
If you aren't buying there is no shortage of college apartments in Boulder. None of them great, but readily available and easy walking distance to a slew of drunken establishments.