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Sorry for the delay in response. I have not checked this forum in quite awhile. I have a business opportunity that I am pursuing in Bend so I am hoping to make the move this summer as well! I should have a definitive answer in the next few weeks. Are you still planning on making a move this summer?
Boy this one would be a toss up for me, very difficult choice as I like both of them. Ft. Collins is less isolated that is a plus. Denver and Boulder are not that that far. Bend is pretty isolated with the closest real urban area being Portland close to 3 hrs away.
I have never been super crazy about towns that are too dominated by large universities. It makes being over 30 in these towns feel strange because tens of thousands of people are 18-22 and they dominate the social scene. You feel old at 30+ in these towns. Ft. Collins downtown is especially HEAVILY dominated by college kids, Bend is not, that is in Bend's favor IMO. Both have great walkable downtown's by the way.
Bend has excellent downhill skiing at Mt. Bacherlor A LOT closer if that is important to you. It would bother me being in Colorado (Ft. Collins), yet still having to drive what 2+ hrs for a really good ski hill?
I didn't find the immediate area (views) around Ft. Collins overwhelmingly beautiful (Red Feather Lakes farther out is pretty nice though). Where Bend you can be up in some really gorgeous thickly treed mountain stuff up the Cascade Lakes Highway in about 20min. You can also get to the OR Coast from Bend in about 3 hrs, where Ft. Collins the ocean requires a plane trip.
Personally I would give the edge to Bend if it were me. But Bends isolation and lack of a really good local airport may get to me.
Fort Collins would be better for me because it appears to be more lively, offer more attractions (sports/culture), and be less than an hour from Denver and its offerings, yet also only an hour from RMNP. However, Bend I believe wins on COL and nature too, so certainly close here.
This thread is a couple of years old... but for the sake of anyone out there looking for information about the comparison of these 2 cities I'm throwing in my perspective. The short answer as far as I'm concerned if Fort Collins wins, easily for the OP. No contest, done. However, for some people, depending on their life stage and what they are looking for, Bend could be clearly the place for them.
Fort Collins and Bend are both amazing cities and they attract similar people. My 2 kids and I lived in Bend, Oregon for nearly 2 years before moving to Fort Collins. I don't regret my time in Bend at all. Though, I knew early on it would only be a way-point for us.
Bend is beautiful, stunning, intoxicating. It is a very special place on earth. But, like others have mentioned it is relatively small and isolated. 3 hours and over a mountain range to Portland. For some, this is not an issue. For some, it is an issue but they don't know it yet. For others, it is a feature.
If you've grown up in small-ish towns (under 100k) and are not desiring to live in a big city, Bend's isolation is possibly not an issue. There is the airport in Redmond which will get you to Portland, Seattle and possibly a couple of other places. There is a shuttle that runs from Bend to Portland. So, even though it's isolated, it's not horrible in that sense.
Having lived in both cities I can say that depending on your life stage and your circumstances both cities are amazing. Though, for Bend to work for you, you need to be looking for something specific. Fort Collins has far better economic opportunities, far better education opportunities, better access to other major cities (Denver, Boulder). If you're raising children, Fort Collins has an enormous amount of options for schools. For high school kids the high-school/college concurrent enrollment situation is much, much better in Fort Collins than Bend. There is a major university (CSU) your high school kids can attend (after graduation) in town and another major university (CU) an hour down the interstate. Plus UNC in Greeley. This is major. Your only option in Bend, for 4 year degree, is OSU-Cascades, which is quite limited in it's offerings. For 2 year degree there is COCC. If they want to pursue a degree at OSU (Corvallis) or UO (Eugene) it's over the mountains about 3 hours away and often un-passable because of weather. This may be ok for you... but it may not. You may prefer for your kids to attend college relatively close to home and for that Fort Collins is much, much better. Fort Collins also has a Colorado Early College campus where high school kids are guided toward earning an associate's degree during high school so the graduate high school with a full 2 year associates degree that is 100% transferable to any university in Colorado. There are also some very, very well ranked charter schools such as Liberty Commons and Ridgeview that are some of the best schools in whole country. Even the Poudre School District neighborhood schools are very, very good schools.
For work you have a number of options including PSD itself, CSU itself, HP, Comcast, Broadcom, AMD, Intel, Advanced Energy, Otterbox, Anheuser Busch and several others. Google Fort Collins major employers. These by themselves far surpass what is available in Bend. Plus your really have the entire Front Range corridor. Commuting to Denver or Boulder would honestly suck badly. But it is doable. Whereas commuting from Bend to Portland, Corvallis or Eugene is just impossible; it's just not a thing.
Like others have mentioned... you are also close to RMNP... which is amazing too. You can drive to Vale, Breckenridge, Keystone, etc. Though these do take several hours. Estes Park is about 90 minutes from Fort Collins and is a charming mountain town. From there RMNP is just a few minutes and is incredible.
Another thing that differentiates Fort Collins from Bend is it's bike trail system. The bike trails here are awesome. You can get all over the city on the dedicated bike trails and nearly all the city streets either have bike lanes or sidewalks. Bend is bike friendly-ish but Fort Collins is a whole level above.
Fort Collins also has Horsetooth Reservoir just minutes from the city, it is practically in the city itself. The reservoir is in between the city and the foothills. The reservoir is beautiful and huge. Lots of opportunities for boating, paddle-boarding, kayaking, etc. Bend has access to lakes but they are the Cascade Lakes and you have to drive a bit to get to them and are closed the majority of the year.
Fort Collins also has a ton of mountain biking up along the reservoir.
If education, economic and career opportunities are on your priority list, while also having access to outdoor recreation... Fort Collins is a no brainer, easy winner.
Where Bend wins is the natural beauty. It's a no contest easy winner. If your goal is live in one of the most amazing places on earth and education and economic concerns are not on your priority list... then Bend is the place. If you are young-ish and just want to be amazing... Bend is the winner. Mt. Bachelor is only 30-40 minutes away. The Cascade Lakes are amazing... insane how beautiful they are. The Deschutes River... OMG. The Poudre River in Fort Collins doesn't even compare, hold a candle to the Deschutes. Shevlin Park by itself is a very, very special place. Tumalo falls is incredible. Smith Rock about 30 minutes away is amazing just to view and one of the best rock climbing destinations on earth. Then of course you have Wanoga Sno Park, Phil's trail. Literally endless, word-class, outdoor, year-round, recreation opportunities. The breweries in Bend are another class from Fort Collins. Fort Collins has some amazing breweries, yes it does. I personally love Odell. But Bend... OMG... Deschutes. Crux. Worthy. Boneyard. Goodlife. Silvermoon. 10 Barrel. They collectively are in another league than Fort Collins. The collective brewery scene in Bend is probably one of the most incredible on earth. The High Desert Museum is also a very, very special place... with as far as I can tell nothing comparable on the Front Range. It's somewhat underrated but it is nonetheless very special.
If education and economic concerns are not on your radar and you want to live in a high desert climate with short beautiful mild summers and long cold winters... then Bend is your place. In my opinion the ideal person is someone between 22 and 30 after they are finished with college and before they have school age kids... or someone retired 55+ and living close to kids/grandkids isn't much of an issue (assuming the kids/grandkids don't already live in Bend).
Bend does have a growing education and economic sector. It just doesn't compare to Fort Collins at all. Fort Collins does have access to amazing natural beauty and outdoor recreation... it just doesn't compare to Bend.
If you already live in Bend and you want to stay... there are enough education and economic opportunities that will allow you to stay. It may be something of a sacrifice on those accounts but they are there. But if you are moving from somewhere else and education and economic opportunities are on your priority list... I wouldn't move there... I would move to Fort Collins and vacation in Bend.
If you live in Fort Collins and want to live in Bend... You must understand the economic sacrifice that entails. If you are young or retired and just want live somewhere amazing and either have money (savings) or are ok not having a lot of it or have found good employment in Bend and are ok being 3/4 hours and over a mountain range from the closest city... then by all means... get moving.
Last edited by haleysdad; 08-14-2017 at 05:25 PM..
Reason: fixed typo
^^ I can confirm this is really all true, atleast everything in terms of Bend.
Another thing I have been noticing about Bend, that really stood out to me especially this summer, is that it is growing unhealthily fast. Traffic jams on random, one lane streets that really have no reason to be congested, are common. Also, our GPS struggled with directions because the roads and infrastructure are just growing and changing too fast.
I can understand to an extent why so many people are moving there, because it's one of the most naturally beautiful places I've seen. But, wow, are there problems with the place that I think a lot of people who relocate there without really researching must struggle with.
This may be off topic and for that I do apologize. I saw a job at CSU between $40000-48000. I make about $30000 in Indy right now. Would that be a upgrade and would I be able to live comfortably?
Fort Collins is within the Denver radius and that counts for something. That being said, Bend is perhaps a better town when it comes to restaurants and brewpubs. My point is Bend is atleast 3 hours to Portland. Fort Collins is less than an hour to Denver.
Both cities offer nice restaurants and brewpubs, and are cool techie cities, but Bend is certainly more isolated,
Weather: Kind of of a wash. Bend is cold in the winter, and Fort Collins offers the up and down temps of the eastern rockies, going from warm to cool very quickly. Bend is more moderate.
This may be off topic and for that I do apologize. I saw a job at CSU between $40000-48000. I make about $30000 in Indy right now. Would that be a upgrade and would I be able to live comfortably?
Ehhh, only if you are bringing a bucket load of home equity with you. Housing in Colorado's Front Range is escalating in price almost daily. I'd also recommend spending some time on the Colorado forum and the Ft Collins sub forum to see if you may fit in with the area.
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Fort Collins vs Bend
