What can you tell me about the smaller cities of colorado?? (Denver: rentals, how much)

[TD*]

I, myself am more interested in possibly Denver, however the cities are growing very rapidly surrouding denver, and I wanted to see if someone can give me a quick and dirty of what to expect from each one.

colorado springs?

longmont?

greeley?

boulder

loveland

fort collins?

Do they each have their own identity? what makes them special?

[StealthRabbit]

age?
interests?
jobs?
Schools?
medical care?
recreation?
Politics?
Economic stability?
Leadership?
Safety?
transportation?
Demographics?
Housing?
Rentals?
Cost of living?
...

If you are more interested in Denver, then what's the point?

[bluescreen73]

Gotta admit when I first saw the title I was expecting something more along the lines of Salida, Montrose, Craig, Fort Morgan, Buena Vista, etc.

I don't consider Colorado Springs to be small. It may not have the suburbia that Denver does, but it's the 2nd largest city in the state behind Denver.

All the places you listed are dramatically different.

College towns (in descending order of impact):
Ft. Collins
Boulder
Greeley
Colorado Springs

Ft. Collins, Loveland, Greeley, and Colorado Springs tend to be more conservative, while Boulder tends to be more liberal. Not sure about Longmont but if I had to guess it'd be center-left.

Compared to all the others, Greeley can seem to be a bit isolated because it's located further from the mountains than the rest. Everybody else is along or adjacent to the I-25 corridor, but Greeley is about 10-15 miles to the east of it.

As far as identity goes, what are you looking for? Public perception? That can be dangerous.

[jamesdenver]

Do they each have their own identity? what makes them special?

My word association:

colorado springs? > Conservative, military

longmont? > old mall, Waffle House and fuel stop along I-25

greeley? > farms

boulder > Liberal college town. Walkable/bikeable, great foods, and expensive.

loveland > Suburb of Fort Collins. Easy access to recreation.

fort collins? > College town. Great old downtown.

[Idunn]

Colorado Springs?
Gateway to Manitou Springs.

Longmont?
If only we could afford Boulder.

Greeley
Who thought of moving here?

Boulder
The truly liberal island within Colorado.

Loveland
Best access to RMNP from Front Range.

Fort Collins?
Would be far larger if everyone could find solvent employment.


…and since not asked:

Denver
The big enchilada of the state.

Pueblo
Yeah, what about Pueblo? Hey, we're over here . . .

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by TD*

I, myself am more interested in possibly Denver, however the cities are growing very rapidly surrouding denver, and I wanted to see if someone can give me a quick and dirty of what to expect from each one.

colorado springs?

longmont?

greeley?

boulder

loveland

fort collins?

Do they each have their own identity? what makes them special?

Mr. Rabbit wrote: "If you are more interested in Denver, then what's the point?"

He and I are in agreement for once. If you like Denver, go for Denver. You'll go nuts trying to figure out the finer points of each Front Range community that you mentioned in your post. From at least Pueblo all the way up to Ft. Collins, the Front Range is one long metropolitan corridor with a few areas of rapidly vanishing open space. If you like an urban life style, it's Denver hands down.

Colorado Springs - I grew up there and spent considerable portions of my adult life there. Tends to have lower wages - very dependent of the defense industry which may not be such a good thing these days. But if you have Evangelical leanings, you'll feel right at home in the Springs. Housing market there is subject to a boom or bust volatility.

Longmont - rather boring but more affordable suburb of Boulder - might have changed - it's been a while since I've spent any time there.

Boulder - Hip college town with lot's of stuff going on. Probably the most liberal city in Colorado. Tons of stuff from A to Z that you can do there. Housing costs are stratospheric. Job market OK.

Don't know enough about others to comment.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Gotta admit when I first saw the title I was expecting something more along the lines of Salida, Montrose, Craig, Fort Morgan, Buena Vista, etc.

I don't consider Colorado Springs to be small. It may not have the suburbia that Denver does, but it's the 2nd largest city in the state behind Denver.

All the places you listed are dramatically different.

College towns (in descending order of impact):
Ft. Collins
Boulder
Greeley
Colorado Springs

Ft. Collins, Loveland, Greeley, and Colorado Springs tend to be more conservative, while Boulder tends to be more liberal. Not sure about Longmont but if I had to guess it'd be center-left.

Compared to all the others, Greeley can seem to be a bit isolated because it's located further from the mountains than the rest. Everybody else is along or adjacent to the I-25 corridor, but Greeley is about 10-15 miles to the east of it.

As far as identity goes, what are you looking for? Public perception? That can be dangerous.

I would classify Colorado Springs as a religious military town that happens to have colleges.

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

I would classify Colorado Springs as a religious military town that happens to have colleges.

While the springs has a few big churches, the actual percentage of people reporting religious affiliation there is lower then most areas in the state of Colorado. when I think of Colorado Springs I think of a largely military basis that the town surrounds and conservative political views, great scenery.

longmont is a decent suburb of Boulder with a much more blue collar base, although it is starting to be more people who could not afford to live in Boulder but want to. Higher price with limited in town entertainment options forcing one to commute to Boulder, Denver, or Fort Collins.

greeley is pretty much a town 45 minutes from any other city of decent size, with a blue collar conservative population, more job opportunities then other areas in northern colorado with cheaper rent, but like Longmont is you want more then movies or bars then you are going to have to travel.

boulder Outrageously expensive with a liberal culture, outside of that though it is a decent city.

loveland is basically a fort collins suburb, job market is not good, but it is cheaper then Fort Collins.

fort collins is a nice city, great parks, close to the foothills, bands travel through, many bars, but it is a college town, job market is terrible, as is the rental market.

[davebarnes]

Lakeside to be the most interesting city.
So exclusive that you cannot even live there. No matter how much money you have.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by jwiley

While the springs has a few big churches, the actual percentage of people reporting religious affiliation there is lower then most areas in the state of Colorado. when I think of Colorado Springs I think of a largely military basis that the town surrounds and conservative political views, great scenery.

They might be in the minority in terms of numbers but not in the minority in terms of the politically active in the Springs community. Just look at a lot of the polices that have come out of the Springs and its easy to see why it has the reputation it does as the bible belt of the west.