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Thanks to all for the wonderful posts I've read throughout this forum--they've been incredibly informative! I'm a 30 y/o female professional, considering moving to FC from Boston, where I have spent the past 4 years. Are there any other transplants from Boston or New England who can give me their impression of the area?
FC looks like it may be a good fit for me for many reasons (I won't go into all of them here) which have been confirmed in other areas of this forum. One remaining issue I was wondering about--not a deal-breaker but would be good to know--is the level of intellectualism in the area. I see that about 50% of residents have an undergraduate or graduate education, but I couldn't tell from the report if that included all of the students currently at CSU, or if it reflected the general level of education of the larger population who had already completed their degree. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Harvard brainiac myself, but still I would like to move to an area with a generally well-educated permanent resident population. I know "well-educated" can mean many things so let me define it, for the purposes of this discussion, as people who have obtained at least a Bachelor's degree or higher, who like to read books on a breadth of topics, who are globally-minded and perhaps well-traveled, who enjoy engaging in well-informed debate and discussion, and who enjoy "art and culture" such as theater, museums, etc. (please pardon the rather poor definition--my hope is simply that it will help focus the discussion).
Thanks for any insights you might be able to provide!
Based on my experiences, having lived here 10 years and having come from a major city in the NorthWest, I'd say visit first. While Ft. Collins is an "educated" city, I would not consider it an intellectual city, if I'm on the same page as you. You mentioned theater and museums? Do your research on that. Fort Collins has a lot to offer, but you really want to spend a little time and, while I'm not a big fan, check out Boulder to help you with your direction. Hope this helps! Now I have to go hide in my basement before the Chamber of Commerce sees this and deports me.
RE: I'd say visit first. While Ft. Collins is an "educated" city, I would not consider it an intellectual city, if I'm on the same page as you
Well said! I had read about how educated Fort Collins is as a city but I have found reality quite a bit different. It's not only not an intellectual city, it isn't a sophisticated one. I also moved here from a big city on the west coast and it's night and day.
I believe that too many people take liberties with statistics. The chances are the percentage of folks in this city that have post graduate degrees are professors or retired professors, along with the folks who work for the tech companies in the area (Intel, HP, etc). That accounts for a small percentage of the population overall, I suspect.
In terms of the type of stimulation you may be used to, coming from Boston and having access to New York, Philly, DC, and Boston, you are going to find yourself in a bit of a drought here. You may end up traveling down to Denver quite a bit for your museums and cultural pursuits.
In terms of how Fort Collins is perceived. I can tell you this. On a recent business trip to the Bay Area my husband overheard a VC exec talking to some folks about Colorado and he said that Broomfield was a wonderful place to look for startup potential and an educated workforce. He said it was a thriving community with a lot of energy and he was investing there.
Boulder has a reputation and may be a closer match in day to day but may come with other atmospheric differences you wouldn't enjoy? FC residents tend to be pretty accepting and tolerant, which makes them nice to be around.
That being said, I can tell you that as an educated female (I have post graduate degrees), I have frequently been talked down to in a very condescending manner, including by our kids' dentist (who is now our former dentist - I got fed up with being treated like a mealy-mouthed Stepford wife). I've also overheard on two separate occassions - job interviews (took place in restaurants) where the men talked down to the women candidates in a disrespectfully condescending manner. I remember in one of them (my husband and I were staring wide-eyed at each other across the table because we could not believe what we were hearing) thinking "Oh, lady, I hope you don't take that job. What a jerk to work for!"
My suggestion is that you try to find a group of people who have a common interest.
There are a lot of redeeming qualities about this area but in terms of intellectual stimulation - depending what that means for you - you may find yourself going south to Denver quite a bit - or perhaps Boulder if you like the artsy type of sophistication ala Berkeley, CA or Ann Arbor, MI.
Or - what about Castle Rock? Lots of highly educated folks live there. However, the big complaint I've heard about it from natives is that it's a bedroom community. However, I have family there and in terms of resources...lots going for it.
For Fort Collins - I was talking to a woman who moved here from a bigger city 15 years ago and she said it this way "Olive Garden just doesn't cut it, does it?"
So I guess it depends on what it is you're looking for.
Years ago I was interviewing for a job and they were pushing a big sell on me by telling me I'd be out of the Chicago office. However, the customer I would be covering was closer to a very agricultural part of Illinois/Indiana. I pointed out to them that as a young single female it didn't make a lot of sense to plop down in the middle of a family area that was primarily agricultural near no big cities.
I didn't take that job.
This may be what you're looking at here. Fort Collins is known for being a great place to raise a family and a great place to retire. You are single and 30 years old which puts you in neither of those categories.
Fort Collins is bigger than rural Indiana but you still might want to give serious consideration to this.
Who are your peers going to be? Where will you find them?
What do you like to do for a past time? If you ski and you hike outdoors and bike outdoors then you'll be good to go but if you like theatre (other than movie) and museums and so forth - you'll be heading south.
Yet another consideration is what is around the Ft Collins/Loveland area. Farms and ranches. Lots and lots of ranches. Cows. Horses. Lots of fields. Oil rigs. Lots of those with a lot more on the way.
Lots of cows. Did I mention horses? CSU has an equine center. Did I mention ranches? And fields? Lots and lots of fields?
Wellington - and Severance and pretty much everything east of I 25 - fields ranches cows - horses. Did I mention lots of fields?
So if you like that you will be very happy here. If that's not your thing you may find yourself wondering what to do?
When I mentioned this string to my husband - the first thing out of his mouth was "what do they mean by educated? It isn't sophisticated - at all."
There are people who live here - who moved here - who think this is a wonderful awesome great place. However, you need to consider what they are comparing it to. In recent weeks I've discovered some of these folks are from Nebraska, South Dakota, Rural Ohio, and Rural Illinois. Many of them grew up on farms and they absolutely love it here.
People who have moved here from larger cities and metropolitan areas don't share the same views and often mention driving south to Denver for nightlife, museums, etc.
I just think it's important for anyone wanting to relocate to ask themselves lots of questions and see the area - not only the city but the area around it.
One thing I can say my family and I have truly enjoyed - driving to the historical places. We've gone to Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument, Fort Laramie, Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Bent's Fort. These are all about 3 - 7 hours drive from here making them awesome weekend trips and a wonderful way to show the kids a part of our country they would normally only read about in text books.
The level of education in a given community may not manifest itself in the activities you mention. As krh6609 shares above, educated does not always equal intellectual. Much of my time is spent with well educated people, but rather than reading and attending theater, we are hiking, skiing, mountain biking, or just participating in activities with our kids.
My wife and I enjoy cultural activities, but we do not place enough priority on these to live in a place in which these are a focus of the community. This community has some cultural and intellectual activities associated with the University, but there is also a high concentration of people who enjoy outdoor activities and other things.
I spent several years in Summit County, Colorado, and at the time, it boasted one of the highest per capita levels of education in the nation. In our ski shop we employed ski and snowboard techs with physics, nuclear physics, and law degrees, among many others. That is a community with a high level of education, but a lack of intellectual activity. Those folks chose to live there because of other reasons.
One of the great things about being educated is that your education enables you to make choices that are consistent with your lifestyle choices and preferences.
Incidentally, well-educated (letters next to your name) doesn't make an individual sophisticated. The lack of a piece of paper from a college doesn't mean someone is uneducated. I personally believe experience is one of the best forms of education on earth. There are some things you cannot learn from sitting in a classroom or reading a book.
When someone asks about education, they should probably clarify the type of atmosphere they are looking for.
There are areas with highly educated people who are academic snobs. There are areas that have populations who didn't go to college but who know about life and how to make it work and are successful.
If someone is moving from a metropolitan area and/or a big city, they need to really understand that in moving to Northern Colorado they are moving to an incredibly rural part of the nation. This has nothing to do with whether or not a percentage of the population graduated from a university.
Fort Collins was a military camp and then had its roots in agriculture. That is a distinctly different feel than a part of the nation that has its roots in shipping because of a waterway (i.e. Maine, or Louisiana, or Los Angeles, or New York, or Miami, or Detroit, or Chicago, or Cleveland. All on waterways but all incredibly different feels).
What will help anyone moving to a new area is to try and find folks who have common interests. Join a book club, a wine tasting club, an entrepeneur club, a computer club, a LEGO club. A girlfriend of mine moved from Detroit to Vegas and the first thing she did was sign up for country line dancing and country-western dancing lessons. She absolutely loves it and met wonderful people that way.
If you don't ski - learn. If you don't hike - try it out. If you aren't a biker - there are so many folks here who are you could probably find others who are quite educated and bike to work (the lady across the street is an engineer and she bikes to work).
If you want a certain type of energy or atmosphere to a place you need to look beyond pieces of paper and letters by anyone's name.
And as Mike pointed out - people live here for a specific reason. This goes toward something I wrote in another post. WHY did you choose Fort Collins as a place to relocate to? Your answers will stem from that first one.
OP, I think you can get all the things in peers you are looking for in Fort Collins. There is a huge graduate student population in their twenties/thirties, and almost all of them are not from CO, many are traveled, interested in all kinds of things. Hang out at New Belgium or Crown Pub during the late afternoon.
As for "culture", that is tougher to do in a town of only 120,000. Lincoln center does quite well though (again for a town of Fort Collins size).
If you move to FoCo, hang out and live near Old Town, that is where most of the interesting stuff for single twenty-somethings will be. Yes, it's not a major city (I don't think anyone ever claims it is). But it's not a rube town of only families, where a 28 year old single person would be bored and lonely all the time. If you're looking for a ridiculous amount of nightlife, you should probably look else where. If you're down with hanging with a group of friend, have a bunch of amazing local beer on a patio somewhere, then FoCo might be your speed.
My old roommate was from Beantown, and he had a little trouble adjusting to FoCo from San Diego (where he'd just moved from), but after a few months he was coming around to really like the area.
And it can't be stressed enough, a love of the outdoors will be critical to your getting on well in Fort Collins.
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