Fort Collins, Cupertino or Boston? (Denver, Arvada: hardwood floors, transplants, foreclosures)

[isak7985]

So, I recently graduated from the University of Texas @Austin. I absolutely loved Austin and still do. After graduation, I was offered a fantastic job that I just couldn't refuse, but the bad part is the position was located in Houston. In the past, I always told myself that I would never live in Houston, but again, I couldn't pass this job up. Now, after being in my job for about 9 months, I've been given permission to move if I want. My 3 choices are Cupertino, Fort Collins, or Boston. I'm really leaning towards Fort Collins, but I'm just not sure. My family owned a condo in Estes Park for about 10 years; however, I haven't been back since I was younger, and I never spent much time in Fort Collins. I've been told that Fort Collins is like Austin, only with snow.

Some reasons I think Fort Collins might be good:

- I also have horrible allergies, so I figure Fort Collins might be better for me considering things don't bloom/pollenate 11 months out of the year and the air is dry.
- I absolutely love cold weather!
- I'm all about doing outdoors stuff. I'm a runner and also into biking and hiking. I'm very into snowboarding, so living close to the snow for the first time in a while would be good.
- I've read Ft. Collins has about 300 days of sunshine each year.
- I definitely enjoy larger cities, so the fact that its close to Denver is good.

I'm pretty much sold on it, but I just don't know about the vibe and what the life is like up there for sure. I don't know anyone up there, so I would be starting over. I don't want to move then be completely miserable and stuck.

Can someone give me an idea of what life is like? What is the attitude/mentality of the city? Is it really like Austin with the addition of snow? Should I pass on Fort Collins and start looking at my the other 2 locations?

[Tom Emmerling]

Fort Collins is a very diverse community. There is plenty to keep you busy here. We were voted #1 by money magazine for the best place to live and have been on several other "Best of" lists. If you have not been to Fort Collins in a while you will be blown away with the growth. Loveland and Fort Collins are almost one now. You are also very close to Denver and ski areas. I think it is a great place to live. [mod cut]. City Data is a great place to get the answers. Keep us updated on your choice.

[isak7985]

Just from what I've seen on maps, I can definitely tell it has grown. I've read that it was voted the #1 place to live, but I guess I'm just curious about the atmosphere and vibe the city is like. Are the claims true that Fort Collins is suburban sprawl and generic once you get away from old town? Can you tell me something that makes Fort Collins special? Also, what are areas are good to live?

[BHallDDS]

Isak,
I to am also seriously considering a move to Fort Collins area. I'm currently in Chicago. I spent some time there back in grad school 2 years ago and here's why I love Fort Collins:

-it's a university town. I've lived in several college towns (Iowa City, Minneapolis, etc.) and there's always a younger, more happening vibe to them. Being 28, I like that. Colorado State University is in FC. Fort Collins reminds me a little bit of Madison, Wisconsin except it's a little more laid back. It's about the same size and the town seems to be filled with a lot of highly educated people and the school system is great. Plus the economy of college towns always seem to be fairly stimulated.

-it's super close to the mountains. You already know about the proximity to Estes Park. You are literally a 2.5 hours drive from Summit County and Vail, Beaver Creek are a little further. You are right near the foothills of the Front Range so access to the mountains is right there.

-The weather. After having grown up in Iowa, gone to school in Minnesota and now living in Chicago I must say the weather in Fort Collins is SO MUCH BETTER. I love snow and don't mind the cold weather but it's the single digit temps with sub-zero wind chills that kill me here in Chicago now. Fort Collins doesn't get that. I was just there in March and it was 65 degrees in FC and 36 and rainy here in Chicago. Um, gee which one is more desirable? They have really mild winters and their summers are warm (not hot like the SW or Texas) and not humid like here in the Midwest.

-Active population. Having played college tennis and working out/being outdoors/active all the time, I like being around health and fitness conscious people. Most of the people in the Fort Collins area are this way. It seems easy to find many people with similar outdoorsy interests in FC versus here in the Midwest.

-Growth. The area east to Fort Collins has seen steady growth in recent years. In my job field (dentistry), this means more possible patients/new families for which to support a nice private practice.

You'll see some people on here moan and groan about the "dry air" or the "brownness" of Colorado. But shoot, if these are the worst things to worry about, sign me up.

[RangerDuke08]

Fort Collins hands down, it's not on my top 3, maybe my top 10 but out of your list and I've been to all 3 FOCO hands down! Even though housing is $250,000 average in FOCO, your talking about 2-4 times that in Boston and Cupertino though you might make a lil more out there. It's great scenary and people are nice out here generally, there's ups and downs in every city. If you commute to Denver it's about an hour away, I think most people in FOCO would go out to Denver for entertainment once in a while, as long as your not commuting everyday. CSU is also more down to earth than DU or CU so if your looking at grad school there or meeting people.

Allergy wise, you can still get allergies here, when it's too dry it gets dusty and you can get allergies from that too. But it's not bad at all, just get hardwood floors and don't set your heater too high. Foco can be a suburb as well, it def has grown a lot the past 10 years but it's not as bad as Denver and it's not too much of a college town, like most places in Colorado, it can be a bit cliqish, but there's a place for everyone and if you like the great outdoors you can join some competitions of clubs. I love the great outdoors and ended up working with State Parks and meet many people from all over the country every summer. I don't plan on living here forever though, by the time your kids grows up Fort Collins and Denver will probably be connected by cookie cluster homes.

[isak7985]

Thanks, BHallDDS. It makes me feel a little better that its more of an active city that is health conscious. That is one of my issues with Houston. It's not really an active city and is so full of pollution. I to played tennis competitively for 7 years, and was an athlete in college. I also want to get away from really hot summers with 90% plus humidity.

RangerDuke, I won't have to commute to Denver for work, so that shouldn't be an issue. Honestly, I don't think Ft. Collins cost of living is that bad. It's actually a little lower or about the same as Houston. I wouldn't plan on living there forever, but I think it could be a good place to live for a few years. It is good to hear that there is a place for everyone though. Like I said, I'll basically be starting over and that is something that I can definitely handle; however, I would like to make the transition as smoothly as possible is all. You mentioned it being cliqish. What are some ways to get integrated into things or meet other people?

Also, what about Cupertino and Boston did you like/not like?

[RangerDuke08]

Originally Posted by isak7985

Thanks, BHallDDS. It makes me feel a little better that its more of an active city that is health conscious. That is one of my issues with Houston. It's not really an active city and is so full of pollution. I to played tennis competitively for 7 years, and was an athlete in college. I also want to get away from really hot summers with 90% plus humidity.

RangerDuke, I won't have to commute to Denver for work, so that shouldn't be an issue. Honestly, I don't think Ft. Collins cost of living is that bad. It's actually a little lower or about the same as Houston. I wouldn't plan on living there forever, but I think it could be a good place to live for a few years. It is good to hear that there is a place for everyone though. Like I said, I'll basically be starting over and that is something that I can definitely handle; however, I would like to make the transition as smoothly as possible is all. You mentioned it being cliqish. What are some ways to get integrated into things or meet other people?

Also, what about Cupertino and Boston did you like/not like?

Oh I was just trying to scare you I could live in Colorado forever if I had to, Fort Collins is on tops of that list, there's a couple other areas worth checking out too like Golden/Arvada area and Evergreen, which is still at the foothills but a lil closer to Denver and Boulder. Evergreen you would be looking at $450,000 for housing though, kinda more a ritsy area in CO but very beautiful.

I assume your talking about Cupertino, CA right? Well what I did like about it was that it had awesome food eateries everywhere. I knew some people there in high-tech making over $100,000 a year and I guess it'd be worth it if your making that, otherwise it's more of a general area of Silicon Valley. My opinion of Silicon Valley was that it was a very selfish place. Most people complained of "work" and "money" all the time and when your stuck in that situation you just don't get out enough. It's all about the atmosphere in Colorado, it's real laidback, spend a lot of time outdoors, it's our culture. It's like in Texas, you guys say "Don't mess with Texas", out here we'd say "Hit the slopes or out fishing". Oh yeah you might wanna change those Texas plates first thing you move out here.

As for Boston, same thing, really just lifestyle, even Denver is a really small city compared to Boston ... something you might have to adjust to in Fort Collins is slowing down. People take it real easy and people do tend to be flaky at times. If you like that fast-paced lifestyle and going out and meeting someone new everyday, Boston, D.C., New York, Chicago and L.A. are all great places where I spent many days, having fun, meeting beautiful women, emptying my pockets! I met a lot of great people through work so you'll meet some friends at work, met some people through activities you sign up, you can sign up for some hiking, tennis or biking clubs I guess, it's a lot slower paced but the few friends I met were definetly a lot better quality than those in the metropolitians I lived before. Good luck!

[RangerDuke08]

PS if I forgot to mention FOCO is a town you can bike almost anywhere, and the growth rate at 9% = 130,000 people today and 200,000 in 5 years WOW! I'd def invest in a foreclosure if you can afford one and get out in 5 years when the housing market goes up again.

[isak7985]

So, I was actually in Fort Collins at the end of last week for business, and I stayed in Colorado for the weekend too. This was the first time I had spent any real time in FOCO(as you put it). It was definitely a huge change of pace for me. Firstly, the sunrise wasn't hazy from smog, and the people were A LOT nicer than the people in Houston. I think Old Town was nice, but other than that, I wasn't a huge fan of the north part of the city. I liked the rest of the city though. I'm use to larger cities, so it would just be a big adjustment for me(one I could make though).

I looked around and tried to get a feel for the neighborhoods and housing options. After I was finished I stayed in Estes for a bit. I took 36 down to Boulder to get back to Denver. Part of me feels like Boulder(even though smaller) is a better fit(just the vibe I get). Boulder isn't an option though.

As for my other options, I like having something to do if I want it, but I am not interested in the "fast-life" as much as diversity/culture. I'm a girl, so meeting beautiful women and emptying my pockets isn't exactly a priority =P Basically, Cupertino has been ruled out, and its between Boston & FOCO. If Boston had the type of mountains that Colorado did, I wouldn't question it. I also think it might be good to live somewhere like FOCO while I can because I'll probably look into the east coast for graduate school in 3 or 4 years anyways.

I've read that there are lots of foreclosures, like you mentioned. If the city is growing so much, why are there all of these foreclosures? What areas do you recommend for living in FOCO? Also, what made you move there?

[Fort Collins Joe]

NOTE: Your choices seem not to match. Cupertino and Boston and Fort Collins are MUCH different types of communities. I.e. I would have expected a Boise v. Fort Collins v. San Luis Obisbo, for instance.

Or a Chicago v. Boston v. Washington D.C. Fort v. Boston or Bay Area are apples/oranges comparisons. And Fort Collins is nothing like Austin. Much, much smaller. Austin v. Denver would be a more suitable comparison.

That said, I've lived in Fort Collins for the last 10 years. Here's my take.

What I like about the Fort:
Laid back community, some very cool people; a lot of transplants (many perspectives and conversations come from talking to people from different places - don't take this as diversity. It's pretty much all white people).
Nice weather. All four seasons and it's usually sunny.
Cost-of-living is good (some people will complain it's expensive, it's not that bad. It's VERY cheap here if you're coming from non-flyover country like Left-Coast or the Northeast. You can get a house with a yard for under 200k.

There are some good restaurants, nothing too pretentious. Lots of bars.
There's a lot of fun outdoorsy stuff nearby like hiking, mountain biking, etc.
Great biking trails around the city, too.

If you have kiddos, public schools are above average. Not many choices on private schools.
Basically, it's a small city and college town feel with proximity to bigger city amenities (like Denver Airport).

What I don't like:
The downtown (which is a great area) is pretty much taken over by college kids during the school year. If you like hanging with 19-20 year-old kids, that's great. Notsomuch for me.
Professional jobs are scare. Three of the biggest employers in town are: CSU, Hewlett-Packard, and Wal-Mart. Don't wanna work at Wal-Mart? There's a new Super-Target going in down the street.
Thus, there're a lot of "underemployed" people here (people that relocated here and now work 3 odd jobs, etc.). I've known quite a few people that moved here from somewhere expensive like California and go jobless for years, living off their home sale. Many people commute to work in Denver/Boulder and I think they're high (unless you like sitting on 2 lane freeways for 3-4 hours a day).

I mentioned you're close to skiing? Well, not THAT close. It's about 4 hours drive round trip to the closest decent ski area (which sounds great if you're from Kansas but after driving to the mountains a few times in peak ski season, you find yourself skiing less and less).
Singles scene for people over 25 is pretty dry. If you're already married, might want to stay that way. Arts/culture scenes are pretty scarce as well.

If you're moving here...
I recommend southwest side of town ... the area east of Taft Hill, west of College, north of Harmony and south of Drake. Lots of good neighborhoods here and much cheaper than downtown or eastern side of the city. And, you're only 5 miles from downtown, a mile from the foothills, and 5 miles from the freeway. Why pay more? Lots of people pay HUGE premium to live downtown. Why??? In the area I described, you are 3-5 miles from downtown.


Other Nearby Front Range areas:


Loveland: A little cheaper than the Fort. More of blue-collar crowd. Big hair is acceptable. There are a lot more trailers here than you find in the Fort if you get my drift.

Windsor, Wellington, other Fort 'burbs: bedroom communities. Nothing to do. Sprawl. Nicer houses, schools, etc. Night out at Applebee's.

Greeley: See loveland ... and add Espanol.

Okay I'm done ranting... good luck!

-Joe