Fort Collins and it's Indian community (Denver, Greeley: how much, job market, high school)

[tiyakhambadkone]

We live in Naperville, IL. It is a suburb of Chicago. It has everything we need for our family except for the winter climate.
Our priorities are - more job opportunities, safe suburban life, good schools for kids, and preferably an Indian community around with whom we would be able to celebrate the Indian festivals, food, culture, etc.
We have an option to move to Fort Collins and wondering if it will be a good move for us as we have no idea about this place.

Can someone please tell us about :
1. the climate
2. schools
3. job opportunities
4. commute to Denver (is this something people living in Fort Collins do on a daily basis? is there any public transport?)
5. Indian community presence? how much? in which part of Fort Collins or nearby?

[bluescreen73]

I personally really like Fort Collins because I went to college there, but I feel you may be setting yourself up for disappointment for a number of reasons.

First and foremost - it's not close to Denver, it's not very urban, and it's not very walkable. For most of your big-city amenities you'll be driving to Denver, and that drive sucks.

The climate - winters are much sunnier and warmer than Chicago, but you'll still see plenty of snow. Summers are infinitely more tolerable than Chicago. Daytime temps will be hotter, but the humidity will be significantly lower.

Schools - I dunno. I live in Denver.

Job opportunities - again, this is a big reason why I live in Denver and not Fort Collins. The job market is not very robust.

Commuting to Denver - don't. Seriously. I-25 is a mess. It's torn up big-time from Fort Collins all the way to Berthoud (20ish miles). It's narrow and people drive like idiots on it. It'll take you an hour to get from Fort Collins to Downtown Denver on a good day. If there's a wreck, your travel time will increase considerably. During the winter the road can range from sloppy to treacherous. If you're considering commuting to Denver, just live closer to (or in) Denver. Commuting between the two is not worth the wear and tear on your car and the time spent wasted in traffic.

Fort Collins has a bus system, but you're better off owning a car.

Northern Colorado (Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley) is not very diverse. If there are any Indian communities they will likely be very small.

[otowi]

I think the Indian community in Fort Collins is small and mostly associated with the university. But I haven't been up there in many years.
I don't know enough about where you are from to compare job opportunities. The market in Colorado in general is about as good it has ever been, but specific industries can look quite differently, and different cities have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to what industries and jobs they tend to have. The main feature I am aware of for the Fort Collins job market is that one of its main employers is Colorado State University and a lot of people will go there for university and then try to find a way to stay, and most jobs that require no particular prior experience or education were filled by one of the tens of thousands of college students. It is, as a result, a pretty educated populace with a lot of competition for jobs those graduates seek upon graduation to try to stay there. Just as an example, years ago when I graduated from there with a physics degree and teaching license, I knew I had no chance of getting a teaching job there because most of the high school science teachers had advanced degrees in science - several PhD high school science teachers - very unusual outside of a college town because the pay isn't necessarily commensurate with the degree. That was awhile back, and maybe things have changed some.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by tiyakhambadkone

We live in Naperville, IL. It is a suburb of Chicago. It has everything we need for our family except for the winter climate.
Our priorities are - more job opportunities, safe suburban life, good schools for kids, and preferably an Indian community around with whom we would be able to celebrate the Indian festivals, food, culture, etc.
We have an option to move to Fort Collins and wondering if it will be a good move for us as we have no idea about this place.

Can someone please tell us about :
1. the climate
2. schools
3. job opportunities
4. commute to Denver (is this something people living in Fort Collins do on a daily basis? is there any public transport?)
5. Indian community presence? how much? in which part of Fort Collins or nearby?

Hello, I can give you some information (been here for 30 years).

Climate - Winters are long but there are frequent mild spells (60s in the daytime are not uncommon). The nighttime lows, however, are 30 degrees or so lower than the daytime highs so there is a very long period when it’s below freezing at night. Average annual snowfall is 50+ inches per year but it’s usually not on the ground for very long. Sometimes there are arctic outbreaks of extremely cold weather but they don’t last very long. Spring isn’t great - it’s wet and generally colder than lower elevation areas at similar latitudes. Snow in May isn’t uncommon and the average growing season is only 120 days. Summers are nice - the heat is dry and generally the heat indexes aren’t any higher than the actual temperatures. It clouds up frequently in the afternoons and there are frequent thunderstorms but not a lot of rain (usually). Falls are beautiful (at least September and October, November is a winter month here). Sunny weather, warm, and the summer afternoon cloudiness is over. But it can snow in September. The climate is semi-arid and the natural vegetation is short grass prairie with pine forests as you ascend into the mountains.

Schools - I no longer have children in school but when I did, they were great. A lot of parents want to live here because of the quality of the public education.

Job opportunities - There won’t be as much as in a big urban area but I’ve always felt that you can find something in most fields if you are persistent. The university helps provide more employment diversity than you might expect for a city this size.

Commuting to Denver - I’d never even consider it. It takes an hour to get there but only in the rare cases in which there isn’t heavy traffic or an accident. I really like Denver proper but I rarely go because the drive is so bad. There is a bus service but I don’t know how frequent it runs. Access to the DIA is not great for the same reason and there is only one airline that flies out of the closer Fort Collins/Loveland airport (infrequent flights to the LA area and Las Vegas). Interestingly, there was service to Naperville (and nowhere else) for a couple years.

Indian community - it’s small but there are probably more Indian-Americans here than a lot of people think. There’s the CSU student contingent but it goes beyond that. There are 3 Indian restaurants and 3 Indian grocery stores all owned by south Asians. About 10 years ago my wife and I took lessons in dosa making from a women who ran cooking classes out of her house. Also, there are some Indian engineers at the various technology companies located here.

[tiyakhambadkone]

Thanks for all this information.

[Thoreau424]

Originally Posted by tiyakhambadkone

We live in Naperville, IL. It is a suburb of Chicago. It has everything we need for our family except for the winter climate. Our priorities are .... and preferably an Indian community around with whom we would be able to celebrate the Indian festivals, food, culture, etc. We have an option to move to Fort Collins and wondering if it will be a good move for us as we have no idea about this place.

Can someone please tell us about :
1. the climate
5. Indian community presence? how much? in which part of Fort Collins or nearby?

Climate - Fairly similar to Chicago, just much drier. The snow won't stay on the ground as long as in IL, but winter's presence is still strong.

Indian community presence - It is extremely little. The town is by no means diverse. It's probably at least 85-90% white. Second largest would be Hispanic, and then a small Asian community.

[TCHP]

US Census shows breakdown as follows:
80% White
11% Hispanic
4% two or more races
3% Asian
1% Black
1% Native American

Of course this is of the population claiming residence. The college alters these in practical terms in some areas of the city.