Considering relocating from Lincoln, NE to Colorado (Fort Collins, Boulder: apartment, homes)

[wanda228]

I am a self-employed 49 year old single mother of two girls, 12 and 18. I've lived in Lincoln my whole life and am ready for change. I started a small business almost a year ago. I design and wholesale tie dye clothing, hemp jewelry and accessories to 10 local retailers here and would like to expand.

It's been several years since my last visit to Colorado and am confused and could use some advise on apartment search, neighborhoods, schools, and community. I initially was thinking Boulder but after reading some of the post, maybe Louisville, Ft. Collins, or ?

My 18 year old is an artist and looking to attend college there.

We are pretty laid back, love, music, art and being outdoors. I don't get out much here and am looking forward to meeting some new people.

Peace

[sharpjeremy]

i use to live in Kearney. i am also looking to move to Ft. Collins. I would think that would be a great area for your business.

[Idunn]

If you are thinking Boulder but would prefer to live outside of it due costs or other reasons then a town such as Louisville might work well. It would be one of several options in that regard.

Boulder is a fine place, and all the more due its beautiful location at the foot of the Flat Iron mountains, a distinctive and picturesque landmark. Although some considerations would be its higher costs, as well as the feel of a town that has grown in density and become more cosmopolitan and busy.

Ft. Collins in contrast seems more suburban and, dare I say, laid back? Boulder is the hipper of the two, and more eclectic, but life just might be easier in Fort Collins. There is growing traffic, but it is still easy enough to get about town, more so than Boulder in my estimation, with fairly easy access to most any service one might wish, often quartered in new and attractive buildings. As with Boulder it is a college town, decidedly so, although in both cases most of the student activity is centered around the campuses. Boulder has its 'Hill' and Pearl Street, and Ft. Collins 'Old Town' for an eclectic mix of shopping, restaurants and night life. Unlike Boulder, Ft. Collins enjoys a large reservoir (Horsetooth) suitable for boating and other pastimes just to the west, as well as that namesake mountain peak visible from most areas of town. But if as Boulder directly at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, it does not have quite as ready access into them, nor the dramatic presence of Boulder in that regard.

Both towns would be fine places, although with Ft. Collins one probably more likely to live within it than in an outlying town. Aside from the practical considerations of cost, etc., also just the feel of either place, and that a personal decision best made on the ground. Another consideration could be schooling, and choice dependent upon whether one's child attended CU or CSU. Something of a commute from one place to the other, assuming one wished to remain close.

Another option, particularly if junior does not wish a lot of parental oversight, could be somewhere up in the mountains. With Ft. Collins to an extent, and certainly outside of Boulder, many people have made their homes in the mountains, but close enough in to commute to town. It can be beautiful and more peaceful. Some considerations would be winter access and possibility of forest fires (Boulder has recently suffered some fires directly in such areas).

Something else similar, and an actual town, would be Nederland. Reached via lovely Boulder Canyon, it resides in a beautiful setting roughly 20 miles west of Boulder. It is an eclectic place I am always fond of calling one of the last outposts of hippies in this nation, and at least some truth to that. While Boulder is at the edge of the mountains, Nederland is actually within them, and high enough to have the small ski area of Eldora just outside it. A small place with an actual downtown, with surrounding more usually modest residences. It enjoys a certain number of tourists in the summer, but the best business would more usually be one not solely reliant upon the immediate economy. Not the place for everyone, nor are they there, but also the advantage of easy access to Boulder and the greater front range whenever desired - or staying home and being content without it.

[Cupcake77]

What about lafayette?