Boulder vs. Fort Collins (Denver, Longmont: affordable house, cinema, school)

[OREGONRAIN]

Ft Collins seems more appealing, but I got to tell you when I visited Boulder last year, the first thing I noticed was how clean the air was, I will never forget that memory, I don't think I have ever been anyplace where the air just seemed so pure and clean, except maybe the top of the alps.

[DonnaFaye]

My husband and I visited Fort Collins thinking of moving there. (My children are in Steamboat Springs and we thought it would be nice to be near them.)Fort Collins looked like an absolutely great place to live. They have everything and anything you could possibly want. However, the cost of living there is second only to California. A 3000 square foot home on 3 acres was approx. $650,000.00. Coming from Atlanta, GA, this seemed ridiculously high! I guess we are spoiled because the cost of living isn't nearly that high here.

[BlueWillowPlate]

I don't really want to participate in any sort of silly partisan fort collins/boulder rivalry... I simply want to give people a good idea of what most people seem to think of both places, seeing as that's what this thread is about, so let's stick to the topic.

Originally Posted by samsavenger

saying.

Another aspect of employment in fort collins is that CSU generally attracts kids from around the state who are not exceptionally wealthy and therefore are more likely to work... whereas CU in boulder seems to attract kids from all across the country with families that can afford to pay exorbitant out of state tuition fees, and would never dream of expecting their kids to work to pay their way through college -

Well, you're no fun! It is a legendary, mostly good-natured rivalry, and the topic is Boulder vs Fort Collins.

Your description of the two student bodies pretty much explains the contention between the two cities.

The partisanship obviously exists more for people who have gone to either school, but the cost of living differences (and general change in atmosphere) can be quite apparent for anyone, especially someone who has lived in both places, gone to both schools (which does happen).
As the cities have grown, perhaps the sharp edges of the rivalry have softened a bit; obviously non-students from out of state may not feel them as much.

[Colomonter]

Originally Posted by DonnaFaye

My husband and I visited Fort Collins thinking of moving there. (My children are in Steamboat Springs and we thought it would be nice to be near them.)Fort Collins looked like an absolutely great place to live. They have everything and anything you could possibly want. However, the cost of living there is second only to California. A 3000 square foot home on 3 acres was approx. $650,000.00. Coming from Atlanta, GA, this seemed ridiculously high! I guess we are spoiled because the cost of living isn't nearly that high here.

I agree that is ridiculously high when comparing Atlanta to Ft. Collins, but just think, you can spend that same amount of money and get a much smaller, older home on a small lot within the city of Boulder.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by DonnaFaye

My husband and I visited Fort Collins thinking of moving there. (My children are in Steamboat Springs and we thought it would be nice to be near them.)Fort Collins looked like an absolutely great place to live. They have everything and anything you could possibly want. However, the cost of living there is second only to California. A 3000 square foot home on 3 acres was approx. $650,000.00. Coming from Atlanta, GA, this seemed ridiculously high! I guess we are spoiled because the cost of living isn't nearly that high here.

Although you probably know this, I should point out to the rest of the viewers of this thread that homes at $650,000 and up in Fort Collins represent a tiny fraction of the housing out there. It is very easy to find a decent single family home in Fort Collins in the upper 100s and lower 200s. (My suspicion is that there's just not a lot of 3+ acre homesites in town, so you're looking at a statistical anomaly.)

Fort Collins is actually NOT second only to California in housing costs. This is simply not true. As a matter of fact, with a median price in the low 200s, it's actually well below the national average as far as housing values are concerned.

[samsavenger]

^ Agreed.

A standard 3 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood seems to be in the upper 100's.

There's also an abundance of nice 4 bedroom houses for under 200k.

Housing is very reasonable here for what you're getting. Acreage is another story, but if you drive 20 mins outside of town north or east it gets a whole lot cheaper very quickly.

[Rumblebelly]

Originally Posted by tfox

Although you probably know this, I should point out to the rest of the viewers of this thread that homes at $650,000 and up in Fort Collins represent a tiny fraction of the housing out there. It is very easy to find a decent single family home in Fort Collins in the upper 100s and lower 200s. (My suspicion is that there's just not a lot of 3+ acre homesites in town, so you're looking at a statistical anomaly.)

Fort Collins is actually NOT second only to California in housing costs. This is simply not true. As a matter of fact, with a median price in the low 200s, it's actually well below the national average as far as housing values are concerned.

Very true. We just sold our 1500 sqft home for 197K, has mature landscaping, a nice addition, and is within 2 miles of Old Town. There are plenty of decent homes around 200k in Fort Collins. However, prices shoot up dramatically as you get close to the Old Town area. A 2 bed home can easily cost 300K or more.

[Rebel122]

Originally Posted by tfox

Although you probably know this, I should point out to the rest of the viewers of this thread that homes at $650,000 and up in Fort Collins represent a tiny fraction of the housing out there. It is very easy to find a decent single family home in Fort Collins in the upper 100s and lower 200s. (My suspicion is that there's just not a lot of 3+ acre homesites in town, so you're looking at a statistical anomaly.)

Fort Collins is actually NOT second only to California in housing costs. This is simply not true. As a matter of fact, with a median price in the low 200s, it's actually well below the national average as far as housing values are concerned.

I agree...try living in NYC, there are practically no one-families avaliable unless you're willing to pay $1-2 million for one, and even to rent a 1-2 bedroom is about $1500-2000/month. I grew up and live in NYC and really can't wait to leave. I grew up with one working parent and it was pretty much a disaster.

[deegers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by samsavenger
saying.

Another aspect of employment in fort collins is that CSU generally attracts kids from around the state who are not exceptionally wealthy and therefore are more likely to work... whereas CU in boulder seems to attract kids from all across the country with families that can afford to pay exorbitant out of state tuition fees, and would never dream of expecting their kids to work to pay their way through college -

Well, you're no fun! It is a legendary, mostly good-natured rivalry, and the topic is Boulder vs Fort Collins.

I do believe FC is winning...

[POdNCrazee]

I haven't visited Fort Collins in a while but I think Boulder and Fort Collins are more similar than they are different. My impression from some years ago was that Boulder is more ritzy and has more ultra-wealthy folks. I really did find myself in Boulder and I'm grateful for that. There really are a lot of different modalities and philosophies to explore here and be exposed to. I guess if you're from the West Coast you're hopefully pretty hip already, but I came here from Rhode Island and didn't know squat about Buddhism, hippies, cowboys, gay cowboys, New Agers, ulra-rich people, yoga, dope that you can throw at the wall and it sticks, neat sports like road cycling (where you dress like Spiderman and Green Lantern) and rock climbing, etc. etc. I really appreciate Boulder for that. One thing about Boulder is that you can drive 5 minutes or less to all the trailheads and then hike right up 3,000+ feet. Boy, that is one helluva quality of life attraction for me. 10 minutes from your door and you are in quiet wilderness of magnificent beauty, talking to these cute little friendly green iguana lizards who do these little push-ups and hang out with you (I'm serious folks!), bumblebees the size of golf-balls (yup!), bucks and white-spotted doe ambling by, bear scat on the trails, black squirrels with beet-red eyes like laser beams, super-fresh mountain air, and head-clearing solitude. Too bad as soon as you find a nice sunny spot high on a rock and take off your clothes (who wouldn't?), all of sudden you get dive-bombed by curious gliders and para-sailers and single-engine planes !
What a place!