Fort Collins is Usually at the Top (Denver, Boulder: house, find a job)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by new2colo

I think think pay might be low in some fields, not all. I work in IT and make a very fair salary compared to what I would be making in other areas.

Keep in mind that quite a few people here commute to the Denver area for work.

What fields here are low paying?

That is a long commute. I have known a few people who did it for a short while, eg, if a spouse was in school at CSU.

I think the problem is more the lack of professional jobs, than the low pay. It's hard to get a nursing job there, for ex.

[The Homogenizer]

Originally Posted by Katiana

The Forbes lists are all a crock. Even when they make places I like look good, they're a crock. In fact, most of these lists are a crock.

Ditto. They're in the business of selling advertising not relocation consulting.

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by Katiana

That is a long commute. I have known a few people who did it for a short while, eg, if a spouse was in school at CSU.

I think the problem is more the lack of professional jobs, than the low pay. It's hard to get a nursing job there, for ex.

The northern suburbs of Denver are only 30 minutes away. There are a few vanpools that go to downtown Denver and Lakewood.

I agree that there is an absence of professional jobs. Other than Intel, HP, CSU, and local/county government, there aren't too many professional jobs here. I wonder what those who work in the service sector do to afford Fort Collins. This city is not cheap at all.

[Katarina Witt]

From google maps:

Ft. Collins to Broomfield:

Via 1-25:
55.3 miles, 1hr 2min

Via 287:
48.3 miles, 1 hr, 6 min.

To Lafayette:
I-25:
51.5 mi, 1 hr 1 min

287:
43.3 mi, 59 min.

My daughter used to go from Louisville up to Ft. Collins to visit friends; it usually took ~ 1 hr.

[nevada1427]

" Just wasn't worth it " seeing as how the cost of homes in Fort Collins were very close in price to her current home in Modesto, Ca.
In that case, yes it is true. The central valley in California ( Fresno, Visalia, Tulare, Bakersfield ) is indeed very similar. ( Cost of homes, cost of living) However, what Tfox said but good luck finding any decent-paying white-collar job anywhere near Modesto, is also correct. But again, the blue collar jobs (as well as the white collar) that are available in the Central Valley pay a whole lot more than Fort Collins, ex Registered Nurses start out around 30-34 an hr, in the fort it's about 22-23. Same is true of Professors IE 74000 compared to 36000. However, the California's taxes take close to half of these salaries and the Central Valley is no where near as beautiful as the front range, has as many beautiful and clean parks, or to die for blue skies. Just my 2 cents!

[delta07]

Originally Posted by new2colo

The northern suburbs of Denver are only 30 minutes away. There are a few vanpools that go to downtown Denver and Lakewood.

I agree that there is an absence of professional jobs. Other than Intel, HP, CSU, and local/county government, there aren't too many professional jobs here. I wonder that those who work in the service sector do to afford Fort Collins. This city is not cheap at all.

I don't know of any northern suburb that's within 30 minutes from Fort Collins. Even when I lived in Fort Collins back in the 90s it would take be almost 45 minutes to reach the outskirts of Denver and that was driving 20 miles over the speed limit and a heck of lot less traffic! We just drove I-25 earlier this summer on our way from Oregon to Denver and it took almost 2 hours to go from Fort Collins to Denver. Yes, there was an accident, but you have to plan for that. Allowing yourself only 30 minutes would be a disaster.

Originally Posted by Katiana

From google maps:

Ft. Collins to Broomfield:

Via 1-25:
55.3 miles, 1hr 2min

Via 287:
48.3 miles, 1 hr, 6 min.

To Lafayette:
I-25:
51.5 mi, 1 hr 1 min

287:
43.3 mi, 59 min.

My daughter used to go from Louisville up to Ft. Collins to visit friends; it usually took ~ 1 hr.

Katiana, I'd say these figures are correct, not accounting for traffic, etc. I agree, I wouldn't want to do that commute on a daily basis, even with a van pool. That's a lot of time spent in the car to get to work. To me, it's not worth the additional money I might make doing the commute. You'd probably spend it all on gas anyhow.

[Katarina Witt]

Agreed, Delta, and that's just to the farthest northern suburbs (though there are a lot of jobs in Broomfield). I don't want to look up downtown Denver or Lakewood, anyone who is interested can do that for themselves. You're right, google's data doesn't take weather or traffic into account, and doesn't account from where in FT. C to where in Broomfield or Lafayette, either. Could be longer.

[psmiles]

Originally Posted by ginger77

Forbes Magazine ranked Fort Collins the fourth-best place for business and careers. The criteria included quality of life.

This is one part I highly disagree with. If your a business owner, maybe. I had lived in Fort Collins for 7 yrs before finally deciding to leave due to the suppression of wages. I found this to be true in all of Northern Colorado. The front range is a beautiful place, but not worth living there if all you can find is a job paying $11.00 an hr and requiring a Masters.

If Forbes ranked it 4th best place for business, what type of businesses are they in need of?

[nevada1427]

Originally Posted by psmiles

If Forbes ranked it 4th best place for business, what type of businesses are they in need of?

If your a business owner, it's probably great ( tons of cheap labor ). I'm not sure that Fort Collins is lacking any jobs/ businesses. The biggest complaint I have is the lack of a decent wage. For example, when I moved out here two years ago I had more than a few years of experience in my job field. After going on several interviews and getting job offers that were willing to pay only $15-16 hr to start (all in Fort Collins ) I finally accepted a job in Longmont that was willing to pay me a wage that was much more acceptable $23hr. This area takes serious advantage of the college labor pool.

[feanix]

That would be the one downfall I could agree with and the most common reason I hear people move away from here. I have to say this, though, given these terribly horrible wages there are an awful lot of really nice homes that just keep sprouting up. So someone's getting paid enough to pay the mortgages on all those pretty new homes.