Fort Collins/Color. springs-housing & employment help (Denver, Colorado Springs: sales, real estate)

[mommy_takes_pics]

Hi all. I have lived in south carolina my whole life very hot and humid here. my husband was an army brat and is used to moving around. he's been to colorado i've never even visited. my sister moved to arizona a few years ago we want to be a lot closer to her but my husband wants a place with seasons. our 4 biggest kids are all grown and in college, but we have one 6 year old. we will be keeping our house here and having an agency rent it out until we decide if we like it long term or not so we'd be looking at renting. also, i have 7 courses left for my bachelors in business and would like a decent college to attend. we have narrowed down to Colorado Springs and Fort Collins (or that surrounding area). so here are my questions if anyone can help:

1) In those two areas what are nice areas for rentals? Is there any areas that are more like a historic district or older district that might have older homes, big porches, high ceilings, big yards etc...not a necessity and definitely not if they were not located in the right area, but just thinking out loud

2) My husband has a degree and experience producing and directing in media arts so he could work in television. The last few years he has worked in sales with television, magazines, newspaper, real estate and now cell phones so pretty versatile. I have helpdesk IT experience, accounts receivables, general office/administrative and I do photography on my own part time so I am pretty versatile too. If we wanted to start sending out resumes' to some major businesses in those areas so that we could set up interviews while out to check out the area...where might be some promising places to start?

3) the hubs is 40 and I'm 42 and we would be moving with the 6 year old and a cat. we both enjoy hiking/walking, antique places, eating out, movies, he used to ski but hasn't in years so not looking for any place with "extreme sports" lol...so which would suit our needs better fort collins or colorado springs.

[Juliemac]

I can tell you from recent experience (moved here 9 mos ago from michigan) that if your husband wants to work in TV, you need to be near south Denver area. There are no media outlets to speak of up near Fort Collins, all the TV comes from Denver. My husband is a TV news producer for many years.. well WAS, lol. We moved here for my job and my son to start college here. Its a great place to live, no regrets, but it's an awful drive to South Denver from Fort Collins, probably 90 mins. It was always a high stress job, so he is ready to make a change now. The college here is great and there are neighborhoods that match your description, to be sure. Good luck with your move!

[mommy_takes_pics]

Juliemac, it is indeed high stress work not to mention working nights, weekends and holidays. I doubt he'd go back into tv so that probably won't be a big deal. He has used his degree to do jobs in sales and marketing and advertising. So I'm thinking that might be broad enough to open some areas for him to explore.

Can you suggest some nice housing areas? We are typical middle class so not looking for country club communities just something in an older established and safe area or newer subdivisions that might include parks or be good for us having a six year old.

[davemess10]

Everything you are saying screams the Springs!!!!

[Tallguy66]

From my experience, Colorado Springs is going to have a lot more variety and options for you. Although, both areas have an entirely different feel to them. Fort collins has a neat little down town, but the rest is total suburbia. If you don't have kids, it's pretty boring. Colorado Springs is a much more diverse area, both good and bad. Spend a weekend in both areas, do some short day trips and this will help you get a much better feel for your " right" place.

[mommy_takes_pics]

we are hoping to come out in mid-october and visit both places. these are the only two places so far that we thought might fit our criteria but still looking. thanks for the info.