Fort Collins and surrounding areas? (Boulder, Loveland: apartments, homes, established neighborhood)

[psyopwak]

I may be offered a position in Fort Collins, CO. I have never been there, but heard many very positive comments from people who have visited Boulder and surrounding towns.
Need some good advice from some of you who live in the area of Fort Collins as to where I can find a decent apartment the first year, and also where is a good community to search for a home? (just my wife and I)
What are some plain old good areas to look from any of you who live there?

Will be happy to provide more info.
Thanks alot.

[tfox]

Fort Collins is a nice town, though I will say it's a bit different than Boulder if you've been there. There are similarities: both are college towns, both are considered desirable places to live, both have history and unique downtowns, etc. But Fort Collins is going to look a lot more like a "normal town" than Boulder.

There are plenty of apartments in town and prices are not too outrageous -- it all depends on how nice you want to go.

As for areas to live, it really depends on what you want. The north part of Fort Collins (approximately north of Drake Road) is more historic, has more character, and contains most of the entertainment and things to do, etc.

The south part is more new construction, mostly anytown-USA type stuff but also contains the large employers (HP, Intel, etc) concentrated around the Harmony and I-25 area. There's been a lot of sprawling growth to the extreme south as well (beyond Harmony Road), such that Loveland and Fort Collins have merged in spots. (If you can't tell I'm not too crazy about that new growth).

Fort Collins is pretty safe and spick-and-span -- I think you could live just about anywhere without any problems. If there's one area in town that's more run-down, and this is in a very relative sense, it would be perhaps the areas north of City Park around Laporte Avenue (this would be the northwests side), as well as some of the outlying areas beyond the Poudre river (though there are some beautiful areas out there too).

I hardly know what to recommend since I don't know what you want to be close to or what you want in a house. If it were me, I'd probably prefer living in an established neighborhood in the older section of town, within striking distance of "Old Town" -- that's what they call Fort Collins' small downtown. I'd also probably prefer NOT living within a few blocks of campus -- you know those undergraduates! -- the east side of College seems better in that way to me. On the other hand, if you're trying to live close to HP and the southeast, you might want to live close to work, or you might just prefer living in a newer neighborhood. You could try the Dakota Ridge, Stone Ridge, or Sunstone neighborhoods -- they are very close to the tech employers and I-25 but still in town and have housing stock mostly from the 1990s.

(I should say I dislike most of the neighborhoods built since the late 90s, as they seem poorly located, far out, with large tracts of homes on tiny lots -- but that's my point of view -- you might like them.)

[Christian11]

Originally Posted by psyopwak

I may be offered a position in Fort Collins, CO. I have never been there, but heard many very positive comments from people who have visited Boulder and surrounding towns.
Need some good advice from some of you who live in the area of Fort Collins as to where I can find a decent apartment the first year, and also where is a good community to search for a home? (just my wife and I)
What are some plain old good areas to look from any of you who live there?

Will be happy to provide more info.
Thanks alot.

Fort Collins is a wonderful town. It is sooo clean and safe, we cannot wait to get there early next year!!

[moderator cut]

Apts in Fort Collins are cheaper than in Boulder. Stay away (or near) the "Old Town" area, depending on whether you wnat to be near the college party kids or not. Old Town is party kids headquarters.

Overall, Fort Collins is very nice, you will love it. We originally set out to move to Boulder, but we learned and checked out Fort Collins and we changed course... for the best!!

Merry Christmas!!
Chris