Family life in Loveland (Denver, Fort Collins: crime, how much, hotels)

[famlife]

Hello,

my family will be touring parts of CO and Arizona, trying to find a spot to settle. We were just doing this a couple years ago, decided to move where the good job was, and ended up fleeing in terror. Now that we can work remotely from home, we are looking forward to living where we want to, because we WANT to. We have a few questions about the Fort Collins area and specifically Loveland. We're in the process of weeding out the areas we'd like to check out.

We have children ages 1-11. A town where the kids can hang out and ride their bikes without me having to worry too much is ideal. Does Loveland have it's good and bad areas, or is it all pretty decent?

We love how close Loveland is to the mountains, Ft Collins and Denver. What kind of "feel" does Loveland have? Is it a smallish town feel, or just a batch of houses with box stores all around?

What is the drive to Denver like? Is it terrible all the time like Minneapolis, or is it doable avoiding rush hour traffic?

I've been surprised in the past about the prevalence of hard drugs in certain towns, is this a concern in Loveland or the surrounding areas?

Is there much of a problem with the wildlife eating pets in the area? We like to just let our dogs out in the yard (fenced) would they be okay?

Is Fort Collins a "college town", or just a city with a college?

Living in Loveland, where do people go for a weekend camping trip? We may bring our camper for this "tour" as opposed to staying in hotels.

Thanks a bunch

[kiki1964]

We lived in Loveland and loved it! There are parts of town that are older than others, with older homes that are in need of repair, etc but I wouldn't call any of those areas "bad". We did not have young children there but we didn't have any concerns about walking at night or having our cars out, decorations on the porch, etc. Nothing was ever bothered. I can't say that about my small MN town!

We come from a town of 11,000 and Loveland, although it has everything you want, is easy to get around and does not feel as big as it is.

The only drive I ever did to Denver was to the airport and back to pick up a family member. I-25 can be hairy at times.

As for drug problems, I'm sure they're everywhere but we did not see it or have to deal with it in Loveland at all, so I doubt it's a huge concern.

We lived in the east end of town, it was a nice neighborhood but if we move back it will be to the north west area which tends to have nice views, newer style homes, privacy fences allowed and is more away from the hustle and bustle, yet close to schools. In our east area we only saw one fox run through one night. Everyone around us had pets in their very-low fenced yards and it didn't seem to be a concern at all.

We really like Fort Collins but we do feel it is a "college town". It is quite a lot busier (is larger), many young college students and it was just a place we would rather visit than live as we preferred quieter.

We spent almost every weekend in Estes Park. You drive through the beautiful canyon (many camping spots on the way) and end up in Estes Park in the mountains with of course, many camping spots there too. There may be some close to Loveland, I am just not familiar with them.

Good luck to you! We lived in Loveland for 6 months, had to leave, have wanted to go back ever since. Beautiful place.

[famlife]

Great info! Thanks a bunch!

[Mississippi delta girl]

famlife,

We are relocating to the Fort Collins/Windsor/Greeley area in mid-May with small children. We spent a few weeks out there summer 2008r in our camper trying to get a feel for the area. We also went back out there this past December for job interviews. We currently live in TN, which is not bad, but have really been looking for somewhere to raise our boys. We just fell in love with the whole area!! We also repeatedly found ourselves in the Estes Park area. It's kind of hard not to! We liked Loveland but ultimately decided that it feels a little old. No offense to anyone who lives there.....it is a very nice town. We absolutely LOVED Fort Collins, but it is definitely a college town. Traffic there was horrific, which totally turned my husband off. Fort Collins feels like a fun place to shop, eat, and hang out. Maybe not so great to live although I fell in love with all the older homes in the Old Town district. I think we have pretty much settled on living in Windsor. It's so close to Loveland and Fort Collins, but close enough for my job in Greeley. Good luck in your decision....you sound like you are in the same boat we are in. We moved to our current town for a job, and then discovered just how much crime there really is here!! We are very excited to move somewhere that we want to go! I am really looking forward to raising my boys there....