Money Magazine Declared Fort Collins, Colorado one of the Best Places to Live... and here's why:
"Great schools, low crime, good jobs in a high-tech economy and a fantastic outdoor life make Fort Collins No. 1. Situated 5,000 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, the city offers restaurants, night life and culture, plus natural attractions like nearby Horsetooth Reservoir for boating and swimming. There are 60 miles of hiking and biking trails, and most major roads have bicycle lanes. The place took off in the '90s as companies moved from high-priced California."
-CNN's Money Magazine
Community Facts
Population: 131,000 (2007 est.).
Median Age: 29.4 years old (US Census 2006)
Elevation: 5,004 ft.
Climate: Nearly 300 days of sunshine per year and 14.5 inches of precipitation. Summer humidity averages out to around 30%. Geography: 50 miles north of Denver, 42 miles east of Rocky Mountain National Park. Religion: There are over 110 churches serving every denomination.
Median family income: $68,200 (2007).
*Approximately 48.2% of the population has completed four or more years of college (2006 US Census).
Education
Fort Collins is the home of Colorado State University, which was established in 1870 and boasts an enrollment of approximately 22,000 students. Poudre School District consisting of 46 schools, elementary through high school, educates over 23,000 students in a given year. The graduation rate here is a tremendous 94% and the average ACT scores are 23.2, well above the state and national averages. Fort Collins is also home to Front Range Community College.
Health
A brand new medical facility known as Medical Center of the Rockies is our regional hospital specializing in heart and trauma care. We also have a several other local hospitals, one known as Poudre Valley Hospital which has been providing high quality health care for the community since 1925.
Employment
Since Fort Collins is a college town, a large portion of the employment revolves around education. Technology companies including Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies are other large employers in town and Anheuser Busch, Allegheny Teledyne Waterpick, and Eastman Kodak contribute to Fort Collins’s diverse business community as well.
Recreation
In Fort Collins, there are 40 parks, 56 public and private tennis courts, 6 golf courses (with many more in easy driving distance), and 16 baseball diamonds/football fields. For boaters, there are 3 area lakes that accommodate all kinds of water-craft, including Horsetooth State Park, situated on one of the largest reservoirs and boating centers in the state. But the real outdoor thrills are found just to the west of town in Rocky Mountain National Park, where mountaineers are challenged by at least 60 peaks over 12,000 feet, capped by Longs Peak at 14,255 feet. Over 300 miles of hiking trails, endless fishing streams, placid lakes, and colorful meadows await those who appreciate less strenuous mountain activities.
If winter sports are your specialty, you will love the fact that Fort Collins is also only a few hours away from the heart of ski country. Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain are all less than three hours away, and Aspen and Steamboat are just beyond those.
Fans of big time college sports will love living in Fort Collins, especially during football season, when our CSU Rams take the field. The Rams have been to three straight bowl games and hold a competitive edge in the Mountain West Conference year in and year out. The CSU basketball team is an up-and-coming program and represented their school this year at the NCAA tournament. Our other sports teams, The Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Rockies play all of their home games in Denver, less than an hour’s drive away from Fort Collins!
Be sure to visit the Old Town Historic District, with its fine bookstore, galleries and shops. Other historic must-sees include the Fort Collins Museum and Avery House (a stately Victorian home), as well as a self-guided historic walking tour of the downtown. You can even ride an old trolley.
Because Fort Collins is also home to Colorado State University, it has all the liveliness and bustle of a college town. Good restaurants, brewpubs, nightlife and culture abound. There's always something going on.
Anheuser-Busch has a major Budweiser beer brewing operation here, with free tours (and samples) for guests and a peek at the world-famous Clydesdale horses.
This northern Colorado city is an outdoors-oriented community, with the nearby national park, Lory Park and Horsetooth State Park (and Horsetooth Reservoir), where you can do everything from boating and swimming (in the summer months) to horseback riding, camping, fishing, mountain biking and rock climbing. And there are plenty of places for off-road driving, mountain biking, hiking and other outdoor activities.
Golfers will find several challenging local courses. Anglers can fish for both stream and warm water fish.
Nestled along the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains Front Range, Fort Collins is situated 65 miles north of Denver and 45 miles south of Cheyenne, Wyo. The Cache la Poudre River flows through Fort Collins while the Great Eastern Plains spread east.
Fort Collins is home to a large number of specialized, highly skilled professionals thanks in great part to the several high-technology employers located within the city, including Hewlett Packard, Eastman-Kodak, Symbios, Inc., and Anheuser-Busch. The largest employer is Colorado State University.
For fun, folks in Fort Collins have plenty to choose from. The city boasts a variety of cultural attractions, including the Lincoln Center, Fort Collins Symphony, Larimer Chorale, Open Stage Theatre and Canyon Concert Ballet.
Old Town Fort Collins features shopping, restaurants, outdoor cafes, and your choice of watering holes whether you're looking for a latte or a local microbrew. And there's plenty of outdoor fun — including skiing, golfing, whitewater rafting, camping, hunting, hiking and boating — to be enjoyed nearby.
Starting from the intersection of College Avenue and Prospect Road, you can quickly divide Fort Collins into four main quadrants: northwest, southwest, northeast and southeast.
Here's a quick look at each one:
Northwest Fort Collins
Easily, this area could be considered the heart of Fort Collins. It's where you'll find the 22,000 student Colorado State University campus, the bustling Old Town shopping, restaraunt and night life district, and the gentrified homes and tree-lined streets of Mountain Avenue and the City Park Neighborhood, which boasts City Park and, in the summertime, its own fully operational trolley. Poudre High School serves this area of town.
Southwest Fort Collins
Majestic Horsetooth Reservoir forms the western border of southwest Fort Collins, home to some of the city's fastest-growing subdivisions - ones that expand steadily south toward the neighboring Loveland. Other notable southwest Fort Collins features include the new, multi-purpose Fort Collins Senior Center, Colorado State University's School of Veterinary Medicine and Hughes Stadium, home to the CSU Ram football team, Rocky Mountain High School, as well as Front Range Community College.
Northeast Fort Collins
Some of the city's oldest, most diverse neighborhoods like Alta Vista and Buckingham lie in this area of Fort Collins, which is also home to such attractions as the Old Fort Collins Water Works and Gateway Bridge, the official entrance to North Fort Collins. Old Town Fort Collins also spills into this part of town and, here, you'll also find Poudre Valley Hospital, the Orthopedic Center of the Rockies and Colorado State University's Environmental Learning Center, an open space nature area filled with trails, wetlands and wildlife.
Southeast Fort Collins
You could call southeast Fort Collins the Silicon Valley of the northern Front Range. That's because the area is home to some big players in the world of high technology. Among them: the Hewlett-Packard Co., Symbios, Inc., and Celestica, Inc. This diverse area is also where you'll find the new Fort Collins High School and the new neighborhoods that are springing up around the campus and making their way eastward as well as shopping at Foothills Fashion Mall and The Square.
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"Of all the decisions you'll face when buying or selling a home, there is none more important than who you choose to represent you. Choose carefully!!!"
We look forward to working with you!
- The Fort Collins City & Mtn Realty, Inc. Team
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