I posted this over at i-club but have not received a response.

I am considering a job in FC, which means a big move for me and my family from Calgary. What's life like in FC, what are the best and worst things? How's the Scooby scene? Seems like are a lot of active Colorado subies on here. Good to see.

Thanks!

Ft. Collins is one of the best places to live in the world. It's small enough to get around easily and big enough to find anything you are looking for. It's a college town so the night life is great. It's close to the ski areas if you are into that. The music seen is pretty good, and if it's not up to par for you, denver is an hour away. Weather is perfect... perfect. There are more restaraunts and breweries per capita than any other city in the world. The Suby seen in CO in general is great. Big meets and mostly friendly people.

I moved to denver last year from Ft. Collins and i hate it. Ft. Collins is awesome. I would like to move back after school.

Dolphin is about right. But to sum it up..best part: college town; worst part: college town

Thanks for the responses. Glad to hear the brew ratio is up to my standards. :)

I liken Denver to my home town, Calgary, and although we are on the steps of the foothills (30 minutes to good hills, camping, climbing, etc.) we are still an hour away from the big mountains and great sking. We are pushing nearly a million people so I would see a Fort Collins a fresh change from the big city.

Just how big is FC, and how many people at CSU?

I take it forestry/environment and education are the big economic drivers. What about tech, government, and military in FC?

What are the bad things about being a college town? Lotsa rentals, transient population, parties, night life.... wait some of those the good things. :D

Originally posted by el rayo-x

Just how big is FC, and how many people at CSU?

I take it forestry/environment and education are the big economic drivers. What about tech, government, and military in FC?

What are the bad things about being a college town? Lotsa rentals, transient population, parties, night life.... wait some of those the good things. :D

Fort Collins definitely isn't a million people. It's a pretty good size right now, though there is a lot of growth on the southeast side of town. If you're looking to buy a place here, that's actually the place to look. On the downside, the southside lacks the majority of the great local food.

Forestry and Environment are fairly large areas around the CSU campus. Have a decently large tech sector going right now too. HP, Agilent, LSI Logic, and a couple other computer companies have large offices here. Hell, nVIDIA and Microsoft have offices here.

Doubt many of them are hiring.

Other than the ROTC stuff on CSU, there's not much (if any) military stuff in Fort Collins. Nearest place I can think of is an Air National Guard installation in Greely, and that's a 45 minute drive.

crap, must sleep. I'm sure other ftc people can fill in holes.

Originally posted by SeanB

Other than the ROTC stuff on CSU, there's not much (if any) military stuff in Fort Collins. Nearest place I can think of is an Air National Guard installation in Greely, and that's a 45 minute drive.


Psst.... Cheyenne, 45 minutes north. FE Warren AFB. Largest stock pile of nuclear weapons in the US.

I think the population is roughly 150k during the school year, and the combined number of students (graduate and non traditional included is 50k). Allot of people leave during the summer so it "quiets down" in Old Town where all the good bars are.

As Sean said the town is growing, and pretty quickly. I've lived out here 7 years and it's changed dramatically. The further you live away from Campus and Old Town the quieter it gets since. The housing close to campus is realatively cheap so allot of students live in that area.

As far as nightlife, if you don't mind putting up with sorority girls and frat boys the bar scene isn't too bad. Of course there are specific bars different people flock too. There are enough bars to go to that you stay at a bar roughly 30mins (if even that) and head to another over and over and never go back to the same one all night. The food street venders at 2:00am are very nice to have as well :D :banana:
That all depends on what you like to do. Personally I can do without all that.

Military, there's nothing out here. Like mentioned before, Cheyenne and Greely are about the only thing.

Tech is a good business out here, but there are no good jobs open. You can always find a job working in the clean rooms doing basic assembly stuff as long as you have a high school degree. :lol:

Speaking of brews..there is a good number of micro-breweries out here. Great beers :disco: :banana:

What else? The foot hills are 15 minutes away. Hiking, biking, camping, etc. Skiing is anywhere from 1-2+ hours away I believe? I've only been to the ones West of Denver so I know nothing of the ones closer to Ft. Collins. I may be on crack as far as the times to get to places.
Umm, Denver is only and hour away and there's plenty to do there.

Suby scene is good. I don't have mine anymore but I still hand out with all the guys. This place is like crack, I can't get enough. Hehe, actually most of the guys are very friendly and accepting. You always get a few bad apples though.

Don't know if you're into it, but autocrossing is always 1-2 hours away. Open tracking is an hour away. There's also the Denver grand prix once a year. PPIR just south of Colorado Springs has a good amount of stuff going on during race season (AMA, SCCA, NASCAR (Busch and Winston cup)). Drag racing is an hour away at Bandimere Speedway. There's dirt track racing and flat track racing. Bunch of motorsports stuff.

What else can I be long winded about? :lol:

-Ro

I went to school at CSU and wish I was still there. FoCo is a great town, but I wish it were a little closer to Denver. Everyone here has summed it up pretty well.

Originally posted by docwhorocks

Psst.... Cheyenne, 45 minutes north. FE Warren AFB. Largest stock pile of nuclear weapons in the US.
Nuclear Subies!!! That'd be kick @$$! lol, im sure you could get a few ponies outta a small reactor lol just kidding. Ft' C is da coolest place in the world. i've seen a few subies cruisin around, of course we always give each other the "wussup head nod" dont know of any good rallying places there though, i've been looking for a while, probably just not the right spot, im gonna work on that.
Originally posted by Strepto

Speaking of brews..there is a good number of micro-breweries out here. Great beers
Mmmmm Abbey... err uh, wait im only 19... how could i possible drink??? FoCo really a cool town. Then again I am coming from utah so..... my opinion of anywhere else would always be favorable. Plus we need you to help us represent for all the subies, too many ricers and "amerikan mussle" people here :furious: this place is cool.

Rob

P.S. Whats wrong with the military places?

Originally posted by ImprezzvRS
"amerikan mussle" people here :furious:Hey now..! :mad: :p :lol:

I'll agree though. Too many tools running around thinking they're gods or something. Unfortunately I've run into guys in Subarus like that too. :( Like I said before, bad aples in every group.

We need to get all the Ft. Collins people together again. Seems like we've got some "newbies" in the city. Have to get Dolph up here too of course. It's not a meet if Dolphin isn't included :banana:

-Ro

There actually have been a couple of rally x's at Hughes Stadium. Oh, and New Belgium is the greatest. :cool:

MMMMM, New Belgium
Fort Collins is a really nice town. It is, of course, growing too fast like everything else on the Front Range. Housing is pretty high as is unemployment since 9/11 and the tech slowdown.
Lots of outdoor stuff, lots of festivals (Colorado brewer's fest, new west fest, tour de fat, oktoberfest...) and music. Access to mountains and public lands is great.
-B

Wow I can't beleive no one has mentioned the job market. Wages and job openings are lower than other cities in CO:( . But the bars here help a lot :p Don't get me wrong I love it here and I think it is the best coprimise in CO, what, with low housing and utlity expences, lower prices in general (go grocery shoping in a Cherry Creek Safeway and you'll understand) great weather, and a host of other benifits. You can't go wrong. Oh and good hospitals because old people get sick all the time!:huh: :lol:

Dan