Any thoughts on Northern Colorado living?

[PeakResources]

Wife and I have been thinking of moving out of our metro PDX home for a while, looking outside the city for a home. Now, we have an opportunity to move to the Fort Collins / Longmont area. I'm inclined to move for career reasons, and the area appears to be a bit more self sufficient than some areas I've been too, but wondering if anyone here has experience with that area. It seems that the college areas may not be well suited, but there are many small farms / ranches out there, and likely a more self sufficient mentality.

Does anyone here have inputs or experiences with Northern Colorado living?

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[The Quiet Man]

We lived in Longmont in the mid-80's (job transfer) and liked it alright. However, it was nearly and is now clearly metro Denver. I liked Fort Collins better as far as being somewhat more removed from the Denver mess. I came to OR for a job with the full intention of retiring to the hill country of central Texas when the time came. However, we bought some rural property in western Washington County and when the time came to retire we decided our lifestyle just wasn't likely to be improved upon anyplace else. We've lived in a lot of places with many of them being relatively rural and pleasant. That said, we never considered moving back to CO. You can't eat the scenery and you don't hear John Denver singing in the wind. We found it to be expensive and not very user friendly. We did not notice any enhanced level of self-suffiency in the metro Denver area. What we found was the highest per capita level of education in the US and the attitude to go with it. There was just nothing that impressed us enough to draw us back. Oregon is pretty difficult to beat in my experience. You might be very happy just moving out of Portland. My 2 cents for what it's worth.

 

[PeakResources]

That's the sort of input I'm looking for... thanks Quiet Man. Others, please share.

 

[parallax]

Colorado is ranked 34th on state tax burden info.(1 being the highest amount of tax burden.).. At least taxes there are not too bad compared to other places.

 

[torpedoman]

best area in colo is between fairplay and denver along hwy 285.

 

[MountainBear]

I lived out West of Denver for about a year and a half. It seems to me that Denver extends all the way up to Ft. Collins. There's not much of a break. I didn't mind the state. That being said, I'm much happier being back in Central Oregon than I ever was in any part of Colorado.

 

[ironhead]

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

 

[rmlarsen]

Elk hunting is a whole lot better there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[OPAWY]

What quiet Man said was pretty on the money. I had a home just north of Ft. Collins, lived there for 3 years in the early 90's. I really really wanted to like northern Colorado. But it was expensive, areas for recreating were always crowded, and sometimes rowdy. People were shockingly rude and arrogant. No neighborliness to be found. I sold my place for almost 3 times my mortgage price. I was astounded that real estate had ballooned like that in 3 years. I moved to Wyoming. Happy camper now.

 

[rodell]

I think Ft. Collins is great, perfect size and far enough away from Denver. I'm not sure I would agree that Longmont has quite become suburban Denver, but, it certainly has grown. Big difference between these two.

Recreational areas that are within easy reach of Denver can be crowded, although it drops off quickly (except for skiing). The I-70 corridor is a mess, but there are plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities that don't require that particular route.

Good fishing, ok hunting, excellent snowmobiling, mountain biking, etc. Fairly friendly gun laws.

I would rate Ft. Collins as one of the places I would move to, if I were to leave sunny Seattle. It is dry, though, and brown a good portion of the year. You might have green shock coming from PDX!

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have about that area.

Bob

 

[Gunner3456]

Did anyone mention cold, lol?

Politically it reminds me of Eugene. That's good or bad depending on your perspective.

It's expensive, although in this real estate climate...

Don't let anyone kid you. That area is crowded and busy, but you can see that for yourself.

Did I mention that I wouldn't like the cold, lol?