HOME—Miscellaneous—Fort Collins

Fort Collins, Colorado

Here is a little information about Fort Collins. You can also check the city's website, the visitor bureau website, or the chamber of commerce website.

Climate

Altitude about 1500 m (5000 ft)
Nearby Rocky Mountains ranging to 4300 m (14 110 ft)
300+ days of sunshine, little rainfall, very low humidity, moderate climate
Pleasant summers, warm days, cool nights
July average high temperature is 30 deg.C (86 deg.F), average low is 14 deg.C (57 deg.F)
Pleasant winters, lots of sunshine, snow rarely stays on the ground long
January average high temperature is 6 deg.C (42 deg.F), average low is -10 deg.C (14 deg.F)

People

The population of Fort Collins is 161 854 (2015). The population growth rate was 2.4% per year (2013-14).
Fort Collins is officially classified as a metropolitan area by the Census, and is the fifth largest city in Colorado. Outside of the Denver metro area, only Colorado Springs is larger than Fort Collins.
The population includes over 33 000 students at Colorado State University (2016).
52.3% of the Fort Collins population have a college degree.
The population of Larimer County is 333 577 (2015 county estimate).
Most people have immigrated from other states.
The town has been growing rapidly for the last 40 years, and continues to be one of the fastest growing cities in the US.
Fort Collins is known for friendly people and a low crime rate.
Facilities and activities for seniors are excellent, and Fort Collins has become a popular retirement center.
Population is 83% White, 10% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 1% Black, and 2.5% two or more races (2010 US Census).
Fort Collins is the county seat of government for Larimer County (also the largest town in the county).
It is located about 105 km (65 miles) north of Denver, and about 72 km (45 miles) south of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Other towns in county are Loveland (2016 population estimate 76 897), Estes Park, Wellington, Laporte, Timnath, Red Feather Lakes, Berthoud.
Nearby towns (in Weld county) are Greeley, Windsor.
Primary employment is white collar.

Not Perfect

Fort Collins' growth has resulted in considerable sprawl, and the city's population has spread southeast to nearby Windsor, and is now beginning to spread northeast to Wellington. This has resulted in heavy traffic and longer commutes, and the accompanying automobile-induced air pollution. But how bad traffic seems to you may also depend on where you're from (people from 'back east' and from California tell me that our traffic is not nearly as bad as we think). There is a public bus system, used extensively by public school students, college students, and those without cars. There are also other transportation options for seniors. The city website has more information under "Transfort".

Interestingly, a July 2008 report from Allstate Insurance indicates that drivers in Fort Collins ranked second (after Sioux Falls, SD) among the US's 200 largest cities for safe driving! And we've been second now for three years in a row. The report states that Fort Collins motorists are 25.5% less likely than the national average to get into a collision. For comparison, Denver ranked #48, and Aurora (a Denver suburb) ranked #50. So we must be better drivers than we thought.

High Rankings

Fort Collins keeps getting high rankings from various magazines, such as Money Magazine and Forbes, for best place to live and similar. The city has also been ranked as a good place for seniors.

Cost of Living

According to one survey, cost of living in Fort Collins is 124.2 compared to a US standard of 100. For comparison, Boulder, Colorado is 178.0, and Denver is 127.5. Orange County, California, is 187.2.

Schools

3 public school districts in county
Poudre (Fort Collins, Wellington, Laporte, Timnath, mountain areas)
Thompson (Loveland)
Park (Estes Park)
A number of private and parochial schools
2 colleges/universities
Colorado State University
Front Range Community College

Local Attractions

Rocky Mountain National Park (1 hour)
Estes Park (1 hour)
Poudre River Canyon (30 minutes)
Fort Collins Municipal Railway historic city streetcar (trolley rides in summer)
Tours of the Anheuser-Busch brewery
The number of microbreweries (craft breweries) in Fort Collins, many nationally known, has exploded in recent years.

Outdoor Activities

Hiking/backpacking in the Roosevelt National Forest and Arapahoe National Forest
Climbing "14ers" (Colorado's 54 peaks over 4267 m/14 000 ft are all climbable, mostly without technical gear; the nearest 14er to Fort Collins is Longs Peak at 4301 m/14 110 ft; about a 2-hour drive to the base, 8 hours to climb, non-technical, primarily in August)
White water rafting (some canoeing) on the Cache la Poudre River
Bicycling (extensive bicycle/pedestrian trail system) in town, particularly along the Poudre River
7 golf courses in Fort Collins, 12 more in immediate area

Wildlife in Town

It is common to see foxes throughout town
Canada geese are not native, but were carefully transplanted here over 50 years ago; now they are everywhere
You can sometimes hear coyotes howling in the distance at night
The occasional black bear wanders into town from the nearby foothills
In May 2011, students at two west Fort Collins elementary schools were required to remain indoors for several hours due to a mountain lion being seen near the school
We have far fewer poisonous critters than most places, and have some prairie rattlesnakes in the foothills
Mosquitos can be annoying at dusk, but they're better behaved than in many other parts of the country (they can carry west nile virus and equine encephalitis)
And remember, by far the greatest dangers to people in Fort Collins, as elsewhere, are drivers

Major Employers

The local economy has been strong, and Fort Collins unemployment was at 1.8% in April, 2017 (compared to 2.4% Colorado rate, and 4.3% US national rate at that time). But the area also has a reputation as one where finding a job can be difficult, and where salaries for comparable jobs may not be as high as in some other areas.

Here are the county's top 10 employers according to an article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper (2015):

Colorado State University - 6,985 full-time workers
University of Colorado Health - 5,438 full-time workers
Poudre School District - 4,989 full-time workers
Thompson School District - 2,019 full-time workers
Hewlett Packard - 2,000 full-time workers
City of Fort Collins - 1,950 full-time workers
Larimer County - 1,639 full-time workers
Avago Technologies - 1,300 full-time workers
Banner Health - 1,200 full-time workers
Woodward - 1,200 full-time workers