Greeley Gets Bad Rap!
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4/15/2015
We moved to "West" Greeley in 2011 from the Fort Collins zip code of Windsor, CO. We, too, had heard the Northern Colorado residents bashing Greeley but after enduring 3 harsh years in the NoCo economy, we were forced to seek more affordable housing. Loveland and Fort Collins home prices run 30-35% higher than the "nicer" homes in Greeley in the "nicer" neighborhoods, i.e. Avenues WEST of 35th and Streets NORTH of Hwy 34. Housing available under $295,000 in Loveland/FTC was 20-25 year old trash! Nothing we could proudly call home.
If one compares your COL indexes for Loveland versus Greeley, you see an overall picture that paints Loveland as 10% higher across the board {than Greeley}. What isn't "rated" is the convenience of shopping in Greeley where in 10 minutes, or less, we have access to every kind of "box" store from Best Buy to Lowes, to Home Depot, Kohls, Macy's (and Centerra Mall) just to name a few. Loveland and Windsor have a dividing line of I-25 for economic growth that is definitely "Go East Young Man"; the newness and growing trend definitely sees the sun come up, while Greeley heads West (remember Horace Greeley, "Go West, Young Man", and expect the two cities to meet in the middle in 5 years or so.
Larimer County is more expensive in their tax base than Weld County. We, in Weld County, West Greeley, saw a 9% tax DEcrease in our 2015 property tax bills. Weld has NO debt. Weld is built on agriculture, true, but is diversifying as we speak. In short - Do not assume that people are telling the truth about all of Greeley! We love it and enjoyed a 7%+ Housing Value increase in 2014! Housing to the west is still very affordable and building is booming!
Kathe | Greeley, CO