Nice place to live.....but not forever
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12/22/2006
I have lived in Fort Collins for two years as both a student and non-student. In general it is a very nice place to live. The air and water are good, the landscape is nice, outdoor rec. abounds. However....
There are some not so nice things about the Fort. It is a relatively expensive place to live. I'm not sure how the cost of living estimates are arrived at but all the ones I have seen are greatly skewed. I can only guess that there are a small number of people with LARGE incomes. For the most part, it is difficult to find work that pays more than 10 or 11 dollars an hour. This makes things difficult with an overvalued housing market. (I paid about the same to live near downtown Chicago.
There is also the issue of natives not being so nice to outsiders. Someone once told me, 'they all think they own something.' That kinda sums it up. After you see enough 'Natve' and 'No Vacancy' stickers you'll understand. It's difficult to understand because you are hard pressed to find ANYONE who is more than 2nd generation who isn't in diapers.
Finally, a note about the food. I noticed the last poster is a Colorado native and thinks the food in Fort Collins is good. That's understandable. However, having lived in Chicago, the South, the Northeast, and California, I can honestly say that Fort Collins, and Colorado in general, has some of the worst food I have ever experienced. Maybe it's the altitude, maybe it's the length of time it takes produce to get here, I haven't figured it out. When I left Chicago, a friend told me, 'Say bye-bye to good food.' I thought he was kidding. He wasn't.
Overall, I like living here but there are three things about me that mesh with Fort Collins. I live cheap, I like being alone, and I cook at home. Throw in the mountains and I've found a place to spend 4 or 5 years. No more than that though.
Abhd | Fort Collins, CO