Fort Collins, Colorado

Fort Collins offers a great climate for skiers, but boaters, paddle boarders, and other water aficionados will love the Poudre River, the Horsetooth Reservoir, and the many lakes sprinkled around town. Sure, there will be snow -- and plenty of it -- but that’s the case everywhere in Colorado. Fort Collins has snow and water.

As the home of Colorado State University, Fort Collins can get kind of loud. The school has a reputation as a party school, and that coupled with an increase in the city’s permanent population, gives it a more bustling, big city feel that represents a change for some residents. Still, CSU brings diversity, culture, and energy to the city, and adds to its unique charm.

Fort Collins is a great place to live. Many people work at the university or tech companies, who are just starting to put their stakes in the ground in Fort Collins. There’s plenty of green space, great city parks, and fun places to shop like the boutique-filled Old Town. The cost of living is decent, and the politics tend toward the independent. Families will enjoy Huntington Hills and City Park, while younger people will like the area around the university.

Check out the calendar of events to get a better sense of everything happening in Fort Collins.

We highly recommend visiting Fort Collins and staying in the community in a VRBO rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our partnership with Expedia as well.

Fort Collins is growing faster than the state of Colorado itself, at a rate of about 2% per year, partially due to an influx of tech companies. That means more jobs and more cash, and more money directed into the city coffers to go toward growth and improvements. It’s an exciting time.