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Fort Collins Relocation Guide

Welcome to the "Choice City"! Nestled beside the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and home to Colorado State University, Fort Collins has something to offer everyone. Residents here enjoy the best of the outdoors and city living. From town you have easy access to camping, hiking, snowboarding, downhill and cross-country skiing to rafting, fishing, or water skiing. In addition, the city has several shopping malls, hundreds of restaurants, six movie complexes, a regional cultural center, and several arts and entertainment venues. Best of all, over 300 days of sunshine allow residents to enjoy the best of Fort Collins year-round.

Fort Collins is located just 65 miles north of Denver, Colorado's capital, and is easily accessible by car, bus, or air travel. An hourly shuttle service provides convenient transportation to and from the Denver International Airport.

City Website: http://www.fcgov.com

Awards & Honors

• Fort Collins named in "Top 10 Cities: Where to Buy Now"!
• Money Magazine named Fort Collins the 2006 "#1 Best Place to Live"!
  City of Fort Collins earns "Bicycle Friendly Community" national award (2005) by League of American Bicyclists
• "American Dream Town." Fort Collins rated as one of the est Towns in the U.S. (Outside Magazine, August 2005)
• Fort Collins drivers are the ninth best in the nation (Allstate Insurance Company´s "America´s Best Drivers Report.")
• Fort Collins & Larimer County Named Top Nature-Friendly Communities - June, 2005.
• Selected as 4th best place to live in the United States - Men's Journal, April 2005.
• Officially designated as a "Take Pride In America Community" - March 2005
• City of Fort Collins selected as "Top Retirement Spot" by Where to Retire magazine - March/April 2005
• Fort Collins was designated a Preserve America Community by First Lady Laura Bush (2004) for its committment to historic preservation and celebration of our priceless cultural and natural heritage.
• City of Fort Collins Web Site: #1 in the Nation! - September, 2004
• "Top 5 Places to Retire" by MSN.com - July, 2003
• Fort Collins ranks No. 29 on the Forbes Magazine list of best places for business and careers in America's small cities.
• Fort Collins ranks #4 of the 50 best places to live in the United states as selected by Men's Journal, May 2003. (The criteria included the familiarity of a small town but with attractive amenities, good weather, location, all around livable and inviting.)
• Loveland/Fort Collins is the #1 Best Place to Reinvent Your Life (source: AARP Magazine, May & June 2003 edition).
• Fort Collins ranks 2nd in the nation as a digital city according to the 2002 Digital Cities Survey conducted by The Center for Digital Government. (The survey examines how city governments have progressed in adopting and utilizing digital technologies to improve the delivery of services to their citizens.)
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recognized the Fort Collins Housing Authority as a "High Performer" through its Public Housing Assessment System for fiscal year 2001. "High Performer" status gives the Housing Authority preferred status for grants and results in reduced reporting and monitoring by HUD.
• ICLEI 5-Star Award for our efforts to reduce global warming and pollution - February, 2002 17th Best Place to Live and Work in America - Employment Review, June 2002 Best Place to Retire - Retirement Places Rated, 1999 3rd Best Place to Raise a Family - Reader's Digest, 1997 Special Edition
• 5th Best Economy Nationwide - Policom Corp., 1999 9th Best for Affordable and Accessible Golf - Golf Digest, 1999 Ranked 10th on "Best Cities to Have it All" - A&E Network, 1999
• One of Top 10 Best Places to Retire - Money Magazine, 2000

• More than 60,000 Canadian geese winter in Fort Collins each year.

• A Gold Medal Trout Route up Poudre Canyon provides excellent fishing. An average of 170,000 pounds of trout are harvested out of Larimer County waters each year.

• The upper Poudre River was the filming sight for the first episode of "Centennial" as well as the filming sight for portions of the TV series "Walker: Texas Ranger."

• 75 miles of the upper Poudre River are protected by the Wild Scenic Rivers Act, which preserves the natural character of the land.

• During an average year, the sun shines in Fort Collins 300 days.

• Colorado State University´s Moby Gym and Hughes Stadium are locations for numerous spectator sports. Colorado State is a Division 1 member of the Western Athletic Conference.

• In the early 1900s, Fort Collins was known as the "Lamb Feeding Capital of the World".

• The world famous "Daddy of ?Em All" Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo is held annually just 45 miles north of Fort Collins in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

• The average relative humidity in Fort Collins in the summer is 30% and 43% in winter.

• An hour's drive south to Denver puts you amid NFL football action with the Denver Broncos at Invesco at Mile High Stadium, NBA basketball competition with the Denver Nuggets at the new Pepsi Center Arena, major league baseball with the Colorado Rockies at the new Coors Stadium, and NHL hockey action with the Colorado Avalanche.

• In international circles, Fort Collins is fondly tagged "Poster City, USA" as we host the Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition bi-annually. It draws artwork from nearly 30 countries. The newly finished Budweiser Events Center adds not only world class entertainment but also minor league hockey to add to this reputation.

• Horsetooth Reservoir gets its name from a particular rock formation overlooking the city that resembles a horse´s jaw with several large teeth jutting forward.

• Fort Collins has a trolley car. It is a restored 1919 Burney Safety Car that sat in the Library Park for 26 years, where it eventually fell apart. After seven years of restoration work by the Fort Collins Municipal Railway Society, the trolley is now restored to its original condition. It runs from City Park down Mountain Avenue to Sherwood Street and back. The track on which it runs is part of the car´s original route.

• The "A" on the foothills above Hughes Stadium was first painted in 1942 by students at Colorado Agricultural College and stood for the school's nickname, "Aggies." Students continue to periodically repaint the "A" as a way of maintaining the schools tradition.