So after 2 internships, she is going to join the AB brewery company in Fort Collin CO after graduating this June.

I am looking for tips from SigForum members that live in the state.

1. If she works in Fort Collins, what are some area she should be looking to rent an apartment/house and where should she avoid? I am asking for affordability, crime, and traffic concerns.

2. Anything she should be aware of moving there. Any recent CO transplant advice would be appreciated.

3. I know Colorado has some restriction regarding firearm and magazines. Is she granted certain immunity by moving there like in some other states? She has her O/U, a Glock 19 that we built together, and her P365. I might feel better if she has her own AR out there since she is living out there.

Any and all advice are appreciated. She does move there until sometime in June.

Magazine capacity limits are 15 rounds so a G19 should be fine. Older magazines are grandfathered. (Caveat: IDK if new arrivals bringing larger magazines would be grandfathered) It's not unheard of to find standard capacity (20/30 round) mags for sale in gunshops and most (but not all) jurisdictions don't care to enforce mag capacity laws.

If she carries concealed, tell her to be extremely careful doing so in the Denver and Boulder area as each jurisdiction now has the ability to write its own CCW laws.

In general I find Ft Collins to be the Austin TX. of Colorado. They have a great LE infrastructure in the area and there are plenty of opportunities for shooting sports in the area. Nice community!

I really think her biggest concern will be finding affordable housing.

Detonics, not sure your comparison to Austin TX would be the correct one.
In my visits Ft. Collins is more like the College Station of Texas, College town with HP and other Tech companies (+ AB apparently) for employment.

Seemed like a pretty conservative locale vs the other liberal cities in Colorado.

But I am no expert.

Congratulations to your daughter. One of my sons started with AB at the Fort Collins brewery. Seemed like a nice place when I visited. He’s since moved twice with promotions and is currently at US headquarters in New York, so it’s been about 5 years since he was in Fort Collins. I can find out where he lived, and I’m sure he knows the best spots for any type of food.

If she wants some insight into the brewery he could probably help. I know he had to learn the ropes and dealing with the union workers was a big challenge.

Fort Collins has CSU and all the fun college stuff that goes with that. With all the growth affordable housing is expensive. I-25 is the highway and from Fort Collins to Denver is the most dangerous stretch of road in Colorado. We have been flooded with Cali-dims who have fucked up the state, and with the dim cheating turned it blue.

The mountains are beautiful and being loved to death. Horsetooth reservoir is a beautiful lake on the west side of town and a fun place to go hiking and such. There is at least one small range in town for shooting at a gun shop on east Mulberry. A four wheel or all wheel drive vehicle makes sense with the winter weather and snow.

I hate to be negative, but it isn't the state I was born into and used to love... If you have extra questions you can pm me and I would be happy to help with answers.

My eldest daughter has lived in Ft. Collins for the past couple of years and absolutely loves it. Previously lived in Southern and Northern CA, TN and MD. She has no plans on leaving Ft. Collins.
On the down side, housing is pretty expensive.
She lives in the north east part of the city, about 3 miles from the AB Brewery. There is a ton of building going on in the area of East Vine and North Timberline. It is a nice area and an easy drive to necessities.
Hope all goes well for her! As dads, out daughters, no matter how old they are, will always be our little girls......

I have lived in Fort Collins since 1991.

The area is expensive to find a place to rent. Wellington might be a good place to start out. It is significantly cheaper than Fort Collins.

I think most people in thier 20s prefer to live closer to old Town Fort Collins to enjoy the bars and restaurants. It is the most expensive area to rent.

No real public transportation. Gotta have vehicle since everything is spread out.

Feel free to drop me an email if you have any other questions.

quote:

Originally posted by HK Ag:
Detonics, not sure your comparison to Austin TX would be the correct one.
In my visits Ft. Collins is more like the College Station of Texas, College town with HP and other Tech companies (+ AB apparently) for employment.

Seemed like a pretty conservative locale vs the other liberal cities in Colorado.

But I am no expert.

You're probably right. I'm in Southern Colo. and have been up there for a pistol match or training but nothing long term. There is a definite contingency of liberals there with its being a college town, but nothing at all like Denver/Boulder.

One other thing that struck me while visiting was that it's a very clean town with well maintained roads. Lots of good venues for dining.

quote:

Originally posted by coloradohunter44:
Fort Collins has CSU and all the fun college stuff that goes with that. With all the growth affordable housing is expensive. I-25 is the highway and from Fort Collins to Denver is the most dangerous stretch of road in Colorado. We have been flooded with Cali-dims who have fucked up the state, and with the dim cheating turned it blue.

The mountains are beautiful and being loved to death. Horsetooth reservoir is a beautiful lake on the west side of town and a fun place to go hiking and such. There is at least one small range in town for shooting at a gun shop on east Mulberry. A four wheel or all wheel drive vehicle makes sense with the winter weather and snow.

I hate to be negative, but it isn't the state I was born into and used to love... If you have extra questions you can pm me and I would be happy to help with answers.

TX is a carbon copy. CO is just ahead of us in terms of this. Everything else you said applies to TX, except we don’t have any mountains or anything like it in the major cities.

OP, best of luck to your daughter.

I lived in Ft. Collins while I went to CSU, graduated in 1997. Great town, but it's much different than it was back then. Growing by leaps & bounds. I take my boys "cove camping" at Horsetooth reservoir every summer. If Ft. Collins was closer to the mountains (ski resorts) I'd probably live there. It's a bit of a pain because you have to drive down to the north Denver area, then head west to reach the ski resorts.

Tons of outdoor stuff to do if she's into that.

We always called it Fort Fun...and there's a reason for that!

It's a nice town, not as "progressive" as Boulder, but just as expensive. The G19 is welcome and she shouldn't have a problem getting her CWP.

It is sad what the influx of commies is doing but there is a lot of insulation from the invasion happening to the sanctuary towns. It's not a bad place to be if she can afford the housing. AWD/4x4 is mandatory IMO.

The Yutes love it. I'm there often for business, lots of tech in the area.

Hit the Charcoal Broiler, it's a time machine with yummy steaks.

Severance is just east of FTC. Along with Windsor and Greeley, it is growing like crazy. Don't know about housing, which is continually going up but multifamily building is booming so may stabilize somwhat. I still consider Greeley better ( at least parts) ( Weld cty vs. Larimer) than Loveland or even Fort Collins in many ways.

Colorado Town Declared The 'Safest' City In The State

Crime is bound to happen no matter where you live. Several major cities and towns have a reputation for rampant offenses and unlawful acts , making safety a priority among both current and future residents. While certain places can see some dramatic crime rates, every state has several places where crimes aren't so frequent .

That's why SafeWise revealed the safest city in each state. In its latest report, analysts used data from the FBI, U.S. Census Bureau, Gun Violence Archive, and other sources to determine their picks. They added, "We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population as calculated using FBI data."

According to the study, Colorado's safest city is Severance ! Located in Weld County, over 8,300 people live here. The median income is $111,055. In 2023, the violent crime rate is 0.0 incidents per 1,000 people, while the property crime rate is 2.8 per 1,000 people.

"Colorado leads the nation in property crime per capita, with motor vehicle thefts representing 20% of those crimes," the separate report states . "Colorado's violent crime rate also increased for the second year in a row and is the ninth-highest in the nation. However, our survey results show that Coloradans have lower-than-average concerns about experiencing violent crime and property crime."

Here are the Top 10 safest cities in Colorado:

Severance
Milliken
Frederick
Windsor
Eaton
Cherry Hills Village
Gypsum
Erie
Firestone
Estes Park

Wow! Thank you everyone for the information. Just what I was looking for.

@honestlou I will reach out to you to discuss more.

@coloradohunter44 I25 dangerous in term of road condition, traffic fatalities, or winter type? Daughter was raised and lived in IL/WI so she is used to driving snow.

That raises a question. Anything about driving around mountains that flatlanders know nothing about? I moved to GA a couple of years ago. We have hills and not really mountains here according to my daughter.

She does like hiking and camping. So any tips on wildlife out there? Am I going to have to get her a Glock 20 for bears?

quote:

Originally posted by Beanhead:
Wow! Thank you everyone for the information. Just what I was looking for.

@honestlou I will reach out to you to discuss more.

@coloradohunter44 I25 dangerous in term of road condition, traffic fatalities, or winter type? Daughter was raised and lived in IL/WI so she is used to driving snow.

That raises a question. Anything about driving around mountains that flatlanders know nothing about? I moved to GA a couple of years ago. We have hills and not really mountains here according to my daughter.

She does like hiking and camping. So any tips on wildlife out there? Am I going to have to get her a Glock 20 for bears?

I-25 is the only north south interstate road. It has little enforcement by LE with high volume and unchecked speeds. There are frequent crashes causing mega backups with no real good reliever side roads. Yes it has frequent fatalities. It is just very dangerous.

We get enough winter weather ice snow mix to justify a good all wheel or four wheel drive vehicle. People don't seem to know enough to slow down for the conditions. Lots of folks off in the ditch any time it snows. Lots of multiple vehicle accidents as well.

There are plenty of mountain trails and adventure areas west of the area to explore. The area they released moose back into the state is an hour drive west of the area. I don't personally think a large bore pistol is a necessity, just something for personal protection. Most bears flee when they encounter humans around here. Hope that helps.

quote:

Originally posted by HK Ag:
Detonics, not sure your comparison to Austin TX would be the correct one.
In my visits Ft. Collins is more like the College Station of Texas, College town with HP and other Tech companies (+ AB apparently) for employment.

Seemed like a pretty conservative locale vs the other liberal cities in Colorado.

But I am no expert.

I always heard Boulder and Austin were more comparable to each other than Ft Collins.

I've never been to Austin, but Fort Collins has a long ranching heritage and CSU is very agriculturally centric., whereas Boulder became a mecca for hippies during the 60's and 70's. It's totally batshit-left there and has been for a very long time.

I drive I-25 continuously for work from CS to FTC. It can definitely be harrowing, and you have to have serious defensive driving habits. I avoid it altogether if the weather is bad though, and I consider myself an expert behind the wheel. If you have no choice but to travel in bad weather, AWD and SNOW TIRES are a must. Don't get caught with your pants down with bald tires in the fall.