Ft. Collins, CO

[Guest Sandra]

Hi, I'm considering my offer at Colorado State. Can anyone tell me about the living quality there? Will I need a car to get around? Any info is welcome!

[Guest dave]

I didn't attend CSU, but I lived in CO for my first 18 years and I've been up there a few times. Unless you plan on staying in Ft. Collins 100% of the time, you will definitely need a car. Public transportation within Colorado is horrible at best. I don't know if CSU provides anything in the way of a shuttle to Boulder

If you like outdoorsy stuff, you'll be very happy -it's close to skiing and about any other sport you can dream up. It's a pretty small town, it might be easy to get bored if you're used to a city. I haven't lived there though.

[Guest lacey]

i attended CSU for undergrad in addition to growing up there. one of my good friends is all about conservation, so because fort collins's public transportation is ridiculously bad, she lives within a block or two of campus. she does a lot of walking and bike-riding rather than driving. the campus is close to downtown (bars and food), shopping, tons of restaurants--it's basically the center of town. and there are tons of apartments and houses right around campus, and while those particular living places are slightly more expensive than apartments in other areas of town, they are still affordable and nice places to live. now that i think of it, CSU is refurbishing its public transit area so more buses can take more people more places and later into the day. still, for the size and nature of the town (it's a true blue college town), public transit is not funded well here--i think it has something to do with people in charge not willing to admit that the city is growing. there is a light rail idea in the works for transportation from ft collins to denver, and probably boulder somehow, but that's a few years out.

as for quality of living, i think ft collins has a really high level of quality. clean air, high median/average income, etc. however, jobs post-graduation are difficult to come by because everyone likes it here so much. i'm looking for a teaching job, for example, and i pretty much have to move away because there is no movement/retirement in the public school system in ft collins. i'm okay with that though--23 years of the fort is about 5 years too many.

best of luck with your search.

[Guest Sandra]

Thanks for the information:) I think I'm more concerned about the living quality than anything else, from what you have said, it seems like a really nice place to live.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting for the funding decision, but assume that I was awarded a TAship which exempts my tuition obligation with a stipend of around 10K to boot, would you recommand living on campus or renting off campus? I'm considering getting a car, so a little distance should be okay. I know that on-campus housing is around 600 dollars per month for a single room apartment, and something around 350 if you take a roommate. What are the rental rates for lets say, off campus but near the campus and somewhere more "downtown"?

Thank you for answering:)

[Guest laceyfish]

i think renting off-campus is a better idea. there are so, so many freshmen on campus (they just keep on building new freshmen dorms!), and while there are a number of grad students living on-campus as well, i think there's lots more freedom to be found even across the street from campus. rental rates are about the same: lofts and 1-bdrms in the city run between $450-1000/mo, depending on quality, proximity to campus and actual old town (old town being much more expensive to live in than the rest of the city), age, etc. two-bedroom houses and apartments are extremely affordable and are generally about the same price as one-bedrooms. i rented an apartment for two years with 2-bed, 2-bath, fireplace, full kitchen, patio, etc. for around $600/mo. i shared the rent and utilities with a roommate, and it was perfect. if you're willing to live with a roommate (and the choices are endless in this college town), you don't have to go over $325/mo (+utilities, obviously) for a decent place at a decent distance from campus.

if you're looking for non-boonie, close-to-downtown, off-campus, and non-astronomically-expensive places to live, stay inside these streets: taft hill, laporte avenue, riverside/lemay, and prospect. be warned, though, that streets like mountain ave., oak st., and other streets close to college ave. have deceptively small and expensive houses on them. and don't go north of cherry street. ok, that's all.

~Lacey

[Guest laceyfish]

oh yeah: there are lots of affordable, decent apartments just south of prospect too (that's the street that runs east-west that is the south border of CSU campus), but they're just not as close to downtown. tons of students live in those houses and apartments, as well as all over the rest of the city. so if you can't find anything near downtown, there's always parking there if you have to live farther away.

[Guest Guest]

i'm not from fort collins but i've been there and i loved it! the young folks are friendly, and the downtown area is really cute with some nice cafes and bars (and CHEAP.... $3 for a red bull and vodka? i almost fell off my barstool!) and to echo what others have said, if you like outdoorsy activities you're all set. check out poudre canyon for camping and rafting. colorado is just gorgeous!

[Guest Sandra]

Hi, thanks for all the info!! I really hope that I will be getting some funding, then I can make up my mind about going to CSU. I'm thinking about getting a car, any thoughts on this?

[Guest laceyfish]

i personally dislike large cars, trucks, and SUVs, especially hummers. you can get around in the mountains here just fine without a big gas-guzzler. i have a honda accord, and that thing is the best little piece of metal and rubber ever. gas prices at the moment are hovering around $2.45/gallon, so the accord keeps my prices down--at least better than my dad's durango.

[MAN]

I'll bump this thread because CSU is one of my top choices for grad school. Does anyone have any updated info on CSU/Fort Collins? I'm interested to hear if there is any good places to live near campus. Any other information about nightlife/activities would also be helpful. Thanks!

[Jcrisn]

Fort Collins is a cool mid-sized town (I'd say just over 100K ppl) and there are a lot of conveniences. First, decent housing is available close to campus and if you're a bike person you will find Ft. Collins and CSU friendly to bikers. Whatever you do just stay close to campus, its pretty much right in the middle of everything. If you're an outdoorsy person you'll be thrilled with what FoCo and the surrounding areas have to offer and probably won't be bored too much. If you're not an outdoors person the town should still offer enough to do for you to keep busy you just have to seek it out a bit more, depending on what you're into of course. Denver is only 60 miles away if you need a major city for anything (and a fun place to hang out by the way).

People in FoCo will often brag about how many breweries are in the area and hold it up as one of the best beer towns you'll ever encounter. Its true, there are a good amount of breweries but half of them brew crappy beer (in my humble opinion) that half the time make me wanna strangle somebody for a simple bud light. What's more is that they often only have THEIR beers which kills me. But you'll get plenty of New Belgium and O'Dell's which is far from a bad thing (oh, so tasty)! Downtown offers a pretty good assortment of hangouts from a couple dance spots, to pool halls, to an irish pub, etc. Also, away from campus you'll find some cool spots which offer a change from the downtown scene. Honestly, if you know how to have a good time I don't think FoCo will disappoint. Just meet the right people.

The town has an overall good feel to it. I definitely wouldn't say the people are super nice but they're also not excessively rude. As a grad student who lived off campus for two years I feel extremely lucky to have had cool people in my department, otherwise I don't know how I would have made friends. It is these people that allowed me to enjoy this city because I think I may have otherwise been miserable. I'm a pretty clean cut, Latin, warm-blooded city boy from AZ and while nobody ever made me feel unwelcome, I never fully fit in with the FoCo vibe (olus its SO COLD!). Again, not a knock on the place, just didn't mesh so well with it as other people did (many that have ever lived here will tell you its an amazing place). The thought of leaving here in May to return to a warmer climate puts a smile on my face and I won't be rushing back. But, again, that's just me.

Now the reality: this university and this state have SERIOUS education problems in terms of money. Adjuncts are so far underpaid it makes me sick and the university does not offer health benefits to its TAs, which I find rediculous at this point. As a TA I outearned the adjuncts I TA'd for unless they tought multiple courses. Add that to the fact that at least TWO bad budget years are in the future and you'll realize how shaky your funding is. Its unfortunate, but its reality.

I hope that gives you a decent idea. Let me know if there are any specific questions you might have and I'll do my best to oblige.

[n081280m]

So I am seriously considering attending Colorado State for graduate school. Does anyone have any specific housing apartment complexes they know of that they would recommend to a graduate student? I'm looking for 1 bedroom or studio, furnished, good parking, 400-850 rent, as close to the campus as possible without being 'on campus'. It's a lot to ask, but I'm unsure of which place would be best for a guy that has never been to Colorado.

[qbtacoma]

So I am seriously considering attending Colorado State for graduate school. Does anyone have any specific housing apartment complexes they know of that they would recommend to a graduate student? I'm looking for 1 bedroom or studio, furnished, good parking, 400-850 rent, as close to the campus as possible without being 'on campus'. It's a lot to ask, but I'm unsure of which place would be best for a guy that has never been to Colorado.

I grew up in Fort Collins, so I'll give this a shot.

I don't know that you're going to get furnished places in any apartment complexes - that's not really standard in Fort Collins. However, don't worry about parking - it will be highly irregular to get a place without your own parking space, garage space, or lots of street parking around. The city accommodates cars very well. While there are paid parking garages, there is free parking in Old Town for the first two hours and no parking meters anywhere in the city. Campus has notoriously scrupulous parking police, so you just shouldn't park there unless you have a permit.

I think you are going to have lots of trouble finding a place to live in that price range. The trouble is that the campus is near Old Town, where there are cute houses which have been kept up. You're only going to get under a thousand if you have roommates and/or don't mind living in dumpy/unstylish/dark/etc places. The Campus West area (which isn't really on campus - it's west of Shields, around W Elizabeth St) has a lot of housing that the university owns (bad quality) for families and foreign grad students. You might be able to find something around there, but that's where the undergrads go as well. My sister lives in an apartment complex which is new-ish around Lemay, near the hospital. You would definitely have better luck if you looked in the area between College and Lemay. Fort Collins is really sprawling these days to the south - growth has been slower to the east, so you'll find newer, better kept up places which are still closer to campus than places south of Horsetooth. Does this help?

[hejduk]

Anyone that I can PM to ask about apartments/housing?

Or anyone have anything additional they'd like to add to this thread? I just accepted an offer for CSU, and while I've visited already, I have no clue where to start with regards to housing. Also, anyone know the local public education scene? Need to start looking for job opportunities for my spouse.

[Gunner24]

Anyone that I can PM to ask about apartments/housing?

Or anyone have anything additional they'd like to add to this thread? I just accepted an offer for CSU, and while I've visited already, I have no clue where to start with regards to housing. Also, anyone know the local public education scene? Need to start looking for job opportunities for my spouse.

Not promising, hedjuk...Poudre Valley school district has downsized heavily in the last few years. Colorado is kind of the worst for public ed funding. I'm sure you'll look of course, but I'd recommend also looking nearby in Loveland, Windsor or even Greeley, which haven't had the massive cuts like FC area.

[hejduk]

Anyone have spots that are a must for day trips or just time to kill before the semester starts?

[qbtacoma]

Anyone have spots that are a must for day trips or just time to kill before the semester starts?

Rocky Mountain National Park is an excellent day trip. Or a nice activity in the fall is to go up to Estes Park and listen to the elk mating calls. Horsetooth Rock (or the reservoir, if you have a boat) is literally a half hour drive away and it only takes an hour to hike to the top of the rock, plus there are some easy trails for kids as well.

As for culture, there's pretty much everything in Denver. You should take a tour of the Celestial Seasonings tea factory just outside of Boulder - it's free, and the store sells some varieties of herbal tea you can't find in stores. There's also the Dushanbe teahouse in Boulder, which was imported from Tajikstan and is gorgeous. It is possible to have formal afternoon tea if you make reservations, which is totally worth it. Dinner is a bit expensive though.

[UnlikelyGrad]

There's also the Dushanbe teahouse in Boulder, which was imported from Tajikstan and is gorgeous. It is possible to have formal afternoon tea if you make reservations, which is totally worth it. Dinner is a bit expensive though.

OMG, yes, Dushanbe teahouse! Dinner is only a bit expensive if you are used to Denny's prices. Compared to most restaurants with that ambience/amazing quality of food, it's a bargain. (It's cheaper than places like Table Mountain Inn in Golden, which has not-quite-as-good food.)

[ILuvPsych2013]

Hi everybody!

I was wondering if anyone has been through or knows anything about the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Ph.D program at CSU. Any feedback on the program or CSU in general?

Thanks!

[Sigaba]

Hi everybody!

I was wondering if anyone has been through or knows anything about the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Ph.D program at CSU. Any feedback on the program or CSU in general?

Thanks!

Are you going to show some respect for the contributions of other members of this BB by using the search button? (For example, there was a very good discussion of life in Fort Collins last week.)

Or are you just going to cut and paste the same basic question into every thread remotely related to your areas of interest?

[ILuvPsych2013]

Are you going to show some respect for the contributions of other members of this BB by using the search button? (For example, there was a very good discussion of life in Fort Collins last week.)

Or are you just going to cut and paste the same basic question into every thread remotely related to your areas of interest?

Looking into schools and areas like everyone else. Saw nothing about the I/O program.

[stell4]

I am heading up to Fort Collins next week to check out the area and get an idea of places I would want to live.

I'll only be there a few days. Is there anything or anywhere that I should make sure to check out while I am there. I am from CO (Boulder) so I am familiar with the outlying area, I am mostly interested where to go in Ft. Collins, which I am not at all familiar with.

Also, I am curious about areas to look into for housing. I have 5 dogs and a cat that must come with me (I know, a little excessive, but at least one of them I had to take on as a family member was leaving the country) so I need a house with a yard. I would of course like to live near the campus, but I am guessing that may not be possible for a reasonable amount of money for what I need. Suggestions on areas to look into, or areas with renters that would be more likely to rent to someone with a million dogs? I ride my bike a lot and would really like to be near a bike path or streets with bike lanes that would get me to campus. I am also open to suggestions of areas that are further out of town in case that ends up my only option.

Is there much of a need for substitute teachers in the area? I have a teaching license in NM and thought it might be nice to pick up a few hours/cash hear and there should I get the chance while I am in school. Anyone also have any info about getting a substitute license in CO? I don't need to get a full on teaching license there, I do not plan to go back into teaching again.

Or is thinking I'll have a spare half day here or there to substitute completely unreasonable when in a MS program?

[vision15]

Bumping this thread up as I might join CSU this fall for my PhD. How is the city in general? Is it like a urban place like Denver or a college town of sorts? I am an international student, so is there any specific location, foreign students prefer to live in general and how is the rent like? Are there hangouts, clubs and diners in the city and maybe Indian restaurants?

And most importantly, the $1700 monthly stipend I have been offered, will that be good enough for me to survive there?

[vision15]

Bounce!!!!

[MrOtrebla]

Bumping as well... Anyone recommend a way to find roommates? I'm 80% sure I'll be headed over there unless Indiana University really blows my mind