Rated the Best Place to LIve in the US, is Fort Collins for Families?

So a couple weeks ago Money magazine announced Fort Collins, Colorado as the best place to live in 2006. I’m 22 and I love Fort Collins, and I hope I’m around for the fun when we start getting yuppies moving in because of that bold statement. We’re not all as enthusiastic as you may think about this article. It’s causing a lot of new development and they’re talking about damming the Poudre River to meet with new water requirements. Part of the reason I love the Fort is because of all the open land and the Poudre Canyon/River is great for camping, hiking, swimming, tubing and fishing. The other reason I love this town is the reason that I don’t think we’ll spend very long at the top.

Fort Collins loves to party! We love to start with free beer at New Belgium, and then go to Old Town Square and drink it up with new friends that we won’t remember in the morning! Yes, there are a few things for kids and families, but not much. I can’t wait for the first time a drunken college guy shows up at some newcomer’s house at three in the morning, stating he is on a scavenger hunt and he needs a pair of purple lace panties to win! Fort Collins IS the best place to live if you want to start drinking in the mid-afternoon and wake up the following morning in a hammock in your friend’s back yard with no recollection of how your clothes left your body (not that I’ve done that, that…happened to a, uhhh, friend, yeah).

I do agree that it is very affordable. You can get a very nice and spacious two bedroom apartment for less than $1,000/month. And it is a nice place in terms of scenery, education, crime rates (although property crimes are a little high; gee, I wonder why), and pizza joints per capita (one of the highest in the country!). But to raise a family? I just don’t know. There are so many bad influences (students like me) that it just doesn’t seem to be the place I’d want to raise my kids. It’s a college town, so you have to expect college life. Don’t these people remember when they were in college? Hell, my mom’s told me about her acid trips and taking speed to cram for finals, and my dad was so stoned I’m not sure he even remembers much of college. College life/partying has changed somewhat, but not necessarily for the better. There’s more potent drugs, more drinking, and it’s starting at a younger age (commonly eighth or ninth grade). My advice for prospective residents is visit during the school year when the most college students are around, get a hotel near Old Town (there’s the one right across College Ave. from campus, I think it’s a Best Western), stay a few days, and one night walk the couple blocks to Old Town Square and stop by places like Zydeco’s, Lucky Joe’s, Washington’s, and Tony’s on a Friday or Saturday night. Be sure to be in Old Town square at 2 a.m. when the bars close and look around. We’re having a great time, but is this the environment you want a family exposed to? I wouldn’t, we’ll have to see if others will.