I got a job in Fort Collins at some podunk ag school. I start 1 February.

I need advice on the good (quiet) part of town to live (no parties, no bass music, and no more than 2 miles from campus so I can bike into work)
The bike shops I should avoid.
The quickest way to get info on hiking trails.

I bet I can figure out the rest. But sleep is important. I really don't want to hear some stupid kid's music late at night.

Don't know too much about FC except I like it, Congrats!

nikolai wrote:I got a job in Fort Collins at some podunk ag school. I start 1 February.

I need advice on the good (quiet) part of town to live (no parties, no bass music, and no more than 2 miles from campus so I can bike into work)
The bike shops I should avoid.
The quickest way to get info on hiking trails.

I bet I can figure out the rest. But sleep is important. I really don't want to hear some stupid kid's music late at night.

I really wouldn't expect to find anyplace within 2 miles of CSU that doesn't have students living nearby. A friend lives south of town (Harmony Road) which is quiet but doesn't fit your 2 mile requirement. Can't help with bike shops. Bikes hadn't been invented when I lived there.

Are you sure you want to move to Ft Fun? Sounds as if you've already written it off -----podunk ag school? Stupid kids? Not going to find much else in a podunk college town in NoCO.

Well, living within two miles of campus is going to almost ensure students living nearby, it just depends on how rowdy of a street you find. Bike shops, I don't know which one to avoid, but the one on Laurel, (can't remember the name, maybe Jim's?) is where I picked up my bike for school and I was very happy. The quickest way to get information on hiking trails is pretty much SummitPost. As far as a quick and easy trail, head up one of the many Horsetooth trails. Also, the trail up from Hughes Stadium, (leads towards the A) is a fun mountain biking trail. If you want any more specifics feel free to ask, or send me a PM. Also, congrats on moving to Fort Collins! It is an amazing town with some really cool people, I am sure you will realize that it is not a "podunk Ag college/town.." but rather, an awesome place to live!
Cheers,
Luke

nikolai wrote:I got a job in Fort Collins at some podunk ag school. I start 1 February.

I need advice on the good (quiet) part of town to live (no parties, no bass music, and no more than 2 miles from campus so I can bike into work)
The bike shops I should avoid.
The quickest way to get info on hiking trails.

I bet I can figure out the rest. But sleep is important. I really don't want to hear some stupid kid's music late at night.

Wow, our little podunk Ag school has some departments in it that are the best in the nation if not worldly ranked. What exactly is your new job going to be that garners such a negative light towards CSU? (your attitude could just be tongue in cheek too, not sure with strangers on the intardtubes)

Quiet part of town? You'll want SoPro, that's anywhere south of Prospect Rd. The area from Harmony south is your best bet, better known as Fort Loveland. Probably cheaper too. If you have $500,000 for a 900sq.ft 1910 bungalow, then you can live on Mountain and you might find quiet there too.

Why so restrictive on distance? We're a very bike friendly town, and while not all the light work they way they should all the time, an easy commute of five miles shouldn't bother you at all. I do that one way from my place to campus (actually just south of it) on a daily basis in 20 minutes. Getting within 2mi of campus is going to pretty much rentals - rentals = high probability of students and noise.

Bike shops to avoid...hrm, not really sure on that one, they are all pretty good. I like to rotate through them occasionally; really geared towards building a custom fit bike to your body - so they may seem off-putting at times (great guys though).
- The Cycologist: higher priced, but great custom service; excellent at acquiring pretty much any item you need.
- Lee's: the FoCo standard; been around forever; two locations (by campus and on Harmony); pretty decent repair staff, although could vary depending on who's graduated recently; maybe not as much items in store to buy.
- Road 34: near campus; comes with it's own bar/pub, often with nightly music; service ok, but only been once; not a large selection of in store parts.
- Recycled Cycles: great place for used bikes; large and extensive workshop; good used part selection; items often not found in other stores.
- Full Cycle: nice selection of items and parts in store; friendly staff; small but sufficient looking shop.
- The FoCo Bike COOP: great place to volunteer your time; the place to donate old bike parts and/or bikes; you can volunteer and work to build your own bike there.

Probably missed a few but so it goes.

As for finding hiking - just head to the west towards the giant podunk "A" on the foothills.

MarthaP wrote:Are you sure you want to move to Ft Fun? Sounds as if you've already written it off -----podunk ag school? Stupid kids? Not going to find much else in a podunk college town in NoCO.

I was trying to wind people up with those flip characterizations. I succeeded. Yay internets!


I've lived exclusively in college towns for the last 13 years, and I'm no stranger to the spoiled suburbanite college kid culture. But now I'm a tired old man and I need to get a solid 8 hours at night. In Blacksburg, VA, in Davis, CA, in Manchester, UK, there are definitely quiet neighborhoods and there are definitely loud ones. I'm searching for the former, not the latter.

But I guess I want it all with the living situation. No loud party student neighbors, but close to happening 30-something bars, but far enough from campus that I can feel like I'm leaving work when I leave work, but close enough that the daily bicycle commute is manageable even in foul weather.

I anticipate I will end up moving a few times as I get to know the town.

Alright moving to FoCo! Personally there is nowhere i would rather be. Actually the area around where I live is relatively quiet although it is going to be primarily rentals (not sure if you want to rent or not). Im on Elizabeth and Overland. Its right about two miles from campus but because its off of overland, there is not the amount of students that areas like rams point and crossing have. While the latter locations have about 90% students the condos I live in are about 50-55% students, pretty decent for so close to campus. Its a quiet area, and have never had an issue with noise. I live in saddle ridge and would say stay away from those particular condos (if your looking for a condo), the construction is pretty poor. The great thing about being off of overland is the proximity to the pineridge natural area. Fun mountain biking and hiking and close to horsetooth for bouldering and close to maxwell natural area for mountain biking. I would recommend picking up a fort collins natural area map, it will have everything labled. Outside of fort collins use sp, rei, the mountain shop and word of mouth for info about where to go. Bike shops, stay away from LEE's the few times i have been in there the sales staff have been pretentious and just frustratingly egotistical. Full Cycle is great, willing to spend time going over questions and will sometimes do minor adjustments for free. Road 34 is fine, very limited parts shop, but staff seems friendly. What are you doing for the school? Im a junior geology student there.

nikolai wrote:

MarthaP wrote:Are you sure you want to move to Ft Fun? Sounds as if you've already written it off -----podunk ag school? Stupid kids? Not going to find much else in a podunk college town in NoCO.

I was trying to wind people up with those flip characterizations. I succeeded. Yay Internet!

That's an odd thing to take such pride in....

You sure you're not from Texas?

PS I corrected your reference to internets. There is only one and it's a proper noun.

I live close to dps, near Lemay and Stuart. We think the location is ideal. Close to downtown and the campus, but not too close. Easy access to the Spring Creek bike trail. This trail gets you near the south end of campus. As noted close to Sunflower Market as well as Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck), Wilburs Liquor store and a nice health club, if any of that interests you.

We are in a patio home development, one in our courtyard is currently for sale. Mostly old geezers like me live here, but we respect that everyone likes it quiet. There is a young couple (30-ish) across the street from us. They bike a lot. We get together with them every so often.

Wherever you wind up, one problem you'll have is remembering where it is after you have sucked down a couple of margs at the Rio.

I detected what I took as satire in your original post ...

MarthaP wrote:
PS I corrected your reference to internets. There is only one and it's a proper noun.

At least he didn't say "interwebs".

nikolai wrote:I guess I want it all with the living situation. No loud party student neighbors, but close to happening 30-something bars, but far enough from campus that I can feel like I'm leaving work when I leave work, but close enough that the daily bicycle commute is manageable even in foul weather.

If you're able to find a happening 30-something bar anywhere in Fort Collins, please let me know about it.

Wish I could help you with all that, but I like the loud college kids, they're fun.

nikolai wrote:The quickest way to get info on hiking trails.

This I may be able to help out with. Actually, maybe you (and all you other FoCo SP'ers) could even help me out with a little project I've taken an interest in: The Outdoor Club at Podunk Ag University. I could really use all the help I can get.

www.csuoutdoorclub.com
http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/CSU-Out ... 6247719673

Thanks so much.

I'm here. I found an apartment near near Lemay and Swallow and I'm moved in, although I own almost no furniture. I also went out to Horsetooth Mountain today.
The hiking and re-fitnessizing has commenced.