What do you look for when you want to relocate? Economic weather? Culture? Outdoor activities? Whatever they maybe, Fort Collins will surely rank high among the best places to live in.
With a market that saw a booming retail industry in the 1980s that continued on to well maintained manufacturing and service industries. The city is credited with 11.45 patents per 10,000 residents a figure almost 40 times of the national average. Fort Collins / Larimer Small Business Development Center serve as a strong backbone with which startup enterprises derive help and support from. Colorado State University’s College of Business and its Entrepreneurship Center also serves as development pools for entrepreneurs. If you’re out to make it big, this place is one of the best places to live in, ranked by Money magazine as the best place to live in America in 2006, citing the city’s “high tech economy”. Add to that local tax incentive for qualified companies that can give up to 50% tax cuts for up to four years and you have a conducive place of business.
Largely a university city, Fort Collins is centered around Colorado State University as exemplified by its large college age demographic. The University is the top employer in the city with close to 7,000 workers and professionals. This means there are a lot of activities in and out of campus premises that keep the calendar year bursting with events and celebrations such as the Colorado Marathon, Fort Collins Jazz Experience and Oktoberfest.
Fort Collins is also one of the best places to live in for brewing aficionados with its animated micro brewery culture. In Colorado Brewer’s Festival, local breweries like New Belguin Brewing Company, Odell Brewing Company and the Fort Collins Brewery showcase their signature brews. The Original C.B. & Potts Restaurant and its Big Horn Brewer is iconic as well as Copper Smith’s Pub and Brewing, a staple since 1989.
It is also one of the best places to live in for health buffs as virtually every new road is constructed with a bike lane, encouraging a healthy lifestyle and lower carbon signatures. Bikes can even be borrowed from the bike library for up to seven days. They also have innovative environmental projects like FortZED, an area in downtown Fort Collins, which is fast becoming the world’s biggest zero energy district by utilizing Smart grid and renewable energy technologies to minimize energy costs and further sustainability. The project has gotten national attention, with the U.S. Department of Energy contributing $6.3 million the Colorado Department of Local Affairs has contributed $778,000 and $8 million from private companies and foundations.
Fort Collins is constantly on “Best Places to Live and Retire in” lists due to its balanced focal points of economy, culture, health and ecological awareness. Share those goals today and realize your own in this one of a kind city and grow, sustain and succeed with people who share the same things you value. See you in the bike lanes!