Welcome back... I grew up in Windsor and now live in Parker.

No idea for a rental, but if you end up buying I can recommend a good buyers agent.

Don't know the first thing about Fort Collins. But congrats on the move!

I think we PM'd about jobs before?

I grew up in loveland and now live in southern aurora/ parker. FOCO is nice, but then again I dont go up there that often anymore. I have a ton of friends that go to CSU,I went t college up there too. Youll know the bad parts of town when you see them. Most of the area is great for kids, Poudre school district is great. If you dont mind a commute Id also look in north loveland. Really starting to build that area up. Lots of stuff to do between FOCO-Loveland-Windsor/ Severance area. I reccomend staying away from greeley. Starting to get rougher up that way. But the other triangle plus the smaller towns are my kind of place to live. Will be trying to relocate up that way as soon as I get back from overseas.

Thanks! Jon Jacobs I'm guessing? He did a good bit of work on my Jeeps over the years. I was wondering what happened to him. I would prefer to live "out" a bit - not in a 1/10 acre subdivision.

What field are you working in if you don't mind me asking.

(oilfield here)

Lived in Loveland/Ft Collins for quite a while. I like the East side of Fort Collins (newer, more expensive). Depends on your budget and expectations. Ft. Collins is a beautiful city, but especially in the Springtime. Loveland and Fort Collins both have very nice bike trail systems that you don't get everywhere.

Avg. Home price in Loveland is about $250k, in Fort Collins $292k.

Depends where your job is and how much you want to commute.
East side has quicker access to I-25. West side quicker access to horsetooth, the mountains, etc.
The biggest downside I saw to Ft. Collins was lack of places to shoot close by.
Tons of resuraunts/bars in the city though, and some of the best Microbrews in the US are right at your fingertips. Also have one of the best liquor stores in the state (IMO) @ Wilburs. My favorite restaurant is also there (Young's Cafe). I commuted from S. Loveland to CSU for 4 years- wasn't particularly fun.

Loveland is a nice place. Very family friendly but not as much stuff going on. Vibrant art community (newly restored historical theater, sculpture capital of the US), nice bike trails, some nice open space near Devil's backbone, close to Big Thompson Canyon and Rocky Mountain National park. Both towns are kind of spread out though. Lots of rural areas surrounding.

Hope any of this is helpful, feel free to shot me a PM if you have any specific questions.
Loveland is cheaper rent than Fort Collins, but you will probably end up spending more on gas.

Inca and 3 Margs are better than Rio. So is Los Tarascos.

What kind of work do you do? I love FoCo and won't move but my hour commute to Denver sucks.

Traffic is a little worse. Other than that, it's the same old town.

Don't know about 3 margs. What i do know is the rio has the shittest crap that only drunk college kids and misinformed anglo's feel is good mexican.
If it wasn't for the marg's and CSU they would have shut down years ago. I'd eat a burrito from one of the few taco trucks on the north side before the rio.

The concert / music scene in ft fun is great. FOCOMX is coming up in April, well worth the price of admission, then some.
http://www.focomx.org/

I'm bummed that the Armadillo isn't as good as it used to be in the early 90s and 80s... Their Green Chile was amazing.

Tortilla Marissas's is a nice place- like you said, not authentic, but their tostadas are very good.

We like Tres Margaritas. They have damn good chicken mole, chile colorado and chile verde. Get some hot salsa to go with it, you won't be disappointed. I've had the chile colorado at Inca, and it was excellent, too.

No one mentioned Taqueria Los Comales yet? Best damn street tacos in town.

Their flautas kick a LOT of ass too.

Batteries Not included.

Fort Collins has a law that prohibits any more than 3 people not related to each other from renting a dwelling together. It keeps the problem of having 10 college kids from living in a 3 bedroom apt. What you'll probably find are scarce are 1-2 bedroom apts and homes, but 3 or more should be easier. When we moved here my wife tried some site like fortcollinsrentals.com, or something similar, and found quite a few listings.