Living in Wellington

Wellington is about ten miles north of Fort Collins and is the last town you hit on Interstate 25 before the Wyoming line, which is why it calls itself Colorado's Northern Gateway. It started as a railroad stop in the early 1900s and stayed a quiet farm town of a few hundred people for most of the century. These days it's home to a little over 12,000 people, up from about 6,300 in 2010.

The appeal is pretty simple. You get a small town with open skies and room to breathe, and you're still about 15 minutes from Fort Collins and less than an hour from Cheyenne. Downtown along Cleveland Avenue has local restaurants and coffee shops, and the town has added parks and trails as it's grown.

Most of Wellington's homes were built in the last 25 years, in neighborhoods like Sage Meadows, Wellington Downs, Buffalo Creek and Three Silos. Outside town limits you'll find acreage properties and small ranches, especially to the west toward the foothills. Wellington is part of Poudre School District and has its own combined middle and high school, so students don't have to commute into Fort Collins.