In July, the newly renovated Center for Creativity welcomed 800 community members to experience and enjoy art from 60 local artists. Showcasing the variety of talent and creativity in Fort Collins, the event included family-friendly artmaking, collage making, a ceramics demonstration, wearable art showcases and performances by local musicians. Open Wednesdays through Sundays at 400 Matthews St., the Center is positioned to serve as a valuable hub for the arts and community collaborations in Fort Collins.

Explore the Center for Creativity

The City is building upon the legacy of more than 30 years of land conservation efforts with the Natural Areas Strategic Framework: The Guide to Conservation and Stewardship. This Council-adopted plan will combine results from the 2023 Our Lands Our Future survey, feedback from roughly 3,000 community members collected through several forms of outreach and data from current and future trends to create a vision for our beloved natural areas for the next 10 to 20 years. Initial public feedback continued through August, after which the draft plan will be released for a second phase of public engagement in 2025.

Work is currently underway on a new segment of the Poudre Trail that will provide connection from Arapaho Bend Natural Area to a recently completed underpass at I-25. After two remaining sections are built next year, the City’s construction in this regional collaboration will be complete. More than 40 years in the making, the Poudre River Regional Trail will provide 45 miles of safe and convenient continuous trail from Bellvue to Greeley

Check In on the project

The 2024 Community Survey results are in: We were pleased to see that residents rated Fort Collins highly in overall quality of life, cultural and recreational opportunities and interactions with City staff. Unsurprisingly, housing affordability and traffic stood out as areas of concern. These survey results—plus findings from ongoing public engagement—serve as crucial tools for incorporating resident feedback into City service delivery and budget planning, which will kick off this fall.

Dig into the executive Summary, highlights and key findings from the survey

2024 marked the CityWorks 101 program’s 18th year, inviting 28 participants to spend eight weeks learning about the innerworkings of City operations directly from City staff. The class took field trips to Salyer Natural Area, The Farm at Lee Martinez Park, the Traffic Operations Center, the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and even one of the City’s wastewater treatment plants. This year's cohort joins an alumni group—now over 400 strong—many of which have gone on to serve on City Council, Boards & Commissions, as City staff and volunteers, and in other public service roles. Registration for the 2025 CityWorks 101 program will open in January.

Learn about the program and how to register

Every two years the City embarks on a comprehensive budget development process to fund City programs and services. This spring, staff put forward their budget requests for ongoing and enhanced services, as well as any one-time special projects.

Throughout the summer, cross-departmental budget teams and the City’s executive team work to prioritize those requests, evaluating trade-offs and aligning with community and Council goals, and ultimately allocate funding and staff resources—with the goal of an efficient and effective City organization dedicated to providing high quality services the community expects from their local government. The City Manager’s Recommended Budget is published just before Labor Day, and then City Council will review, make adjustments and hear community input before adopting a final budget Nov. 19.

Learn about the budget and share your feedback

In a move worth celebrating—which we did with a fun ceremony in July— the Federal Transit Administration awarded Transfort a $2.4 million grant to improve accessibility and comfort at bus stops.

Our Accessibility Enhancements Project, which we’re working on with Colorado State University (CSU), will provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant upgrades to more than 40 existing bus stops. Those include stops on CSU’s Main and Foothills Campuses, ADA improvements to the concrete infrastructure at the Downtown Transit Center, and the purchase and installation of comfort amenities such as bus shelters, benches and lighting.

Funding will also go toward building 10 new ADA-compliant bus stops to accommodate future expansion on North College Avenue, helping Transfort advance its vision of a transit system that serves all residents equitably.

In Q2, the City received eight grant awards, totaling $781,178. Community Development & Neighborhood Services got $344,894 to work on our proposed Environmental Master Plan. Our Water Quality Services Division received $209,688 to help develop a wildfire ready action plan. Natural Areas received $90,000 to restore wetland and riparian habitat at Brannigan Springs in Soapstone Prairie Natural Area with a proposed installation of human-made versions of beaver dams.

Connexion recently expanded its internet service to the Hickory Village mobile home park—the first mobile home park to receive Connexion. So far, nearly 10% of the more-than-200 residents have signed up for service, with many utilizing Connexion’s Digital Inclusion Program. Thanks to a Larimer County grant, Connexion is also wrapping up construction in the Fort Collins Growth Management Area near Taft Hill Road and Harmony Road, where community members should be able to start signing up for service in the next couple months.

Fort Collins Connexion’s financial growth remained strong through the first half of 2024 with revenue in Q2 growing at more than 30% year over year.

Learn more and dive deeper into Connexion financials

The new East District Parks Maintenance Facility, located on Environmental Drive near Drake and Ziegler roads, received LEED Gold Certification earlier this year. The new facility allows Parks crews to more efficiently and effectively maintain parks and trails in southeast Fort Collins. The facility features several environmentally friendly systems and design elements, including low-flow water fixtures and low maintenance/low-water landscaping, and LED lighting. It is an all-electric facility with EV charging stations for fleet vehicles, is heated and cooled with a geo-thermal ground loop and eight efficient heat pumps and has a solar PV system that helps to offset the building’s energy use, making it net zero for annual energy consumption.

This summer, the City’s Emergency Preparedness & Security office launched a new emergency preparedness initiative, FC Ready, to help residents prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters, building greater community resilience. Knowing Fort Collins can experience natural or human-caused disasters anytime, FC Ready offers simple actions residents can take to be prepared for the next emergency: signing up for emergency alerts, training and volunteer opportunities, learning about local hazards and how to prepare, and building a household emergency kit.

Get prepared

The Harmony Roadwork Project finished in June, and marked the first time the City’s Street Maintenance Program performed asphalt milling and paving at the same time on a project, completing the work in about half the usual time, saving time and money. Due to the high impacts of the project, we had an extensive outreach program to ensure businesses and residents along the East Harmony corridor were kept up to date on project timelines and had minimal disruptions to their routines. A post-project survey is planned to gather feedback from the community that will inform how similar projects are managed in the future.

Read more about 2024 Harmony Roadwork

Earlier this year, City Traffic Operations made changes to traffic signal timing on South Timberline Road, between East Harmony Road and Carpenter Road, based on how vehicles typically use that stretch of road. Vehicle traffic is now traveling 25 seconds faster going south on Timberline and 11 seconds faster traveling north. Overall, the changes reduce our annual CO2 emissions by about 50,000 pounds and increase traffic safety by reducing traffic slowing and stopping along this part of Timberline.

Domestic violence, dating violence or intimate partner violence is a serious issue which can and has escalated to homicide in our community. In response, Fort Collins Police Services (FCPS) is implementing a Domestic Violence High-Risk Team (DVHRT) focused on identifying high-risk individuals and ultimately preventing domestic violence homicides. Our FCPS team has been laying the groundwork to ensure the success of DVHRT once we fully implement it, including collaborative meetings with local organizations and judicial districts to assess needs, direction and necessary training for all involved.

The City and Poudre Fire Authority, with support from community donors and partners, dedicated the new 9/11 Memorial at Spring Park in early July. A 3,000-pound steel I-beam from ground zero, as well as 343 individual stone pavers for each firefighter who perished on 9/11, memorialize the events of that tragic day. Now open for the community, the memorial serves as a place of remembrance and reflection for visitors, as well as a symbol of collective strength and resilience.

Our Economic Health Office helped host an international delegation from Taiwan and introduced them to Fort Collins’ unique economic profile—from our highly-educated workforce to top employers in advanced manufacturing, research and development industries. Interested in developing U.S. operations, the group of Taiwan businesses and associations in the quantum, photonics and semiconductor fields visited Colorado to see what the area offered. Our presentation showed off our local semiconductor industry and our work to pair CHIPS Zone incentives with a strong innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem and partnerships.

Learn about more of the Economic Health Office's work

In early July, an equipment failure stopped the Soldier Canyon Filter Plant from sending treated water to Fort Collins-Loveland Water District (FCLWD) and other water providers in the region. While it didn’t affect Fort Collins Utilities customers, our water treatment plant operators jumped into action to provide support for our neighbors. Staff worked with field operators to help feed about 2.2 million gallons of water into the FCLWD storage tanks in just four hours. Our team’s quick action prevented a total loss of water supply to our neighboring FCLWD customers and illustrated the power of collaboration and public service.

In Q2, we made significant progress on several capital improvement projects. Construction of bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths on Laporte Avenue between Fishback Avenue and Frey Avenue began in May and is just wrapping up. The College/Trilby Intersection Improvements project kicked off its first construction phase in April, focusing on site preparation surrounding the intersection. Meanwhile the Centre Avenue Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements project completed its coordination, design and outreach phases, with construction starting last month. Asphalt resurfacing is now complete and new waiting areas for pedestrians in the road’s median are currently under construction, with separated bike lanes planned for installation this fall. We’re excited for progress to continue to get you biking, driving and walking more smoothly and safely across Fort Collins!

The Oak Street Stormwater Project kicked off July 8, starting the installation of $36 million of stormwater infrastructure to help resolve flooding issues in Downtown Fort Collins. Work started between Mason and Meldrum streets, but the full project will go from Mason Street to City Park until work finishes at end of 2026.

Follow the project's work

Did you know the Lincoln Center’s 2023-2024 season sold 41,663 tickets? That’s our highest number on record!

At The Gardens on Spring Creek 3,160 people came to our Spring Plant Sale this year—and we sold more than 34,050 plants! The Gardens also celebrated their 20th anniversary, and 729 people came out to party at the Birthday Bash.

Over 3,000 people attended Kids in the Park at Twin Silo Park. More than kids joined in the fun, 30 City departments and divisions and local organizations and businesses joined in to host activities and engage with the community.

Our community had fun getting around the city too. Summer Bike to Work (or Wherever) Day had 6,300 morning riders and 654 afternoon riders—a record for that part of the event.

Did you see art and other cultural experiences in unconventional spaces around our community this summer? You might have seen one of the 61 events held as a part of our Cultural Community Programs that featured 157 artists engaging about 3,200 people from April through June.