2024 saw the beginnings of a 30-year investment in Fort Collins parks and recreation assets, as well as transit and climate programs. Thanks to a 2023 voter-approved tax, the City completed improvements and projects at more than 20 park locations and several recreation facilities, while restoring key transit routes like MAX and HORN.

Looking ahead, the 2050 tax will support renovations to the Rolland Moore Tennis Center and playground, the design and construction of the Southeast Community Center, provide $5 million annually to air and climate pollution reduction programs, and fund the design of the West Elizabeth Bus Rapid Transit project and construction of the future Foothills Transit Station.

In fall, the City began its new Contracted Residential Trash and Recycling Program for more than 36,000 households with initial estimates already showing a large increase in how much waste the program diverts from the landfill—particularly due to an estimated 46% increase in access to yard trimmings collection. The program provides consistent and transparent pricing, while increasing safety and aiming to reduce emissions by limiting the number of trash trucks on residential streets.

In 2024, the City reached an incredible milestone: 1 million volunteer hours from community members. That time donation has a monetary value of more than $33 million and is a key part of how the City keeps programs affordable and accessible to our community.

Learn more about volunteer opportunities

In November, City Council adopted the 2025-2026 Budget, which directs resources for core municipal services, City Council priorities and the objectives outlined in the 2024 Strategic Plan. The budget, which allocates $931.7 million in 2025 and $876.2 million in 2026, reflects a continued investment in asset management and infrastructure improvements, with targeted enhancements to advance strategic priorities.

The Poudre River Trail (PRT) construction in Fort Collins wrapped up last year and opened to the public in November. With the addition of these new sections in east Fort Collins, trail users are now one step closer to enjoying continuous travel from Bellvue to Greeley—and a unique view of Northern Colorado’s natural beauty—along the scenic 45-mile trail. The final PRT section will be completed later this year.

After its grand opening in July, the Center for Creativity has already seen 9,600 visitors at more than 350 events. The renovated space brings new life to the historic Carnegie Library site and features three indoor event spaces, an art gallery and an outdoor courtyard available for community member rentals.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility remain a focus of the City’s work in the community. In 2024, the City hosted the second-annual bison blessing at Soapstone Prairie, 19 bilingual activities and more than 40 community partnerships centering local communities of color in our natural areas.

The City continued to invest in emergency preparedness in 2024, updating our emergency operations and communications plans and advancing our cybersecurity protections to ensure we are equipped to respond to the unexpected. The City also launched FC Ready, which helps community members take simple, proactive steps to prepare for possible emergencies and local weather hazards, as well as a Community Emergency Response Team training to help build capacity for local disaster preparedness and response.

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery (FCMoD) hosted three special exhibitions that highlighted science, history and culture. In March, Mexico City-based artists, Óscar Becerra Mora and Rubén Mica, visited for a month-long artist residency, creating a monumental Alebrije sculpture with the community that will be displayed in the museum for years to come. FCMoD closed out the year with two exhibits that explored the biology of skin and the science of bias with “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity” & “The Bias Inside Us.” All three of these exhibits were presented in English and Spanish, as part of the museum’s commitment to expanding both access and curiosity in Fort Collins.

The City was excited to partner with the local Indigenous community to cultivate and harvest vegetables, herbs, ceremonial and medicinal plants at The Gardens on Spring Creek. The new ~800-square-foot Indigenous Garden was planted in early summer and included a blessing ceremony performed by our Indigenous partners. In its first year, nearly 400 pounds of produce was harvested and distributed to our Native community.

City policies and programs enabled the opening of two affordable housing projects, BirdWhistle Townhomes and Northfield Commons, as part of our continued work to support housing stability in Fort Collins. The City also completed the initial phase of Land Use Code updates, including improvements to streamline the review process for affordable housing projects and increase overall housing capacity.

Learn more about the City's affordable housing work

Connexion, Fort Collins' municipal broadband service, surpassed 22,000 customers, nearly 1,000 of which are part of the Digital Inclusion program, offering gigabit internet for $20/month to income-qualified residents. Connexion also expanded service to 43% of the City's multi-dwelling units (MDUs), one mobile home park (Hickory Village) and one area outside of city limits (JJ's Corner). In 2025, Connexion will continue to expand service to MDUs and other underserved areas.

The City’s Natural Areas department acquired 642 additional acres across three properties, including expansions to Prairie Ridge and Magpie Meander natural areas. The largest acquisition is a 484-acre property adjacent to Rocky Ridge Lake that supports migration corridors for wildlife and helps safeguard nearby habitats for local bird species. Adding these spaces to the City’s growing public lands portfolio supports Natural Areas’ mission to conserve and enhance lands with valuable natural resources, agriculture and scenery for present and future generations.

In order to meet evolving community needs, the City is doing a lot of internal work as well, to ensure the organizational structure is set up to support effective, efficient and innovative service delivery. Staff continue to evaluate and improve our hiring processes, technology initiatives and business policies to best align with the community's and City's needs.

And in 2025 the City will launch a new website and significant upgrades to many of our digital platforms, including the utility billing system, development review system, Council agendas and materials, and the Access Fort Collins customer service portal.

In its first year of operation, the newly-expanded childcare wing at Northside Aztlan Community Center has enhanced early learning and youth programming in Fort Collins, while providing increased safety for staff and participants.

To increase high-quality and affordable childcare options, the City’s preschool program joined the Colorado Universal Preschool Program, offering all children with up to 15 hours of free preschool care. The existing part-time preschool program will expand to full time by 2027.

The Gardens on Spring Creek continued its annual partnership with the Food Bank for Larimer County to combat food insecurity in Northern Colorado with the Plant It Forward program. Through the Gardens’ own Garden of Eatin’, the City donated more than 6,000 pounds of produce, a 12% increase from 2023, while serving as a community collection point for more than 2,000 additional pounds of donations.

Now in its fifth year hosted at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, the annual Teen Self-Care Fair—a partnership with the Alliance for Suicide Prevention—saw record turnout in 2024: More than 1,000 visitors and 30 partner organizations engaged in activities like drawing comics, breakdancing, skateboarding and long sword fencing, illustrating the healing power of creativity and connection. The fair’s goal is to connect teens and their caretakers with community resources that support physical and mental health and wellness, in alignment with communitywide initiatives that have lowered the suicide rate in Larimer County by 28% since 2019.

Transfort celebrated its 50th birthday—a long journey from July 1, 1974, when Transfort launched its service with three buses and three routes. The icing on the cake: City Council approved in September a policy making Transfort permanently fare free to support equitable transit access and increase ridership across Fort Collins.

Fort Collins Police Services is now issuing citations for camera-enforced speeding violations 11 mph above the posted limit—this follows a warning period that started in late October. This program uses radar and cameras to catch speeding drivers in areas with a history of serious accidents, part of an ongoing commitment to reduce fatal crashes and make roads safer for all.

The City continued to prioritize infrastructure improvements that smooth traffic, while keeping our streets maintained and safe for our growing community. 2024 kicked off two high-impact construction projects critical to achieving those goals: repairing and resurfacing Harmony Road between College Avenue and Strauss Cabin Road and improving the intersection of College and Trilby Road to handle additional traffic and add pedestrian and bicycle safety infrastructure. The Harmony Road project received American Public Works Association Colorado Chapter and Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association awards for its quality of work and innovative approach of simultaneous milling and paving, which completed the project in half the time—significantly minimizing impacts to traffic.

The Oak Street Stormwater Improvements Project—one of the City’s largest capital projects to date—kicked off in July. This multi-year project will replace aging pipes and upgrade Downtown Fort Collins stormwater and water infrastructure to mitigate flooding and increase waterflow capacity. After completing two major tunneling efforts between Mason Avenue and Whitcomb Street in 2024, the project will begin replacement work on Oak Street between Loomis Avenue and Shields Street in 2025.

Fort Collins advanced affordable housing:

$2 million invested in the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing

80 affordable homes added

Taking it to the streets:

14,000+ Open Streets attendees—an all-time record!

6,300 Summer Bike to Work Day attendees

2,100 Winter Bike to Work Day attendees

Transfort stayed on the move:

1,379,805 miles driven by buses

2,589,782 riders

26.13% increase in ridership from 2023

Transfort also got a little (grant funding) help:

$2.9 million awarded in federal funds for bus stop upgrades

$883,000 awarded in state funds for electric bus purchasing

Hitting the pavement:

104 total lane miles of roadway pavement improved

4,140 potholes filled

1,994 lane miles of roadway and 1,060 miles of sidewalks maintained

Utilities staff worked around the clock to keep the water flowing and the power on:

99.9% electric reliability

8.7 billion gallons of water treated

2,712 meters manually read

329 residential Solar Inspections

We’re always just a phone call away:

1,864 calls to the Mental Health Response Team

3,179 calls to the Homeless Outreach & Proactive Engagement (HOPE) Team

3.39 seconds—average time it took to answer a 911 call

4 minutes and 19 seconds—average Fort Collins Police Services response time 

We celebrated our 50th year of pottery programming:

200 classes

26,500 pounds of clay used for 13,250 pieces created

Fort Collins stayed active:

32,389 active recreation passes in 2024

43% of those passes were community members 60 years and older

Natural Areas 101:

363 educational events

14,950 participants

The Lincoln Center brought the house down:

15 minutes to sell out "The Book of Mormon," the fastest-selling Broadway show in The Lincoln Center's history

229,000 visitors to The Lincoln Center—the most in a decade

1,119 events and performances held at The Lincoln Center—the most ever produced in a year

128,447 tickets sold

LC LIVE

45 performances

30 national touring acts

48,158 tickets sold

Our community discovered a lot at our museum:

113,311 visits to the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery