CNNMoney.com
Companies Economy International Corrections Pre-market Trading After-hours Trading Winners/Losers/Actives Bonds Currencies Commodities World Markets Money Magazine Real Estate Taxes Jobs Ask the Expert Money 101 Autos Mutual Funds The Help Desk Loan Center Best Places to Live Ask the Expert Ultimate Guide to Retirement Retirement Calculators Best Funds Ask the Mole Best Places to Retire Big Tech Blog Techland Blog Sectors and Stocks Fortune 500 Techs Tech Talk 100 Best Places to Launch Ultimate Resource Guide Small Biz Makeovers FSB 100 Ask & Answer Fortune 500 Technology Investing Management C-Suite Rankings Main Create Portfolio Edit Portfolio Create Alerts Edit Alerts
39 of 100
BACK NEXT
39. Fort Collins, Colo.
Population: 127,443
Pros: Mountain and river views, friendly business climate
Con: Heavy traffic

Fort Collins continues to grow quickly, but still offers one of the most affordable locations in the Rockies. Many residents work for light manufacturers such as Eastman Kodak and Hewlett-Packard, or brewery Anheuser-Busch. But the educated workforce - Colorado State is based here - is ripe for hiring.

Growth industries include biotech, clean energy, and wireless technology. All benefit from the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, a nonprofit incubator for science and technology startups. The results have been encouraging: in recent years, Fort Collins has generated four times more patents than the average U.S. city. Residents enjoy skiing at the nearby Eldora resort and white water rafting in the Cache la Poudre Canyon. The city is also home to five craft breweries, including the colorful New Belgium Brewing Company. -Mina Kimes

Interactive map: Fort Collins, Colo.
Homes for sale Find homes for sale in Fort Collins, Colo.


NEXT: 40. Olympia, Wash.

Last updated July 02 2008: 11:16 AM ET
More Galleries
Cyber-bureaucracy in India An intrepid entrepreneur looks to make millions bringing e-governance to India's remote villages. More
Your best business advisor: You Taking aim at Tom Peters and the jerks at work -- this month's book picks. More
5 small stocks ready to soar The FSB 100 is filled with fast growers, but money managers picked these 5 small-caps as stocks with especially bright prospects. More

Special Offer
© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.
Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use.
Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET.
Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.
Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc..
SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..
Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.