FoCo in 15 Minutes | Power Outages, Housing Shifts & Holiday Events

Welcome to Fort Collins Lifestyles, your weekly insider look at life, real estate, and community across Northern Colorado.

This week in Fort Collins & Northern Colorado:
🏥 Hospital Safety Ratings Controversy — A new Leapfrog Group report sparked debate after grading Colorado hospitals on patient safety, with UCHealth pushing back on methodology while Leapfrog defended its data sources and transparency.
🚗 Holiday Parking Rules Explained — We break down what’s legal (and not) when it comes to parking in front of someone else’s house in Colorado, including when cars can be towed and what to do if yours disappears.
🔥 Fire Forces School Closure in Wellington — Smoke damage from a wood-shop fire temporarily closed Wellington Middle–High School, pushing students to one day of remote learning while cleanup crews worked onsite.
🌬️ High Winds Shut Down Highways — Dangerous wind gusts knocked over semis and briefly closed U.S. 287 and northbound I-25 north of Fort Collins, disrupting regional travel.
⚡ Power Outages in NoCo — More than 5,000 customers lost power across Livermore, Red Feather Lakes, Bellvue, and surrounding areas following a transmission-line failure during high-wind conditions.
☕ New Coffee Pop-Up at Foothills Mall — Mi Cultura Coffee brings culture-driven drinks like café de olla and house-made horchata to the former Lima Coffee kiosk, with strong community support and a possible long-term future.
🍽️ Restaurant Updates — Black-eyed Pea works toward a January reopening pending liquor licensing, while Three Dragon Thai prepares to open on South College with an expansive Thai and sushi menu.
🏘️ Housing Values Cooling in Colorado — Zillow data shows average home values dipping statewide, with Fort Collins among cities seeing price softening in 2025 after years of rapid appreciation.
🎓 CSU Football Recruiting Update — Colorado State’s first signing class under Jim Mora ranks mid-Pac-12 nationally, marking one of CSU’s stronger recruiting years in recent memory.
🏫 PSD Approves Later School Start — The Poudre School District officially approves a later August start for the 2026–27 school year to reduce heat exposure in schools without air conditioning.
🏗️ Forge Campus Wins Statewide Award — Loveland’s Forge Campus earns “Company of the Year” honors for transforming a former HP facility into a thriving innovation and manufacturing hub.

• Housing Catalyst’s role, scale, and economic impact across Fort Collins and Larimer County
• Downtown Parking Optimization Study and potential paid on-street parking model
• Parks & Recreation 2050 Tax implementation update
• City Council End-of-Term accomplishments and priorities

• Wellington Lights Holiday Event (Dec. 19)
• Ugly Sweater Party at Mugs Old Town (Dec. 20)
• Visit Santa’s Reindeer at Bath Garden Center (Dec. 20)
• Garden of Lights at Gardens on Spring Creek
• NoCo Winter Wonderland (drive-through lights)
• Fort Collins Foodie Walk (Dec. 19)

📲 Thinking about buying, selling, or investing in Northern Colorado?
I help clients make informed, strategic real estate decisions with both data and boots-on-the-ground experience across Fort Collins and NoCo.

Patrick Soukup
📞 Call/Text: 970-893-3533
📧 Email: patrick@soukuprealestate.com
🌐 Website: soukuprealestate.com