Moving to Berthoud

What you are moving to

Berthoud is a statutory town of about 10,300 people (2020 census) on the Larimer–Weld county line, 21 miles south of Fort Collins and 43 north of Denver, on the bluff above the Little Thompson River. It calls itself the Garden Spot of Colorado, a name earned by the irrigated farms around it, and as recently as the 2010 census it was a farm town of about five thousand with a five-block Main Street. It has roughly doubled since 2010: new subdivisions on every side, a $32 million recreation center opened in 2021, a bike park in 2023, a reservoir park in 2020, and the downtown filling up with breweries, galleries and antique malls. The old grid of brick storefronts and converted houses along Mountain Avenue is still the center of it.

Housing

Mostly single-family homes: the older grid around Mountain Avenue and the 7th Street historic neighborhood, ranchettes on the county roads, and the large newer subdivisions (Heron Lakes and TPC Colorado around Lonetree Reservoir, Berthoud Harvest, Prairiestar, Hammond Farm and others) that account for most of what is on the market. The 2020 census counted 3,879 households; the median household income of $95,872 is an American Community Survey estimate rather than a census count, the figure the Census Bureau’s QuickFacts gave in 2023 as Wikipedia cites it. The listings sites linked in the sidebar show what is for sale today. Most of the new subdivisions have metropolitan districts and homeowners’ associations with their own fees; ask for the mill levy before you fall for the house.

Schools

Berthoud is in the Thompson School District R2-J, based in Loveland. All four public schools are in town: Berthoud Elementary, Ivy Stockwell Elementary, Turner Middle School and Berthoud High School, whose Spartans play at the Bein complex on the south side. The district’s site has boundaries, enrollment windows and bus routes.

Getting around

US 287 skirts the west side of town since the 2007 bypass, which is why downtown is quiet and why it is fifteen minutes to Loveland or Longmont on the highway. I-25 is ten minutes east on Colorado 56, then about fifty minutes to Denver and an hour to Denver International Airport; Fort Collins is 25 minutes north. For transit, the FLEX regional bus runs between Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud, Longmont and Boulder, and the Town’s Berthoud Area Transportation Service (BATS) gives door-to-door rides in town and to Loveland and Longmont. Downtown is walkable; the rest of town is a car or a bike.

Utilities, trash, fire, police

• Water and sewer are Town of Berthoud utilities, billed by Town Hall at 807 Mountain Avenue (970-532-2643).
• Electricity is Xcel Energy in most of town and Poudre Valley REA on parts of the edges; the provider depends on the address.
• Natural gas is Xcel Energy.
• Trash and recycling are private: residents choose from the haulers licensed by the Town, listed in its business directory, and some subdivisions contract a hauler through the HOA.
• Police is the Larimer County Sheriff’s Berthoud Squad, under contract; non-emergency 970-416-1985.
• Fire and emergency medical response is the Berthoud Fire Protection District, a separate district covering 103 square miles from its station at 248 Welch Avenue; non-emergency 970-532-2264.
• Building permits, planning and zoning are Town departments; the Planning Commission meets on the second and fourth Thursdays.

Government

A mayor and six trustees, elected at large, make up the Board of Trustees, which meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:30 pm at Town Hall. A Planning Commission, a Parks, Open Space, Recreation and Trails committee, a Tree Advisory Committee, a Historic Preservation Commission and a Youth Advisory Board are filled by application. Berthoud was the first Colorado municipality to ban the retail sale of puppy-mill dogs, in 2019.

Living here

Summer is the Saturday market in Town Park, the water feature and the pool, concerts in the Pioneer Museum courtyard, and Carter Lake’s swim beach ten minutes up the road. Fall is Oktoberfest in Town Park on the first Saturday of October, Trick or Treat Street on Mountain Avenue, and the Zombie Fun Run. Winter is A Very Merry Berthoud and the Parade of Lights on the first Saturday of December, the craft fair at the rec center, and the hill behind the high school when it snows. Year-round there is trivia, a run club and live music at City Star, a bike park that is free, and a reservoir loop for the evening walk.