I decided to comment on all the items in this thread because it really got me fired up...
Meeting Up
I'll PM you my cell number & some info.
Altitude & HP
Yes, you can recoup the lost power (and then some) of living in thin air, but it means you're burning more OIL and producing more POLLUTION.
Roads.
The roads in Colorado Springs are hands-down better than Fort Collins (with the exception of the I-25 corridor in CS, which won't be completed within 5 lifetimes). You can travel much farther (2 to 8 times farther) per minute in the Springs than you can in FC. The consolation is that Fort Collins is smaller (you might only average 15 miles-per hour, but you only have to go 7 miles...where in Colorado Springs you could average 30-40 MPH over 15-20 miles).
Many of Fort Collins so-called "arterial streets" (main cross-town roads) switch between 1 and 2 lanes (each way). They wait until a street is entirely over-crowded before they consider widening it...and execution takes place 10 years after such consideration. They bilk the voters into taxing themselves for road improvements (repeatedly, and for the same improvements) and then spend the money on other unnecessary things (like giving $50 to someone who throws an ice-cream social for the people on their block and paying someone to administrate said program). The bike lanes are a nice idea, but they are even more intermittent than second lanes so the reality doesn't meet the hype. Traffic could be improved with higher speeds and less stop lights (as explained to me by a city traffic engineer who was in the process of explaining to me why they had just added a traffic light near my house...there was no reason except that the intersection had met the minimum threshold necessary to permit a stoplight). I'm glad I can somewhat avoid funding the foolishness by living outside city limits (and often shopping in Loveland).
Colorado Springs, on the other hand, has beautiful 2-lane (each way) roads that are put into place (gasp)
before development goes in that will depend on them. They even do this with freeways...on NE side of town they built the new sections of Powers Blvd like a freeway sans overpasses. When volume requires, boom, throw in the overpasses and you're good to go. I-25 is a different story...I have no idea when they'll be done widening it. Compared to T-Rex (I-25 widening through Denver) it's shameful.
Rock Chips (sand)
The rock-chip problem exists not because they don't sweep the streets well after winter (imagine what that would cost, BTW), but that they put sand down during the winter at all. We have, what 5-10 snow storms all winter with enough accumulation to effect driving...and the snow is melted 2 days later when it's back up to 50-60. If people could learn that ice & snow-covered roads have less grip than dry roads we wouldn't have to put sand down along the front-range at all (I understand the sand is needed in places like Summit County...but not in Denver, CS, or FC).
Politics
95% of the state (by land area, probably 55% by population) is conservative and/or libertarian. They wish Boulder and Denver counties would move to another state. Unfortunately Larimer county, which contains Fort Collins, is trying real hard to join that list (you should see the outrage on the opinion page of our newspaper over the killing of "innocent" prairie dogs).
Conclusion
I suggest Boulder. You'll help my cause (trying to keep Larimer county from being super-liberal) and yours (desire to live in a liberal area).
Boulder is liberal heaven (like California or Mass.). They have no-growth policies in place...which I think makes them a small town by statute. They believe they transcend basic economic theory. "Affordable housing" is achieved by increasing demand (subsidies for the poor & higher minimum wages) without increasing supply (building housing units)...and it's a surprise when rent prices go up, landowners get richer, and now the middle class joins the poor in not being able to afford to live there. They have a public university (that is so much cooler than CSU with tenured proffs like Ward Churchill), beggars downtown, environmentalists with second and third homes in Vail who fly all over the world to reduce other people's greenhouse gas emissions, and oh so much culture, diversity, and equality-via-quota.
. I've met conversatives that are total idiots and I've also met liberals that are total idiots as well, so go figure.. 
