Andy Smith is the Redevelopment Manager for the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority, where he leads projects that tackle blight, catalyze private investment, and advance community-driven redevelopment in key corridors like North College. An experienced community development professional, he brings a background in commercial real estate, downtown revitalization, historic preservation, placemaking, banking, and entrepreneurship to his role with the City of Fort Collins. A Colorado State University economics graduate and longtime Fort Collins resident, Andy is passionate about collaborative vision, neighborhood character, and creating vibrant places that reflect the people who call them home.
Urban growth and affordability challenges are reshaping communities across Colorado, and Fort Collins is no exception. As the city expands, leaders are wrestling with how to balance economic development with cultural preservation, neighborhood identity, and real concerns about displacement—especially along corridors like North College.
According to Andy Smith, Redevelopment Manager for the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority, meaningful revitalization starts with vision, humility, and strong partnerships. By directly addressing blight—purchasing problematic properties, aligning public and private investment, and inviting residents into the planning process—he believes corridors like North College can become walkable, mixed-use community hubs that reflect the people who live there.
On this episode of The Love FoCo Show, host Jeff Faust sits down with Andy to talk about bold leadership, urban renewal, and the evolving future of North College and North Fort Collins. You’ll hear how Andy went from CSU student and mountain biker to city redevelopment leader, why he says we’re “short on vision, not money,” and how strategic property acquisition, community collaboration, and long-term thinking are shaping Fort Collins’ next chapter.
Narrator: This is the Love FoCo Show.
Andy Smith: We took this blight mission. You know, we gotta we gotta remediate blight and think about just a neighborhood at a time. You know, we have these plan areas, and North College is one of them.
Narrator: Welcome to the Love FoCo Show. Our podcast highlights the incredible people who make Fort Collins the place we're proud to call home. Each week, your host, Jeff Faust, sits down with local leaders, community champions, and change makers to share their stories, what they love about our city, and how they're helping it thrive. So whether you're out on the trail, at a brewery, or walking through Old Town, thanks for tuning in.
Jeff Faust: Hey, everybody. Jeff Faust here, your host for the Love FoCo Show. Today, we sit down with Andy Smith from the Urban Renewal Authority. He's got a great story from growing up in Arvada to dodging school in Wyoming and letting know CSU to even just how he met his wife. You're gonna love that story.
I know I did. But, of course, Andy is doing incredible work in our city through the Urban Renewal Authority, particularly with an eye to revitalize North College and everything that's happening in the North Side of Fort Collins. And so I hope you love this conversation. He's got a lot of really good things to share about the future of our city and the way that he is trying to incorporate, our, citizens in the renewal of different neighborhoods. And, man, I hope you love this conversation.
I know. I sure did. So let let's take a listen to what Andy has to say. Well, Andy, thank you so much for being here with me. I'm so grateful for your time.
I know you're probably a really busy guy. You've got all kinds of projects kind of on your plate, but appreciate you giving some time to the Love FoCo podcast to share your story and and talk a little bit about this great city and what you're up to. I wanna get into your work. I wanna get into, the ways you see our city uniquely from your vantage point, the way you're loving our city one life at a time. But before we do any of that, I just wanna start our conversation the way I start every podcast the Love FoCo Show.
Tell us your Fort Collins origin story. Like, where did you come from? What was it like landing in Fort Collins? Or were you born and raised here? I've always been here.
So just tell us your origin story to Fort Collins.
Andy Smith: Yeah. You bet, Jeff. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Well, I I grew up in Arvada.
Okay. Not too far from here. Yeah. I was gonna go to the I was gonna go to the University of Wyoming, and I couldn't find a place to live up there because I was going in as a sophomore. And and so I was on the way back to Denver frustrated.
I was with my mother, and we're going back to Arvada. And I'm like, oh, this is terrible. I'm not gonna find a place. And I was all set on going I mean, I have my classes all picked and everything. And, and so we my my mom said, like a good mom, she goes, let's stop in Fort Collins, and let's just go have lunch.
And maybe your cousin is is in town, and she was going to school here. So we stopped at there was a there was a pay phone out on the other side of the river on North College years ago at this pizza place.
Jeff Faust: You just dated yourself a little bit.
Andy Smith: Yeah. I mean,
Jeff Faust: going to the pay phone era.
Andy Smith: Yeah. I think I had change. Yeah. You know? So so, yeah, we called we called my cousin, and and she happened to be she she lived in Rams Village, she said, yeah.
Let's let's go to lunch. Come on over. So I so my mom and I drove there, and and we went through, you know, we went through Old Town. And I was like, wow. What a you know, this is cool.
This is 1992. Okay. And and I I came here about the same week, actually, that Sonny Lubick came to town. And so anyway, then we drive down Laurel right past the campus in the Oval, and there's all these big trees. And I'm like, they don't have trees in Wyoming.
I mean, this is really beautiful.
Jeff Faust: The wind knocks them all down.
Andy Smith: Yeah, they got telephone poles. Yeah. That's about it. That's closest tree they got. But so so then we go there, I meet her and her three roommates.
And I'm like, wow. Okay. This is great. And then we go over to CB Pots, which was a restaurant on Elizabeth. It was a gathering place.
It was I mean, this was middle of the day, and it's just, you know, it's popping. And and we sit down and my my cousin says right away, she goes, wait. Now tell me again, why are you, you know, working so hard to go to school in Wyoming? And I said, that's a great question. I don't I'm not gonna.
I said, can I come here? And she's like, yeah. Let's make it happen. So one thing led to another, and I was here two weeks later, and I haven't read Really? Yeah.
Wow. I said no to Wyoming, came here. And, yeah, the mountain biking was awesome and and, I mean, yeah, it's a pretty easy decision to make on on, you know, on the fly
Jeff Faust: So back up for me just a little bit because I I I'm curious. I mean, I've been down to Arvada. I've gone to some restaurants there. I've got a friend who leads a church in Arvada.
Is CSU and is Fort Collins, like, on the radar for folks? Or is it mostly CU? And then, like, how how did CSU like, how was it not on your radar, I guess?
Andy Smith: I mean,
Jeff Faust: this is kind of interesting to me.
Andy Smith: That's a that's a good question. You know, I took a I took a gap year or or maybe a little bit more than a gap year after high school.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Andy Smith: And but I had a lot of friends that went to school here.
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Andy Smith: And but it was never on the radar, and I was I wanted to get out of town, you know, and not not too far. And my father had just recently passed away, so I was pretty tight with my mom, wanted to hang out with her. And and, but, yeah, I have a lot of friends up here. And, but I didn't get into the college life. And, really, like a lot, I was working and, you know, some of my all you know, a bunch of my friends were in a fraternity, but I never hung out with them at all.
I went mountain biking, and
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Andy Smith: I was a little bit of a ski bum. But, yeah, there was there was a there were still a lot of folks, I think, from Arvada in particular that came up here at Fort Collins to school. Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Yep. It wasn't a totally, like, foreign concept. Was yeah. It just hadn't landed on you until you, you know, got to all those awesome places of talking about. Mean, the oval has a way of kinda stealing your heart.
And they're, you I could imagine, you know, a young adult showing up and be like, oh, this is this is pretty great actually.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. Instant instant, like, this is it. Know? Yeah.
Just like, you know, when I met my wife, you know, I was like
Jeff Faust: Yeah.
Andy Smith: Okay. Right away.
Jeff Faust: This is it. Yeah. Tell me about that gap year experience. I I I, you know, the gap year thing has become more popular recently, but I imagine it wasn't super popular in the early nineties. It was just getting introduced even to our I mean, Europe, like, this is everywhere in Europe, it was kind of still probably a new idea in the nineties.
Andy Smith: Yeah. You know, and it was, you know, it it wasn't really a a gap year, like, you know, of you know, I know I know a guy that created a curriculum for, like, this, you know, create the pillars of your life, and it's, you know, for kids who do a very intentional gap year. It wasn't anything like that. Okay. I I I, you know It was
Jeff Faust: a gap year by mistake
Andy Smith: or Yeah. You know, it was. It was. Well, you know, right after high school, I mean, you know, my father had just passed away. I had a rough year of my senior year.
Yeah. And I and I knew enough about myself that, like, I I better take a year off and not do this. And and I knew that because I went to one class at a at a college in Denver. Literally one class, and I left in the middle of the class. I was like, okay.
I'm not ready for college. Yeah. And so I need to work. So I worked, and I skied, and and I hung out and that was about it. And I and I probably partied, you know, with my with my my cronies a little bit too much.
Jeff Faust: Well, and it your dad passed away. I didn't know that. Was I'm sorry to hear that. I at a younger age for you to lose a father. You were, a junior in high school, senior in high school?
Andy Smith: I was a I had just completed my senior year.
Jeff Faust: Okay. Yeah. So that probably had something to do with it too. I mean, you just had to process and grieve and Yeah. Mourn and do all the stuff that comes following the loss of a pair.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to hang out with my mom, and and I had just I had just found mountain biking. Yep.
And and it was, you know, and and was really throwing myself into it between mountain biking and skiing. I was having a great time, and I was like, there's just no hurry about this. And and I was working I really liked my job. You know, I was working part time catching shoplifters, and and that was fun. And and Wait.
Jeff Faust: What? You were you your part time job was catching shoplifters.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. I did that.
Jeff Faust: I mean, that begs a question. What does that like, what does that mean? Well, do you have a badge and a gun or No. Was it something something else?
Andy Smith: No. It was it was, you know, it it's called loss prevention or asset protection in retail. So I did that all through college actually. I caught about six fifty people Yeah, over the period of a few I did it for a couple different retailers, and I did it down to Denver, and did it up here. And then I freelanced, and I was I was going to different grocery stores just popping in.
And, you know, only the the store manager knew what I was there for, and I'd catch employees and Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Were you were were you paid on commission? Like, bad guy you get caught, you you you get this in return.
Andy Smith: I probably should've. No. I love it. You know, it was but it was it was a super fun job. I mean, I wouldn't do it now.
Yeah. You know, a little bit more dangerous, I think. But, it was I mean, it was it was super fun. Yep. And yeah.
So when I came up here, I did that, you know, and and met my wife, you know, not she wasn't shoplifting. She was working at the store, and I saw her, you know, I was on a I was on a camera system, and and I saw this girl, and I'm like, oh, wow. You know? And and she was working there during the summers and on break, and and so, yeah, it it was a it was a fun job, and it was
Jeff Faust: pursue her? Did you strike up a conversation with her? Or, like, how Well How did you go from looking at her from behind a security camera to let go out for lunch or dinner?
Andy Smith: Gosh. Jeffrey, make me sonic a creek. She probably thinks so too. She's got a different version too. You should probably call her.
Well Yeah. It's a little
Jeff Faust: slightly different. With you. So we'll take whatever version you have.
Andy Smith: Know, I mean, I I I knew that she was classy. I could tell. And so I don't know why, but a friend of mine, my boss, like, you know, he asked he asked her, hey. What what would he you know, what would you think about if this guy were to ask you how? And she was like, let him tell him to find out.
I know that. So, yeah. So I was like, I I mean, it was I don't know why. I mean, I was, like, really scared. Yeah.
But I mustered it up and
Jeff Faust: It's scary. It is. It's vulnerable.
Andy Smith: Well, and it's moment. And I and I knew that she was the one. I mean, and I do wanna tell her that. Could be first of all, I'm watching her on a camera, and I don't wanna tell her. Guess what?
We're getting married. I figured all that might combined to get a face full
Jeff Faust: of bears. This. I love everything about this.
Andy Smith: It was sorry. It does. Yeah. Well, it was it was it was a fun time in my life to get up here, and, you know, I was I was having a great time. Yeah.
Yeah.
Jeff Faust: So I now I know you are you're the head of urban renewal authority? Is that is that, like, what what would be your actual title?
Andy Smith: Not I'm I'm the redevelopment manager for the city. Then and then the urban renewal authority is a distinct governmental entity that's affiliated with the city. Yep. And there's some crossover like, well, I'll tell you some of those in a moment. Yeah.
I work for the acting executive director, and then I have a board, I have a couple of teammates. But I've I manage the operations and really the real estate strategy so a lot of the the projects that you you might hear about that we're doing up up North College in particular with the motels and those who have been, you know, kind
Jeff Faust: That's a big deal for our city.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. Those yeah. They've been wonderful projects to I
Jeff Faust: I I wanna dig into that. I wanna take as deep of a dive as we can into that because I it's a part of our town that is gonna see, I think, a lot of movement and a lot of action in the coming coming days.
Andy Smith: For sure.
Jeff Faust: But I'm I'm I'm I'm wondering how you get into that. Like, I mean, did you grow up dreaming about architecture and building reallocation? And did you grow up, like, dreaming about city plan, things like that? No. Where did that come from?
Andy Smith: Yeah. That's a that's a good question. You know, I I I had kind of a a zigging and a zag and some, you know, some strikes and some gutter balls and everything along the way in my career. After I graduated from Colorado State, I got a degree in economics, and I went to work in banking right away. Then I was young and dumb and ambitious.
Well, I got married during in in school and had my my oldest daughter. And and and so I was in banking and then I went out on my own. And and so I've done I did a few different things over the years, including, you know, I was a CFO of an ecommerce company and did a tech startup and had a had a, you know
Jeff Faust: So a willingness to take risks.
Andy Smith: Oh, not Way too many when I was young. Yeah. I was like, I didn't think anything could stop me. Yeah. But but it it gave me a lot of skills and and and in in
Jeff Faust: Not every 20 year old has that, though. You know, even young men who, like, you know, their prefrontal cortex is not fully developed until they're 20 you know?
Andy Smith: Mine's still not. There's still No. No.
Jeff Faust: There's still a lot of folks who are just, I'm just gonna find my lane and do my thing. Yeah. And and that's not it's not better or worse or anything like that, but it is unique to sit across from a guy who's like, yeah. I was thinking about going to Wyoming, and then I went to the Oval and I went out to eat, I decided, no. I'm not going here.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: I mean, that's that's a that's a pivot. That's a quick pivot.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Kinda
Jeff Faust: struggling. Or to go out and start a company or or get an ecommerce or do these things. I'm sure you thought about them, but, I mean, those are more risky adventures
Andy Smith: Oh, yeah.
Jeff Faust: Than maybe just finding your nine to five and kinda grinding and out for the first ten years of your life. Yeah. We're I mean, that's interesting to me.
Andy Smith: You know, it was it was I I wish that I could say more of them were successful than not, but they weren't. And they were, I learned a lot about being humble and my station life and what my relationships were about. It's taken me a long time through all of that. But, yeah, and just all these experiences. I I did downtown planning.
Mean, I did and then I and then I I got into commercial real estate about twelve years ago, I guess. And I liked that a lot. And it and and all this time, I've been volunteering for the city. I've been started volunteering for the city in '97 on a on a board and commission, the CDBG commission. And and and so and then I was on the planning and zoning board.
I chaired that. And and I and so and I've been on these boards and commissions, and then I was on the the urban renewal authority board. And and that's how I got exposed to it. And in my position now, it's really a combination of everything I've done. There's a there's some finance.
There's some real estate. There's some, you know, elements of of crime fighting. I mean, the URA is exclusively for blight to remove blight from the community. So there's a lot of crime going on in some of those motels that we're acquiring. So it's this weird combination of everything I've done and and having a deep understanding of this of the city as a community, but also the city government and its history and where it had been, different touch points along the way.
It was an unusual way
Jeff Faust: to come Interesting to me. Like, I I mean, I have you know, we've done a couple dozen of these interviews for the Love FoCo Show. Obviously, I I by trade, I'm a pastor, so I meet all kinds of different people at different stages of life. The amount of times, I meet someone, thirties, forties, fifties, or beyond, And when we begin to pull on kind of the strings of their life, you realize all of these previous experiences are coalescing into, like, this moment.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: It's it's just really interesting that none of those things get wasted. Or I guess they could be but if you have a way of learning from them and growing from them even the times you fail you you can log that experience, you can grow from that time and it comes back in a moment of redemption or a moment of a new a new job and a new position that's gonna equip you for something in the future. What would you say, you know, maybe to well, I mean, you have you have kids or or if you were in a room of 20 somethings at CSU pursuing some of their early adventures knowing half their room is gonna fail at at a job within the first three years. Like, how how would you begin to talk with someone Oh. About what they're going to experience, what
Andy Smith: they're going to learn, and
Jeff Faust: and how they can grow from that?
Andy Smith: Oh, yeah. That's a I mean, I think it's a great question. There is you know, I I've I've learned to be I mean, over the years, maybe the hard way. Well, you know, I I've grown up in Fort Collins. You know?
I mean, I I really have. I've spent, you know, two thirds of my life here. So this town has gotta see me grow up for better or worse. Yep. And and and so I think what I've learned is that, you know, to be to be humble, to be teachable, and that your plans are, you know, your plans, and they probably aren't gonna go exactly the way you thought.
Yep. You know, like Mike Tyson said, everybody's got a plan, then you get punched Punch mouth. Yeah. And so and so to to roll with it and but it's all about I mean, to me, really about relationships. Like, if if I wouldn't have had some of the great relationships that I do, you know, my wife, my faith, my kids, you know, others that were close and that really, you know, wanted the best for me even if it was uncomfortable, you know, I mean, I would've there'd be a dis I'd be a disaster.
And so, you know, to to stay in one place and to be open and humble and to be teachable, curious, It makes for an interesting life, I think. That's what I probably would tell kids that are in their twenties. That's and, also, don't take yourself so serious. Yeah. Have a sense of humor.
Jeff Faust: Yep. I had I had one of my mentors in my twenties just kinda teasing out this humility thing that you're talking about because I I would agree with you. I think it's incredibly important, especially if you wanna fail forward, not fail backwards. He he had always said, look. You can you can humble yourself or you can be humbled.
Yeah. You know, but, like, one of one of those things you can choose. But, like, what is an assumed reality of the human experience is that you will encounter opportunities for humility.
Andy Smith: Oh, I don't know.
Jeff Faust: Whether whether it happens to you or you just willingly kind of create that posture in your heart. Yeah. And one's easier than the other.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: But, know, sometimes sometimes we just can't learn the lessons unless it's
Andy Smith: important Yeah. To Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Those experiences, they have a tent they have a way of sticking a little bit deeper.
Andy Smith: Yeah. They do. They do. And I can I can think about every time in my life where I fell right before that was my pride? You know?
And so I I it's very it's a it's a pattern that's it's it's hard to, disregard it or pretend like it's not there.
Jeff Faust: Yep. Were you I mean, you had kinda listed off a bunch of different things that you had led or volunteered or started to try. Yeah. Were those characteristics that you saw, like, in a young Andy, like, elementary or middle school Andy, or did they emerge later in life? It it sounds like you were always, at least in your adult life, like, you've always been engaged civically.
You've always been volunteering. Were you that kind of student or was that like, how did that come about in your heart and in your life?
Andy Smith: You know, I I I think I think I always wanted to be involved in in bigger things. You know? That I always when I was a kid, I had a, you know, I was I had a subscription to Newsweek magazine, I I read it. So the idea of, like, international relations and
Jeff Faust: How old were you when you got your subscription to
Andy Smith: I think I was pretty young. I might have been, like, fifth grade or something.
Jeff Faust: Yes. Awesome.
Andy Smith: And I had
Jeff Faust: a little I love that part of
Andy Smith: your Yeah. I was just like, oh, you know? And so so I'm history buff. I'm a poly sci buff and a geography buff. And Yeah.
And and, you know, and I I mean, I don't care at all about pop culture celebrities or anything. I mean, I'm always I've always been more interested in timeless ideals and and the way that, you know, civic affairs and philosophy. So I think, you know, and I was and what will always struck me about Fort Collins was just the way that it had become the community that it that it had become because of big thinking, and it was always attractive. Yeah. All the, you know, all the elected officials and mayors that I've known over the years, it's always, you know, talking about big ideas and not people.
And
Jeff Faust: Yeah. I well, there's some learning experiences there. We could all be taking notes.
Andy Smith: Like, like,
Jeff Faust: I because at Fort Collins, it it isn't some and and in large part, we talk about this individually in our lives that we're the sum of all these experiences in our past.
Andy Smith: That's right.
Jeff Faust: Our city is the same way. We've had some incredible decisions made before we were here.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: By incredible leaders that were forward thinking, and they were probably able to do that because they, you know, they were reading Newsweek when they were in fifth grade. Not not whatever else was was published back then. I mean, I I remember the kinds of magazines my brother and I asked for, and it was not Newsweek. I can tell you that. It's like espn.com or Sports Illustrated was really popular when I was young.
Yep. Like, send us those magazines. Magazines. But, yeah, you and I, we were living different lives. You were you were eating Newsweek and
Andy Smith: I Well, that was I mean, that was that was the that was the one side of me that was very interested. But, you know, I mean, I was a knucklehead for sure, you know, just making dumb decisions. But but I was just I've always been interested in in, you know, I'm not I'm not into politics, really. Yeah. I was for a while, years ago, but, you know, the idea the big ideas, the wicked problems, what can we do?
Yeah. And, you know, let's let's be bold and, go after big solutions when we can.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Tell me a little bit about that because before the interview started, we were just kind of walking from the front door to my office and one of the things that you had mentioned to me, I'd love to get this recorded, as you said, it pays to be bold. It's good to be bold. Yeah. How have you learned that or how have you experienced that in your professional life, in your personal life?
Yeah. Or, yeah, just riff on
Andy Smith: that for a little bit. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's I think that, you know, you just learn so much about yourself when you take a risk. And and I've I've skinned my knees more times than not taking big risks. And but they shaved me.
And and I just think you you step out of your comfort zone, and and you can make an impact and it's fun if you're with the right people. I mean, especially if it's for the right thing. I mean, if you're doing something bold and it's, you know, mission oriented and it has purpose and you know what that is and you have consistency of purpose of what you're doing and why. The the why is everything. Yeah.
So if you understand the why, to be bold, it's natural. You wouldn't wanna be going if, you know, if if the if your why doesn't require you to be bold, you probably need a bigger why.
Jeff Faust: You need a bigger why. Yeah. That's for sure. Well, tell me about some of those big ideas that you're looking at with the city right now.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: I I would love to well, first, maybe just fill in for all the listeners kind of what it is that you do and how your role and your responsibilities can lead and lend itself to some of those bold ideas that you are envisioning for the city and and and what you find yourself you know, how your time is being occupied right now.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, the you know, we're we're at a bit of a crossroads in the city, and, you know, there's quite a few folks that feel, you know, left behind. Affordability is a big issue for sure. And and I think that, you know, and I think I think we've probably we've lost a lot of some of our, you know, civic engagement and interest.
The town and gown relationship with CSU may not be as good as it was once. We really built this town, I think. And and so I I think that there's, you know, there's all these different problems, and and I found myself in a position to work on not everything, but a few things. And and so I I manage the the URA with this team. I mean, if I didn't have the team and the board that I do have, it would not be it would be totally a failure.
But I've got a a board that's very visionary, innovative risk taking, and they support, you know, my team to be bold as well. And, so, you know, we the URA, the Urban Renewal Authority, is was started in 1982 by the city council, and it was charged with, removing blight. And it's a separate governmental entity. I can get into all the boring stuff, but it's separate because we have our own we have our own attorneys. We have our own budget.
And the board we have a board of commissioners that has 11 members. And seven of those members are the Fort Collins City Council.
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Andy Smith: And then a Larimer County commissioner, Kristen Stevens, who's our vice chair. Poudre Library board member, Matt Shield, is on there. And then Jessie Moore from the Puter School District Board is on there. Then we have a subject matter expert and appointed member to give us an odd number and that's Dan Sapienza. So we have this 11 member board that's fairly regional in perspective and PSD has kind of the same problems, not all the same problems, but a few of the same problems or challenges that the city does, that the county does, the library board, and, you know, affordability.
And and, you know, that's that's one of them for sure. Finances. Right?
Jeff Faust: Yep. So so Affordability and finances, which can which can create inertia for that to just continue because if you if you can't afford it, then you'll you'll move east.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: It's not necessarily you're gonna leave the state or even the county, but you might you might move municipalities.
Andy Smith: Totally.
Jeff Faust: You know, just the migration patterns within Northern Colorado, I'm sure, the way you guys are making decisions today.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's a I mean, it's a great point. When I when I was when I first moved here, there was 96,000 people, I think, and we've doubled since then.
Wow. And Greeley was a long distance phone call. Yeah. And, you know, you wouldn't I mean, there was I I would drive down to Denver, and it was farms, you know, between here and there and the dog track. And and and so there was you know, it was just you know, Fort Collins was kind of this great little, awesome little town.
It was lots of hippies and cowboys, and I don't know if we have any more of either in this town anymore, unfortunately. But, you know, and there and, you know, there was a guy that used to tie up his horse out front of City Drug. You see him every now and then. I'd be walking around Yeah. You know, my bank job, and there's that horse tied up out front.
Jeff Faust: And this was not that long ago. I mean, you said he moved here in '92?
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. So that and that would have been kinda kinda toward the late nineties before before the you know, before 2000. Right. So but, yeah, I mean, it was so so I I think back to your question, you know, we've got these problems with, yeah, affordability.
You know, we got a lot of folks driving in and out of the community, and we got infrastructure problems. Not a whole lot of funding to pay for a lot of the infrastructure. Environmental issues, I mean, you know, sprawling out. And so, you know, they're all they're all kind of related in so many different ways. And so, you know, we we've we took this blight mission.
You know, we gotta remediate blight and think about just neighborhood at a time. We have these plan areas, and North College is one of them. We have a couple of others. So North College is, know, we started up there in 2004, and it's a twenty five year clock that we can use this special financing tool called TIF, tax increment financing. And so there's been there's been quite a few projects up there.
The development of the King Supers marketplace, the Lyric Theater, put some money into Jacks, all the streetscape improvements, some some stormwater improvements. There's been a few, projects. But then, you know, just, you know, about two years ago, we started thinking, well, there's that that giant 50,000 square foot vacant Albertsons grocery store that's been a drag on the neighborhood. So we started really digging in on that. What could that be?
Yep. And it it can't be that anymore. We gotta do something different. And then, you know, a couple of motels that are really, you know, problematic as far as, you mean, three to 400 police calls a year each.
Jeff Faust: Little narrowly little space in town.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Really bad, and they spill over. And so, you know, and so we we thought, let's be bold, and let's do stuff that we've never done before. The URA has never bought real estate, and and, you know, we always kind of been responsive to other development proposals and maybe kick in a few dollars to make it happen. And the board was saying we've this is a this is a we don't have a lot of the bureaucratic, hoops to go through or processes.
Like, this is this is very nimble, very fast. The board can make decisions and get and direct us what to do with some resources and and do it right now. And so, well, we were like, well, why don't we why don't we go buy those motels and let's get rid of those? Let's let's take care of that. Let's let's, you know, that's gotta stop.
Yeah. And we've let's put let's put a community hub somewhere near where the King Soopers is. If not, I mean, the the Albertsons, the old Albertsons. If not in the building, somewhere near there. So, yeah, we've been on this pretty aggressive path to make investments in the North College neighborhood to prevent the return of light conditions.
So far it's been, I mean, it's been well received. The community is excited. We've heard from business owners up there that they've already noticed a big difference in terms of human behavior problems in their parking lots or in their businesses. And now we've got a lot of, you know, the future's bright. We've got a lot of really exciting potential for new housing projects up there and vocational training and and different partners.
That's the beauty of what we do is the relationships and the partnerships that will come together up on North College and then probably over time through other pockets of town, other neighborhoods, really focused approach.
Jeff Faust: Well, I'd love to talk a little bit more about that and and just share whatever you want or take a pass. It's that's fine But I I found myself I've lived here, gosh, since 2017. So I I wasn't born and raised here or anything like that. I moved here from Kansas City. But I noticed pretty quickly that Fort Collins kind of, you kind of live in the pockets where you wanna live.
I mean, it's not a giant city. So there are there are surely people that that frequent every part of our town. But for a large percentage of our population, they they kind of have their neighborhoods and they kind of have their spots. Yeah. And so for folks who maybe haven't been on North College in a while, they might be surprised to see some well, wouldn't call them high rises.
Don't know what you would call, condos apartments, mid rises. Yeah. And and, of course, Denver Rescue Mission is being built on the on the West Side, a block off of of North College, making incredible progress on that building. Really excited for Seth who was a a previous interview on the Love FoCo Show and the work that they're doing at Denver Rescue Mission. But that quadrant of our town, it really is changing.
I would encourage anybody to drive on North College and just see if they haven't been up there in a while how it's changing. You see more diversity as well. Storefronts with, you know, Spanish language on the front front of the door sign and all kinds of different kind of windows into the diversity in our city. Tell us about some of those those, like, next steps that you might see to kinda continue to build up that part of the town and also, you know, eliminate some of that blight as you were saying.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. It's, I'm glad you mentioned it. I mean, that the that's, you know, the the fact that there's businesses that are, you know, Spanish language signs and and the and the types of businesses up there, that's that's the best part of North College is is that it is more than half of the residents up there speak Spanish for their primary language. And it's a cultural place that's very special, it's historic.
So anything that we do up there, that's kind of job number one, is do no harm in terms of displacement or gentrification. There's a lot of residents that live up there, live in mobile home communities, and we have no interest in those mobile homes whatsoever. Those communities, we'd like to figure out ways to support you know, investments into their infrastructure, clean water, some of the basics, you know, but also, you know, there's there's quite a few, yeah, Hispanic, Latino businesses up there that we wanna continue to support. Everything that we do, we want it to be, you know, kind of have that flavor of of the culture and allow and allow organizations like, you know, La Familia La Familia to connect with the community and get a voice for the community in everything that we do. So when we start looking to redevelop the former Albertsons, we we call it 1636, by the way.
That we
Jeff Faust: Okay.
Andy Smith: After we bought the property that that day, we said, okay. We'll never say Albertsons again. Yeah. You know, it's not that it's a bad word, but it's a bad word. Yeah.
And so we say, you know, it's 1636. So when we start to redevelop 1636, we'll start right away with a real clear signal to the Spanish speaking neighborhoods that, hey. We have a we have a community hub here for you for for you. It's for the whole community.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Andy Smith: But this is a place where your culture celebrated. Yeah. You should feel welcome.
Jeff Faust: We built this with you you in mind. And yeah.
Andy Smith: Well, yeah. And and they're gonna build I mean, that's the thing is we're building it with four, and and and it's gonna be built by them in a lot of ways if we do it right.
Jeff Faust: What what do you think is gonna go in there?
Andy Smith: Well, almost certain we're gonna knock down the building.
Jeff Faust: K.
Andy Smith: It's in horrible condition. Way worse than we thought. So but we've got about 4.63 acres, and we have some agreements with some of the property owners around there. We're still we might acquire some more property. Yeah.
But overall, we're gonna we're gonna enter into a right now, we're working to enter into a partnership with the Urban Land Conservancy from Denver who will be our development partner and we'll start kind of master planning and programming uses to build what we'd like to be this, you know, focal point for North College, a central gathering place with it's very walkable, very dense, mixed use, plenty of housing. And to, you know, look at what you see right now is these big asphalt parking lots and say, you know, the neighborhoods should reclaim that. This should become woven right into the fabric of the existing neighborhoods.
Jeff Faust: Yep.
Andy Smith: It's not a big, yeah, just this heat Island.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. The parking lot thing has been, I've learned a lot about parking lots since, you know, stepping into the role that I'm in. And, of course, we're renovating a building right now to to be a little bit of a a community resource and and hub. And I've learned so so permeable and impermeable concrete and trees and shade and all these things and even the flow of storm water and what's good and how bad my property is. It's like how we can mitigate some of that and fix some of that and those aren't cheap problems.
They're necessary but they're not cheap to figure out.
Andy Smith: Yeah, Jeff, good for you for sticking with it. Once you started in there, a lot of folks get into that process and they're like, well, was a good idea until it wasn't. I'm gonna move on and find something a little bit easier.
Jeff Faust: Well, like you, my I mean, my name might be on a lot of documents. But like you, it it's a team and it's a host of people behind me. You know, I mean, boards and support staff and me just saying, can we meet for happy hour? Like, I have a 100 questions. Yeah.
And I don't know, like, how, you know, let alone a for profit tackles that, but definitely how, you know, us as a nonprofit are gonna tackle that. And so, get You have to get really creative. And and some things just have to go before other things. That's true. But if you're gonna be bold and if you're gonna try to innovate and leave the space better than you received it, it's worth figuring some of that stuff out.
Oh, it's The hard work, you know, good stuff always comes on the tail end of hard work.
Andy Smith: Yeah, yeah, it does. And that's, you know, we try to tell our kids, you know, do hard things, you know, that's, it's very important for your life. You'll have a rewarding life. And I think most folks believe that when you give them the opportunity to share in that. You know, when when we've had our conversations about whatever we're doing up on North College, we say, you know, we're kinda like, oh, here's this here's this kinda out of the box vision for what we might be able to do together.
And what do you think? And then folk what can you add to this? What are your thoughts? And folks start saying, I have I have an opportunity to be part of something like this. You know?
Yeah. Yeah. I'd love to. And what if we did this? What if we did this?
Give some people have some ownership, and then all of a sudden, you know, it starts to become one plus one equals three, and and it's a yeah. And the the power of those relationships, and I I don't I don't think, you know, I don't think I don't think money's scarce, you know, vision is. So when you start to create vision and cast it out there, and you could articulate it and share it and give other folks opportunity to add to it. The money follows.
Jeff Faust: I like that phrase a lot. I'm gonna use that phrase. I'm gonna remember it and I'm gonna use it that that money is not scarce, vision is.
Andy Smith: Yeah, that's true.
Jeff Faust: And, yeah, if we can if we can cast the vision, if we can build it, it's amazing. There's a lot of money out there in the world.
Andy Smith: Yeah, I think there still is.
Jeff Faust: There is. There is. Even with all Yeah. The Even with the volatility, even with all the turmoil, even with all the the news articles you can read and the stuff that you can discover, there still is a lot of resources out where especially where we live, and we've been blessed with a lot of resources and, you know, not just a lot of resources, but also there's a lot of people who wanna put it to work.
Andy Smith: That is true.
Jeff Faust: Which is which is great. I I I'm sure, you know, the number of nonprofits we have, Denver Rescue Mission, all the stuff that you're trying to do on on North College, it doesn't happen. I mean, you need both of those things. You need the resources, but you also need to be able to mobilize the people and and put their money where their mouth is. And and, thankfully, we got a community that's doing that.
So
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yep. It's awesome.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Well well, tell me a little bit about, you know, as you look at this city, I obviously, professionally, but how are how do you find yourself engaged in the community personally? Are are there things that you're that you're up to, you're just passionate about, things that you love about our city ways that you're you're giving back outside of kind of your your work life that that you would love to talk about?
Andy Smith: Wow. You know you know, my kids my kids have really taken a lot of that, you know, and we've we've, you know, we've homeschooled our kids.
Jeff Faust: Kids do have a way of kind of setting your schedule for you.
Andy Smith: Oh, without a doubt. Yeah. Without a doubt. You know, and that was, you know, when we had little kids, you know, we had our, all these little toddlers, you know, they own your time. And our adult children now, they require maybe not as much time, but the challenges are even more complex.
And
Jeff Faust: so It's hard for young parents to get that. I really I think it is, you know. Like, I've I've talked with I remember. I remember when we had three kids under the age of five in our house. Yeah.
And we were just overwhelmed. Yeah. You know, like, we felt really good if we showered and went out to eat. Like that was, like we're winning in life right now if we could make that happen. And I remember talking to older families and them just kind of thinking we're just being cute, you know, and like, yeah, good try.
Like, yeah, sure. Now my kids aren't your kids' age, but, you know, we're having conversations now about, what it would look like to drive. We're having conversations about how to interact with social media and you know be on these the devices that can melt your brains and we're having conversations about different activities. How many activities is two? I mean it's it's a different kind of pressure that I imagine as I listen to you and as I have other people in my life.
It actually doesn't go away. There just are more consequences to some of the decisions that you make. They're more complex problems I think you said.
Andy Smith: Yeah, I think that is true. I know for sure that for my wife and I, she's always leaned in to her role as a mother exceptionally well and been very present and involved in every aspect of my kids' lives. Recently I did too. Know, I'd be a little bit, I think when I was younger I was so focused on, you know, whatever business I was in and, you know, in my own needs. Over time, you know, I've become a lot more interested in their problems.
Maybe I understand the adult problems a little bit better than I did when when there was a Barbie fight. Know, my daughter's a fight over Barbie. I'm like Yeah. I don't know. Solve that.
I can't deal with that. But, yeah, I wish I would've I wish I would've had more I wish I would've listened more to mentors. I had I had great mentors around me that were more than happy to tell me, you know, and and provide me some good sage wisdom, but I just couldn't hear it. And and I regret that now. I wish I would have listened more.
So so now I'm listening to some older friends, and and I'm, you know, kind of just being present in this season with my kids for sure. Yeah. So that's, you know, that's probably, you know, the most of it. You know, the homeschooling effort, you know, we started a we started a school about ten, eleven years ago, kind of a hybrid, you know, school for homeschoolers. So that takes a lot of our time.
Jeff Faust: Like a co op? Like a
Andy Smith: Yeah. Somewhere.
Jeff Faust: Bunch of homeschoolers kinda getting together for different classes? Or
Andy Smith: Yeah. It's a classical curriculum. It's pretty it's not a it's not a co op so much of being but, yeah, we we follow a a curriculum, and and and kids all learn Latin and and, you know, Socratic method. And and so we've we've done that. That's been a labor of love.
And and, you know, and I did all my kind of you know, I was always volunteering with the city. I was like, this is something I can do. And and it was mutually beneficial for sure serving on boards and commissions. You know, and and I've always, you know, we lived on the West Side West Side of town since I got here, you know, and and and so, yeah, the little pocket, the little neighborhood, you know, how, you know, the Campus West Area reinvents itself every couple years. It's always fresh, and I you know, and it's sometimes gritty, and but some things never change over there.
So, you know, that's kind of it's fun. I fish. I try to fish as much I can. And and, you know, of course, you know, you know, when I came here, I lived over right by the trails. So I could mountain bike and still do.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. It's it's been a it's been a whole exposure to new different recreational opportunities when I moved out here from the Midwest. You know, the fishing thing is super interesting to me. So, like, I grew up in Iowa. We moved from Kansas City, but I grew up in Iowa.
Had fished in Minnesota all the time.
Andy Smith: Okay.
Jeff Faust: I had never heard of catching release before in my entire life. Yeah.
Andy Smith: I had never heard, like,
Jeff Faust: you know, in the Midwest, like, you're catching walleye and you are eating them.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Faust: And when my buddies were like, let's go, you know, let's go fishing, fly fishing, you know, I wanna take you. I wanna be the first guy to take you fly fishing or whatever. And when I heard about catching release, thought something was wrong. Yeah. I was like, why are you why are you spending all this effort?
Then just, you know, and now I I learned a lot more about the culture Yeah. Of of catching release, of course, and just like the river, you know, and things like that. It's just different than kind of the lake fishing of of the Upper Midwest.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. It it it definitely is. I mean, I think I taught myself how to fly fish when I was a banker, and and, you know, and and it was it was the only time my wife ever told me that I might be she she told me she said, you know, I think that, you know, we wanna give each other all the freedom to be able to pursue your hobbies and whatever. Because but I probably don't I think you need to come home a little bit because I was I was fishing, like, four times a week after work.
I'd, you know, in my the back of my truck, we had my waiters. And, you know, I sit on my tailgate to and take off my my suit and Yeah. Put on my waiters. And and so I was I fished, like, eighty days one year, and it was Yeah. It was it was crazy.
But
Jeff Faust: Just something about it, though. Just kinda, like, gets you into a different world? Or
Andy Smith: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, three hours in in you know, wet waiting in the pooter for three hours is, a two week vacation. Yeah. And I could just come back.
Everything's different. You know? It's such a full sensory experience. And yeah. And I've never I've never ever kept a fish.
I at one time, I accidentally killed one. A foul hooked it. It bled out and died in my hands, and I felt terrible. Yeah. So I took it I I stopped fishing and took him into town to a buddy's house, lives on the lower side of town.
And I was like, you can probably do something with this. He's like, yeah. Darn right. I'll eat it. You know?
Yeah. And that was it. But I did get a taste of the Minnesota fishing a few years ago. My brother-in-law lives there, and we went up and did the whole we were in Wisconsin. He had a lake house, and we were, you know, trolling around on eating brats, you know, all day, like six or seven brats and Brats, beer, wallets.
Drinking cold beer.
Jeff Faust: That's what it is. Yeah. I was
Andy Smith: like I was like, I could get used to that.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Well, there's not a lot else to do in Wisconsin, so that's just kinda becomes but it's a good life. It's a good leg life.
Andy Smith: Oh, I could yeah. I could
Jeff Faust: do that. It's a good leg life.
Andy Smith: For a couple weeks every year.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. It's fun. Well, we all need these things, especially, you know, for me recently it's been golf. I don't I don't know why I chose such an expensive one. Yeah.
Yeah. But it there's just something that happens when I'm fully in that I'm not actually solving the problems of the day. I'm I'm just doing, a methodical, repeatable exercise. I'm out in open air, and it seems like, the world stops for a couple hours at a time. Yeah.
And that's, yeah, super healthy. And I've heard that experience from a lot of people who love fly fishing. Yeah. That just getting out on the river and just cast, and that kind of repetitive movement just kind of melts away some of the stress and helps you enter into a different space.
Andy Smith: Oh, yeah, it does.
Jeff Faust: It engages you for more bold vision and more ideas that are gonna be coming the next day.
Andy Smith: Yeah, it's very real. You know? Every it's a you know, the rocks are timeless, you know, and you're standing on them and the water, you know, the river's been there, you know, since the beginning and it's there. And it's like, okay. You connect with this long history, and and and sometimes it's a you know, it could be a little dangerous.
Yeah. You know, I've had a couple of weird incidents on you know, up there. And but, yeah, it's fun. I mean, I used to you know, I don't know. For all the years I've been fishing since, you know, I guess now thirty some years, I've I've only fished with people probably four or five times.
I always go alone. Yeah. And I don't know if I'll be able to do that as I age, you know, whether that's smart or not, but, you know, I've done stuff. Hey. People will say, I'll meet you up at Ted's place.
You know, let's fish. I'm like, I really well, okay. I'll meet you at Ted's place. What time? And they'll say, I'll meet we'll meet you at 04:00.
At 03:30, I go, right past it. I'm like, where were you yesterday? I didn't see you. I hope I shouldn't say that on this but I was listening. I've done that a few times people.
Jeff Faust: I you know I the thing that kind of sticks out to me about just what you're talking about is so much of our lives are lived in like one hemisphere of our brain. Know, the left side of the brain or the right side. We just we find our little track and this is what we're good at. This is what we do day in day out. And so, you know, nonprofit world, again, my world, faith based nonprofit.
So we talk a lot about, half brain Christianity. For instance, like a phrase that I use a lot with the people that are on my team in that we are not actually, forming whole humans.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: If we're only forming half their brain. And so how can we create opportunities for our spiritual formation to include both hemispheres of the brain. Some denominations and some backgrounds do that better than others. But what strikes me as you talk about your hobbies and getting out on the river, it really is an opportunity to engage the fullness of your brain. I mean, you're not just thinking pure logical, just just rationally solving problems, but you're you're incorporating a much more physical, you're surrounded by the creative kind of part of our world.
All you're it's a full brain experience.
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: And if we could find ourselves in more spaces like that, I think it would do us all really well. Yeah.
Andy Smith: I agree. It's amazing. It's amazing what we can hear when we're when we're just listening. Yeah. And just that still monastic, you know, mindset of, okay, I'm just gonna full sensory experience and check out.
Yep. And do that with quite a bit of frequency. Yeah. Just step out of it a little bit and hear your own heartbeat.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Well, hey. This has been a this has been a great conversation. I've I've enjoyed this conversation and just, like, learning a little bit about your life and history, what you're doing on North College, I I think, gonna continue to be a really important part of of, you know, thinking about our our city as a whole, and not just like the little pockets that maybe people spend more time in and, but I look forward to just continuing to see the revitalization of North College with the flavor and and with, like, the the heartbeat of who's there. Yeah.
Who calls that part of Fort Collins home and and how their their voice and their heart can continue to be seen in that space. I don't know if you have any any parting words or any any final things that you would like to like to share, but I just kind of finish our conversation with giving you a moment to share anything that that's maybe been unset up to this point.
Andy Smith: Gosh. I mean, I wanna say hi to my kids. You know? I I can't think of anything. I mean, I guess I would just I, you know, I love Fort Collins.
I know, both does. I believe. And I I just think that it's you know, the only thing I would just ask people is to be positive and step outside their comfort zone a little bit, especially if it's for the community. Understand what your why is and and be humble, and and we can build we can continue building this great city together. Yeah.
And and I appreciate you having me on, and wish great things for you and what you're doing here with your new Yeah, you.
Jeff Faust: I mean, I, you know, in some ways I feel like we're kindred spirits. Just hearing some of the stuff that you've said today, just the emphasis on humility and kind of growing through trials and what feels like setbacks even. In in moments of failure but growing through those things that resonates deeply with me. I'm sure many many others as well but I I'm telling you I think the thing for me that's gonna just continue to stick is that we're not we're not always short on on resources or money. We're short on vision.
And so may we just continue to to look into the future, dream big dreams, be bold for that and
Andy Smith: Yeah.
Jeff Faust: Yeah. Invite a whole bunch of people along the way.
Andy Smith: Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Definitely.
Jeff Faust: Andy, thank you so much for your time. And, yeah, I just really appreciate your work. Your work for our city, your love for our city, and the way that you're bringing that revitalization to pockets of area. Awesome. Thank you
Andy Smith: so Thank you, Jeff. Appreciate it.
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