Where is the best place in town for authentic Japanese ramen?

The mere mention of the word "ramen" in a college town conjures images of red plastic pouches of noodles for pennies. For some it's a rite of passage every bit as important as freshman biology and dorm pranks.

But we're talking authentic ramen. Tender noodles in delicious broth, ramen is more than a college meal of frugality. So where do you find it in Fort Collins? I'm no authority on this subject, so I asked 13,000 of my closest friends. Here's what they had to say.

The short answer is that it may be on short supply. The consensus Gohan Time was the best in town. But heavy on the was...they closed down. Some folks head to Niwot Market on Sundays. Others mentioned Okole Maluna in Windsor if Hawaiian style is your thing. But as for Fort Collins, those who responded have been left wanting.

Except for those making it at home, that is. If you're interested in taking a shot at it in your kitchen, this may be helpful.

Where do the trains in Fort Collins typically come from and where do they go?

Trains are seemingly omnipresent in Fort Collins, but I figure you're asking for one of two reasons. 

Either A) You are looking to join the circus and are planning to jump a train.

Or B) You're at your wits end with the train traffic, are thinking about ramming on with your car.

But listen, you aren't Robert Pattinson and everyone gets frustrated with the trains. Even Captain Kirk.

And remember: In car versus train, train always wins. 

Always. 

But since we're here, let me dive into the answer anyway. The trains passing through Fort Collins haul a wide variety of goods, from Canadian lumber to molten sulfur to crude oil and coal destined for the East Coast. Because train companies are private companies, they rarely disclose publicly exactly what they’re hauling at any given time. 

But as far as I'm aware, there's no Super 8-style alien transports happening.

The vast majority of the cargo passing through Fort Collins is destined for other places, but some cars do stop here. Among those are the cars carrying grain to the Budweiser plant off Interstate 25 (the plant’s construction here 1989 meant the railroads killed a plan to bypass the city most of the time) and the cars hauling new Vestas wind turbine blades to customers all over the country.

The BNSF track on Mason Street is part of the Front Range Subdivision that operates from Denver to Cheyenne, linking customers here to BNSF's 32,000-mile network in 28 states and two Canadian provinces, and to ports for export. BNSF spokesman Andy Williams said the "vast majority" of the railway's north/south traffic from Denver to states north runs out on the Eastern Plains, not through Fort Collins.
For more on where those trains might go, check http://www.bnsf.com/customers/where-can-i-ship/.

Fun fact: a modern diesel train can move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel, and the average train can carry the equivalent freight of 280 or more trucks.

What legitimate sources are available to find rental properties if I don't live in the area yet? Is the rental housing market still tight?

The rental housing market remains tighter than Scrooge McDuck on the day before payday. Largely, it depends on whether you are a student or not and if you're looking for an apartment or a house. 

There are several property management companies in the city that can help you find a place (I included a short list of some of the bigger ones below). Fort Collins Craigslist is another place to look, but beware of scammers.

The two best sources for this sort thing are the Coloradoan's classifieds (http://www.coloradoan.com/homes/) and NorthernColoradoRentals.com. You'll find listings, photos and contact info. Everything you need to find your next home.

Good luck out there! 

The following is not an endorsement any of the companies, but a sampling of those that are in the city. Armadillo Property Management, www.rentfortcollins.com,  (970) 416-7368; Touchstone Property Management (www.touchstone-property.com), 970-223-5000; Mountain-n-Plains, 970-221-2323; Peak Property Management, www.peakproperty.net, 970-377-2717.

What should be considered the anniversary date of Fort Collins - when the military post moved down river, when the State gave the colony a charter, or when the "City of Fort Collins" was incorporated? Bonus: what celebrity name is in the sidewalk at College and Mountain and why?

If it were me, I'd stick with three birthdays. The party! The presents! And I will look amazing for my age.

But if you can only have one, I'd go with the day the city's charter was signed by the military, August 20, 1864. But I'm just agreeing with the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery at this point.

As for your celebrity, I'll defer to the Choice City Native blog as far as why Jack Benny's hand prints are at College and Mountain.

With winter closing in are there any coat drives in the area? My wife has a couple she'd like to donate.

Well isn't your wife just the sweetest? Good for her.

I haven’t been able to track down any official coat drives yet, but if that coat's just burning a hole in your pocket, there are a couple organizations that are always looking for coats to help their clients. 

Homeless Gear’s street outreach delivers survival supplies (coats included) to homeless men and women on the streets of Fort Collins. Learn more at www.homelessgear.org.  

Mary’s Closet, a ministry of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, is also in need of winter coats, jackets and vests (mostly mens), men’s jeans, sleeping bags, mats or pads and backpacks. Donations can be dropped off at Parish Center, 101 N. Howes St., or be deposited in the single red bin by the back door in the church parking lot after hours.

I'll add more to this list as they come up. If anyone is running a coat drive, leave the info in the comments section.

And seriously, how big are your pockets that you can fit a coat in them?

I read that $30,000,000 in maintenance to Hughes Stadium was deferred. What maintenance needs were deferred? Why was maintenance deferred while they built luxury boxes?

Listen, if you're going to watch a rebuilding football team in a stadium needing millions in renovations, wouldn't you want to do it from a state-of-the-art luxury box?

The luxury boxes were added during the last expansion and renovation of the Hughes Stadium in 2004 as part of an expansion and renovation that also included 4,000 new seats.

Do you remember 2004? 

We didn't even have Twitter then.

The entire $30 million doesn't necessarily represent "deferred" maintenance. It's more like $30 million in stuff that CSU believes needs to be done including maintenance, code compliance, upgrading, etc.

Some of it is required. For example, the restrooms don’t meet current building codes, and there are problems with ADA compliance in some areas. There are also elements that now are coming to the end of their life and need to be fixed or replaced: goal posts, steam boiler, scoreboards and seats to name a few. 

CSU officials argued that adding the luxury boxes would allow them to generate additional money from the premium seats that could be used elsewhere. And the university has been spending money on Hughes since that 2004 renovation, from new artificial turf on the field to $574,000 worth of new scoreboards, which were installed this fall.

You can check out the full list of what's on the $30,000,000 list here: http://www.colostate.edu/stadium/aug9/hughes-addendum.pdf.

And regarding the team, I kid because I care. Congrats to Coach McElwain and the team on a big improvement so far this season. Just two more wins and they'll be bowl eligible. Good luck, Rams!

Why didn't they leave the train tracks on Mason flat instead of building that trough they are in? Will cars be able to use Mason once MAX arrives?

Why not leave the tracks flat with the road? Because it's safer, obviously. Just look.

Despite an early rash of cars getting stuck on the tracks along Mason St., BNSF railroad tries to minimize, in all cases, any location where a pedestrian or car could cross the tracks. The construction on Mason provided an opportunity for the city and the railroad to work together to save both time and money.

And seriously, who doesn't love saving time AND money?

There will still be plenty of opportunity to get that car stuck. Vehicles will still be allowed on Mason even after MAX service begins. So drive carefully out there.

If you're thinking it's still a pretty easy thing for pedestrians to hop over, you're right. The city is currently considering adding a decorative fence for the tracks that would place an even larger barrier between the street and the tracks.