Boulder - a change in lifestyle and perspective - 5/20/2007

Until Boulder, I'd spent my entire life in big cities, including two of the most beautiful in the western world, Paris and Stockholm. After 23 years in the suburbs of Washington, DC, I decided to make a change. Unfettered by children (grown now) and an office job (I work at home), I took the chance and rented an apartment in Boulder...to test the waters (although there's not much around here). After 6 months, I knew I wanted to stay. All the other postings are right in one way or another (expensive and little or no diversity, to name a few) but no place is perfect. We each have to discover what it is in a place that speaks to us: for me, it is the incredible weather, the friendly people (it's not fake - I've decided that people are friendly here because they're happy), the great musical venues, the concern for the environment, the open space, and waking up every morning to views of the Flatirons, the Foothills, and the Rockies. Is it DC, Paris, Stockholm? No, but what it offers are intangibles that feed my soul in a different way at this particular stage in my life.

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midwestern, mountain, college city...with money an - 5/11/2007

Boulder's surrounded by suburban sprawl full of many midwestern transplants on all sides - just beyond the greenspace - except the very majestic Rocky Mountains and Flatirons to the west. It's full of sciency types, buddhist types, Richard Branson types, and lots of college students that seem to be mostly from the midwest and excited about the skiing and the party. Most of those people are white and relatively affluent. It looks like a Disney set. It's generally a pretty athletic crowd. It's organic or progressive ways are mainly in a Wholefoods kind of sense, it seems to me.

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Wonderful change - 5/11/2007

After living in New York (Manhattan and Brooklyn) Boulder is a welcome change. There are plenty of cultural events, gorgeous scenery and outdoor activities and amazing alternative health and wellness resources in Boulder.

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boulder views II - 4/24/2007

It is expensive to rent or own property in Boulder. If people there aren't Olympic athletes or Nobel Laureates, they can often look and/or act the part. Many recreational opportunities and very, very beautiful. The climate is typically sunny and mild, with some very cold and very hot spells, and incredible winds. Any "lakes" to speak of are either more like ponds or constructed reservoirs without few trees to be seen. Buses are good. Restaurants, live music, and some other cultural opportunities can be better than in most places of it's size, and even excellent in some cases. It can seem like one of the least diverse populations in America in that it is, overall, caucasian and affluent. Denver and it's offerings are within 45 minutes driving. An overall very pleasant place to be if the above is what you're after.

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boulder views - 4/24/2007

Boulder is basically of the affluent and anglo, these days. In it's past, it was bohemian and attracted much of what you might expect in what was a more out of the way mountain/college town, leaning to left politically; now it likes to think it is while seeming more like the Hollywood version of a number of college and mountain towns rolled into one glossy package. It can be rather "yuppie progressive" versus truly enlightened - a "progressive" that can seem a bit more watered down, PC-derived, or removed from most people's realities to make some of the differences many Boulderites might expect. Open space and growth policies have, while keeping the obscene Denver sprawl and "Anywhere, America" at bay, made for an exclusive and uniform sort of population for the most part. The University of Colorado has been touted by Princeton Review as being an undergraduate place with a party-/recreation-minded place, and by graduate school rankings as being among the best in the world.

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Burnt out on Boulder - 4/12/2007

If you love crowds,noise,traffic congestion,dog poop,lattes,expensive sporting gear,organic food & hanging out with wealthy folks in an artificial environment - you will love Boulder. If you crave peaceful, wild natural places with no crowds- this is not the place for you. Boulder was once a great place to live, but it has become over-developed and oriented towards the wealthy or elite wannabes.

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It's like going to a different country... - 4/3/2007

I live in suburban Denver and work in Boulder. I'm surprised I don't need a passport to enter Boulder city limits. It is a beautiful city. But it's also ridiculously expensive--filled with latte-sipping Volvo drivers who live in fancy 4-bedroom 900,000 dollar homes. Oh brother! The people there seriously live in a bubble. Because Colorado as a whole is so much more conservative than Boulder the people never want to venture outside city limits. People there really have no idea what the state is really like--they were astonished when we voted for Bush in 2004. I love coming home every day from Boulder as I just sit there and thank God that Denver and the rest of Colorado hasn't become like Boulder. I pray it never will.

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Boulder - great little city - 1/3/2007

I lived in Boulder for 10 years and can't wait to return. It's beauty alone should be enough to attract anyone. In addition, the sun shines most of the year, the summers are not too hot, nor the winters too cold, though it does snow (which I miss now that I live in California). It is a mecca for outdoorsmen of all kinds, which creates a culture of environmentalism and health. Yes, the traffic in Boulder is higher than ideal, but the city is not so large that walking, biking, and bus riding are inconvenient. Conservative suburban Coloradans tend to dismiss Boulder as a liberal joke, but Boulder has prevented the "everywhere America" look thriving in cities like Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch, or Colorado Springs. On the other hand, unlike the S.F. Bay Area, where I live now, shopping and going out for entertainment in the small city of Boulder is very convenient. People who complain about the traffic in Boulder need to get out more. My only complaint about Boulder is the same with most of Colorado: there isn't enough ethnic diversity.

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Wake Up Boulder - 11/28/2006

I agree with the last comment posted regarding Boulder’s increasingly homogenous nature compared to the resident’s perception of the city as a cosmopolitan place. I live in Denver and go up to Boulder occasionally, but this last time I realized how much I’ve begun to dislike the city. I moved to Colorado a few years ago because it’s a beautiful state and I love the outdoor opportunities, climate (in the front range), and the lifestyle generally. So naturally when I first arrived I was enamored with Boulder, given its abundance of natural beauty, vibrant downtown and laid back atmosphere. But the opinion of Boulder I’ve developed can be summed up in one statement – it’s not real. Of course its reality for the people who live there and don’t see any reason to venture out much (I can’t blame them with the amount of activities Boulder has to offer), but I’ve had many people agree with me lately that the city almost seems like more a Disney created playground for wealthy, outdoorsy white people than a real city. The city is a walking contradiction with reality – people like to celebrate the community as an open minded, diverse place but in reality you don’t see much of anyone but wealthy white people who can’t seem to find a better topic of conversation than potential gear purchases or just how great living in Boulder is. It’s the type of place where you see the Land Rover with a hundred bumper stickers promoting the most liberal causes – not because they are knowledgeable about the candidate or the issue – but because dammit it’s Boulder, and I’m liberal so there. The city has done a lot of great things to be eco-friendly – being very bicycle friendly, open space preservation, etc. - which is great. Denver certainly isn’t the most diverse city in the country, but it’s a lot closer to reality than Boulder is. I used to go up to Boulder and come back thinking how great it would be to live there, now I come back to Denver refreshed to be in a real place.

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People's Republic of Boulder - 7/1/2006

I lived and worked in Boulder for 25 years (last visited in 2003), but I’d never ever want to move back there. The city does have many positive features. The level of education is quite high because of the university and many scientific institutes. Outdoor recreation activities are abundant and include skiing, hiking, bicycling, kayaking, and rock climbing. The Rocky Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop for the city. However, Boulder really peaked in the late 1960s and 70s in terms of culture and lifestyle. Today it’s just another sprawling American city along the highway. It has become quite banal even though residents continue to believe that it’s the best place to live (and become quite defensive towards anyone who questions them). City planners continue to use the discredited “garden city” model that became popular in the 60s. This has severely stunted the city’s normal urban and cultural development over the decades. It has also lead to economic problems and inflated home prices. Small and poorly constructed 1960s vintage homes often sell for more than $400k. The city often claims to be metropolitan, but in reality it has become increasing homogonous, i.e., young affluent suburban whites. Families with children and seniors tend to relocate to surrounding cities which are more hospitable. Boulder is certainly not a terrible place to live, especially for people that are affluent, white, and that enjoy the outdoors. However, others might find the city unjustifiably pretentious and lacking in many respects. For these people Fort Collins, which is a similar university town an hour to the north, could prove a much better alternative. (The author currently lives in Italy on the Mediterranean coast).

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There is a price... - 5/25/2006

I grew up in Boulder so perhaps I'm more critical of the changes I've seen around me than I should be, but Boulder, while beautiful and offering an abundance of opportunities, has grown very congested, a lot less friendly, and incredibly expensive. People move here to be in a "small town" and feel closer to nature, and yet, within the city limits, the population density feels claustrophobic. It's like rush hour all the time, and not just on the streets. Try shopping at Whole Foods here and you'd think you'd entered Grand Central Station during peak hours. Once, the fire station had to be called during holiday time because the store was packed to over capacity, and it's not a small grocery store. There is also a growing attitude of "me first" and "I'll do whatever it takes to get mine". Yes, Boulder still has some friendly people and great opportunities, but it is becoming increasingly frantic and panicked, crowded, homogeneous (it's turning into a place where only the rich can afford to live), and selfish. Too bad. I found this place to post because I was looking at profiles of new cities to relocate to.

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Life in Boulder - 5/5/2006

Boulder must be one of the most beautiful places in earth. Anyone whose passion is the outdoors would love it here.

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A little pricy, especially for what a student is g - 5/2/2006

Accomadation here in Boulder, is somewhat limited to the big old houses on "the Hill", which usually have around 6 or more bedrooms, however, are in the shape you'd expect after years and years of students occupying these 6 or more bedrooms. Even with their condition, which is still livable, the prices are kind of outrageous. The landlords and homeowners know that in a college town such as this, as well as being so popular by being the "gateway into the Rockies", the students' parents are going to pay, whatever the market is. p.s. There's also a ski resort, just 20 minutes or so from 1st Street and Canyon, so... that kind of gives you a better understanding

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Ahh! - 4/16/2006

insanely high cost of living in comparison with what the average joe makes in this city!

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boulder - 8/28/2005

positives--amazing beauty of the nearby mountains, cleanliness, great restaurants, easy to get around if you live in the city negatives--it's very expensive (i think the most recent number for median single family home is about $475,000, and that's a very mediocre home not too close to the mountains or downtown). it's also very white so it's not a great place to be a minority. it's very much "the beautiful" people--with high paying jobs or trust funds.

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