City: Boulder, CO

Category: Shopping

Description: Just west of campus and both affectionately and officially called “The Hill,” this area caters mainly to the university crowd. The Hill developed in 1906 as a streetcar stop between the Boulder Depot downtown and Chautauqua Park. In 1928, it was the focus of Boulder’s first business growth restriction, from homeowners who feared their neighbors would eventually sell out to stores. For that reason, The Hill’s retail zone remains quite compact. The 3-block University Hill district is located in central Boulder, bordering the western edge of the University of Colorado.The district includes 100 businesses and 29 commercial property owners, around the intersection of 13th and College Streets.Declining sales prompted a face-lift in 1997, with street improvements and the addition of trees and artwork and a clock. (As you stroll, keep an eye out for the literary quotations embedded in the sidewalk.) Unfortunately, the sprucing up has not turned things around, and Hill merchants chipped in for a marketing study, completed in spring 2001.The plan’s recommendations, some of which are currently in the works, included: