Interesting article on living and leaving Boulder

[seethelight]

Originally Posted by 41Willys

Boulder is 25.7 square miles surrounded by reality.

It's actually the reverse.

[41Willys]

Originally Posted by seethelight

It's actually the reverse.

Nope....... I have lived there. I coined the phrase from my real estate agent when I bought a house back in 96.

[Hipchik]

Lol you coined the phrase? My mom worked for the Boulder Chamber of Commerce in the 80s and they used that phrase then.

[LHS79]

Originally Posted by Hipchik

Lol you coined the phrase? My mom worked for the Boulder Chamber of Commerce in the 80s and they used that phrase then.

X2- grew up in a town that rhymes with "Bongmont" and we heard that term in the 70's also.

[Caro42]

Originally Posted by LostSailor4326

My wife and I bought a condo in Boulder about 7 months ago, and I can give my take on why I did it and what's keeping us here.

Biggest draw for me is the trails (yes, typical). I guess you can peg me under the "exercise obsessed jocks" although I consider myself more of a "dirtbag trail runner" if we're going to generalize. The extensive and varied trail system within city limits that still provides urban amenities is hard to match. I can ride my bike to over a dozen trailheads, run through one of the most visited state parks in the state past 100 rock climbing routes, have over 100 miles of trail at my feet, run up multiple peaks, and get in 2500 feet of elevation gain with some great views. And I get to do this every day. Then when I'm done, I can cycle to work on an some solid bike paths past dozens of businesses/restaurants/retail while my wife takes a bus to work at a pretty cool college. It's a combination of rural and urban that you don't see very often. On my off days, I can easily get to real mountain trails with about an hour car ride or a much longer bike ride. I suppose for me it's accessibility.

I'm not going to get into my philosophy on running, but I don't run races, I don't do groups, and I don't really follow any sort of "idiots guide on running". I'm just a guy that likes to run up and down mountains/trails, and I live in one of the best places for it. It's ingrained in the culture here; you can take what you need and leave the rest.

And just miles away from all the trails, there's a core area of amenities/shops/restaurants that mingles with the outdoor scene along with a bunch of like minded people that have similar views on outdoor recreation. There's a live and let live attitude here if you look in the right places for it. I enjoy the laid back, crunchy, throwback to the hippy era vibe around town, though I believe most will say it's diminishing.

Yeah, you've probably seen Pearl St mall look a-likes everywhere. But how many of them have iconic, unique sedimentary rock formations that create peaks looming 2000 feet above them?

I put about 500 miles a month on 1 vehicle that wife and I share. Driving is a little different out here, the key is to do it as little as possible or during the right time. We don't mind the traffic because we avoid it.

We're not trust funders, we have some college debt, live frugally by nature, and definitely aren't affluent. But our 1 bed condo is more than enough for us, even though we could have gotten a 3 bed house 30 mins away with the same price tag. So because of the accessibility, we're totally willing to compromise.

I would hate to pay 1800/month for a 1 bedroom luxury studio in downtown Denver, but plenty of people see value in it, and are doing it.

Boulder is known for the outdoor recreation and accessibility. Yeah it might have hints of art, culture, music, and typical "city" bullet points but the outdoors always comes out on top. If outdoor recreation isn't your thing, then yeah, it's not going to make sense. When in Rome???

Boulder has always sounded like heaven to me (I've never been there) but what I see today (August of 2021) is that Denver is reputed to have the worst air quality in the world, and Boulder a close second. As a landscape photographer, I'd be hesitant to move there for fear I wouldn't be able to even see the landscape, much less photograph it, for the smog, smoke and pollution. I'd appreciate any feedback on the air quality/air pollution issue.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by Caro42

Boulder has always sounded like heaven to me (I've never been there) but what I see today (August of 2021) is that Denver is reputed to have the worst air quality in the world, and Boulder a close second. As a landscape photographer, I'd be hesitant to move there for fear I wouldn't be able to even see the landscape, much less photograph it, for the smog, smoke and pollution. I'd appreciate any feedback on the air quality/air pollution issue.

My employer is in Boulder and the office is there. Even though I’m remote, I occasionally go to the office there, by choice. While I don’t want to sound absolutely dismissive of your concerns, the air quality is usually -not- like this and the scenery is amazing, especially in winter with the snow-capped mountains within view. While we can’t really predict the future, the current air quality situation is not normal for us.

In terms of trails, it’s one of the reasons why I opt to go to the office at times. It’s nice to go in on a Friday, work for most of the day, and then leave a bit early to go hiking in Boulder Canyon. There is so much within a reasonable distance of the city (and within city limits as well).

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

My employer is in Boulder and the office is there. Even though I’m remote, I occasionally go to the office there, by choice. While I don’t want to sound absolutely dismissive of your concerns, the air quality is usually -not- like this and the scenery is amazing, especially in winter with the snow-capped mountains within view. While we can’t really predict the future, the current air quality situation is not normal for us.

In terms of trails, it’s one of the reasons why I opt to go to the office at times. It’s nice to go in on a Friday, work for most of the day, and then leave a bit early to go hiking in Boulder Canyon. There is so much within a reasonable distance of the city (and within city limits as well).

I will echo this. While some days can be tough where the skies are not what you expect, it is not the norm. In fact, when we do return from the east coast, TX or CA from time to time, we always make note of how blue the sky is, just driving from DIA toward the Flatirons. It's a beautiful deep shade of azure, more often than not, and you can see for miles - Front Range and beyond. You can easily take those blue skies for granted those until you leave the area.

[Meowen]

I lived in Boulder/Longmont for about 10 years and while it is generally a nice place to be, it's far from the UTOPIA just about everyone who lives there thinks it is. Unless you are super into hiking and biking, its quite boring. The food is pretty terrible, and so is the cultural diversity.

It truly felt like the residents who go on and on about how it was the best place to live and on and on, were drinking the kool-aid that I wasn't getting enough of, or something. Anyway, those people can have the place.