Relocating to Boulder County (Denver, Longmont: how much, new house, neighborhood)

[bird74]

My husband has taken a job in Niwot and we will be relocating to the area. I will most likely be working in Boulder. We are looking for an area with great schools, price range $300,000-$400,000, Single family home. We would like a neighborhood that is welcoming and has young families, but I'm also looking for something that isn't too conservative. We would like someplace with mature trees or views of the mountains. We would both be willing to drive up to 30 miles to get to work. Idealy the location would have an artsy liberal vibe. Any ideas?

[wxjay]

Well, Boulder might be ideal itself for the "artsy" part, but the housing prices there are really high. Try Superior, Erie, or Louisville. These are all up and coming "suburbs" of Boulder (it sounds weird when put like that...) and they will have houses in your price range. Plus, they are well within commuting distance to Boulder.

[Market Mama]

You might want to reconsider based on housing prices. Boulder has an "artsy liberal vibe", for sure. But it also sits in a valley that hangs on to air pollution, and because of so-called growth limits, it is an expensive place to live -- not really worth it (IMHO) when you can live just outside and still have access to its amenities. And yes, indeed, it does have those -- fabulous restaurants and world-class entertainment via the Boulder Theater, CU (the university here, with an excellent visiting artists program) etc. Lots of music of all flavors, a fair amount of theater and within driving distance of astonishing opera etc in Denver and Central City -- is opera liberal or conservative <LOL>?

I do love Boulder, but I bought my house back when a very small house on 2 acres and the right to keep horses cost $30,000 (current assessed at $750,000 -- our retirement fund, Wahoo!) Also, pay in Boulder is, generally, lower than in surrounding areas -- too many people willing to take less to live here. I work right on the downtown mall, a beautiful place to step outside for lunch and free music on Fridays, but I pay for it with lower wages and expensive parking. Weigh your options and carefully decide how much being a citizen of the Republic of Boulder is really worth. It's much cheaper to "visit".

MM

[tao]

You could easily commute from any of the Boulder suburbs: Longmont, Erie, Superior, Louisville, Broomfield. They all have houses in your price range.

[Market Mama]

Originally Posted by tao

You could easily commute from any of the Boulder suburbs: Longmont, Erie, Superior, Louisville, Broomfield. They all have houses in your price range.

True. And Niwot itself is a charming small town with a wonderfully old-fashioned "Main Street" and a plethera of new houses that have sprung up around it.

Another thing to factor in is your commute. Driving towards Boulder in the morning and away from it in the afternoon can mean dealing with long, crawling traffic jams. Boulder had its first gridlock about 2 years ago -- so many cars that the entire town locked up and just sat there for a couple of hours. And now the town council is thinking about ways to tax everyone who drives into town or to somehow force more people to use public transportation.

MM