Is Boulder snooty/snobby? What's wrong with Boulder? (Fort Collins, Greeley: neighborhoods, high school)

[chilaili]

I lived and worked in Boulder for about 8 months before moving out to Longmont and I never found it to be a "dump". And maybe I'm just really unobservant but I never thought it had a litter problem. Yes there are homeless wandering around, but name me one city in North America that doesn't have that problem. I never encountered any homeless person that was rude or a problem and if they do make you nervous then don't go to the areas they hang out in (ie; outside the courthouse). Boulder has a lot going for it: the weekly Farmer's Market during the Summer, the endless festivals throughout the year, a vibrant music and arts scene, a very politically engaged population, a beautiful creek running thro it, parks and trails, lots of fabulous restaurants and coffeeshops, several great bookstores, easy access to the mountains. Yes it's outrageously expensive and most "normal" people can't afford to live there, but it's fun to hang out. It's not perfect - there is usually a surge in crime at the beginning of the academic year as new students move into town and have to adjust to their new surroundings. You may have heard or read about incidents at certain Frat houses for example. This is not to say the students are 100% responsible, there are those who prey on kids being away from home for the first time, but University Hill is just one neighbourhood. I never found it particularly cliquey either. The people where I worked were very sociable and compared to Minnesota, very warm and welcoming. That said, you really should spend time here before relocating permanently. Spend about a week here looking around the neighbourhoods, check the nightlife, read the local papers, talk to people, drive out of town to see places like Longmont, Lyons, Nederland. Decide for yourself if this is somewhere you can feel at home.

[4acadia]

Chiliali, I hate to change the topic on this thread, but just wondered if you could share how you feel about Longmont (you can PM me if you like)...we're looking at relocating and will be visiting Boulder and surrounding towns and would love the perspective of someone who moved from out of town, to Boulder and then Longmont...Any opinion on Louisville or Erie?

Thanks!

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by 4acadia

Chiliali, I hate to change the topic on this thread, but just wondered if you could share how you feel about Longmont (you can PM me if you like)...we're looking at relocating and will be visiting Boulder and surrounding towns and would love the perspective of someone who moved from out of town, to Boulder and then Longmont...Any opinion on Louisville or Erie?

Thanks!

DW and I lived in Louisville for 8 months in 2000.
BEAUTIFUL, clean and delightful city.
Higher end and affluent.
Very family oriented.
Superior(which was acroos I-25)was brand new(in 2000)Housing, shopping,apartments and condos.
Louisvillians seemed upset at the time about so many people moving to their little community.
We loved it:Shopping closeby, Flatirons Mall down I-25,Wonderful restaurants,Great employees.

We moved back to Palm Springs in December!

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by 4acadia

Chiliali, I hate to change the topic on this thread, but just wondered if you could share how you feel about Longmont (you can PM me if you like)...we're looking at relocating and will be visiting Boulder and surrounding towns and would love the perspective of someone who moved from out of town, to Boulder and then Longmont...Any opinion on Louisville or Erie?

Thanks!

Hi there,
I think Longmont is okay. It's smaller than Boulder by about 20,000 people I believe but it feels much bigger. It has all the chain stores such as a Super Target, Kohls, JC Penney, Pier One, Borders, Petsmart, a 1970s mall with all the usual stores, chain restaurants such as Red Robin, Applebees, Noodles & Co, etc. The downtown area has the smaller, individual shops and is evidently much older. I'd say Boulder is where you go for the scenery, Longmont is where you go for what you need. It is suffering from urban sprawl - LOTS of new developments going up all over town - but it has a good public transport system and great views of the Front Range.

I moved to Longmont because I just couldn't afford Boulder. I was paying $625 for a studio apartment, in Longmont I have a 1-bedroom for under $600. Some people might call Longmont a blue-collar town, but it also has a historic district between 3rd & 9th Avenues, a really good library, some lovely parks and easy access to I-25, Hwy 36 or Hwy 66. I have no idea about schools but I know one couple who moved out of their loft in Denver to Longmont and are very happy about it. Boulder is a great place to live IF you have plenty of money and it certainly has a vibrant downtown. But it's only a 20-minute drive from Longmont if you want to go in for the Farmers Market or shopping or dining out or just people-watching on Pearl Street.

Now why do I want to move out of Longmont again? Oh yes, 74,000 people and growing! I like small towns People here have talked about the gang problem in Longmont and it is reported in the local papers. I have never experienced or seen anything and perhaps it's just in certain areas of the town but it seems the police are getting a good handle on it. Your best bet really is to come here for a few days and spend time wandering around the various towns, talk to locals, read the papers, see what your gut tells you.

Good luck!

[.gif]

i really like boulder. there's not too much wrong with it other than the high housing prices and bad traffic. the university of colorado is there. they have a nice little campus. also, boulder has a lot of good places to eat compared to the denver suburbs where your choices are limited mostly to chain restaurants like applebees, outback, etc.

[Zelia]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

average home price in Boulder is $365,000 average price in Aspen $834,000.

The average price of an Aspen home is around two million dollars. It's unreal.

Your figure of $834,000 sounds about right in 1838.

Aspen home prices seem fluctuate a bit depending on which celebrity just moved to town. If the real estate bubble does burst, I don't think Aspenites will be hurting. No exotic loans! No foreclosures! No yard sales! These folks pay cash.

Z

[Beth]

I lived in Aspen for 3 years so I might throw in my opinion about this lovely little town. Aspen is an amazing place to visit but I would never, ever raise my children there - even if I could afford to. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love the place. However, there is a VERY definitive line between people who are there to 'serve' and people who are there to 'be served'. (I was one of the 'servers'. I worked as a nanny.) Maybe this will help:

Cons:
I was never snubbed and I never felt that people were looking down their nose at me. HOWEVER, it was always obvious that I was not "one of them" since I didn't drive a brand new BMW SUV and I didn't wear Prada to do my grocery shopping. VERY image concious.

Housing prices are RIDICULOUS. Good luck finding a 2-bedroom condo for less than $1,000,000...you'll definitely never find a house for less than that. Everything else is also considerably more expensive than other parts of CO.

The town is 90% white so if you are wanting someplace a little bit more diverse this is not the place.

Traveling is a bear. Plane tickets are expensive because you have to go through Denver. If you want to skip the plane ticket it is a 3+ hour drive to Denver in good weather. Traffic around town is a problem and it is getting worse.

PROS: It's gorgeous. There is great public transportation that will take you around town and to the mountains. There is always something to do - outdoorsy stuff, theater, concerts, arts, etc... I don't know how old your kids are but there are a number of great programs for kids - ski school, art, theater, music, outdoor ed., etc...

Great shopping.

The public schools are pretty good. I wouldn't rate them as top-notch but they are definitely above average. Aspen Country Day is a K-8 private school that regularly has graduates that go on to very highly regarded boarding/prep schools.

Aspen is a very health-conscious town. Healthy, organic food is readily available and most everyone is VERY active.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your decision!

[Beth]

Oops! Sorry! I posted that thing above on the wrong thread. Sorry!

[Christian11]

Originally Posted by cil

I personally do think there is a bit of an elitist feel to both these places.
Just being able to *afford* living there creates an upper crust tone in the first place. However, I am not sure that snooty is exactly the proper adjective.
There is a certain lifestyle associated with Boulder or Aspen, sort of an outdoorsy hippie aristocracy.

Boulder is filled with elitist, rich folks. They will look down on you, for sure.

Not as friendly as other areas in Colorado.

They are very open minded, as long as you fit in their group and agree with them.

Try Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Loveland.... Highlands Ranch is nice too.

Chris

[Christian11]

Originally Posted by Mississippienne

Other observations I made from my visit: Boulder is very liberal. As in granola-munching, prairie-dog-loving, natural-fiber-wearing, yoga-practicing, hybrid-car-driving, companion-animal-having, LIBERAL. Despite this, there are no black people there. It seriously creeped me out afterwhile, seeing all these blond, blue-eyed Aryan youths, and not a single black person or even anyone with a tan. Were there never any black people there to begin with? Are they hiding them in a basement somewhere? I dunno. Freaked me out though.

Boulder is more unfriendly, then the rest of Colorado. The town's political and ideological views do NOT represent what CO is. CO is a wonderful state, don't let the Boulder mentality decive you. This is the CO minority and the richest.

Boulder folks are the most liberal in Colorado, and yet, where are minorities represented in their town? They don't have minorities in Boulder. Why don't the rich liberals in Boulder encourage minorities to move in to their town by creating affordable housing? Nah, they push minorities into towns away from theirs. Why do you think they wnated to restrict growth in Boulder? Yeah... to keep the "undesirable minorities" (like me, I am latino from Argentina) away from them.

Boulder residents are the elite of America, living in ivory towers. The Boulder types are the ones who call everyone a racist and call for "sharing the wealth", but is that what they do? Nothing! They also condemn non-vegetarians and verbally attack anyone who they disagree with! Voice something they disagree with and you will be shouted down.

Boulder.... stay away from that Boulder of nonsense.

Ps. My post will probably be deleted, but I wrote it anyway. The liberal folks don't like the truth coming out.