Boulder to Littleton: a dumb or doable commute? (Denver, Golden: house, good schools)

[O'Dell]

Yes, in a perfect world I would minimize my carbon footprint and go to work in dirty sweats by walking from my kitchen to my home office. Sadly, it ain't gonna happen.

So what do the locals think about a daily commute from south Boulder (table mesa) to Littleton? Mapquest chalks it up to 35 miles / 45 minutes -- is that at all the case?

Thanks for any thoughtful replies.

[livecontent]

Littleton can be many areas--the actual City of Littleton and that which uses a Littleton address. It really does not matter as the commute you are contemplating is suicide to a comfortable lifestyle.

What so special about Boulder that you would do such a commute??? The areas of the South Towns of Denver provide great places to live; excellent parks, trails and waterways; quick access to mountain resources; good schools; extensive public transportation. You would have the choice of many different type of living that would be more relaxed and comfortable than many places in Boulder.

Yes, Table Mesa is a wonderful great place to live but it is not the only nice place to live. If you a house there and you are settled then I would get a job closer to be able to have the time to enjoy life, instead of spending hours driving on dangerous highways.

Livecontent

[DressageRider]

Your commute will take much longer most of the time. Sorry.

[O'Dell]

Livecontent, I appreciate your sentiments, although I would allow there are trade-offs that at times we all must endure. This would be a short-term situation, so hopefully we could regain the balance you're talking about. You mentioned "dangerous highways"; is there something particularly dangerous about the commute I suggested? DressageRider, can you quantify "much longer"? Would you think it's about an hour each way?

[Count David]

Originally Posted by O'Dell

You mentioned "dangerous highways"; is there something particularly dangerous about the commute I suggested?

Snow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A phenomena that can occur anytime between October and May in these parts.

[livecontent]

All driving is inherent dangerous and highway high speed driving more so. David did tell you about the snow and it could be brutal at times. The shortest straight line distance from Table Mesa to somewhere is Littleton is down 93 (which is closed many times due to wind and blowing snow) to Golden to Hwy. 470. You could take all highway, I-36 to I-25, that is a real nightmare during rush hour. Gee, I rather not be working--I no longer live to work; in fact, I do not even work to live.

I would suggest that you have to figure about 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour. You would not want to be late punching the clock. If it snows bad, I would stay home because you would be on the road for hours, or pack a bag and be prepared to spend the night.

Now you could take public transit. Take the B bus to downtown and the rail to the Littleton station. However, you have not said in what part of "Littleton" that you would be working; it may not be accessible. Public transit would be nice but it would again take hours, each way.

You must really love Table Mesa. Actually, it was one of my favorite spots, going up to NCAR, when I lived/worked in Boulder. I just noticed New Paltz, NY--I graduated from the CIA, many decades ago.

Livecontent

[Coloradoan]

I did the reverse and commuted from NW Littleton to Boulder for two years and while not a great commute, it was doable. For me the high winds along Hwy. 93 that occur, especially in the spring, are more of a concern than the snow. It’s not unusual to get 80-90 mph gusts in the spring along that road which will occasionally cause the road to be closed.

I used to drive it in about an hour or so (on good days) but that was 15 years ago, so with the increase in traffic today it might take longer.

[edog80]

If you can avoid 93 that is the best. You will get stranded on that road, it's not a matter of if but when. I would take the bus if you can, can you do work while on the bus? I have friend who is a pro bike racer, has two kids and commutes daily to the tech center on the bus. It can be done, TM is beautiful, I wouldn't sacrifice it either!

[DressageRider]

If you were going along 36 and then 25, those are extremely congested during rush hour. I used to work in south Boulder and my friend who lived in north Denver usually had an hour commute. So going beyond that to Littleton, I'd think an hour on a good day, an hour and a half on a normal day, and if it snows -- I don't even want to think about it!

Oh, and O'Dell and LiveContent -- I am a Vassar alum... can we start a Hudson Valley club?

[sunsprit]

I did an Erie to SantaFeDrive/Belleview commute for 5 years in the 1990's. It started out as a 45 minute commute in non-rush hours, but it rapidly became an hour to 1 1/2 hour commute as the developments in the area were built. I-25 AM and PM traffic "rush hours" became longer and the traffic jams (stop and go) started much further North on I-25 in the AM to get across Denver to the Santa Fe Drive exit off I-25.

In more recent years, I've done a SW Littleton to East side of Boulder commute for contract work of just a week's duration at a time. It easily takes an hour and a half in fair weather during the rush hours of traffic. My friends that I stay with have a rep business that takes them on the same commute once a week to the Boulder Hospital area, and they leave at 5:30AM to keep the commute manageable at one hour of travel time ... in fair weather. Due to the nature of their business, if the roads are open, no matter how bad the snowstorm, they must make the trip each week. Sometimes it takes them several hours each way ....

So, IMO, if you are looking at this as a regular commute, I wouldn't do it for more than a limited amount of time, and not during the winter months. It'll get old really fast. Not saying you can't do it, but it will be very time consuming each day in the best of circumstances. If this is a short term work assignment, I think you'd be better off finding housing much closer to your worksite ... and you can always "visit" Boulder on your days off at a more leisurely pace.