Liberal areas outside of Boulder (Denver, Westminster: how much, new home, neighborhoods)

[veggie]

Hi, everyone!

I have been looking through all the Boulder threads with great interest. We are seriously considering moving to the area.

We love Boulder, but the housing prices are insane (not as insane as California, of course, but still...).

We have two small children, would love a small to medium sized house on a decent sized lot, and would consider town or (relatively) rural living. We are not broke but paying more than $500,000 would be a real stretch right now.

So, where do all the liberals, the ones who can't afford Boulder-proper, live? What are the most politically and culturally progressive towns and neighborhoods within a 20 minutes or so drive from Boulder?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Veggie

[TropicanaRose]

You can find like minded people all over the metro area. Can you be more specific about what you want? How much house do you need/want? What does small mean to you? 1200 sq. feet? 2000 square feet?

[jkcoop]

I agree with Tropicana here - you'll find like minded people all over. I would look for the house you really want - not get hung up on the rest. I wouldn't really know of any specific neighborhoods that lean one way or the other. If you get too hung up on that, you might still live next door next to someone with opposing views....then what?

We live in s.w. Longmont, which I would say is typically more conservative. But in our neighborhood, the majority of the people we live next too are politically liberal. Just seems to be where a bunch of us landed....but I wouldn't have know that while house shopping. I only know that because we've lived here for 10 years and have gotten to know everyone.

[Bradburn1]

I see this type of posting a lot--looking for neighborhoods/areas that are politically this way or that way. I can understand wanting to live near like minded people, but I agree with the other posters, Denver and surrounding areas are diverse politically (with the exception of Boulder which yeah, is liberal .

If I had to say, I would say my neighborhood (Bradburn Village in Westminster which is 20 min from Boulder) was overall liberal (especially socially) but we have many different perspectives in here and honestly it's not something we talk about much--we have tons and tons of social events and people don't talk politics really--no one seems to care. I think Denver metro and the areas around Boulder are pretty "live and let live" types of places. At least that's always been my experience and I interact with neighbors every day.

[veggie]

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't mean to imply that we are trying to segregate ourselves or that we don't want to be friends and neighbors with people who think differently from ourselves.

We have lived in many different places and have managed to find like-minded people in every community (even the most politically-conservative ones). We have also made friends with neighbors who are far to the right of our beliefs. I certainly can appreciate what you are saying in regards to that.

At the same time, we are looking to settle down now and would like to live in a place that has a certain "feel" to it. Some communities feel more liberal, some feel more conservative. Not that all of these are not present in conservative areas, but we want vegetarian and organic options, farmers markets, independent book stores, small shops rather than malls, lots of bike riding and few monster-sized SUVs, and we want liberal and progressive politics that are the norm rather than the exception. In short, we want Boulder at a discount price (although, granted, there are more than a few huge SUVs in Boulder and Boulder's progressive politics are imperfect).

As far as our housing needs and wants go, we would like a house that is bigger than, say, 1600 sq ft, but we certainly don't need anything bigger than 2400 sq ft. We would like room to garden, 1/4 acre would be lovely, 1/2 would be even lovelier (but an over-sized city lot would also work). Not too isolated, but not on top of our neighbors either. All of this for under 500,000.

So, anyone got any ideas?

[AJGIANTS]

Originally Posted by veggie

So, where do all the liberals, the ones who can't afford Boulder-proper, live? What are the most politically and culturally progressive towns and neighborhoods within a 20 minutes or so drive from Boulder?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Veggie

Only liberals are culturally and politically progressive?
Thats not a very opened minded thought process.

[Joe_Ryder]

Originally Posted by AJGIANTS

Only liberals are culturally and politically progressive?
Thats not a very opened minded thought process.

Din chew no awl us kenservetev tipes is a bunch o' bakwerd inbred hillbillies?

"Liberal neighborhoods", Oh Please! I must have seen at least 100 threads with liberals seeking liberals in the last 6 months. It's like a cult.

[veggie]

I would think that on a board where "liberal" and "conservative" are thrown around, people could understand the buzz word "progressive" in terms of politics and culture.

Of course I understand that people don't fit perfectly in any of these categories. They're meant to be shorthand for a certain set of political and cultural beliefs.

Look around Joe and you'll see just as many conservatives looking for conservatives. And, by the way, some of the most impassioned liberals I've knows have been hillbillies.

[Sockeye]

Don't forget about us angry centrists, either! We're everywhere, and have the ability to laugh at both the far left and far right, who both lately seem to have gone over the edge.

[Bradburn1]

Hmmm. You might look at Louisville,--same with Lafayette. Older homes (some very cute) on larger lots but has some of the aspects you are looking for and close to Boulder (15 min). Both have cute downtowns with fun independent shops--although not independent bookstores, those are very hard to find here (there are some, but not many in suburbs). I would avoid Superior only because it is very cookie cutter and standard suburbia which doesn't sound like you are looking for (although still a nice area). Also have a look at Lyons which is a cute small town in the foothills 20 minutes north of Boulder. And Erie, much more rural but cute little downtown and about 25 minutes from Boulder.

If you want new construction, you might check out my neighborhood which has some new homes exactly in that sq foot range (running new and some resales around 390-450K, others both higher and lower than that range) and is a walkable, new urbanist neighborhood with its own downtown. Next door in a shopping area there will be a new organic market called Sprouts which is set to open in October--you can walk to it easily from every house in here (10 minute walk). BUT houses are closer together, lots are smaller (4000-8000 sq feet). We have a community garden too though if the lots are too small to hold everything you want to grow (I'm a crazy gardener and I manage easily on my 4,000 sq foot lot--I have no lawn at all). Good schools, massive numbers of small children, very friendly progressive folks of all stripes--we have some SUVs but also many homes with solar panels and a bunch o hybrid cars. Super social--if you don't want to ever interact with neighbors, is not for you. We are on the Westminster/Broomfield border on 120th ave (south side) between Sheridan and Lowell. Takes me 20 minutes to drive to Boulder from here, but also 20 minutes to downtown Denver (in non rush hour).