Why Is Boulder Snobbish, Cliquish, And Racist? (Denver: to live in, restaurants)

[CCCVDUR]

Reply to David Aguilar From Tom Lane
Hey Tom,
The data came from the US Census Bureau's website, they have this thing called "American Factfinder" that can give you facts/stats about any place, broken down by political geography or their own delineated geographies. Pretty interesting stuff IMO.
Thanks I'll check that!
American FactFinder

I don't have any direct job-hunting experience in those SW towns, out of those towns, I've only been to Boulder. Smaller towns, are cliquish no matter what IMO, and in my experience it does take quite awhile to "break them down", if you will. It is much harder to be anonymous in a smaller town, as everybody is somebody, and newcomers are nobodies. It larger cities, like Seattle, there is an anonymity involved where people could care less who you are and where you come from, yet with that there are drawbacks as well.
Great insights...
LOL. I have spent a lot of time in the Seattle area, I spent my summers there as a lad (in Everett primarily), so I know it quite well. Honestly, Tom, there is nowhere better in the country ::biting tongue as to not tick anybody off:: than Seattle/Western WA.
Yes After 2 years in the Southwest (after leaving Seattle) that appears to be the case...Perhaps Boulder/Denver is in 2nd place???
The only reason I am not there myself is because of familial and climatic reasons. Maybe that's where you belong?
No it's not - and for the same reason - The Climate In Seattle! And I don't want to live in the area where I was born and raised - bad memories...
Nah, after a few weeks you still "aren't there yet", IMO. I've been here in CO for 18 months, and still don't fully "feel here yet". I've moved fairly long distances twice, and I'm hoping "I feel here", within the next year or so.Tom, I hope you find what you are looking for.
It will happen, and somewhere in either northern Arizona, southern Arizona, or Colorado....or southern California....
As Aerosmith says, life is a journey, not a destination.

[Katiana]

1. I've been to Seattle and I know people from Seattle and I find this hard to believe, especially the first sentence. Seattle is mostly white; it is less diverse than Denver. You can look up the stats for yourself on CD. It's a bit more diverse than Boulder, but also much larger. David A. is correct about ALL small towns being somewhat cliquey. While I wouldn't categorize a city of 95,000 people "small town", it's not the big city, either.

2. Boulder is not really an "arts" town like say, Santa Fe. Most people in Boulder work at mainstream jobs. Perhaps b/c of Boulder's relatively high education level, people enjoy going to arts events. But except for the offerings of the University of Colorado, most of these events are in Denver, at least those of a professional level.

[Mach50]

We are a hispanic family who recently spent a week around Boulder.

We didn't receive any type of direct racial bias or even the vibe of racial consciousness in the air.

As far a snobby? Sure we did find a little bit, but nothing compared to where we live now (Orange County, CA). But in all honestly, we had great conversation with pure strangers, our kids played together on Pearl St.

We loved it there.

[Scott5280]

Originally Posted by Mach50

We are a hispanic family who recently spent a week around Boulder.

We didn't receive any type of direct racial bias or even the vibe of racial consciousness in the air.

As far a snobby? Sure we did find a little bit, but nothing compared to where we live now (Orange County, CA). But in all honestly, we had great conversation with pure strangers, our kids played together on Pearl St.

We loved it there.

Boulder is nothing like living behind the Orange curtain...not near as wealthy,snobby,racist, or cliquish..not even in the same category...
There is nothing like a January 75 degree day in Newport Beach or Corona Del Mar watching the waves with Catalina in the back drop though--take the good with the bad sometimes...

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Scott5280

Boulder is nothing like living behind the Orange curtain...not near as wealthy,snobby,racist, or cliquish..not even in the same category...

Tell me about it...

I try to be positive lol...luckily we have met some nice people here.

[dreamboatannie953]

Wow I live in the Seattle area and I've been here over 30 years now. Diverse isn't the word for it... Try the WalMart in Renton on a Saturday afternoon, there is so many languages being spoken in there it feels like your in the Tower of Babel. And our County is King County, the logo for our county is Martin Luther King. We are one of the most diverse places I have ever seen. And that includes Gay and Lesbians. Denver has nothing on us when it comes to diversity. I think we are more comparable to Calif. than anywhere else.

Originally Posted by Katiana

1. I've been to Seattle and I know people from Seattle and I find this hard to believe, especially the first sentence. Seattle is mostly white; it is less diverse than Denver. You can look up the stats for yourself on CD. It's a bit more diverse than Boulder, but also much larger. David A. is correct about ALL small towns being somewhat cliquey. While I wouldn't categorize a city of 95,000 people "small town", it's not the big city, either.

2. Boulder is not really an "arts" town like say, Santa Fe. Most people in Boulder work at mainstream jobs. Perhaps b/c of Boulder's relatively high education level, people enjoy going to arts events. But except for the offerings of the University of Colorado, most of these events are in Denver, at least those of a professional level.

[Katiana]

Races in Denver:

White Non-Hispanic (51.9%)
Hispanic (31.7%)
Other race (15.6%)
Black (11.1%)
Two or more races (3.7%)
American Indian (2.2%)
Vietnamese (0.8%)


Races in Seattle:

White Non-Hispanic (67.9%)
Black (8.4%)
Hispanic (5.3%)
Two or more races (4.5%)
Chinese (3.4%)
Filipino (2.8%)
Other race (2.4%)
Vietnamese (2.1%)
American Indian (2.1%)
Other Asian (1.8%)
Japanese (1.6%)
Korean (0.9%)
Asian Indian (0.5%

Those stats are from City-Data. Since they have been published, Denver has become a majority-minority city.

Minorities a majority in Denver - The Denver Post

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by Katiana

1. I've been to Seattle and I know people from Seattle and I find this hard to believe, especially the first sentence. Seattle is mostly white; it is less diverse than Denver. You can look up the stats for yourself on CD.

Growing up in the Seattle suburbs during the 90's (summertime only), I would say Seattle and its environs would be very overwhelmingly white. I wouldn't think it is so much anymore, Seattle and it's suburbs have a thriving Asian community and a newly arrived (to WA) Hispanic population, that wasn't there when I was a kid. The aforementioned Renton, Kent, Federal Way, Tacoma, and South Seattle are some good examples of the diversity of the area, which are almost Aurora-like in a way. IMO segregation is a lot less pronounced in Seattle, as opposed to Denver. I also think racism/prejudice is pretty non-existent in Seattle, whereas I think it exists to some noticeable degree here in Denver. I think it will be interesting to see what the 2010 census looks like for Seattle and it's suburbs.

As for whether Seattle is more diverse than Denver, that is a tossup because I think I'd rather have more acceptance of other cultures/races, as opposed to more cultures/races.

BTW, Tom, the reason I "don't like" Seattle's climate is because it doesn't snow enough, with this year being the exception of course. Otherwise the climate there is perfect IMO.

[Katiana]

Since I've never lived there, I'll take your word, David. I do know some people from Seattle, and they don't seem any different in their attitudes than people from Denver. Just my observations.

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

............"BTW, Tom, the reason I "don't like" Seattle's climate is because it doesn't snow enough, with this year being the exception of course. Otherwise the climate there is perfect IMO......."

The reason I don't like the Seattle climate is the rain due to the close proximity to the Aleutian Low, along with resulting advection of grey depressing marine clouds extending inland for much of the year. The percentage of possible sunshine plummets to terribly low levels in the fall and winter, resulting in a high rate of clinical depression, ADD, CFS, MS, MCS, FMS, etc.. Seattle could extend daylight saving to all year long and reduce these conditions. In Flagstaff, daylight extends to 615pm in December on a typical clear night, versus 445pm in Seattle on a typical rainy night.

Boulder and Flagstaff, fortunately, are towns offering high percentages of possible sunshine, averaging about 60%-70% every month! The only drawback is the cold temps and snow, although both towns can experience high temps in the 50's for weeks at a time in mid winter. Flagstaff looks exactly like home in Seattle, given that the monoculture Flagstaff Ponderosa Pine forests are similar to the monoculture Seattle Douglas Fir forests...In Washington state, Ellensburg, WA (Central Wash. University) is in one of the sunniest parts of the state (rain shadow). Ellensburg, one could say, is similar to Boulder w/ snowy winters and West winds gusting down from the Cascade mountains (like in Boulder).