New Age Community- Boulder

[CosmicWizard]

Card Shark.....Consider Grand Junction in western Colorado. We have Red Rock formations similar to Sedona on the edge of town, but real estate is so much more affordable. The newage vibe is waaaaay toned down compared to Sedona, but it is present locally. Sedona has little ole Oak Creek flowing thru town, whereas Grand Junction has the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. In Sedona you are hememd in by the red rocks, while Grand Junction is located in a big wide valley ( the Grand Valley ). We also have vineyards and orchards, along with easy access to mountains and lakes. And God knows we NEED a decent reatuarant in Grand Junction.

[lighteagle]

Hi Card Shart 2:

Mainitous was interesting in many ways. Lots of tourism, but often streets are blocked off for events so that it becomes very difficult to get around. My biggest objection to Manitou was the conservate and often reactionary attitude of so many people there, including police, who seem to love to harrass locals. I've never encourtered right-wing militia types until Manitou, but there are some very angry people living there. There's lots of artsy stuff, but it is not really a very arty community. Boulder, by contrast, has the largest per capata community of artists of any city in the U.S. It also has the university, and as a firmer univeristy professor I enjoy being around students. It's an environmentally conscious community, which matters a great deal to me. The first international conference on terra preta soils (with its profound and far-reaching implications for agriculture and sequestering CO2) in the U.S. was held in Boulder a couple weeks ago. The president of CU is very environmentally conscious. And you have a lot of cutting edge science there, even though there still resistance in the scientific community to some of the most cutting-edge discoveries, but that's true throughout the U.S. In sum, I have lots of interests, and they are all to be found in Boulder. I'm also into alternative spirituality, but not primarily of the type that dominates in Boulder, but I can relate to it. In Manitou I found only one person with whom to have a friendship and great conversations, Manitou's only African American. Then he moved away and I had no one. In Boulder I found everyone easy to talk to -- young, old, students, artists, nonstudents, etc. Boulder is 100,000 compared to Manitou's 5,000 -- so there are going to be many more people among whom to find good friends. Boulder also has a lot of tourist, probably more than Manitou, and while you have the fantastically beautiful Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods near Manitou, you have the vast Rocky ranges along Boulder and the breath-taking Rocky Mountain National Park about 45 minutes north. For me personally, Boulder is a vastly superior fit. I even dream at nights about moving there. Used to dream about Manitou after leaving, but they were seldom pleasant dreams. By the way, in Manitou I got hauled into court several times by the right-wing militia types. They are very DIFFERENT places to live. So it depends on your outlook on life as to which fits you best.

[Card Shark 2]

Thanks for all the info. We are packing now to spend the next 4 mos and maybe the full winter in Co Springs to visit my Army son before his next tour to Afganistan (he had 2 to Iraq so far). We are not only going to hang out with him but try to spend more time in certain areas on the front range.
We almost bought a restaurant/bar in Manitou last year this time until the owner decided not to sell to us. He decided he did not like someone who would change his business, fire his help, and clean the place up and get rid of the theft. And he and his wife are heavy drinkers who care less about the customers. We got the picture and moved on. But I fell in love with the small town Manitou (first perception). But I can see problems that any small town has with back-stabbing for business. I was wondering if I really would fit in as we are not that type of people. Not drunks, not back-stabbers, not thieves etc. Now I am not saying everyone is that way but when I saw the people working in the restaurant drinking on the job and taking money and then saw the customers it put up the red flag for me. I am just not sure if we can fit in a be happy there. Why open a restaurant in an area I dont wish to live?
Boulder only gave me a bad impression because of all the traffic....I was frantic driving through there with persons jumping into the streets to cross and cars slamming on breaks for no real reason. I thought for sure we would get into an accident.
I love college towns too and used to teach at the local college. I like being around young people and students and even teens. I like diversity, intelligent people to talk to, different spiritual perspectives and people who are active. I love joining clubs and volunteering and being a part of the community. And to be honest I am looking to make friends and acquaintances. Where I live now in Northern Nevada it is closed minded, people are not friendly and it is like living in a big retirement community. No one wants to get to know you....and I have been here 7 years now after leaving my small community at Tahoe which I loved (the snow got to me and I needed a break). I sitll have no new friends and people are downright mean.
I want to talk to people, be around people of all ages and feel "community". Is that even possible?

[CosmicWizard]

Card Shark 2 wrote:

I want to talk to people, be around people of all ages and feel "community". Is that even possible?

In my experience it is DEFINITELY possible...with lots of persistence and a strong desire to bring community into your life. For me anyway, it is a very s-l-o-w process.

[lighteagle]

Card Shark 2:

When I went to Colorado in 1996 to look for a place to live, I and my girlfriend drove around to a good many towns and areas along the front range and finally settled on Manitou Springs because of its picture postcard beauty. And it is indeed a beautiful place, but I found most of the people less than friendly and always felt like an outsider. Worse was the far right wing mentality I encountered and the recurring harrassment by the police for no reason. I guess in a small town they have nothing better to do than harrass newcomers. They have about one policeman for every 500 citizens! At least one I encountered belonged to a right wing militant group. So the visual beautiy of Manitou was not matched for me by the life of the community. That's my experience.

As for Boulder, I was there only a week in June. I rented a car and drove all around the area and had no problems. It's a state law that you have to stop for pedestrians, and there are a lot of pedestrian cross walks. I found that when I was walking and arrived at a crosswalk not at a stop sign, the traffic would stop both ways and wait for me to cross -- a surprising courtesy. I also found that drivers would often stop to allow me to enter into of turn out of traffic. For the most part, I never saw drivers exceeding the posted speed limits, something I've never seen anywhere else. So my driving experience in Boulder was not bad at all.

For me, the best part was finding that it was easy to meet and talk with all kinds of people -- students, older citizens, Catholics, Buddhists, New Agers, computer geeks, environmentalists, artists, etc., etc. Where I live now (in Alabama) there is no such thing as having a deep conversation about anything. In Boulder, I was able to get into meaningful, substantive conversations with people about a wide variety of subjects. FOR ME Boulder is the right choice because my interests span a wide range from the arts, spirituality, environmental issues, alternative health, organic foods, cutting edge science and technology, etc. For example, the cutting edge in agriculture is the discovery and research taking place on ancient Amazonian soils known as "terra preta" which can radically alter global agriculture and help remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The second international conference on terra preta and the first in the US took place in Boulder about a month after my visit there. This is an example of the kind of cutting edge thinking which Boulder represents in many ways. I'm not saying it has no faults. I'm sure ever place does, but unlike Manitou, in Boulder you would find a far larger population among which to find friends, and the number of activities that take place there is overwhelming, so you would find many things to be part of. Also, the altitude of Boulder is a little lower than Manitou making for a bit better weather. Also, in Manitou you never see sunsets because Pikes Peak blocks out the late afternoons. In Boulder, you also get sunsets.

As a former university professor I too love being around students and faculty, and with 27,000 CU students there are plenty to encounter.

So that's my assessment of Boulder v. Manitou.

[Card Shark 2]

Lighteagle thank you for the information. I find what you say very interesting and it is really hard to find anyone interesting nowadays. Most people are into their own little worlds and many are just trying to survive. The things you said you are interested in I am also (environment, spiritualism, art, alternative health etc). I would love nothing more than be near people that speak this language. And I am educated and have owned many businesses in the past. I am trying to decide on the front range or Sedona. I have eliminated Sante Fe since I saw the crime statistics. They are triple the national average and it is a small city.
At this point I am glad I did not buy that restaurant in Manitou. I found the owner mean spirited drunk and the people that worked for him were drunks who steal. That is enought right there to run. And then they lied to me and told me the police in the area are laid back and we would have no problems with them.

Thanks for the insight. We are off to spend 4 mos in COS in a week. Just checking it out.