Living in Boulder an OK option for commuting? (Denver, Aurora: lease, neighborhoods) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

rynlau · 11-18-2010, 06:16 PM

My best friend and I just got jobs in Lakewood and downtown Denver respectively. Currently, my best friend lives in Boulder after having attended CU.

My current plan is to move in with my friend in Boulder and the two of us are going to commute & carpool to Denver for our jobs (need to be there by 8:00 AM at first, then 7:15 starting in December. Yay HOV lanes!)

Eventually we will move to Lakewood, but we are wondering if we can feasibly stick it out in Boulder until May (or possibly August) because her lease expires then.

If not we'll just move after Christmas and **** off her room mates in the process.

Luckily we know that the traffic into Denver in the morning and out of Denver in the evening isn't as bad as the other way around so we were planning on giving ourselves an hour. So far from what I've read people have said that the commute isn't great, but doable.

My main question is about snow. How often can I expect to be late to work during the coming winter months? Weekly? Monthly? My back-up RTS route is about 1.5 hrs on a good day says the google estimate.

If you have done this commute during the winter I would sure love to hear from you - and your prediction on whether or not I will be able to do this until August 2011!

SheridanL · 11-19-2010, 11:04 AM

You should never expect to be late to work,....you just leave earlier..IF you want to stay employed!!

Katarina Witt · 11-19-2010, 11:44 AM

^^^Funny!

The weather will slow you down a few times each winter, maybe 2-4. There really isn't much "against traffic" commuting these days b/c work places are so decentralized.

dply · 11-19-2010, 11:51 AM

US-36 can be horrible or no problem at all. It doesn't seem like there is much of an inbetween on the turnpike. I'd say 45 minutes each way on a "normal day."

There was one snowy day last year that took me 2 hours to drive the 12 miles from Boulder to my house. :wow:

Boulder is also a lot more expensive than Lakewood. You might want to just find a place in lakewood sooner than August.

suzco · 11-19-2010, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rynlau

My best friend and I just got jobs in Lakewood and downtown Denver respectively. . . .
My current plan is to move in with my friend in Boulder and the two of us are going to commute & carpool to Denver for our jobs (need to be there by 8:00 AM at first, then 7:15 starting in December. Yay HOV lanes!)

. . .

I'm having a hard time imagining how you're going to commute together from Boulder, taking advantage of the HOV lanes, when one of you is working in downtown Denver and the other is working in Lakewood.

BarryK123 · 11-19-2010, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suzco

I'm having a hard time imagining how you're going to commute together from Boulder, taking advantage of the HOV lanes, when one of you is working in downtown Denver and the other is working in Lakewood.

There are no HOV lanes on 6, so I presume the OP is talking about the trip between Boulder and downtownm when they both will be in the car.

rynlau · 11-23-2010, 09:23 AM

Thanks for the responses, Katiana and dply

Barry is correct. Yeah our jobs are only 8-10 minutes apart the way they're positioned - she's actually on the south western cusp of downtown, so at least we have that going for us.

It looks like were going to give this a shot! If it sucks too much I'm going to convince her to move in January. Maybe my fiancée and I will look into purchasing a place in Lakewood afterwards... such low prices right now.

Dr Gregg · 11-23-2010, 09:59 AM

I wouldn't want to do it, commute from Boulder to Denver. Traffic can be bad sometimes. But I don't have experience in that. I'd much prefer to live in Denver anyway. But that's just me

tfox · 11-23-2010, 11:57 AM

The HOV lane helps you only a little bit, the last bit of 36 into I-25 into Denver. There are plans to build HOV lanes all the way to Boulder but that will be a very long time in coming, if it ever happens.

I would definitely NOT recommend a daily commute between Boulder and Denver. As for my own work I often travel between the two cities, downtown to downtown you're generally looking at an hour minimum but it can be much more than that. Then, your friend would have to drive from downtown Denver to Lakewood, which is not too bad as its in reverse commuting but that's time on top of it.

Now, maybe you can survive it for a few months. But the point is that it's no fun and you need to get out of that situation as soon as possible. Plus, although Boulder is a nice town, there's really no reason to commute from Boulder to Denver because most of what attracts people to Boulder is also present in Denver neighborhoods like Highlands (which might be a good choice for you if one is going to DT and the other to Lakewood).

GeorgiaTransplant · 11-23-2010, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rynlau

My best friend and I just got jobs in Lakewood and downtown Denver respectively. Currently, my best friend lives in Boulder after having attended CU.

My current plan is to move in with my friend in Boulder and the two of us are going to commute & carpool to Denver for our jobs (need to be there by 8:00 AM at first, then 7:15 starting in December. Yay HOV lanes!)

Eventually we will move to Lakewood, but we are wondering if we can feasibly stick it out in Boulder until May (or possibly August) because her lease expires then.

If not we'll just move after Christmas and **** off her room mates in the process.

Luckily we know that the traffic into Denver in the morning and out of Denver in the evening isn't as bad as the other way around so we were planning on giving ourselves an hour. So far from what I've read people have said that the commute isn't great, but doable.

My main question is about snow. How often can I expect to be late to work during the coming winter months? Weekly? Monthly? My back-up RTS route is about 1.5 hrs on a good day says the google estimate.

If you have done this commute during the winter I would sure love to hear from you - and your prediction on whether or not I will be able to do this until August 2011!

Yes. I lived in Aurora and went to CU, which is farther than any of those drives, and my first class was at 8:00 AM. Took me about 1:15.

Plan to leave about an hour and a half early. It will grind on your sleep, but it's doable, even in the winter (Colorado is amazingly good at clearing snow on main arteries). Subaru helps and is, in fact, a state law you'll have to buy one (j/k).