Denver vs. Boulder????

[POhdNcrzy]

Guys, that was not a statement to be taken literally ! Of course, Boulder is NOT Malibu.

You guys aren't looking deep enough. I've driven through miles and miles of run-down, seedy looking residential and commercial streets in the Denver 'burbs. And yes, there are nice and even SWANK areas (I'd like a home in Ken Caryl, myself!) Also, Denver's air quality borders on atrocious except for when those marvelous west winds are raging hard.

Yes, lifestyle counts for a lot!! A lot of this has to just do with real estate prices. Obviously, these people can't afford an exclusive home in Boulder (probably not even close...), so they naturally want to bail out. Just be honest with yourself is all I'm sayin'!

[steveindenver]

Boulder's air quality is grouped in with and the same as Denver's. Strong west winds often indicate an inversion layer and actually work to lower air quality.

[theburtonfamily]

Golden would be a nice compromise. Beauty, small town feel, affordable, mountains, quirkyness, close to both Boulder and Denver.

[POhdNcrzy]

Originally Posted by steveindenver

Boulder's air quality is grouped in with and the same as Denver's. Strong west winds often indicate an inversion layer and actually work to lower air quality.

Okay sure, and I just saw two flying pigs go by!

I think it depends where in Denver you are (or should I say, what is the distance between yourself and Commerce City!)

Several times I've traveled to Denver and encountered the most horrible, noxious, particulate-filled air imaginable. I never once encountered that in Boulder in sixteen years living there (aside from that Asian Haze in 2000 and during proximal wildfires).

[steveindenver]

Several times I have traveled to Boulder and encountered the most horrible hippie-crits. Well, actually every time.

Again, the air quality is the same.

There are stations all over the front range, see for yourself:

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: Technical Services Program (TSP)

[Katiana]

How now, brown cloud

On some days, Boulder Valley is inside its own brown cloud that makes the view in all directions appear hazy.

[POhdNcrzy]

Originally Posted by steveindenver

Several times I have traveled to Boulder and encountered the most horrible hippie-crits. Well, actually every time.

Again, the air quality is the same.

There are stations all over the front range, see for yourself:

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: Technical Services Program (TSP)

First, I'm not here to cheer Boulder's air quality. Boulder has an air quality problem just like the rest of the Front Range.

Okay, I clicked your link and found a lot of interesting stuff. Steve, look at the data, you are wrong, the air quality is different all around the Denver area. Much of that has to do with where bad air tends to get trapped depending on local weather and the topography. Today, Boulder has about 4x the ozone of the Denver area according to your link.

The way they measure the air quality is somewhat dubious, by the way.

Bottom Line: I don't need dubious government reports to tell me what I can learn by walking out my front door and taking a sniff of the air, or by riding my bike.

Do you genuinely believe that Denver's air quality is better than Boulder's?? That's just ridiculous!

[sidburn]

In my opinion, Boulder is basically a miniature, more liberal version of Denver

[Katiana]

Politically, Denver is "garden-variety liberal". It has a liberal mayor, who, like all Colorado mayors was elected in a non-partisan election but is a known Democrat, it has a Democratic representative in congress, it has many public facilities and social programs that you see in "liberal" areas, and so forth.

[tfox]

As someone who has spent a good part of my life living in Metro Denver, including Boulder, I'll also point out the sad but rather obvious truth that despite the city of Boulder's efforts, the town is an integral part of Metro Denver at this point. In fact, I think it's fair to call Boulder a suburb in the best east-coast sense of the word. Yes, it's true that for most of Boulder's history it's had an independent existence from Denver, but that's no longer true. It's also true that many Boulderites are still in collective denial about this, but commuting patterns are telling -- many Boulderites commute into Denver proper and jobs along the 36 corridor, just as many Denverites commute the opposite direction.

So, I think the question "Denver or Boulder" is rather silly, particularly if we're talking about Boulder versus Metro Denver -- because Boulder IS Metro Denver. If we're talking about Boulder versus Denver PROPER, that's probably a more germane question. And I think the answer is rather obvious -- Denver is the center city with all of its attendant big-city issues as well as big-city attractions, and Boulder is a formerly independent satellite city of Denver, albeit one blessed with a major university and a large number of research institutions. That's the short answer, anyway.

As for the topic at hand about Boulder being more "liberal" than Denver -- I am in agreement with Katiana on that one -- I don't see Boulder as significantly more liberal than equivalent areas in Denver proper. It's true that Denver does have significantly more income and racial diversity that give it a wider array of viewpoints, but, say, Mapleton Hill (one of Boulder's more desirable historic neighborhoods), is no more liberal than, say, Washington Park in Denver.

Nor do I see Boulder as more expensive than equivalent areas of Denver (proper). More expensive than much of suburban Metro Denver, definitely -- but apples-to-apples comparison, it's about the same.