What is life like in Boulder, Colorado?

[brown_dog_us]

Originally Posted by Vanr

... sometimes it takes me 40 minutes to drive 5 miles just to get out of Boulder.

huh?

[ayoitzrimz]

Originally Posted by brown_dog_us

huh?

I believe it, and have been through it.

OP - I live in Denver for two reasons (as a software engineer):
1. I can't afford Boulder
2. I wanted a bigger city, since we moved from NYC
oh and 3. I can't afford Boulder

Denver and Boulder are getting expensive. I won't pretend to know much about the "why" Boulder is so expensive but I know that it is - housing is the majority of expenses. For the vibe, it is a super liberal mecca where you can smoke a joint on the street but get attacked by a mob if you don't recycle. It's a place where top athletes, college kids, and older hippies all coexist (using those symbols you see on the cars everywhere - you know the stickers I am talking about ) happily. It's an ... interesting place. I'd love to live there, but see 1,2,and 3 above.

On paper, Boulder has everything you want but the cost will be prohibitive. You may want to consider other cities / towns along the front range for that reason alone.

My two recommendations are:
1. See if you can realistically afford it
2. Visit for yourself - spend a week here and see if you like the vibe. Check out some of the towns near Boulder such as Louisville, Broomfield etc. I hear that Broomfield is just a bedroom community but Louisville is an awesome little town IMO. but definitely visit and see for yourself.

[OscarTheGrouch]

ahhh, yeah it is (spoken by a Boulderite).

Originally Posted by Hipchik

Boulder is not a suburb of Denver!

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Hipchik

Boulder is not a suburb of Denver!

I always tell people it is. Really... other than a man-made greenbelt, it runs together with Denver 'burbs. I suppose it's subjective, but Boulder gets all the Denver news, and you can be downtown Denver in 30 minutes. It's as much a suburb of Denver as Golden is. If you take Baseline east over to Louisville and Lafayette, its mostly built up the entire way, and they're considered Denver suburbs.

[Good Red Road]

Originally Posted by denverian

I always tell people it is. Really... other than a man-made greenbelt, it runs together with Denver 'burbs. I suppose it's subjective, but Boulder gets all the Denver news, and you can be downtown Denver in 30 minutes. It's as much a suburb of Denver as Golden is. If you take Baseline east over to Louisville and Lafayette, its mostly built up the entire way, and they're considered Denver suburbs.

Agreed.

Boulder doesn't just look like a suburb, it now feels like one as well. I've always liked Boulder, but the cool laid back vibe the town had in the 90's is long gone. To be fair, everyplace on the Front Range has gotten more congested, but it seems like Boulder is in rush hour 24/7. Not just the streets but the mountain parks as well.

[It is 57 below zero]

Originally Posted by Hipchik

Boulder is not a suburb of Denver!

Yes it is. It's only 25 miles away from Denver, and not much more than a half-hour drive from it.