Planning a move to Boulder (Longmont, Broomfield: appointed, apartment, to rent)

[Stolicakes]

Thanks yall! Ya I hadn't really thought out the whole condo thing....and you are totally right. We could afford about 1000-1200 a month rent and looking around I can find something pretty decent to rent in that price that isn't a one room studio. (I think I was just so excited about the move that I THOUGHT I was willing to live in a box!)

So where are the undergrad apartment areas (so I can keep FAR away from them!) I don't know if yall know about UNC Chapel Hill but its a big school that overruns a small town with drunken idiots...and I'm ready to get away from that!

How far way is Vail from Boulder?

[mdp_az]

Vail is 2+ hours from Boulder, and then of course you must consider traffic on I-70.

As for Chapel Hill vs. Boulder, I can comment on that as I lived near Chapel Hill shortly after graduating from NCSU, and also spent some time hanging out with friends in Chapel Hill during college.

The towns are quite similar in many regards, with both being considered enclaves of "weirdness" within their metro areas. This is seen by some as a good thing and others as bad. I'd say to the candid observer, Boulder is more "weird" than CH, but politically CH may be a bit more extreme than Boulder (not by much though).

Both are clearly college towns and are largely influenced by the university. However, Boulder seems more intertwined into the greater Denver area than does Chapel Hill into the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, and thus the influence of UNC on Chapel Hill seems far greater than CU in Boulder.

I also think Franklin Street presents more of the "drunken idiot" scene than you'll find in Boulder. Yes, there's partying going on, but there are more places to party with Denver so close that it shouldn't be as concentrated as what you've observed in Chapel Hill.

[marie_co]

Niwot is really expensive, but I would agree with Longmont

[nelumbo]

Undergrad apts in Boulder are generally pretty obvious. Avoid immediate proximity to the university and the Hill, and you should be fine. The Boulder Humane society can help find dog-friendly apartments: Humane Society of Boulder Valley | Pet Friendly Housing - Cats And Dogs

[Stolicakes]

Thank you so much nelumbo that link is really great!

[Katarina Witt]

My DD lives in an undergrad apt in the general student area. I do not want to disclose her location on the WWW! You can tell, as soon as you look at them. Her apt has no doors on the closets in the bedroom, no other closets at all, not even a linen closet or a coat closet, and no, and I mean no, counter space in the kitchen. She and her roomie had to buy a cart for the microwave, and they use the kitchen table for coutner space.

[golfgod]

I think a typical 2 car garage is about 22' X 22'. So move your cars out of the garage, put some furniture and clothes storage racks in it and try it for a few weeks.

Of course if it's only temporary (maybe a semester) it'll be tolerable. Any longer than that and I' be stir crazy.

golfgod

[b.adams]

These properties are not in the nicest part of Boulder, IMHO, kind of the mobile home area ... I would seek other options first, including renting. Half of the town is college students, so the rental market is huge and lots of options exist. The North part of denver has always been kind of industrial-ish and its also in the flight path of the Boulder airport. Vail is way too far, but you could live up in the nearby foothills, maybe nederland.

[Stolicakes]

I've heard that there are some neighborhoods in south boulder like Table Mesa and one next to it that have rental homes with fenced back yards? Anyone know bout that? Can you get one of those for under 1000 a month?

[Katarina Witt]

Many single family homes around here have fenced yards. My dad used to say it looked like a cattle stockade out here (he was from Pennsylvania).