A Boulder in the Pacific Northwest? (Denver, Aguilar: best city, real estate, apartment)

[Wherewillitland]

Are there any places like Boulder, CO in Washington state? Are there any coastal Oregon communities or other places in Oregon like Boulder?

[Neditate]

I've heard people say that Bend, Oregon is like Boulder. I've also heard that Ashland (OR) has a Boulder "feel". But I've never been to either, so I'm just taking their word for it.

[Count David]

Eugene + Corvallis + Ashland X Bend = Boulder, OR

[Count David]

Seattle (city) divided by Bellingham = Boulder, WA

[delta07]

Originally Posted by Neditate

I've heard people say that Bend, Oregon is like Boulder. I've also heard that Ashland (OR) has a Boulder "feel". But I've never been to either, so I'm just taking their word for it.

Bend definately has a Boulder feel to it. I just moved to Bend in July from CO, and it reminds me a lot of Boulder. I think Bellingham, WA also has a Boulder vibe to it. I've only driven through it though, but my friends who lived in WA claimed Bellingham was Boulder like.

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Eugene + Corvallis + Ashland X Bend = Boulder, OR

Interesting! How is Eugene doing these days, with the recession really hitting the Willamette Valley and N.W. California?

Can someone move from out of state move to Eugene or Boulder, CO. and find a job as an outsider, or, do they predominately hire locals?

That's the problem young people from out of state face here in Flagstaff, AZ. We are young people with college degrees, yet are facing discrimination down here in the Arizona, since they preferentially hire NAU (Northern AZ University Students) and locals.

I would love to find an outdoor town that will hire the best qualified person for the job, and not hire a local person just because they were born there.

New Mexico also has the same issue. It's probably because neither Arizona or New Mexico scores that high on the "Open to Experience" personality type. Colorado and Oregon are in the top 10.

Thanks...

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

Can someone move from out of state move to Eugene or Boulder, CO. and find a job as an outsider, or, do they predominately hire locals?

I don't know much about Flagstaff, but in my experience/perception, there are small towns that are clannish enough to favor locals in hiring, friendships, etc.

I don't know much about Eugene, I have been there quite a few times, but don't consider myself an expert. I know native-Oregonians like to wear their dislike of Californians on their sleeve, but Californians keep going there so obviously they are getting jobs. As for folks from other states, who knows?

I know in Boulder's case, most everyone is non-local. According to the 2000 census, (sorry, most recent stats available), only 24.2% of Boulder's residents were even born in Colorado, and the population seems pretty transient. However, Boulder is kind of clannish in the way that the town kind of feels like a secret society, like they are all hiding the same secret. Also, I don't think gaining employment as an outsider would be a problem, because as much as Boulder wouldn't like to admit it, it is within Denver's sphere of influence, which overall is friendly to outsiders, heck probably 1 out of every 2 people here was one at some point. Boulder and Denver have suburbs that run together as well.

I would say Boulder would be friendlier to outsiders than Eugene, but probably not substantially friendlier. Heck, I'm an outsider to Boulder myself, and will forever remain that way, it's the kind of town (per my status above, under my name ), that is quite easy to get over the more times you go there. It has the Flatirons and the mountains as a beautiful backdrop, but IMO it is really only for a few types of people: students, bums, yuppies, hippies and liberals. As a quote-unquote "liberal" myself, even I am turned off by Boulder.

[StealthRabbit]

Bellingham, WA with adjoining town of Fairhaven would qualify for a PNW Boulder, but county (Whatcom) politics is moderated by ultra-conservative Lyden. (It is not a bad idea to have politics moderated...)

Both WA and OR have enough population in a couple urban counties to sway the entire election process, so if you are a farmer or a business owner your will get 'the shaft' from apartment dwellers and 'employees'. Both states are pretty tough for those who provide jobs and economic growth, but a haven for the 'entitlement' crowd. Basically its 'California's north annex' Part of the 'left coast' syndrome. Come join the fun

Parts of Olympia, WA and some districts of Seattle (Queen Anne, Fremont, University & Medical area) have a Boulder feel. There are several small towns that would qualify, but be short on culture / university influence.

For OR; Bend is approaching Boulder-eze, as is Hood River, but both lack the strong University impact. (and also the intellectual crowd from places like 'national labs / bureau of stds, NREL) Currently Bend is struggling, but generally the locals (cowboys / farmers) are bailing out, so the 'left' will probably capture the flag. Since it is a 'new-left', the Boulder infrastructure / depth is missing, and it ends up being a bit shallow / yuppie like. The hard core (and older) liberal enclaves are Eugene, Corvallis, and Ashland.

[darjoh]

there is no place like Boulder, and I don't mean that in a good way.

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by darjoh

there is no place like Boulder, and I don't mean that in a good way.

there is no place like Flagstaff, and I don't mean that in a good way

unfortunately Flagstaff is a "twin city" mountain town of Boulder and Santa Fe

Sorry to see the employment reach double digits here in Flagstaff. The City Council for years has made it virtually impossible for new businesses to re-locate to Flagstaff. People are leaving in droves, and one of the three high schools just closed.

According to Forbes, recession proof regions include Adams County, Colorado! (next to Boulder)

I've been told that Boulder is recession-proof. Would you agree?

In Pictures: The Worst--And Best--Cities To Ride Out The Recession - Forbes.com

Top 10 Cities To Weather The Recession (Adams Co. doesn't show up in this list, but it does in the accompanying article)

1. (best city = Austin (KLBJ)
2. Oklahoma City (KOKC)
3. Honolulu
4, Portland, OR (KXL, Hartmann, Dirkx)
5. Tulsa, OK
6. Virginia BEach, VA
7. Seattle, WA (KIRO, KPTK)
8. Baltimore, MD (WBAL)
9. Boston, MA (WRKO)
10. Lancaster, PA

Worst 10

1. (worst city= Riverside
2. Cape Coral / Ft. myers Florida
3. Las Vegas (NV) (scary) (KDWN, KXNT)
4. Bakersfield (smell) (KNZR)
5. Fresno (yuck) (KMJ)
6. San Diego (cool) (KOGO)
7. Reno (wild) (KKOH)
8. Detroit (racing) (WJR)
9. Miami (hurricanes) (WINZ)
10. Tampa, FL.

"To rank the best and worst urban economies, we used housing data from real estate information provider Zillow and, where available, compared it with data from the National Association of Realtors and the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. We looked at the most recent job growth and unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To weigh home prices and home equity to income levels, we used median income estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Finally, we gave some weight to what percentage of a city's gross domestic product growth in recent years was attached to growth in financial services, the industry at the heart of the crisis, also using GDP data. All data is for metropolitan areas." -Forbes at the above link.