Pls help me understand natural scenery (brown?) & weather in Boulder area (Denver: landscaping, neighborhoods)

[Doglover5]

My family currently lives in a Chicago suburb, and we're tiring of the endless, gray winters and the lack of natural beauty. Yes, there are suburbs with tree-lined streets, but there's really not a lot in the way of natural scenery-- and we don't even require the most amazing vistas, but we would like something to stir our souls a bit.

In any event, I have a couple questions:

1. I understand that Boulder/Denver area weather definitely includes winter, but that it's supposedly a bit "kinder and gentler" than in the Chicago/Wisconsin area -- i.e., the average highs and lows are higher, snowfall doesn't stick around, and days are sunnier. Can someone confirm? If anyone out there moved to the area from the Midwest and the Chicago area, in particular, I'd love to hear what you experienced.

2. Do you get four seasons?

3. Finally, I've heard some comments about parts of Colorado seeming very brown, rather than green. Can someone elaborate on what the natural scenery and surroundings are like in the Boulder/Denver area? Ideally, we'd like a place with a lot of trees and tree-lined streets. Do you have tree-lined streets, or is it more sparse?

Many thanks!!

[Mike from back east]

1. Folks who've come here from Chicago and northern climes (St Paul, Duluth, Great Lakes, Upper Michigan, Upstate NY, etc) tell us that the sunshine here is a huge plus for them, and that with the low humidity here, COLO temps seem moderate when compared to the bone chilling atmosphere back there. I'm from the Baltimore-DC area and find winters here a good deal more tolerable, enjoyable even. Low humidity, lots of sunshine.

2. We do get all four seasons. Spring and Fall are not as pronounced as back east. It stays cooler into May then warms up and gets cool again by October, though we get plenty of days to wear shorts from April thru November, and even year-round because the sun and dry air make 55 in January a day to jog in shorts or put the top down for many drivers.

3. Brown is it. We get green in the spring and if we get regular showers then it can stay relatively green most of the summer. Not a lot of trees here, though there are tree lined streets in some parts of the cities. Once you get east of I-25, you tend to be on the great plains, which are relatively treeless and covered in tall grass which is brownish more than green. Picture an image of wheat fields. The mountains look green from a distance because of the pine trees, but up close the ground can be somewhat rocky or sandy, not covered in dense brush like back east. Driving an interstate highway back east is like driving in a green tube with all the trees closing in around you; out here you can see for miles, and it's really awesome.

Look in the Boulder Index for Photo Tours, lots of great pix of the area.

[Doglover5]

Mike - Thank you. Incredibly helpful response. Are there certain towns/suburbs around Boulder or Denver that are more tree-lined than others?

Also - Are there lakes?

Thanks!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Doglover5

Mike - Thank you. Incredibly helpful response. Are there certain towns/suburbs around Boulder or Denver that are more tree-lined than others?

Also - Are there lakes?

Thanks!

There are lakes all over the area, mostly smallish, mostly manmade, a few larger reservoirs, like the one in Pueblo, a hundred miles or so from Boulder.

We do have quite a few tree lined streets here in COLO SPGS where I'm at; I'm sure they can be found in Boulder, Denver and environs, but we'll have to let folks who live in those areas speak up.

[Neditate]

I grew up in the Midwest. Winter here is sooo much milder than there. We get lots of sunshine which is something that I do not recall growing up in Wisconsin.
It's not as green here, but I will gladly trade that for everything else! We live in a semi-arid climate. The trees don't grow as tall here and we don't have the variety of hardwoods that you have in the midwest. But Boulder and surrounding areas have done a great job planting trees. Some of the older neighborhoods in Boulder (Mapleton, Whittier) have beautiful tree-lined streets. (BTW it's never as brown here as I've seen in California. Have you ever been to the Bay area in the fall?)
As Mike mentioned, there are several photo tours of Boulder in the index. You can also Google for images. Check them out.
We definitely have 4 seasons - sometimes all in one day!
As I look out my window I see snow-covered trees and mountain peaks. We got 6" of snow over night. Two days ago it was near 60 degrees.
There are many lakes in CO - more than most people realize. I hike to lakes all summer long. But many are not for recreation except for fishing. Boulder has a reservoir for swimming, boating, etc.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by Neditate

(BTW it's never as brown here as I've seen in California. Have you ever been to the Bay area in the fall?)

That's crazy talk. The plains here are brown for 9-10 months (cold dormancy from Oct. to April, dry dormancy from July to Setember). In constrast, most of the vegetation in the bay area is evergreen. The grass will be dry in the summer but you've got evergreen oaks, chaparral and no cold dormancy to contend with.

[xeric]

Here's a photo of the natural vegetation of the Colorado Plains (which is the environment that most Front Range cities are in).

You'll find that most of the cities here have tried to emulate the look of the midwest when it comes to landscaping and architecture. So as long as you don't leave the cities, you'll feel right at home. Creative landscaping responses to the climate (similar to what you find in Santa Fe) exist, but they are not common. The mountain towns are different. They have something of a regional style. The climate is too harsh for most eastern plants to survive, so it's mostly native conifers, aspen, and other mountain vegetation that line the streets.

[choosing78]

Hi I moved here from Western NY which I think has the same type of weather as Chicago (blustery wind chills, etc). Without a doubt the weather here is way better. This is my first winter so maybe it is the exception. The worst weather days here are about on par with a "normal" day in NY winter. The sun is out virtually every day. I think I've only seen a couple of days where I woke up and it was cloudy and it stayed that way the whole day. I would say people call it brown here because the snow doesn't stick around. It's brown in NY in winter too but there's usually at least a foot of snow covering it all. I haven't had much time too explore too many lakes but we did go to Boulder Reservoir, which was fine. The picture of the natural vegetation is what a lot of the outer areas look like. Where I live now there are lots of trees but it's also a newer area in that a lot of trees planted by builders and towns are still growing. Boulder is pretty green.

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by xeric

That's crazy talk. The plains here are brown for 9-10 months (cold dormancy from Oct. to April, dry dormancy from July to Setember). In constrast, most of the vegetation in the bay area is evergreen. The grass will be dry in the summer but you've got evergreen oaks, chaparral and no cold dormancy to contend with.

No need to be insulting...
I suppose I should have clarified. yikes! I am speaking about the Boulder area not the plains.
Strictly personal observation and only about the Boulder area from having lived here 29 years.
I have photos and video from 2 recent trips to CA. Driving along the coast last summer (Big Sur, Carmel) everything was as brown and crispy as I've ever seen it. We drove from LA to San Francisco in October 2007 when Malibu was on fire and the hillsides all along the coast were golden brown.
I've lived in CO through many years of drought, but have never seen it that kind of brown during summer or fall. Maybe I am color blind.

[sunsprit]

What many people don't realize is that this region of Colorado is high alititude, very arid, and almost a desert climate for most of the year.

It's mostly from the wintertime snows that melt through the year that water is available to the region.

So, the vegtation is not the lush, green, and with dense undergrowth that people associate with forests and mountains (below timberline) from riparian states where water is readily and frequently available. The colors tend to be green only during the spring growth, and can rapidly fade to brown early in the summer months.

I've seen CA coastal areas stay green throughout a year, and I've seen them in drought years, too ... and they can get very brown with natural moisture levels that would have Colorado very green for that time.