Boulder: The good, the bad and the ugly (Denver, Lakewood: transplants, real estate)

[TrickiWoo]

The only major issue I have with Boulder is the cost of housing. You don't get much for $400k when you compare it to some of the surrounding areas. When I realized that there's about a 50% price reduction when you move 10 - 15 miles from the city it wasn't worth it to me to stay 'in' Boulder.

Originally Posted by seethelight

I moved here six years ago with an 8th grader who made a lot of friends that first year and had 20 people over for his birthday. ALL of the parents dropped their kids off without coming in and waited for them in our driveway when the party was over and called them on their cellphones to come out. Not once did a parent come in our house (quite nice actually) to see if we were ax murderers, or whatever. This was true until he graduated high school.

I noticed something similar. I've posted about this before, too. My kids are small, so not in school yet but for the year and a half that I lived in Boulder I really only met one or two other parents that I saw regularly. Everyone else I met were college-aged nannies (who really weren't keen on being friends with a thirty-something mother of two). Is it related to the cost of housing? Maybe, I don't know. But since I moved to another nearby town I've met lots of others with kids who actually have the time to talk to me and be friendly instead of giving a little wave with one hand with a cell phone in the other.

[ISOnewplace]

TrickiWoo,

What surrounding areas are nice? Do they still have the same "progressive/green" vibe that Boulder is known for? Is it a matter of just being on the "outskirts" or is it like living in a whole other area. Would commuting be an issue if our jobs were in Boulder? What about schools? We dont need to be in Boulder just for the "name" but I dont know anything about other areas.

TrickiWoo and Seethelight:

It is so strange what you said about the parents.. It reminds me of one of those old cult films. Do you think Boulder is more suited for the young no kid crowd than for the mid 30s-40s family crowd? We definitely want a friendly peer group with lots of green-minded health-conscious playmates for our son.

What do you both think of Denver?

[tfox]

Condos, townhomes, and rowhouses in Boulder are actually not that far out of line with the rest of the metro area, and actually less in most cases than the better parts of (the city of) Denver. Single family detached (suburban style) housing is usually quite expensive in Boulder, though it drops very quickly the further from the center of town you go.

If you're fine with attached housing (which in any case is pretty characteristic of what's out there in Boulder), then I don't think the cost of housing should be a deterrent to living in Boulder.

[Mike from back east]

The OP can get a lot of good existing info that's already here in the forum by doing two searches using the Search tool.

Do a separate search on each of these terms (do NOT use dollar signs):
400K
350k

About a dozen threads will be returned, each discussing "moving to boulder" with ensuing discussions of these price points.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

I'm not one to discourage someone from moving to a place they really are passionate about moving too.

That being said, keep in mind there are two realities to places - vacation vibe and real life, day to day vibe.

11 years ago when we were transferred here, we looked at Boulder since that's where my husband's job was. In the end, the cost of housing there was more than we wanted to pay, when we could be something a tad further out and pay a fraction.

I would usually suggest that if you don't have kids in school, to come and rent first to get a feel for the area. I realize that's hard when you have kids you want to get established in a school. That was the case for us - we wanted to find a place where we would stay for the long term so he could grow up with the same kids. We got lucky that worked out so well.

Do I think you can find some like-minded people outside Boulder? Yes. That being said, there is no other place quite like Boulder.

[TrickiWoo]

Originally Posted by ISOnewplace

TrickiWoo,

What surrounding areas are nice? Do they still have the same "progressive/green" vibe that Boulder is known for? Is it a matter of just being on the "outskirts" or is it like living in a whole other area. Would commuting be an issue if our jobs were in Boulder? What about schools? We dont need to be in Boulder just for the "name" but I dont know anything about other areas.

We were in the same position when we first got here, so we rented in Boulder for a while until we got to know the surrounding areas a bit. Our preconceptions were that Boulder is the only 'nice' place to live around here which is definitely not true. I think that most of the surrounding areas are definitely in line with the progressive, green and health-conscious living that you're talking about. Most of the middle-class areas surrounding Boulder are full of people who can't (or don't want to) pay the premium price for a Boulder address. Louisville, Broomfield, Longmont, Lafayette, Erie, Superior are just a few nice places around here where you get alot of 'Boulder spillover'. We have lots of nice parks, trails and bike paths, too. They're also less crowded than the ones in Boulder. Commuting by bike is tougher from the outlying areas, but my neighborhood is quite bike-friendly for leisure rides with the kids.
I live in SW Longmont and my husband works in Boulder, his commute is about 15 - 20 minutes door to door. Very few of the people who work in his office actually live in Boulder, the vast majority live in surrounding towns. Some even live in mountain towns and rarely have a problem getting to work when the weather is bad.
I can't say too much about the schools because my kids are only in preschool now but from talking to other parents about the local schools I am not concerned. There are lots of places in those towns that are zoned for Boulder Valley schools, but from what I understand there are lots of other schools in the other districts that are very good. It's more important to look at the individual schools rather than the district as a whole.

[ISOnewplace]

Thank you all for the insight.

I am not really interested (at this time anyway) in specific home prices to be honest (perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that in my OP---oops). I appreciate this information but I would prefer the thread not turn completely in that direction. I have lived in California, Hawaii, Northern Virginia and Miami so I have no dillusions about the housing market. Once we decide to move forward, we will focus more on that.

What I REALLY want to hear now is about the nuances and character of the place--the vibe, the culture, the quality of life, attitudes, etc. Generally comparing housing markets in different areas is encouraged but I do not want to focus on price points as the main theme of the thread.

I want to hear the stuff you can't read in the papers or the Forbes lists.

Great feedback everyone! Keep it coming!

[Bradburn1]

You might have a look at my neighborhood, Bradburn Village in Westminster (20 minutes to Boulder--on Broomfield border). It's a walkable, mixed-use new urbanist neighborhood with a strong, strong sense of community. As far as progressive, yeah I would say the majority of folks in here would fall in that camp but it really depends on what you mean. If you mean politically liberal, yeah there are lots of folks on that vibe in here, but we have others who are not, and we all get along great. Bradburn is focused on community, and most of the people in here are into that idea (not sure if that is progressive or not?), we generally do not have political/religious conversations socially much--some, but everyone listens to each other (and sometimes play jokes, last election season there were quite a few Obama/McCain sign switching incidents in the middle of the night). I think it's good to have a mix of people personally. Bradburn is very welcoming to gay couples which to me is normal but might be considered progressive I guess. Everyone is welcome pretty much, unless of course, you let your yard get filled with weeds (unless it's xeriscaping ha ha).

Colorado in general, and especially in Denver metro and Boulder is very live and let live in my experience. My neighborhood draws a lot of people who are enviornmentally minded (many houses in here have solar panels for example) because it is walkable and pedestrian oriented, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily of one political stripe. Mostly people are interested in having a walkable neighborhood with nice design that isn't beige and they want to know their neighbors and have a real community. Super family friendly with millions of elementary aged kids. Great schools, great parks, great access to a very large open space (Dry Creek Open Space), the ability to walk to many, many things.

Many people live here because they can't afford a house in Boulder, so we have some of the same sensibility as a result--we have a yoga studio in the neighborhood as well as a 5 minute walk to the organic grocery Sprouts and just about every single house in here seems to have a Subaru Outback (I am considering one myself LOL) and the predominant demographic in here is couples aged 30-45 with elementary aged kids. We have a ton of neighborhood social events. If you don't want to know your neighbors, not a good fit! New homes in the 350-400K range, but also nice newish resale homes in that range as well. Many people here work in Boulder as it's a 20 minute commute--I go into Boulder at least once a week (love their restaurants and the farmers market!).

I love Boulder, I love its freakyness, but I don't love its traffic and high housing prices, and I also want to know my neighbors--If you have a kid's birthday party here--the parents are coming too because we all know each other and there is generally beer involved (required to get though most kid's parties IMO) and no one has to drive!

We don't have a Waldorf school, but they just broke ground on a Montessori school (different philosophy I realize) in Bradburn itself, should open this fall and will be a great fit for the neighborhood if that gives you an idea of what it's like here. Yeah, we also have an acupuncturist in the neighborhood people speak highly of (haven't been myself though) as well as a chiropractor. We have our own little "downtown" area that has these things as well as an art gallery, dentist, restaurants, Irish pub, gift stores. That's where the Montessori is going.

[qfrost]

'Some even live in mountain towns and rarely have a problem getting to work when the weather is bad.'

Just curious, Tricky, what mountain towns are commutable from Boulder?

[ISOnewplace]

Bradburn1.

It sounds wonderful. Sign me up. You hit the nail on the head with regard to what we are looking for. And yes, by progressive I do mean a lifestyle rather than being of one political stripe. I think dialogue is good.

I am running to a soccer game but will do some research.

Have a great weekend everyone!