Boulder CO. vs. Santa Fe NM

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Nope, maybe you can say that about Boulder but I am not sure: Santa Fe is not a satellite city at all to ABQ; not in anyway, means or form.

It's the same amount of driving time from the smaller city to the larger one and the major place for airport or bigger hospital/medical care.

[HatchChile]

Originally Posted by nmnita

It would depend on what one is looking for. I think, if isolation wasn't an issue and being close to good medical facilities didn't enter the picture: Santa Fe is awesome

Boulder, of course is a college town and has more to do and see than Sante Fe but it has its problems and is much more expensive living wise.

Both cities are going to lean toward the liberal side, with Boulder being super liberal, almost like living in Berkeley CA. I went to school in Boulder and we are talking 60 years ago. It was over the top liberal even then, before most of us even knew what the word liberal meant.

We lived in NM for 7 years in the early 2000s and visited Santa Fe: it is beautiful year around.

BTW: I am laughing at myself and everyone else who just posted: this thread is over 9 years old. I bet the op has made his decision by now: whatcha thing?

Because of this guy's question.

Originally Posted by OrbitalGolem

Sorry for resurrecting this ancient thread, but was wondering which area you chose? I'm considering Santa Fe.

I figured the probability of OP responding to this question if slim, so I chimed in.

Boulder is sure liberal, but like my friend used to say it's an interesting breed of liberal. It's almost like "yes, I am pro-environment, weed, and anti-homophobia. I also want to keep my open space but I give 2 ****s about housing affordability." They keep voting in liberal politicians but when it actually comes to vote with their pockets -- such as repealing TABOR nothing happens. Where should these liberal politicians suppose to get money to improve education, roads, etc? Or, where should the people who cook your vegan burger supposed to live? Ah, yes, good ol' Longmont.

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by HatchChile

Because of this guy's question. Boulder is sure liberal, but like my friend used to say it's an interesting breed of liberal. It's almost like "yes, I am pro-environment, weed, and anti-homophobia. I also want to keep my open space but I give 2 ****s about housing affordability." They keep voting in liberal politicians but when it actually comes to vote with their pockets -- such as repealing TABOR nothing happens. Where should these liberal politicians suppose to get money to improve education, roads, etc? Or, where should the people who cook your vegan burger supposed to live? Ah, yes, good ol' Longmont.

There's simply not enough housing, at any price, for all of the people who work and attend college in Boulder. I just did a quick search and found an article from 2018 which estimates 50,000 daily commuters to Boulder from outlying areas. So yes, it's a hypocritical environmentalism that is espoused there. The city wants the tax revenue from all the people spending time there, but puts a stranglehold on residential development.

[LHS79]

Originally Posted by HatchChile

Because of this guy's question.




I figured the probability of OP responding to this question if slim, so I chimed in.

Boulder is sure liberal, but like my friend used to say it's an interesting breed of liberal. It's almost like "yes, I am pro-environment, weed, and anti-homophobia. I also want to keep my open space but I give 2 ****s about housing affordability." They keep voting in liberal politicians but when it actually comes to vote with their pockets -- such as repealing TABOR nothing happens. Where should these liberal politicians suppose to get money to improve education, roads, etc? Or, where should the people who cook your vegan burger supposed to live? Ah, yes, good ol' Longmont.

Longmont- a.k.a. Boulder East

[mollygee]

Originally Posted by ctr88

Thanks for the great answers. I'm a 41 year old single male and my work is all done over the Internet so I would not have to rely on the local economy of either area. Although very different cities visually, I thought it was an interesting comparison b/c both are aesthetically attractive, left leaning, smaller sized cities at the foot of the mountains with lot's of skiing and hiking close by. It can get old with college towns being so heavily tilted towards the <22 y/o set, but I do really like to attend Div I college hoop and football games (Santa Fe I would have to drive down to Univ of NM games in ABQ for that). I do like the uniqueness of Santa Fe a lot & food, it has an exotic feel to it. And since 41 years old I like the mellow bar scene (been there done that with the club scene) I was at a really cool bar with a live blues band in Santa Fe in 2005 during my visit. I think Boulder being close to Denver is an advantage over Santa Fe being close to Albuquerque...Denver being a bigger more modern city with more amenities, airport options, etc....

I would love Santa Fe, NM is a great state. Santa Fe, is so artsy. Still, Boulder is very cool. Lots to do, and it is closer to Denver, my favorite city.(Born in Denver, still love the metro area.) I live near, but not close enough, right now.

Wondering if you made the move, which place did you choose. Maybe, you are a procrastinator, like myself, I am still trying to get closer to Denver. Be interesting to hear from you.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by HatchChile

Boulder is sure liberal, but like my friend used to say it's an interesting breed of liberal. It's almost like "yes, I am pro-environment, weed, and anti-homophobia. I also want to keep my open space but I give 2 ****s about housing affordability." They keep voting in liberal politicians but when it actually comes to vote with their pockets -- such as repealing TABOR nothing happens. Where should these liberal politicians suppose to get money to improve education, roads, etc? Or, where should the people who cook your vegan burger supposed to live? Ah, yes, good ol' Longmont.

I heard it called a "champagne liberal", and I've called it that ever since. They're mostly people who grew up in the 60s and 70s and modeled their aesthetic after the hippies with none of the substance. The kind of people who have dominated the DNC since at least the 90s. Boulder pretends it has no problems by zoning out "undesirables" to the L-towns: Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette.

[HatchChile]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

I heard it called a "champagne liberal", and I've called it that ever since. They're mostly people who grew up in the 60s and 70s and modeled their aesthetic after the hippies with none of the substance. The kind of people who have dominated the DNC since at least the 90s. Boulder pretends it has no problems by zoning out "undesirables" to the L-towns: Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette.

yep, the ones who hit you with a shopping cart and then say 'namaste'.... I get the natural beauty of Boulder. My friend who visited us when we lived in Boulder (from Vermont), used to say she'd give her right tit to have the views we had from the Kroger parking lot. But, good god, the snobby attitude and a complete lack of diversity, and strong attempt to keep it that way has always been a turn off for me.

[COcheesehead]

Both towns live and profit off reputations formed years ago, and somewhat sadly, no longer in reality exist.

[C24L]

Originally Posted by ctr88

If you could live in either which one would you prefer and why? Or if you know both towns, any randomn opinions would be great. Thanks.

I would live in Santa Fe cuz its in New Mexico.

[grad_student200]

Originally Posted by ctr88

If you could live in either which one would you prefer and why? Or if you know both towns, any randomn opinions would be great. Thanks.

I have lived in both. I was in Santa Fe as a teen and loved it. I played HS basketball and had many friends. I trained for basketball and ran daily over the hills of North Santa Fe near Fort Marcy. I loved it. I won a summer MVP and was euphoric. My friends were awesome, and the school was great with excellent teachers.

Years later, I went to CU Boulder as a summer student. In my late 20s after graduate school I started a job as an engineer and worked in the area for several years.

So, by comparison, I think Boulder is generally stronger for career opportunities in engineering. If you want to see the "latest and greatest" definitely Boulder with its many tech companies are robust to gain exposure.

As for mountain running and cardiovascular training for sports, Boulder and Santa Fe are about the same. I ran Mt. Sanitas hundreds of times off of Mapleton. I used to park just west of the BCH. I ran through the valley and came back down on the ridge trail. I loved it.

The main problem with Boulder in my opinion was that as for those engineers trying to settle down in their very late 20s and mid 30s they are faced with a ridiculously bad gender ratio stacked against them. The dating scene in Boulder is very much best for young teens or college students in their early 20s. I had much more success and opportunities when I was that age in Boulder - especially as a summer student in my undergraduate years. But as an older, mature engineer working I found that the women of my age group were far outnumbered by men - hence many successful engineers were dateless. They would have to go to Fort Collins or Greeley to get a date these days where the ratio is more favorable. By contrast, I think women of that age group would enjoy the plethora of options to choose from. The dating threads often reveal stories of women with multiple dates lined up for the weekend while many men of the same age group (late 20s to mid 30s) will be dateless. So, the irony was that I enjoyed dating as a 21 year old in Boulder as a summer student at CU. I actually went on many group dates and even on a hiking date up Mt. Sanitas. But as a successful engineer in my late 20s dating was non-existent. I felt invisible to women. Go figure.

As for Boulder's lack of diversity (mostly white), I never really faced that much racism in the town like on Pearl Street. I am a brown indigenous person from a rural reservation. I did not find the cops to be racist or run into blatantly racist students at CU. Most white Boulderites were mellow. Occasionally, racism would occur but was relatively infrequent. I played a huge amount of basketball at the CU Rec Center. I never saw any fights break out.

The main racial tension I saw was resentment against affirmative action in the CU Law School and Medical School. To be fair, in talking to the white students I learned some of them were not racist per se - they just thought the policy was flawed (which I actually agree with - affirmative action sucks). But there were some racist students who covertly thought minorities in the school were intellectually inferior. They wouldn't say it out loud but it definitely was present. In summary, Boulder doesn't really have harsh "blatant racism" with high frequency but does have "covert, subtle racism" in regards to resentment against affirmative action in the law school and medical school (from CU Boulder applicants - the medical school is actually in Denver).

By contrast, Santa Fe is very diverse ethnically. The indigenous presence and Spanish culture of the Rio Grande Valley are very strong. To be fair, there is a history of racism among Spanish colonists as well. There was a caste system and slavery imposed by Spaniards. Occasionally, Spanish racism does come up in Santa Fe, but when I was there it wasn't really that frequent. The intermixing between Spanish and indigenous people in modern Santa Fe has many positive examples of coexistence or even intermarriage. Many "Pueblo Indians" are part Spanish and many "Spanish" New Mexicans are part indigenous. There is not a large presence of African Americans in Santa Fe though. One recent news story revealed they can deal with racism in Santa Fe even though it is a "minority" city. Go figure. Overall, as a Native American teen playing basketball, I loved Santa Fe and the "three cultures" of the upper Rio Grande Valley. As a guy who had teen friends from Zuni, NM, I thought it was funny how in Westminster, CO the locals would refer to Zuni Street with the "i" pronounced as "eye" when the actual Zuni Indians pronounce "Zuni" as "Zooh nee".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-7twL_GMR0

So, if I wanted to start a career in my early to mid 20s and didn't care about rushing into marriage, Boulder would be great for a few years. But if I wanted to settle down in my late 20s and into mid 30s, then the I-4 Corridor in Central Florida would be ideal with the southern belles. After living in Boulder, I moved to FL and had far greater dating success. It was like the difference between night and day. Florida southern belles are great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pj2zV5FdYU