Tell me about Boulder, Colorado...
 

My good friend just took a job with a robotics firm in Boulder, CO. He knows that's it's the "liberal" city in CO, but I think he'll be OK as he's an outdoors kind of guy (runs, skis, triathlon, shoots guns, rock climbs, etc...) so I think this will be a great move for him. He's from Irvine and he's had it with CA. He's a gun owner and is frustrated with all of the firearms restrictions that CA has. I wanted to send him a bayonet for his Lee Enfield and he told me they're not allowed there!

His girlfriend will follow after he gets there and gets settled in What do you guys think of Boulder? Thanks!

Pointy headed Libeeral Yuppies abound, who arrogantly think they know something....

You don't have to live in Boulder to work in Boulder, in fact I doubt you would want to due to the cost. I was with IBM for 15 years in Boulder and never once lived in Boulder. Longmont is to the North and Westminster is to the south, Firestone to the East or you can head towards the mountains and live in Lyons or around.

The State of Colorado is a good place to do all the stuff he likes, and is very friendly to gun owners. Boulder is very scenic and has a lot to do if you can put up with the libs.

The first Saturday morning of every month has a good Cars and Coffee near Boulder, and we often lunch at the Dark Horse after. When he gets out here he should join us at a Porsche Breakfast Club meeting (in Denver). These are on the second Saturday morning of every month. Directions should be on our website.

porschebreakfastclub : Porsche Breakfast Club

Hey, my town SmileWavy

Love it, would not live anywhere else (even with the wackos) the outdoors, trails, bike access, ect are impossible to beat. I live 12 miles east cause, well, Boulder real estate is borderline nuts, but the flip side the area is doing very very well in current market.

The Coffee and Cars show is what really makes it :)

Shoot me a PM if he needs more detailed info, real estate connections ect.

Ferg.

so he should be used to it coming from the left coast

does ft collins still have the public range at the dump? remember many an afternoon after class blowing off a little steam there. for a college town it was more laid back than boulder without the attitude.

Great town. Lived there for 10 years (86-96). Bought my first house there. But it never really felt like home. Moved back to Tennessee. Glad I had that experience. Glad I don't live there anymore.

Overall Boulder has a strange sense of community. Everyone who lives there is from somewhere else originally. Everyone's a migrant. Feels like one big summer camp. After a while even camp gets old.

Boulder is like Eugene, Orygun but with better snow, fewer trees, better lead university, and more money...

Ft. Collins Boulder is like Corvallis, Orygun but with better hp campus, fewer trees, better ag. school university...

overall, beer is good, but not as good and they don't make wine or have as many distilleries

I am unsure as to whether the Colo. towns now have a ring of suburban Goat Cheese and Llama emporiums around each metro area, like in Oregon...

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the info and I'll get this thread sent to my buddy!

The range at the dump has been closed for a while, but there are a few around still, and there is always the Pawnee Grassland where you can shoot all day long.

I work not too far from Boulder, and go there as little as totally possible. The only exception really being the first Saturday of the month, which I can't make as often as I'd like due to my kids soccer and activity schedule.

Having known people that live in Boulder, I would say the housing market is a little bit pricey. There are also a number of pretty bizarre laws on books in Boulder, but coming from CA, your friend should be fine.

I really like it in Fort Collins, and since I travel a lot for work the commute doesn't bother me. I wouldn't want to live that far north and commute to Bouder though. I agree about Lyons, Erie, Longmont, etc. I would definitely go North, and not south, but that is just my preference. Of course, I also prefer to go into Wyoming for most of my outdoorsy type activities as well, usually because there are less people in the Snowy Range, with the exception being hunting, we do that in CO.

Is your friend going to get a chance to come out here prior to moving? He might want to rent someplace for 6 months or so, so he can really spend some time driving around.

Bill

Boulder is a great city. I don't know about the real estate, but my aunt and uncle lived there for 30 years. He was a Doctor and has since retired to Breckenridge.

We loved the city and CU. Colorado is full of transients, so most anyone can fit in fairly quickly. This is not the case if you move to the east coast.

Hey I'm in Boulder!

It's a nice town. It's about half hippie and half yuppie.
There are a lot of arrogent people here for sure.

Jackson

We used to live in Gleenwood Springs and La Junta. I imagine the drives into the canyon with a 911 would be ideal.

When I lived there we could drink at age 18. There were 3.2 bars just for us.

Beautiful town, fun, great nightlife and bars. My only problem was paying the tab in the bars. It always seemed expensive and I thought there was an excessive city "entertainment" tax added on.
Whenever I would question the charges they would reply "Oh, Jeremy said to put it on your tab."
I don't know who this Jeremy character is, but he's starting to piss me of...

cars parked in the Snowy Range or elsewhere in Wyo. with Colo. plates are subject to abuse

Riiiiight.



Boulder is nice, and will cost you twice the price, as mentioned.
A $300K house in Fort Collins is $450K in Lafayette, and $600K in Boulder.
Plenty of more affordable housing options around, as mentioned. I certainly wouldn't call it even close to as liberal as, say . . . Eugene Oregon. It's sort of . . . . LINO. Lots of Range Rover owners who recycle for the good feelings. Easy to find a Yoga Class or a Homeopath. Whether you want it or not.

As you can see I am near good old Boulder -

I love Boulder - but, it is costly, and housing is very expensive (they have very strict growth restrictions).

So, my advice - live nearby. I am in between Boulder and Denver - about 20 minutes to home plate at Coors Field in Denver and about 25 minutes to the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Best of both...

I bought a 1950's track home in Martin Acres (about a mile south of the University of Colorado) in 1988 for $85K. Sold it 8 years later for well over double. Looking at a similar Martin Acres listing now states that prices have doubled yet again - in the $350K - $400K range. Grief.

+ a brazillion

Hey I know that dude ............