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whats it like in Boulder?

568 views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  UmmBnB 
#1 ·
Hi.

My DP has a case of Boulder fever and wants to move there (he's there right now actually, trying to convince me). But I love it here in OR and am not too into another move (we move a lot). I do love CO, and the only reason I haven't lived there in b/c DP hates snow/ cold (which is really confusing b/c isn't there a big snowstorm going on right now?). I don't know how serious he is., after acouple days of snow, he might change his mind.

But anyway...

whats the HOUSE rental scene like?
are there neighboring towns (crunchy friendly) that would have cheaper rent?
what are the schools like?
how family friendly is boulder?
is it bike (and trailer) friendly?
DP is a jewelry designer, do people support artists in boulder?
does it snow constantly?

anything else that seems useful would be great. I think i'd love it there, but I like to here from folks who know.

thanks!
 
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#2 ·
whats the HOUSE rental scene like? Not too sure. You could go to www.denverpost.com and look at the classified section

are there neighboring towns (crunchy friendly) that would have cheaper rent? Not necessarily crunchy, but there are other towns...Longmont, Westminster, Arvada are the big ones. I have a friend who just moved to Erie whichis affordable and pretty close to Boulder

what are the schools like? Don't know. I'm not a fan of any Colorado public schools though.

how family friendly is boulder? Very family friendly, but it's also a college town (one of the top "party schools"), so it caters to that group as well.

is it bike (and trailer) friendly? Yes, as is most of the state.

DP is a jewelry designer, do people support artists in boulder? Yes. I'd say Boulder and lots of towns on the front range support local artists

does it snow constantly? No! We have our fair share of snow days and cold days, but you can still golf sometimes in the winter. It's much drier than where you are from, but the weather is great with over 300+ days of sunshine. The only thing I hate about the front range is the wind. There are a few too many windy days for my taste.

anything else that seems useful would be great.
I've never lived in Boulder (just west and south suburbs of Denver) so I don't have anything to add except that I LOVE Colorado. The Denver/Boulder areas are expensive and my DH try to think of other places to move to where the cost of living is lower, but we love it SO MUCH here and there isn't a better place to live, so the higher cost is worth it to us.
 
#4 ·
I just moved from Boulder to Oregon.


Boulder is great. It is a college town.
But that also means that it has a good art scene, and is supportive of that.

The snow frequently misses Boulder and hits Denver. Frequently we would get a few inches and it would melt. In the time I lived in Boulder there was ONE day where things closed early, and for the most part, major storms were rare.
Sunny a lot! Summers are fabulous.

Family friendly, yes and no. Some places are and some places really cater to college kids.

Rentals in Boulder can be steep, but in the surrounding areas (Louisville, Lafayette, Superior) you can find some better prices. Though living in Boulder proper is kind of fun too. While the surrounding suburbs are a little less crunchy - they are pretty crunchy friendly, until you get out toward Broomfield and Arvada, and the crunchy level drops off into suburbia.

Trails are awesome! There are bike trails all over the place in Boulder - they are fabulous! Especially the Boulder Creek Trail.


Schools from what I hear are very good (didn't have a child when I was there, so don't know first hand) and there are lots of alternative schooling options.

I love Boulder and will miss it this summer.
 
#7 ·
thanks for the info ladies. The wind in the front range is crazy!! One time at Red Rocks the wind blew the roof vents right off our rv!!


Eugene is a college town too after all, so I can handle that. Anyone know if CO has Charter schools (like in Eugene, we have a public charter montessori and a waldorf inspired school too)?

jlpolzin:

"The Denver/Boulder areas are expensive and my DH try to think of other places to move to where the cost of living is lower, but we love it SO MUCH here and there isn't a better place to live, so the higher cost is worth it to us."

I can so relate to this statement, thats how I feel about Eugene. But its a little different. The cost of living isn't particularly high, but it is really hard to make $$ here as an artist (which is totally weird, but thats Eugene for ya). I just love this town so darn much i'm willing to be dirt poor just to be here!

But I do remember before I had my heart set on Eugene, I had it set on Boulder. But DP woudn't move there- and here he is trying to get me to move there now. From now on he is just going to have to listen to me when I tell him to move somewhere (just think if we would have moved there 6 years ago, we'd probably already own a house there by now!)
silly dp.

if anyone else has any input that would be great. ANyone have kids in school in Boulder?
 
#8 ·
Colorado has a ton of charter schools, so I doubt you'll have trouble finding one. I live in Westminster, but there are at least two charter schools within walking distance, plus the public schools also within walking distance. You'll find plenty in Boulder. And, Colorado is open-enrollment, so space-permitting, kids can go to schools outside of their neighborhood. Most Boulder County schools seem to rate fairly well on student achivement tests and whatnot, but of course, whether they're good schools tends to depend on how you define good and what you want them to offer.

I can't help you with house rentals, but there are a lot of houses for rent in Boulder, in varying states of repair or disrepair. Avoid the area just west of the CU campus if you can (just west of Broadway), since that's where most of the college students rent houses. Neighboring tones will probably have cheaper rent (Louisville, Superior, Lafayette, etc), but they also have some really nice subdivisions that will probably be more expensive to rent in. I really think most of the area between Boulder and Denver is pretty crunchy-friendly. I live about halfway between and have two natural foods grocers within 2 miles of my house (one is in Arvada, the other in Westminster). There's a yoga studio on the way out of my neighborhood. Sure, there are plenty of mainstream people here (Westminster), but we're not a bastion of conservatism either.

Quote:
does it snow constantly?
Ha ha ha! No. It snows way less than it did when I lived in Chicago. The "big" snowstorm we supposedly had dropped about 3-4" here over a 48-hour period. I only shoveled the driveway because we had people coming to install windows. The snow was mostly gone within 24 hours. It snowed very little in January and February--so I mostly remember a long stretch of 50 & 60 degree days, and having to water our trees because it was so dry. It snows all the time in the mountains, but not here on the Front Range. Oh, and March is our snowiest month, go figure.

I love living here. The only change of scenery I want is to get up into the mountains and sit by Lake Grandby in a couple of months.
 
#9 ·
If you are still interested....yes Boulder has both a public montessori and waldorf, Community Montessori and BCSIS (Boulder Community School of Integrated Studies)
My DS goes to the Waldorf, and I am partial to it. It is a wonderful school and community... as far as waldorf influence goes it was founded on that but is getting away from its roots. It depends on the teacher how waldorfy your class is. It is still a great school.
Don't have any first hand experiences with the Montessori.
We love Eugene too, but couldn't handle the gray winters. We are addicted to the blue skies of CO.
 
#10 ·
whats the HOUSE rental scene like?
I have been living in Boulder for 10 years and LOVE IT! The rental market is good. There are lots of houses to rent. Check out The Daily Camera online. It will give you the most rentals. There are really not any bad neighborhoods just different locations. You can also check out Craigs List online, click on Denver, then narrow your search to Boulder. Being a college town there is always lots to choose from.

are there neighboring towns (crunchy friendly) that would have cheaper rent?
what are the schools like?
Don't move to Westminster, Arvada, or Broomfield. Suburbia hell and not so crunchy friendly. Louisville and Lafayette are your best bet, minutes to Boulder, great views, great schools, natural markets. Louisville is my favorite!

how family friendly is boulder?
The most family friendly place I know. Amazing parks, activities, classes, such nice people.

is it bike (and trailer) friendly?
There are bike paths and lanes on just about all roads. We have a huge biking community here.

DP is a jewelry designer, do people support artists in boulder?
I am an artist and there is a great community. There are a lot of artists which is somewhat of a downside because of compitition, but we are all very supportive of eachother. There are public art shows all year long, lots of galleries and co-ops and studio tours.

does it snow constantly?
I wish....we have such mild winters here in Boulder. But you can drive 30 minutes and be in a winter wonderland. I think I wore my winter coat 5x last winter and it only snowed a few times. Every once and a while we will get a good dumping, but not this winter.

Hope that helps, it really is an amazing place!
 
#11 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by ColoradoKat
Don't move to Westminster, Arvada, or Broomfield. Suburbia hell and not so crunchy friendly.
It's not *that* bad down here, and I rather think the non-vaxing, co-sleeping, etc women in our Arvada LLL chapter would disagree, as would the Broomfield women in the Denver AP group. There are natural markets, etc, and I enjoy the view of the mountains from my backyard (and live 3/4 of a mile from Standley Lake).

It all depends on what you're looking for. I'm personally not a fan of Superior (and think it's just as much suburbia--hell or not--as Westminster), but I think it's probably just as crunchy-friendly and nice in some ways as most any of the other towns nearby.
 
#12 ·
I'm with you on that one Lisa (Hello), I am also very much into AP and natural family living and so are most all the ladies I have met here in Broomfield and though the Denver AP board, I love both Westminster and Broomfield and there is no lack of things to do here, 70 miles of bike paths and tons of community gathering keeps us busy here in Westminster/Broomfield. Our family has recently moved to Colorado from Washington State and I research this area like crazy and took a chance, we love it. It's 30 miuntes from Downtown Denver, and about 15-20 minutes from Boulder nice a quite and great friendly neighbourhood. Hope this helps a bit in your decision making process, I know how difficult it is been far away and having to pick a place to live. Good Luck!!!

Cheers, Aja


swelldove@yahoo.com if you have any more questions!!
 
#13 ·
Dh is from Eugene - lived there most all his life and his whole family is from there. He's been in Denver for 4 years now. He says that Eugene and Boulder are very much the same and that one of the big differences is that Eugene has real hippies whereas Boulder only has wanna-be's.


I personally don't care much for Boulder. I'm a central Denver-ite. Denver feels more real than Boulder.
 
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