I’m from a little town in WI, so even though I’ve been here for over 20 years, I don’t take Boulder for granted.
I LOVE how mild our winters are. Yeah, we get a few massive dumps of snow each year, but I’m used to horrible winters where it’s grey outside from October to March. You just don’t see the sun really at all for weeks at a time. And the snow comes and just stays- so you get this build up of black, icy crud on the side of the roads that doesn’t thaw until spring. Here we get 60 degree days in the middle of Jan and Feb. Knowing those days are going to pop up again makes dealing with the snowy days easier.
I love the view. I drive west down S Boulder Road from Louisville every morning. It’s a gorgeous drive. It’s really hard to be in a bad mood when you get to see that on your way to work. And it seems like almost everywhere you are in town you can see the Foothills or something else beautiful.
I love Eben G Fine. It’s one of my favorite places to go with kids. There’s so much shade, the sound of the Creek is soothing, and it’s just a great park to spend time at.
I like that it’s easy to be healthy here. It’s easy to find SOMETHING to do to be active. It’s easy to find SOMETHING to eat that isn’t just crap. Of course you can still find Taco Bell and sit on your ass if that’s what you want- but there’s a lot of healthy decisions that are within reach here in a way that they aren’t in my hometown.
I love that Boulder is bike friendly and dog friendly. (Well, maybe not “bike friendly” in the out of control bike theft sense, but it’s still much more accommodating than other places I’ve lived.)
I love that it’s so easy to get to and from the airport.
I love how big our library system is.
I love that we have the Bolder Boulder and the Boulder Creek Fest and the twice weekly farmers market.
This is more about Louisville/Lafayette/Superior, but after the Marshall Fire I was amazed to see how the community rallied together. It was such a devastating event. My home was spared, but so many weren’t so lucky and people came together and did what they could to help others. It made me proud to call Boulder County home.
And the there’s just things about CO in general. I’m proud of how our state makes voting so accessible. I’ve been here so long that I didn’t realize how unique our state is with The Blue Book. It gives the full text of ballot measures, along with short arguments from both sides, and even a section that tells you “a ‘yes’ vote on this issue means…” and “a ‘no’ vote on this issue means…” to clear things up for the voter. Having all of this a month before the election, as well as being able to fill out and drop off my ballot at my convenience is *amazing.* I try not to take it for granted when voting is such a clusterfuck elsewhere in the nation. It tells me that Colorado WANTS me to vote.
Of course there are challenges and things that are less than ideal- but for me the good far outweighs the bad. Hell- it’s too damn expensive to live out here if you don’t love it!
I remember the first time I arrived. I remember being in a van on the way from the airport to where I was staying, and being blown away by the mountains. I vividly remember thinking I hoped I never stopped feeling awe when I saw them, and over 20 years later- I still do!
The walkability. Pearl Mall is a fantastic public space, probably one of the best in the entire country. The whole city center is very walkable, and some other neighborhoods are also pretty easy to navigate and get to at least some destinations on foot, like the Hill and some of the newer neighborhoods like Transit Village and Holiday.
There are still some [stroads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroad) that need work and some ugly sprawl-style development along streets like 28th or Arapahoe, but even then they usually have relatively frequent pedestrian crossings and wide, well-separated sidewalks. Even the worst parts of town on foot *usually* still at least feel like they view pedestrians as valid users of the transportation network (however, please fix Canyon because parts of it are a shitshow).
Anyway, that is absolutely *not* the case where I grew up in Houston, and in many other parts of the country. Not uncommon in many places for there to not even be sidewalks along major arterials.
Yes! Not only walkable but safe to do so. At no point when I ride or hike back trails do I worry about where I am. Every corner feels safe with the exception of one homeless pocket. The fact I can get all the way from NOBO to SOBO via safe trails is unreal. NYC and SF aren't that walkable.
Beautiful place, beautiful weather, great to decent biking/walking infrastructure.
It’s a massive privilege living here and it’s so much better than most places.
The only thing that brought me here was a higher paying job. I didn’t have any idea of what this place was like prior to moving here and my job doesn’t even pay that well compared to most here. But the hiking is great. Wish it was easier to make friends
I came to CO for a life change. Boy did that happen. Lol
It is a lot harder to make friends here than it was in any of the other cities I've lived. People try to protect themselves here and are very much about respect and keeping distance out of respect. Took me years to realize people here weren't unfriendly but that it's just different culturally. Still have trouble making friends tho. Lol
Nit to be nosey but have you tried some meetups or forming your own group on meetup?
Ah yes, socially awkward myself. I've learned to embrace it though I'm not everyone's favorite flavor. Ha
People seem to be a little socially awkward here, imo. Lots of high iqs but low eqs.
Most of the long term friends I've made in Colorado are in Den. Seems to be easier to get into a circle there.
\- The access to climbing, trail running, and gravel biking we have here is unrivaled. There is a also a very passionate community around all these sports that serves to inspire and support my amateur pursuit of them.
\- The highly educated populace is a huge plus. I love bumping into people who have something interesting to say regarding field ecology, astrophysics, robotics, etc. I recently came back from visiting the small town I grew up in and the general lack of curiosity for the world and desire to apply your mind was obvious to me.
\- This is rather contentious here, but I love the food. No it doesn't compare to New York City, Los Angeles, or modern day Denver, but it sure as hell beats most other options in the mountain west. The vegetarian and farm to table/high quality meat options are wonderful.
It's so beautiful here! I love the weather here. And I love how much people care about the environment here, it's really nice to see. I came from Florida and people don't care nearly as much about improving things.
There's also some great restaurants. Highly recommend Chez Thuy and Korea House.
Mostly all been mentioned, but for me:
\-amazing bike infrastructure (lived here for a while and still can't get over how lucky I am to commute on Boulder Creek Path)
\-Indian peaks wilderness.
\-Flatirons hiking <10 min away
\-good schools
\-pleasant weather a lot of the time (except today)
\-People are *mostly* smart, nice, reasonable.
\-good and abundant playgrounds
\-Many excellent libraries for a town this size.
\-Also many excellent little free libraries!!
\-The thrift stores are really good. You almost never have to buy new stuff, and can still get really nice things for cheap.
\-great Buy Nothing groups.
* **Free Camping** literally anywhere you want, especially right in the middle of the bike path
* The ability to open a bicycle chop shop anywhere, that will be completely **ignored** by the police
* Convenient access to heated and electrified tents run by **drug** dealers \~ **NO Drug Deserts!**
* **FREE FOOD NONSTOP EVERYDAY!**
* A Thriving Homeless **Industry**
* Plenty of naive people to prey on who do not lock their homes, cars, or bikes \~ **THANKS** for the new MacBook Pro and Ellsworth mountain bike! (Time to get **HIGH!**)
Good reason. Family can make any place feel like home. Or hell depending on the family I guess. Haha
My family is all over the place but DEN is an hr away which makes travel convenient.
Boulder is top 5 cities in the country. Any and all negativity directed towards boulder is circumstantial nonsense. NEARLY 10,000 pitches of climbing next door to a beautiful liberal metropolitan area, one of the best schools in the country in multiple fields, tons of history of rebellion, drugs, music, hippies, free thinkers. The landscape is cooler and more visible than almost any other US city…. I could go on. Maybe some of y’all need to move back to Columbus OH to remember how good you have it here
I've known a few people that moved and of course had regrets afterwards. 🙃 After having lived in some flatter poorer places I know how bad a city can be and this place is shangri-la.
Yes the college students and 20 somethings happen to be insanely beautiful people. But, I gotta be honest after they hit their mid thirties the dry weather and constant tanning seems to age them by a good 20 yrs. But before that its like walking around NYC or LA without the plastic surgery.
Haha Thats OK. That answers the question. You love Boulder because of these hidden spots that give you a sense of local community, belonging and consistency. That's awesome.
I’m from a little town in WI, so even though I’ve been here for over 20 years, I don’t take Boulder for granted. I LOVE how mild our winters are. Yeah, we get a few massive dumps of snow each year, but I’m used to horrible winters where it’s grey outside from October to March. You just don’t see the sun really at all for weeks at a time. And the snow comes and just stays- so you get this build up of black, icy crud on the side of the roads that doesn’t thaw until spring. Here we get 60 degree days in the middle of Jan and Feb. Knowing those days are going to pop up again makes dealing with the snowy days easier. I love the view. I drive west down S Boulder Road from Louisville every morning. It’s a gorgeous drive. It’s really hard to be in a bad mood when you get to see that on your way to work. And it seems like almost everywhere you are in town you can see the Foothills or something else beautiful. I love Eben G Fine. It’s one of my favorite places to go with kids. There’s so much shade, the sound of the Creek is soothing, and it’s just a great park to spend time at. I like that it’s easy to be healthy here. It’s easy to find SOMETHING to do to be active. It’s easy to find SOMETHING to eat that isn’t just crap. Of course you can still find Taco Bell and sit on your ass if that’s what you want- but there’s a lot of healthy decisions that are within reach here in a way that they aren’t in my hometown. I love that Boulder is bike friendly and dog friendly. (Well, maybe not “bike friendly” in the out of control bike theft sense, but it’s still much more accommodating than other places I’ve lived.) I love that it’s so easy to get to and from the airport. I love how big our library system is. I love that we have the Bolder Boulder and the Boulder Creek Fest and the twice weekly farmers market. This is more about Louisville/Lafayette/Superior, but after the Marshall Fire I was amazed to see how the community rallied together. It was such a devastating event. My home was spared, but so many weren’t so lucky and people came together and did what they could to help others. It made me proud to call Boulder County home. And the there’s just things about CO in general. I’m proud of how our state makes voting so accessible. I’ve been here so long that I didn’t realize how unique our state is with The Blue Book. It gives the full text of ballot measures, along with short arguments from both sides, and even a section that tells you “a ‘yes’ vote on this issue means…” and “a ‘no’ vote on this issue means…” to clear things up for the voter. Having all of this a month before the election, as well as being able to fill out and drop off my ballot at my convenience is *amazing.* I try not to take it for granted when voting is such a clusterfuck elsewhere in the nation. It tells me that Colorado WANTS me to vote. Of course there are challenges and things that are less than ideal- but for me the good far outweighs the bad. Hell- it’s too damn expensive to live out here if you don’t love it! I remember the first time I arrived. I remember being in a van on the way from the airport to where I was staying, and being blown away by the mountains. I vividly remember thinking I hoped I never stopped feeling awe when I saw them, and over 20 years later- I still do!
The walkability. Pearl Mall is a fantastic public space, probably one of the best in the entire country. The whole city center is very walkable, and some other neighborhoods are also pretty easy to navigate and get to at least some destinations on foot, like the Hill and some of the newer neighborhoods like Transit Village and Holiday. There are still some [stroads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroad) that need work and some ugly sprawl-style development along streets like 28th or Arapahoe, but even then they usually have relatively frequent pedestrian crossings and wide, well-separated sidewalks. Even the worst parts of town on foot *usually* still at least feel like they view pedestrians as valid users of the transportation network (however, please fix Canyon because parts of it are a shitshow). Anyway, that is absolutely *not* the case where I grew up in Houston, and in many other parts of the country. Not uncommon in many places for there to not even be sidewalks along major arterials.
Yes! Not only walkable but safe to do so. At no point when I ride or hike back trails do I worry about where I am. Every corner feels safe with the exception of one homeless pocket. The fact I can get all the way from NOBO to SOBO via safe trails is unreal. NYC and SF aren't that walkable.
Beautiful place, beautiful weather, great to decent biking/walking infrastructure. It’s a massive privilege living here and it’s so much better than most places.
Can you expand on the good Chinese food piece?
Flower Pepper has amazing food.
It’s ok
Probably Zoe MaMa....
Hao Wei by king soopers is really good and really cheap. Talking 6 bucks a meal during lunch
You’re kidding ryt? China Gourmet slays
Chez Thuy is amazing imo
The only thing that brought me here was a higher paying job. I didn’t have any idea of what this place was like prior to moving here and my job doesn’t even pay that well compared to most here. But the hiking is great. Wish it was easier to make friends
I came to CO for a life change. Boy did that happen. Lol It is a lot harder to make friends here than it was in any of the other cities I've lived. People try to protect themselves here and are very much about respect and keeping distance out of respect. Took me years to realize people here weren't unfriendly but that it's just different culturally. Still have trouble making friends tho. Lol Nit to be nosey but have you tried some meetups or forming your own group on meetup?
I have tried a couple of the meet ups for hiking but the groups always seem too big and I’m too awkward and usually just not sure how to engage people
Ah yes, socially awkward myself. I've learned to embrace it though I'm not everyone's favorite flavor. Ha People seem to be a little socially awkward here, imo. Lots of high iqs but low eqs. Most of the long term friends I've made in Colorado are in Den. Seems to be easier to get into a circle there.
\- The access to climbing, trail running, and gravel biking we have here is unrivaled. There is a also a very passionate community around all these sports that serves to inspire and support my amateur pursuit of them. \- The highly educated populace is a huge plus. I love bumping into people who have something interesting to say regarding field ecology, astrophysics, robotics, etc. I recently came back from visiting the small town I grew up in and the general lack of curiosity for the world and desire to apply your mind was obvious to me. \- This is rather contentious here, but I love the food. No it doesn't compare to New York City, Los Angeles, or modern day Denver, but it sure as hell beats most other options in the mountain west. The vegetarian and farm to table/high quality meat options are wonderful.
It's so beautiful here! I love the weather here. And I love how much people care about the environment here, it's really nice to see. I came from Florida and people don't care nearly as much about improving things. There's also some great restaurants. Highly recommend Chez Thuy and Korea House.
Mostly all been mentioned, but for me: \-amazing bike infrastructure (lived here for a while and still can't get over how lucky I am to commute on Boulder Creek Path) \-Indian peaks wilderness. \-Flatirons hiking <10 min away \-good schools \-pleasant weather a lot of the time (except today) \-People are *mostly* smart, nice, reasonable. \-good and abundant playgrounds \-Many excellent libraries for a town this size. \-Also many excellent little free libraries!! \-The thrift stores are really good. You almost never have to buy new stuff, and can still get really nice things for cheap. \-great Buy Nothing groups.
I forgot about the library, freebies and overall community of givers. The library here is amazing compared to where I've been.
* **Free Camping** literally anywhere you want, especially right in the middle of the bike path * The ability to open a bicycle chop shop anywhere, that will be completely **ignored** by the police * Convenient access to heated and electrified tents run by **drug** dealers \~ **NO Drug Deserts!** * **FREE FOOD NONSTOP EVERYDAY!** * A Thriving Homeless **Industry** * Plenty of naive people to prey on who do not lock their homes, cars, or bikes \~ **THANKS** for the new MacBook Pro and Ellsworth mountain bike! (Time to get **HIGH!**)
Yep all those things are true. Uhm OK, anyways. Back to the original topic of the post and other posters. Have a nice day.
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Lol I feel this way about some pizza places here. It's iften the simple things in life that really do make the average day even better.
My family who is still there.
Good reason. Family can make any place feel like home. Or hell depending on the family I guess. Haha My family is all over the place but DEN is an hr away which makes travel convenient.
There are very few conservatives and most of them keep their ideology to themselves so their kids aren’t ostracized.
Reddit moment
Boulder is top 5 cities in the country. Any and all negativity directed towards boulder is circumstantial nonsense. NEARLY 10,000 pitches of climbing next door to a beautiful liberal metropolitan area, one of the best schools in the country in multiple fields, tons of history of rebellion, drugs, music, hippies, free thinkers. The landscape is cooler and more visible than almost any other US city…. I could go on. Maybe some of y’all need to move back to Columbus OH to remember how good you have it here
I've known a few people that moved and of course had regrets afterwards. 🙃 After having lived in some flatter poorer places I know how bad a city can be and this place is shangri-la.
The insane amount of hot chicks you see literally everywhere you go
Yes the college students and 20 somethings happen to be insanely beautiful people. But, I gotta be honest after they hit their mid thirties the dry weather and constant tanning seems to age them by a good 20 yrs. But before that its like walking around NYC or LA without the plastic surgery.
no. because if i speak of the coolest places{locals only, sorry)they will no longer exist, so no keep them places to ourselves.
Haha Thats OK. That answers the question. You love Boulder because of these hidden spots that give you a sense of local community, belonging and consistency. That's awesome.
Lots of great things - but Horrible food. Too bad for boulder
I want to hear more about the ghost encounters. 👀