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I've lived in Boulder for about 6 years now and stay for the environment. It's about a 40 minute drive from Denver on a good day and has a very different feel f

by cookrn 12y ago

I've lived in Boulder for about 6 years now and stay for the environment. It's about a 40 minute drive from Denver on a good day and has a very different feel from the city. There's definitely a lot of opportunity in technology work-wise, endless opportunities in the outdoors, but some left to be desired culturally. As a sibling mentioned, the city and the county together own a "green belt" around the city proper that is meant to be permanent. It was actually started in the 50s and has been a great legacy for us nowadays. Great place just to visit for a few days too!

mrfusion 12y ago
That's pretty cool. Is there anywhere you can have a small house with a couple acres or more for cheap and still be within 30 minutes of Boulder?
- cookrn 12y ago
  "Cheap" is a very subjective term around here :D Land east of Boulder a ways (30 minutes+) can be affordable. Land < 30 minutes from Boulder in the North and East directions can get _very_ expensive. Lots of land west of Boulder in the mountains that can be built on too, but it's also expensive and can be pretty rough regarding roads, fires, floods (as we learned last year), etc.... 6 acres of land IN Boulder with one house, water rights, and agricultural zoning has been for sale for a few years for $5m. One of the last parcels like it in the city. Will probably sell soon though for redevelopment. EDIT: Regarding "cheap" being a subjective term. The neighborhood I rent in is < 10 minutes by bike to downtown and has mostly 1/8th acre single-family-home lots. Recently rebuilt houses with more 2000+ sq. ft. on these lots sell for ~$1m+. There is a lot of money being spent to live in the area.
  - mrfusion 12y ago
    Wow, maybe I should look at other parts of CO? I just looked on zillow and saw some properties for sale in the mountains to the west, but they all seemed to be 1.5+ hours from Boulder. (even though they were less than 30 miles) I didn't see anything closer in my price range.
    - TWAndrews 12y ago
      Loveland, Longmong and Niwot are all relatively close, and have similar quality of life properties, but are quite a lot cheaper--they don't have the university, which can be a bug or a feature depending on your perspective. Fort Collins is another university town but with a lower national profile than Boulder, which again can be a good or bad thing.
      - joshkaufman 12y ago
        +1 on Fort Collins - relocated here five years ago. It's a fantastic town - many big city amenities for a small city. (For example: it has a ton of restaurants. I used to live in NYC, and many places in Fort Collins are comparable in quality.) Cost of living in town and in the surrounding area is very reasonable, and quality of life is great.
        mrfusion 12y ago
        Do you still get mountain views there? Is there a lot of outdoors stuff to do?
        joshkaufman 12y ago
        Mountain views everywhere - the whole town is only a few miles from the mountains, similar to Boulder. Tons of parks, trails, mountain biking, etc. The city is very bike-friendly. Whitewater rafting is also close by on the Cache La Poudre River, which exits the mountains ~10 miles NW of the city. Public access boating available on Horsetooth Reservoir.
      - zefhous 12y ago
        I live in Boulder and love it here. Also there's a lot of stuff in Erie and Lafayette which are both fairly close and less expensive. In a Zillow search I found some 4 bedroom houses in Lafayette with an acre in the $400k region, a 20 min drive from being in town.

by cookrn 12y ago

mrfusion 12y ago

That's pretty cool. Is there anywhere you can have a small house with a couple acres or more for cheap and still be within 30 minutes of Boulder?

cookrn 12y ago
"Cheap" is a very subjective term around here :D Land east of Boulder a ways (30 minutes+) can be affordable. Land < 30 minutes from Boulder in the North and East directions can get _very_ expensive. Lots of land west of Boulder in the mountains that can be built on too, but it's also expensive and can be pretty rough regarding roads, fires, floods (as we learned last year), etc.... 6 acres of land IN Boulder with one house, water rights, and agricultural zoning has been for sale for a few years for $5m. One of the last parcels like it in the city. Will probably sell soon though for redevelopment. EDIT: Regarding "cheap" being a subjective term. The neighborhood I rent in is < 10 minutes by bike to downtown and has mostly 1/8th acre single-family-home lots. Recently rebuilt houses with more 2000+ sq. ft. on these lots sell for ~$1m+. There is a lot of money being spent to live in the area.
- mrfusion 12y ago
  Wow, maybe I should look at other parts of CO? I just looked on zillow and saw some properties for sale in the mountains to the west, but they all seemed to be 1.5+ hours from Boulder. (even though they were less than 30 miles) I didn't see anything closer in my price range.
  - TWAndrews 12y ago
    Loveland, Longmong and Niwot are all relatively close, and have similar quality of life properties, but are quite a lot cheaper--they don't have the university, which can be a bug or a feature depending on your perspective. Fort Collins is another university town but with a lower national profile than Boulder, which again can be a good or bad thing.
    - joshkaufman 12y ago
      +1 on Fort Collins - relocated here five years ago. It's a fantastic town - many big city amenities for a small city. (For example: it has a ton of restaurants. I used to live in NYC, and many places in Fort Collins are comparable in quality.) Cost of living in town and in the surrounding area is very reasonable, and quality of life is great.
      - mrfusion 12y ago
        Do you still get mountain views there? Is there a lot of outdoors stuff to do?
        joshkaufman 12y ago
        Mountain views everywhere - the whole town is only a few miles from the mountains, similar to Boulder. Tons of parks, trails, mountain biking, etc. The city is very bike-friendly. Whitewater rafting is also close by on the Cache La Poudre River, which exits the mountains ~10 miles NW of the city. Public access boating available on Horsetooth Reservoir.
    - zefhous 12y ago
      I live in Boulder and love it here. Also there's a lot of stuff in Erie and Lafayette which are both fairly close and less expensive. In a Zillow search I found some 4 bedroom houses in Lafayette with an acre in the $400k region, a 20 min drive from being in town.