Week One in Boulder

Today marks our seventh day in Boulder. Small sample size, I admit, but we are loving it here. Boulder is a lively town, and sits in the shadow of a big city, so we have access to everything, and yet peace and quiet too. Our house is on a quiet street in the southwest. The city has a great parks and recreation department, a very efficient bus line, and is surrounded by a spaghetti mess of trails to walk on. Air fare to anywhere is cheaper than before – Portland, where three of our kids live is $159 round trip. It was closer to $350 from Bozeman.

Apparently the green movement started in Boulder in 1967. At that time the city instituted a special sales tax that was to be used to buy lands surrounding the city. They have completed the major purchases, and the “Green Belt” now insulates the city, ending urban sprawl. That means that things like bus lines and bike lanes are important, as the city itself can be quite congested. But I don’t feel any tension as I drive around – people smile at each other, yield in traffic – the guy on a bike that I almost hit smiled and waved at me. (Must have seen the Montana plates.)

Of course, limiting growth meant that existing real estate was going to become more valuable, and it did . It’s not unusual to see people adding second stories to their homes. Apartment space is pricey, and townhouses and condos are hard to come by. That means that many people who work in Boulder commute here from the outlying towns. There is a long line of traffic everyday to Louisville and Longmont and Golden. Those are very nice communities, but the work to be had is in Boulder.

One thing we are not used to – recycling. In Bozeman, it meant taking papers and plastic and cardboard into town occasionally and on a strictly voluntary basis. Here it is required. We have three trash cans – a large one for “single stream” recycling of cans, bottles, paper and cardboard, a smaller one for “compostables”, or food scraps and stuff like that (which attract bugs and smell), and then another small can for regular garbage. We have to look at the list before we dispose of anything to see where it goes. Not a bad system at all, especially the ‘single stream” part, which eliminates the sorting that people in other communities have to do.

It’s a college town, so there’s that bustle going on, young people and football games and a constant flow of foot traffic on Broadway. Compared to Bozeman, our old home town, it’s a busy place with a lively and diverse culture – not unusual to hear drums and solo guitarists and singers down on Pearl Street Mall. The town newspaper carries liberal letters to the editor and op-eds – it may be the only liberal newspaper in the country. For the time being, we are taking the Denver Post, which seems to be a very good newspaper.

And then there’s this: A Boulder Festival going on tonight and tomorrow – music and food and get this: tonight eight Boulder breweries selling their beer, and tomorrow night eight more. Sixteen breweries in this little town.

Not that it was part of our decision to come here. Well, maybe a small part.

P.S. No WalMart in Boulder.