Commuting to Boulder, CO from ___

[sandyrs]

Hello CO front rangers. I'll be starting grad school at CU Boulder this fall, and am scoping out places to live. My S.O. is looking for jobs in the area, and it is looking likely that she will end up working in Denver. In light of that, we're probably going to end up living somewhere between the two. We've scoped out the usual suspects along 36- Broomfield, the three L's, Arvada, etc. and it seems like any of them could work well. Plus, we can probably afford to buy a nice condo in any of those towns (we've both been working for five years so we have plenty of savings and she will continue to work, plus my salary from teaching/research, and we do not have or plan to have kids). If she does find work in Boulder, we will definitely live in Boulder for at least the first year, I'd note. The short commute for us both would outweigh the more expensive housing.

All that said, we're also looking at Golden because of its proximity to the mountains/foothills and the ample supply of singletrack that is rideable from town (I ride road and MTB, but prefer my MTB lately and like being able to do whatever ride I'm doing out my front door).

I have two main questions:

1) How is the commute from Golden to Boulder? I understand that 93 is subject to fairly frequent closures, but that one can also take 70 to 36. Is traffic bad? Note that I'm coming from Boston, so my definition of "bad traffic" is lengthy periods of bumper-to-bumper, sub-20mph backups. Literally anything short of that, I find totally tolerable.

2) Are there any towns along 36 that are notably more "towns" than pure suburbs? It's not mandatory, but we do like being able to walk to a coffee shop on a lazy weekend morning or grab a beer at a local pub. Parts of Arvada seem to offer this but because everything is so much more spread out compared to the east coast, it's a bit difficult to get a handle on.

Thanks in advance!

[Gummee]

IIRC Golden is even more expensive than Boulder.

Try Gunbarrel, Westminster, Eerie, and places a bit farther away from the People's Republic.

Traffic from Boulder to the City is nuts.

HTH

M

[Tickdoc]

Just move in with Old Potatoe ;~)

[MattTuck]

Sandy, no insights. Check out Cosmo Catolano's personal twitter, I think he's in Boulder and is pretty outspoken, so maybe he has some info you can glean.

What are you going to be studying? Glad to hear you decided to head back to school!

[oldpotatoe]

Hello CO front rangers. I'll be starting grad school at CU Boulder this fall, and am scoping out places to live. My S.O. is looking for jobs in the area, and it is looking likely that she will end up working in Denver. In light of that, we're probably going to end up living somewhere between the two. We've scoped out the usual suspects along 36- Broomfield, the three L's, Arvada, etc. and it seems like any of them could work well. Plus, we can probably afford to buy a nice condo in any of those towns (we've both been working for five years so we have plenty of savings and she will continue to work, plus my salary from teaching/research, and we do not have or plan to have kids). If she does find work in Boulder, we will definitely live in Boulder for at least the first year, I'd note. The short commute for us both would outweigh the more expensive housing.

All that said, we're also looking at Golden because of its proximity to the mountains/foothills and the ample supply of singletrack that is rideable from town (I ride road and MTB, but prefer my MTB lately and like being able to do whatever ride I'm doing out my front door).

I have two main questions:

1) How is the commute from Golden to Boulder? I understand that 93 is subject to fairly frequent closures, but that one can also take 70 to 36. Is traffic bad? Note that I'm coming from Boston, so my definition of "bad traffic" is lengthy periods of bumper-to-bumper, sub-20mph backups. Literally anything short of that, I find totally tolerable.

2) Are there any towns along 36 that are notably more "towns" than pure suburbs? It's not mandatory, but we do like being able to walk to a coffee shop on a lazy weekend morning or grab a beer at a local pub. Parts of Arvada seem to offer this but because everything is so much more spread out compared to the east coast, it's a bit difficult to get a handle on.

Thanks in advance!

1) Painful as is the commute into Boulder in the AM and out of Boulder in the PM..50,000+ who don't live in Boulder but work there.

2) Erie, Firestone, also look North, longmont, Berthoud, Broomfield, Westminster...

3) buying in Boulder..possible but as you know, pricey..

[FlashUNC]

No insight to share, but absolutely gorgeous area. Far, far worse places to spend a few years with a nose buried in a book.

[sandyrs]

Sandy, no insights. Check out Cosmo Catolano's personal twitter, I think he's in Boulder and is pretty outspoken, so maybe he has some info you can glean.

What are you going to be studying? Glad to hear you decided to head back to school!

Thanks Matt! I'm really excited. I'll be studying education, specifically research methodology and the design/analysis of assessments.

Last I saw, Cosmo was living in Fort Collins north of Boulder. Nice-seeming town, but not really in the cards for us given its distance from Denver.

[Jaybee]

I live in Wheat Ridge - S of Arvada, E of Golden. I don't get up to Boulder very often, but the traffic is present (maybe not bad, but present) even at off peak times. Weekday commutes on 36 or 93 are stop and go. Heading into the mountains on the weekends is stop and go. There is a bus with 6 park and rides along 36 if mass transit is an option. I have a friend that uses this to get from Broomfield to LoDo for work.

Everywhere here is "expensive", though if you are coming from another major metro area like Boston the sticker shock won't be as bad. All the little towns Gummee mentioned are fine - given the area S and E of Boulder you are looking at I'd do some research about Rocky Flats.

Edit: Also, this place is lousy with coffee shops and brewpubs. You'd have to try hard not to live next to some.

[sandyrs]

I live in Wheat Ridge - S of Arvada, E of Golden. I don't get up to Boulder very often, but the traffic is present (maybe not bad, but present) even at off peak times. Weekday commutes on 36 or 93 are stop and go. Heading into the mountains on the weekends is stop and go. There is a bus with 6 park and rides along 36 if mass transit is an option. I have a friend that uses this to get from Broomfield to LoDo for work.

Everywhere here is "expensive", though if you are coming from another major metro area like Boston the sticker shock won't be as bad. All the little towns Gummee mentioned are fine - given the area S and E of Boulder you are looking at I'd do some research about Rocky Flats.

Edit: Also, this place is lousy with coffee shops and brewpubs. You'd have to try hard not to live next to some.

Thank you- this is extremely helpful, especially the park and ride option. Do you know if the buses can transport bikes? I imagine that's probably google-able as well...

And you're right, coming from Boston the sticker shock that I imagine many feel moving to the front range just isn't there for me. I've been saving toward buying a house in the Boston area in the next couple years, and the housing here seems to be about double the $/sqft we're seeing on front range Zillow right now.

[sandyrs]

Edit: Also, this place is lousy with coffee shops and brewpubs. You'd have to try hard not to live next to some.

Fantastic news!

[Ralph]

Isn't there a commuter bike trail along 36 into Boulder. Might save your life! http://commutingsolutions.org/bike/us-36-bikeway/

[Jaybee]

Thank you- this is extremely helpful, especially the park and ride option. Do you know if the buses can transport bikes? I imagine that's probably google-able as well...

And you're right, coming from Boston the sticker shock that I imagine many feel moving to the front range just isn't there for me. I've been saving toward buying a house in the Boston area in the next couple years, and the housing here seems to be about double the $/sqft we're seeing on front range Zillow right now.

Everyone bikes here. I'd be shocked if the FF buses didn't have racks. I know the trains and other RTD buses do. I see a bike rack in this picture:

http://www.rtd-denver.com/flatiron-flyer.shtml

[Jaybee]

Isn't there a commuter bike trail along 36 into Boulder. Might save your life!

There is. The other thing we are lousy with is MUPs. Lots of ways to connect trails.

[gdw]

The FF buses have racks in the front for 2 or 3 bikes but they are usually filled at the first stops.

[sandyrs]

Isn't there a commuter bike trail along 36 into Boulder. Might save your life! http://commutingsolutions.org/bike/us-36-bikeway/

That's definitely one of the major selling points of Broomfield and other towns close to 36 for me. I'd be happy to ride up to 15 miles each way a few times each week and spend less time in a car. Even better would be being able to do a "dirt commute" via Marshall Mesa when I have time! I don't think I'll ever be a bike-only commuter like I am now, though, unless I live in Boulder proper. I try to keep a consistent schedule, but grad school is grad school and sometimes I'll need to stay late, meet with collaborators, etc. I don't want to be riding 10+ miles home at 9pm if I can avoid it.

[MattTuck]

Thanks Matt! I'm really excited. I'll be studying education, specifically research methodology and the design/analysis of assessments.

That sounds great. I'm sure you'll continue to be on the board during your studies, but just want to officially say "good luck".

That is a topic that is quite relevant for me, as we're constantly trying to figure out how to make our courses better.

Will be interesting to see what your thesis covers.

[pbarry]

IIRC Golden is even more expensive than Boulder.
Try Gunbarrel, Westminster, Eerie, and places a bit farther away from the People's Republic.

Traffic from Boulder to the City is nuts.

HTH

M

Nope. Golden is more affordable than Boulder by far. Boulder is the new Marin County. ;)
Arvada offers a few routes to Denver and Boulder that aren't too arduous, and good riding. Superior too. Let us know where you land. :beer:

[sandyrs]

Nope. Golden is more affordable than Boulder by far. Boulder is the new Marin County. ;)
Arvada offers a few routes to Denver and Boulder that aren't too arduous, and good riding. Superior too. Let us know where you land. :beer:

Thanks, that's how Zillow made it seem as well.

I'll definitely be looking to ride with some Paceliners when we get out there later this year!

[superbowlpats]

First, congrats Sandy and good luck! going to miss not seeing you and that Gaulzetti at the CX races! Maybe eBAUMANN has some extra components for sale to help you "gear up" (or is it gear down?) your bike since it looks like you will have some hills to climb in your future ;)

[sandyrs]

First, congrats Sandy and good luck! going to miss not seeing you and that Gaulzetti at the CX races! Maybe eBAUMANN has some extra components for sale to help you "gear up" (or is it gear down?) your bike since it looks like you will have some hills to climb in your future ;)

Thank you! I'll definitely miss the NECX scene a lot.

And I just made the low gear on my CX bike 1:1, then took it to Vermont for a 50 mile dirt road test drive :)