Two year plan to move to Colorado

[TellurideTom]

Ok, so now all I have to do is to find a job that allows for:

8 weeks living in Boulder
8 weeks living in Grand Junction
8 weeks living in Telluride
6 Weeks living in Durango
6 Weeks living in Aspen
16 weeks off

I'm glad that is finally settled.  Please, friends, someone must know of an opportunity like this!

I think it's called retirement.

[Auntie Hope]

Ok, so now all I have to do is to find a job that allows for:

8 weeks living in Boulder
8 weeks living in Grand Junction
8 weeks living in Telluride
6 Weeks living in Durango
6 Weeks living in Aspen
16 weeks off

I'm glad that is finally settled.  Please, friends, someone must know of an opportunity like this!

I think it's called retirement.

Or living with your favorite "Sugar Mama"! 

Hope Lin

[Daniela]

Or living with your favorite "Sugar Mama"! 

Hope Lin

You can be my Sugar Mama any time, Auntie Hope, just as long as you promise to wear that sexy denim dress!

[Daniela]

Hey, is it just me or does this sound suspiciously like something like Billy or Punchy would do?  Come on, boys, fess up!!   

[Auntie Hope]

Or living with your favorite "Sugar Mama"! 

Hope Lin

You can be my Sugar Mama any time, Auntie Hope, just as long as you promise to wear that sexy denim dress!

I'm just glad I had my jeans on the night that big rock jumped out and tripped me.

Confession to Daniela...

I'm low maintenance but I do clean up pretty well  and remember, it was only my first year at TBF. I think I could come up with something a little different for our next meeting! You set the tone at TBF with all that tye-dye and looked great!

Thanks for the compliment... Sugar! 

Auntie Hope 



Oh.. back on topic...

Billy, can you transfer with your current company? If so then check out the open job listings AND GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR MAN! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR... TWO YEARS??? BAH HUMBUG - DO IT TOMORROW!

[BillyBeru]

Or living with your favorite "Sugar Mama"! 

Hope Lin

You can be my Sugar Mama any time, Auntie Hope, just as long as you promise to wear that sexy denim dress!

I'm just glad I had my jeans on the night that big rock jumped out and tripped me.

Confession to Daniela...

I'm low maintenance but I do clean up pretty well  and remember, it was only my first year at TBF. I think I could come up with something a little different for our next meeting! You set the tone at TBF with all that tye-dye and looked great!

Thanks for the compliment... Sugar! 

Auntie Hope 



Oh.. back on topic...

Billy, can you transfer with your current company? If so then check out the open job listings AND GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR MAN! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR... TWO YEARS??? BAH HUMBUG - DO IT TOMORROW!

I am still working out those details (transferring with my company) - if not, there is something called "vesting" and two more years of it will be really nice (we just went public). Plus I got to sell my place. I know, details, details...blah blah blah - as Jen would say as well "Just go man, go!"

[Auntie Hope]

Mo moola -v- peace. Oh yeah, I get it! 

What-ever....

Auntie Hope 

[BillyBeru]

Mo moola -v- peace. Oh yeah, I get it! 

What-ever....

Auntie Hope 

Hey now! We're still having a good ol' time here in DC. And there is nothing wrong with a little more change in one's pocket - those ski lifts ain't free...

[BillyBeru]

Hey, is it just me or does this sound suspiciously like something like Billy or Punchy would do?  Come on, boys, fess up!!   

The case against me is purely circumstantial and my attorney has already outlined an iron-clad defense.

While it is true that I like group hugs, high altitude, and fine wine, on June 16th around the time the incident was taking place in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of DC, I was giggling my face off with Punchy and Bagger, due to the equivalent of a certain Telluride marinara sauce, at The Pub's patio in Boulder. 

[aquariumdrunk]

Howdy, guys! 

I'm new here to the board and have only been out in CO for a little over a year after moving here from the Chicago burbs. Right now, we're out near DIA to accomodate my gf's job as a flight attendant, but are also thinking about moving. I've gotten a decent feel for a lot of the surrounding areas -- it's just a REALLY tough decision. Lately, Golden has been looking really appealing. We're trying to find something closer to the mountains, but avoid being cut off from the rest of the world when both of us have jobs (and school) that would take some driving to get to!

So, yeah. That's about all I got. 

Just wanted to chime in and thank you all for adding a little more info to our ever growing sea of recommendations and experiences on areas we've been eyeing up! 

[BillyBeru]

Howdy, guys! 

I'm new here to the board and have only been out in CO for a little over a year after moving here from the Chicago burbs. Right now, we're out near DIA to accomodate my gf's job as a flight attendant, but are also thinking about moving. I've gotten a decent feel for a lot of the surrounding areas -- it's just a REALLY tough decision. Lately, Golden has been looking really appealing. We're trying to find something closer to the mountains, but avoid being cut off from the rest of the world when both of us have jobs (and school) that would take some driving to get to!

So, yeah. That's about all I got. 

Just wanted to chime in and thank you all for adding a little more info to our ever growing sea of recommendations and experiences on areas we've been eyeing up! 

I have heard some sweet things about Golden - what is it about the place that you dig, Aquariumdrunk?

[Punchy]

Hey, is it just me or does this sound suspiciously like something like Billy or Punchy would do?  Come on, boys, fess up!!   

Daniela, I fully understand how you could think this was me considering some of my antics in TP and tarp line, but alas, I live in Davidson, NC and don't frequent the DC area too often.  Just the same, thank you for thinking that I could pull off this stunt, I'm honored!!!

 

[aquariumdrunk]

I have heard some sweet things about Golden - what is it about the place that you dig, Aquariumdrunk?

Well, I think landshark covered it...and then some!

 

[BillyBeru]

I've learned some more things about Boulder and wanted some folks to comment about the "attitude" of Boulder citizens. Is this article from Outside.com accurate?

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200608/best-outside-towns-2006-12.html

So you want to move to Boulder, Colorado, the perennial best town in America for (circle one or all depending upon your level of outsideness) roadies, rock jocks, organic consumers, backcountry skiers, mountain bikers, trail runners, ultrarunners, whitewater boaters, alpinists, credit-card environmentalists, New Agers, sellers of waterproof-breathable canine accessories, and those who support prairie dog emancipation at the expense of baseball fields. It's a great place to live, because everyone looks and thinks exactly like you.*

Except they're better than you. Get that straight and you'll fit in. But you'll matriculate quicker if you come with some attitude. Pose if you must. It's the best town in America, for Christ's/Buddha's/Ganesh's/Chris Carmichael's sake. Step up.

But what's it like to live here? Well, Boulder exudes a unique blend of over-the-top liberalism and extreme fitness. How to describe it . . . If Lance Armstrong and Amy Goodman had a love child, the prodigy would drive his Audi A4 to Boulder, buy a Maverick to decorate the roof rack, and then not ride the $5,000 bike because he didn't want to encroach upon mountain lion habitat. Are you feeling the zeitgeist? Some more Boulder color might help:

A Buddhist monk moved into our condo complex. Shaved head, full regalia, real deal. He drives a 30-cylinder pickup truck named after a subarctic ecosystem where trees don't grow and frost lingers.

Two strangers have said the word excelente to me in the past four months.

My barista (Oh, dear Lord, what's happening to me?) to a fellow barista: "Cuba is, like, this paradise. Nothing has changed since, like, the fifties. They drive these old cars and play this great music." Me: "Cuba? They put AIDS patients in concentration camps and throw journalists in jail for printing the truth." Barista: "Uh, yeah, but the people are so happy down there. Who had the tall rice-milk latte?"

Need more telling details? The Dunkin' Donuts went out of business, but the oxygen bar next door to the gay-and-lesbian bookstore seems to be doing well. The panhandlers on the Pearl Street Mall sport $70 sandals and pull in upwards of 25 bucks an hour. Did anybody mention that the median sale price of a home here is $525,000? That's $302,000 more than the national figure. The best don't come cheap. If that's too pricey for you, maybe you should check out Burlington or Santa Fe. Oh, right: bad sushi.

OK, that's all lifestyle stuff that comes with living in a town that has a large contingent of soft-palmed check- of-the-month-clubbers. Could just as easily be Marin County. Buy a meditation table, slap a GO VEGAN! sticker on your roof box, and you'll blend. You're here for the fitness pursuits anyway.

Except that's where Boulder gets weird. In most American towns, outdoor-sports aficionados are part of an elite counterculture minority. Mountain bikers and climbers have cachet. Not so in Boulder. Recreating outdoors is the norm here, and it's in your face. There's always some horse-toothed mountain-town equivalent of Laird Hamilton ready to kick your athletic pride through the dirt. Remember the 2005 Tour, when T-Mobile kept attacking Discovery, trying to break Lance? That's what a casual bike ride is like in Boulder. Strangers attack. Old guys with gray beards and steel bikes attack. Reach for a shot of Gu and even your friends attack. And women: Women always attack—they're the worst.

Even slow guys like me attack. The other day I was reeling in a pro cyclist on a brutal local climb. My heart rate was near its max, but I was feeling good. I was in the zone. Maybe four years of living in Boulder have paid some fitness dividends, I thought.

Then I figured it out: He's between intervals, and once his heart rate drops below 65 bpm, he's gone. At least he said "No offense" before he accelerated.

It doesn't matter what sport you do; you will suffer similar humiliation. Go nordic skiing in North Boulder Park and two Olympians shout "Track!" from a meter back. Climb the Flatirons only to learn that someone once ascended in Rollerblades. Get Maytagged in a hole while paddling Boulder Creek and a World Cup champion slalom kayaker will toss you a rope bag. Running? Not me, not in Boulder. Boulderites run like gazelles. Fancy yourself a mountaineer? The waiters at Sherpa's have summited Everest. But at least those guys are nice. If Reinhold Messner himself walked into south Boulder's mountaineering shop to buy a carabiner, the sales staff would give him attitude. It's enough to make you revolt against the blue sky (300 sunny days a year), pull down the blinds, and watch NASCAR.

I know what you're thinking. If you don't like it, why don't you get the hell out? I'll tell you why: It's pretty damn nice here, actually. I just bought a German automobile—gonna chip it. My four-year-old has attended two birthday parties in climbing gyms—little dude will be free-soloing soon. Maybe it's the endorphin equivalent of a contact high, but I've never been in better shape. The sun is shining. The prairie dogs in the infield are chirping. One more round of whitening strips and my choppers will be gleaming. Everything's, like, most excelente.

* If your teeth are pearly white and your resting heart rate is below 45 bpm.

[TellurideTom]

Boy, what a one sided article.

True, I haven't spent a lot of time in Boulder since the early 70's and I'm sure a lot of things have changed since then, but I doubt it's as bad as the article proclaims. Sure, the cost of housing has skyrocketed due mostly to people wanting to live in a nice area away from Denver Metro, but isn't that the case everywhere?

There's good and bad in all parts of of Colorado, as well as the rest of the country, depending on what you're searching for.
If you want the big city life, then Denver or Boulder may be your cup of tea.
If you want the small city feel, then there's plenty of places within a few hours drive of those bigger cities.

The front range has just as many pluses as the western slope, depending on what it is you want.

Take some time and explore. Spend some time in each area.
Don't believe everything you read, and only believe part of what you see.
If it feels right in your heart, you'll be happy with where you land.

P.S. The only thing I didn't like about Boulder was that it was too windy.