BOULDER, Colo. — At the base of the Flatirons is a community known for characteristics that are classically Colorado: Access to the outdoors, an active lifestyle, and a bustling business core attracting tourists and locals alike.
Sometimes called "The People’s Republic of Boulder," the city has a way of making a weekday feel like a weekend. It was no different when Denver7 | Your Voice visited Boulder on a Thursday in April, and encountered dozens of people hitting the trails, walking along the creek, or meandering in and out of the shops that make up Pearl Street Mall.
As part of our Denver7 | Your Voice series spotlighting communities across the state, we asked Boulderites what's good and bad about life the city, in addition to what they hope to see in the future.
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Our first stop was perhaps as obvious as it was necessary: Chautauqua Park. That's where we met Sydney Jennings and Emerson Backus, two freshmen students at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU Boulder).
"We really like the outdoor access, absolutely. The rock climbing," said Backus, adding that the two were on their way to scramble the Second Flatiron.
Jennings, who is originally from Southern California, said the weather can be a bit too temperamental for her liking in Boulder.
"It can be pretty windy. It can just suddenly change," said Jennings. "It's kind of cool in some ways, but in some ways, it can be a little annoying if you're just trying to go to class.”
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Also hiking at the park that day was Cody Wong, a former CU Boulder student who moved back to the city within the last few years.
“It's this weird mix of everything," said Wong. "You have really cool outdoors, and then you have the college, sort of CU influence, and you have a lot of young professionals."
Wong said recently, the traffic in the city has felt particularly problematic.
"I don't know if it's because the town was just never designed to handle the influx," said Wong. "I know that there's more and more students, and more and more students, they bring their own cars.”
In addition, Wong brought up the Dark Horse, a famous Boulder bar, likely relocating to Louisville, as reported by our partners at The Denver Post.
"I know that they [the Dark Horse] weren't exactly strong-armed into selling, but still," Wong said. "I think there's little parts that are cool of Boulder. I feel like those are being sort of just sort of paved over with, like, a corporate gray."
When it comes to what Wong wants to see from Boulder's future, the city's past is part of that conversation.
"I think things change and places change, so I want to be careful that I'm not just sort of like banging on this drum, of like, things should never change," Wong explained. “My hope is that Boulder remembers its roots... It grows and it changes, but it doesn't forget where it came from."
Tyler Banks was having lunch looking over the city when Denver7 met with him. The 25-year-old was born and raised in Boulder.
“My background's, like, I'm Black and white," said Banks. "The diversity, there's not a lot. You know, I think what Deion's doing here at CU is amazing.”
Banks recently moved to Louisville because of the "ridiculous" cost of living in Boulder.
"A lot of people coming here from like, the tech world, and California, East Coast, you know, really want to be here," Banks said. "I think it's just like a faster-paced lifestyle. And I feel like people move here to have that slow lifestyle.”
Jeb Bennett, who was walking along the Boulder Creek Path when we met him, agreed that the city has changed.
“Started out being a small, you know, sort of a small community, which I really liked," said Bennett, who has lived in Boulder for 31 years. "The bad is just the expense, you know, the increase of the cost of living in Boulder. I think a lot of people have been pushed out.”
In addition to the cost of living, Bennett said the character of the city has changed over the years.
“Used to be kind of a funky hippie town, which I kind of liked that part of it, too," said Bennett.
Still, Bennett expressed excitement about the Sundance Film Festival coming to Boulder, and the hope that there is more investment in creating safer infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians throughout the city.
Peggy Ann Lloyd is a Boulder resident who has not driven a car in at least two decades.
"I walk everywhere and I don't drive, and that has taken all the new anxieties from Boulder away from me," Lloyd said. "When I got rid of the car, I felt like I'd gone back to the '70s.”
Demetri Bolduc, who was born in Boulder and now currently lives in Lafayette, said the city has become a lot more affluent over the years.
“Lot more expensive, a lot less diverse, and a lot more corporate," Bolduc said. “Kind of like, lost its soul a little bit in terms of a funky downtown and interesting businesses and like, weirdo things that used to be a thing here.”
Bolduc described the cost of living in the city as "inaccessible."
“It's very difficult and expensive to live here. I'd say also it's far less diverse. It was never really diverse growing up here, but it's somehow become far less diverse now, which is shocking to imagine," said Bolduc. "I would hope that it somehow becomes more accessible or more welcoming to diversity, and more access to different socioeconomic classes, whether that's through government support or somehow something would be great.”
Another topic brought up by Bolduc was the impact of tourism on the city.
"I'd say this is both a pro and a con," said Bolduc. "You know, [we have] a family business here. So more tourism is good for business, but also can kind of feel like more and more of a tourist destination, as opposed to somewhere to live.”
His family business, which Bolduc did not name directly on our first visit to Boulder, was brought up several times by other people as one of the nooks and crannies where the character of the city has persisted.
Tune into next week's follow-up story on Boulder to find out what that business is, and why it encapsulates the past, present, and future of the community.
In these Denver7 | Your Voice stories, we want to hear from you about what matters most in your community. We hope to hear what makes our communities special, the challenges facing them, and everything in between. Have an idea or want to share your thoughts? Fill out the contact form below.
