Shear, you will be able to find a $600 room to live in in Boulder.

You just graduated? Sweet dude, you will have some fun. If you have a bike you can get all around town on it quickly, so my advice is find some solid people to live with, regardless of where it is in town.

Wherever you decide remember this: there is a lifetime's worth of climbing nearby.

South Boulder (SoBo) has fewer snotty rich D-bags with perfect bodies than does NoBo or downtown. It is more diverse, I think. SoBo also has more older and post-college people than do the Hill or Goss-Grove neighborhoods. But whatever, it is what you make it.

I thought at least one of them went to CU. I don't remember.

This ones for you John!

Boulder... is it where little girls solo the third Flatiron on their way to school? I'm jealous.

GAWD!! Soooooooo many opinions about Boulder that has nothing to do with the question asked. I find more attitude from people who live away from Boulder han I ever find with locals.....I guess I can't expect more from this forum.

South Boulder has cheaper rent, is closer to Eldorado Springs and places south to climb. It's also pretty close to running trails. Generally the traffic and crowds are less in SoBo and the bike paths are good enough so you really don't need a car to drive around town.

Middle Boulder (between Baseline and Arapahoe) is pretty much nowhere.
The running trails are too far away, the travel time to any climbing unless you go bouldering at Flagstaff or Green Mtn,is pretty much the same and it's kinda nondescript. There's cheap housing but you really don't wanna go there. There can be inexpensive housing On The Hill, the student district in town.

North Boulder is the nice part of town and is close to bouldering, running trails and Boulder Canyon and closer to places north like RMNP, South St. Vrain. It's also very crowded and has bad traffic You can find rooms to rent for $600 but it takes more time. Rooms around North Boulder Park can be found and that's a nice, calm area. Living around Ideal Market will find the cheapest rentals and you are pretty close to the Pearl Street Mall which has huge entertainment value.

There is a guy, an older climber in town named Paul Sibley who has some inexpensive places to rent sometimes and he lives in the southern-most area of Boulder. A place called Marshall. You could look him up. Also, don't overlook Eldorado Springs itself. Lots of people are looking for roommates. I know a few. The climbing here is very close to your door.

Good luck,
Jack

Well, $600 might not take you far in town, but if you are limited in funds and have good transportation, the outlying county communities, Lafayette, Erie, Louisville, and Longmont are all more reasonably priced, lack the traffic and parking problems, and don't have student residence neighborghoods.

I used to rent a 1300 Sq Ft basement apartment in Lafayette for $550 a month.

There you go, Shear. Welcome to twenty-four square miles surrounded by reality. When you get here, forget life as you know it.

You will love the climbing and the weather. I promise you that.

Yeah...I'm actually more confused now than I was before.........


All this info is kind of overwhelming. But I really do appreciate it.

Some keys to life in Boulder:

• DO NOT dye your poodle.

• DO NOT invest in a $1M property next to a retired judge and lawyer wife.

• DO NOT try to strike up a flirty conversation with the women you see wearing Army fatigues and black t-shirts along Boulder Creek.

• Learn the Boulder mating call, which sounds exactly like a razor tapping on a mirror.

• DO NOT refer to your poodle (or Iguana, parakeet, snail..) as "My pet".

• DO feel free to kill your own daughter and stage it as a botched kidnapping performed by a retard.

• You can get a free 1st class return flight from Bangkok with shrimp and champagne if you make an utterly ridiculous confession (offer to end soon though).