Is Boulder, CO an anomaly?

Hey MP,

I have always enjoyed reading the threads about best cities for climbing.  But, these have never fit the bill for something I would search for.  Boulder is like 150K people with a lot of jobs, extremely bike friendly, and one can rope up within thirty minutes or less (but the cost of living is oppressive).  Is there anywhere else in the country like this but with more of the average us home price?  I would say the amount of climbing does not need to be as substantial.

Cheers

Boulder sux.  

Flagstaff, AZ. Maybe not as many fancy tech jobs as boulder, but there's a university, a hospital, Gore, etc. People are a touch less insufferable too. :) The weather is great, you can climb year round, totally easy to bike everywhere, and a shit ton of climbing right near town.

Delaware

Short Fall Sean wrote:

Flagstaff, AZ. Maybe not as many fancy tech jobs as boulder, but there's a university, a hospital, Gore, etc. People are a touch less insufferable too. :) The weather is great, you can climb year round, totally easy to bike everywhere, and a shit ton of climbing right near town.

Flag is not cheap. A friend, who took a post as assistant professor at UNA, returned within two years due to cost of living. 

I thought Flagstaff was cool but the climbing meh overall. It may be cheaper than Boulder but still not very affordable. I am in the process of relocating from Boulder to Chattanooga. Good size city, more affordable, and if you are in to steep climbing and bouldering it is a great fit. There is some great single pitch gear climbing but not much going on for multi-pitch climbing if that is your jam

Frank Stein wrote:

Flag is not cheap. A friend, who took a post as assistant professor at UNA, returned within two years due to cost of living. 

Yeah, it's not cheap, but the median home price is probably still half of Boulder's, yeah? I dunno, I've never even been to Boulder, but it sounds like it's basically bay-area-level expensive.

Tucson. Pick the right neighborhoods closer to Santa Catalinas. Go to Boulder 3 months every summer ;)

Frazer wrote:

haha... awesome... MP shows 67 total climbs and google tells me that the pop is 900k for the state... not sure this is a winner though :)

Current delawarian. Cost of living isnt bad, but dont buy a house if you plan on having children, the schools are pretty bad. Climbing wise its eh. 90 minutes from 2 chossy sport venues, and 30min-hour from some somewhat dinky unlisted areas. Not my favorite but you can still climb if you're willing to drive. 

Short Fall Sean wrote:

I've never even been to Boulder, but it sounds like it's basically bay-area-level expensive.

I mean bay area transplants are trying to make it just as expensive, but no, it's not. A big part of it is you can live 15-20 mins away where the median home price is half that of Boulder.

SLC is the place to be

Fehim Hasecic wrote:

SLC is the place to be

how dare you

Fehim Hasecic wrote:

SLC is the place to be

No way.  Too crowded in the canyons, too much traffic, air quality is terrible and the religion dominates every aspect of life, even for non-religious folks.  Boulder is wayy cooler and has all the cool drugs and music.  

shredward wrote:

No way.  Too crowded in the canyons, too much traffic, air quality is terrible and the religion dominates every aspect of life, even for non-religious folks.  Boulder is wayy cooler and has all the cool drugs and music.  

To any of you SLC folk, what are your thoughts on Ogden... same bad air, religion, traffic etc?

Frazer wrote:

To any of you SLC folk, what are your thoughts on Ogden... same bad air, religion, traffic etc?

Ogden is becoming more trendy. The access is great and home prices are lower than SLC. Air is definitely bad - inversion in winter and wildfire smoke in the summer. Its easy to surround yourself with secular outdoorsy folk if that's what you want to do. As for the traffic, I don't think its as bad as the really big metro areas, but its getting worse. UDOT is trying to improve the roads, but people keep moving here and the locals keep having more kids. The population is growing quickly and home prices skyrocketed last year (like so many places). Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

Frazer wrote:

To any of you SLC folk, what are your thoughts on Ogden... same bad air, religion, traffic etc?

Alright I admit i was exaggerating about the religion.  Mormons are super nice and SLC feels like any other major city.  Ogden seems really cool if you have work up there and you arent too concerned about nightlife.  Although SLC isnt that great either if nightlife is a priority.  

I F wrote:

Current delawarian. Cost of living isnt bad, but dont buy a house if you plan on having children, the schools are pretty bad. Climbing wise its eh. 90 minutes from 2 chossy sport venues, and 30min-hour from some somewhat dinky unlisted areas. Not my favorite but you can still climb if you're willing to drive.

Wilmington DE has a crag, Top Rope only. Southeast Kitchen for some amazing chili chicken basil. 

If you don't mind the occasional shooting the detectives are really friendly and dish out all kinds of unsolicited advice about getting away with crime while they review your security footage. 

Can buy a pretty sweet house for like $150K or less if you don't mind being shot (legit one of my friends was shot 3 times outside his house).

1.5 hour drive to some fun little crags, 6 hours to the NRG...

Starting to wonder why I ever left. 

James M wrote:

Wilmington DE has a crag, Top Rope only. Southeast Kitchen for some amazing chili chicken basil. 

If you don't mind the occasional shooting the detectives are really friendly and dish out all kinds of unsolicited advice about getting away with crime while they review your security footage. 

Can buy a pretty sweet house for like $150K or less if you don't mind being shot (legit one of my friends was shot 3 times outside his house).

1.5 hour drive to some fun little crags, 6 hours to the NRG...

Starting to wonder why I ever left. 

I've been to alapocas. With the exception of the boulder problems on the right that crag isn't worth my time. Haven't been shot yet, but moving soon so I guess I'll have dodged a bullet there. 

Edge wrote:

I bought a home on 1.3 acres just 20 minutes from Pearl Street in Boulder for $325K.  It’s at 8000 feet elevation, the 100+ elk herd has just moved in to the neighborhood for the winter, and I’m 15 minutes from climbing or fishing in Boulder Canyon, half hour from Eldo, 1 hour to RMNP. 

It’s a higher cost of living than where I had lived in NH, but my earning potential is exponentially higher. Live in the mountains, work in the flats. 

Was that thirty years ago? Median home price in Boulder and surrounding areas is 750k. I and the wife have decent incomes, a paid for house in NM, and a pretty good savings.  However, we decided that we were priced out of the Front Range years ago. 

Fehim Hasecic wrote:

SLC is the place to be

Was the place to be, about 10 years ago.

Edge wrote:

I bought a home on 1.3 acres just 20 minutes from Pearl Street in Boulder for $325K.  It’s at 8000 feet elevation, the 100+ elk herd has just moved in to the neighborhood for the winter, and I’m 15 minutes from climbing or fishing in Boulder Canyon, half hour from Eldo, 1 hour to RMNP. 

Live in the mountains, work in the flats. 

Wait… Boulder is in the mountains now??