Boulder, Colorado - which we visited last week - is often mocked by the Right's trolls as "the People's Republic of Boulder". It acquired that reputation years ago for its unabashed progressive politics, on a par with San Francisco. It is also perhaps the "Queen city" of the state, and it doesn't take long for even a casual visitor to see why.
Spotless streets, splendid scenery near the Flatirons, as well as easily accessible downtown stores and resources galore. What more could a person want? Well, maybe a more affordable place which also has the beauty and assets of this burg of 110,000.
In 2021, the City of Boulder was considered to be the Number 1 best place in the U.S. to live in 2021, and we could see why. As we both discovered when we were last there in 2008 . This was when I attended an American Astronomical Society Divisional conference, e.g.
One Of The Best Dynamical Astronomy Division Papers - At One Of Best Conferences
But ask any of the approximately 36,000 students who attended CU (University of Colorado) Boulder last year - and have begun looking for places to live outside of town- and you will glean why this 'best place to live' is not the best for them. Indeed, it's way beyond their earning power even in top flight jobs such as engineering or medicine.
Boulder's cost of living most recently came in about 42% over the national average and about 29% higher than the rest of Colorado. People who live in Boulder love it because of its health-focused culture, successful career opportunities, safety, and a strong economy. Those are just a few reasons why it's often chosen for scientific conferences. As well as a place to visit for a brief getaway from the four walls. But as a long term place to say, for recent CU grads, it's problematic.
According to RentData.org, which relies on the Department of Housing and Urban Development data, rent prices in Boulder have increased every year by 13%. Even though the beauty of the city has attracted students from all reaches of the world with the promise of top-quality education in a vibrant college town, Boulder and the university seem unable to adequately address the evident housing shortage that is making the city inhospitable for many.
This de facto economic segregation challenges the inclusive rhetoric so often favored by the city and university. This forces many recent grads to decide and choose between their well-being and their wallets. The Boulder Daily Camera, in a piece last week, noted the difficulty of recent CU grads in medicine having extreme difficulty finding any apartment or condo they could afford. The end result? They either must look further afield and commute or move to another, less expensive town.
The piece also noted that coming into the school year many apartments and housing options open up for newcomers to occupy available spaces. Most often it's the incoming university students who are the first to occupy the best available spaces to live.
Basically, finding somewhere, anywhere - where you feel at home and affordable - can be difficult (if not impossible) for students as well as grads. This is inevitable for university students who by definition live on fixed incomes and limited (parental) resources. We beheld it ourselves while visiting the CU campus last week, and the long student lines at a food court adjacent to the CU Bookstore. There they flocked, backpacks slung over weary shoulders, to grab a quick fast food sub at Subway or cheese burger & fries at BK. Higher end eateries in town? No way, not when a diet coke and simple cheeseburger with fries might run them $38.
Many CU grads - according to the Daily Camera piece- have complained about what they see as "red-lining from Boulder's past." But this take is incorrect. As our niece Vanessa informed us - she had lived in Boulder several years (from 2004-2009) - much of the limited affordable housing has to do with Boulder's zoning. That in turn was based on maintaining a cherished quality of life and not having it degraded by excess development. (Such as happening now in Aurora and Colorado Springs.) The result of this was that quality supply of housing became limited over the years (Vanessa and hubby Mitch have since moved outside Fort Collins) and as we know limited supply bodes higher costs. That is what's happened and also why rental - home increases are ongoing as more people continue to pour in.
The good news is there are many resources that the university offers students to help them find housing around the Boulder area including rental education, free legal services. There are also listing services if students need a sublet, according to one university official. But given the town's restrictions on new development some students (and graduates) without adequate financial assets will always resort to accepting whatever they can afford. And that might mean a $700 one room dump or efficiency apartment on the outskirts of the town with fewer zoning restrictions.
Never mind. The active lifestyle and easy access to the outdoors - not to mention the refined atmosphere, intellectual capital and natural beauty will continue to attract people looking for a new and better place to live. And one preferably without the gun-crazed minions infesting most of the country, and the fascist Trumpers who seem to pollute every other decent space.
See Also;
Retiring to Colorado? New Study Shows You'll Need A Nest Egg Of At Least $1 Million
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