Moving to Boulder: Early Reflections & Observations

I recently completed three major life events in the span of three weeks:  leaving my job, getting married, and moving.  I managed the stress with CrossFit, massage, and yoga, and not only kept my sanity, but also enjoyed this rare stage.  It was full of change, and change for good, but not without sacrifice. I was careful to allow the variety of emotions these events brought…to process the loss of leaving my friends and life in Greenville, as well as to celebrate the joy of beginning a new chapter with the love of my life in Boulder.

The months leading up to our wedding were also full of change. I completed Catechism classes, confessed all the sins of my life thus far, and converted to Catholicism.  I studied Spanish with a wonderful Chilean instructor to brush up my conversation skills before meeting my fiancé’s family for the first time the week before our wedding. I left my dance team. I stopped volunteering to focus on wedding planning. I began my job search in Boulder, without much luck – only a couple of awkward video interviews. I moved most of my belongings to our new home in Boulder and moved in with my parents temporarily.

I appreciate routine, so the first few weeks in Boulder were somewhat challenging.  With so much unpacking, organizing, and housekeeping to do, I spent too much time home-bound and missed socializing, sunlight, and exercise. I’m goal-oriented, so I’m learning to both structure my days and to occasionally relax.

Now, we are training for a 5K, running two or three times per week, and hiking most weekends. I’m still job-hunting, starting to network, and looking forward to finding the right fit in time. The house is almost in order – we’ve finished the major furniture purchases and decorated the main living spaces, with just the basement rooms left to organize.

Which means – deep breath – I have a little time to sit down and reflect on my new hometown.

Let me start with rabbits. They are everywhere – scurrying around the trail next to the soccer fields, hiding behind my car in the shopping center parking lot, watching us pull into the garage from our front lawn. Deer are pretty common, too. We’ve seen them on our runs, in our front yard, and of course a herd of them trying to cross four lanes of traffic in the center of town, Estes Park. We were once descending from a park in the mountains outside of Denver, when an elk pranced in front of the Mercedes. Pablo slowed to a stop in time for us to be surrounded by a family of elk speedily making their way down the mountainside. While we’ve heard news of bear sightings, thankfully, we have not, yet, had that experience.  Although I did notice a temporary tent sign along our running trail that said, “Mountain lion active in this area.”

Summers in Boulder are absolutely beautiful. The weather is warm, dry, and sunny with a cool breeze at night. There’s an abundance of outdoor activities – free concerts downtown, Friday night partner dancing outside the landmark tea house, and more breweries than you can count. Pearl Street Mall, Boulder’s pedestrian-friendly main street, rivals Greenville’s downtown with its restaurants, art galleries, shops, entertaining buskers, and mountain views.

I’ve only started to get my feet wet in the community – Pablo and I took a West Coast Swing class and danced at the tea house, the Avalon, and a spirited Cuban dance party. I took a Samba dance course from a talented and passionate instructor who’s part of Samba Colorado. I attended an info session at Intercambio, a non-profit organization improving immigrants’ lives through English classes, citizenship classes, and intercultural events. We attended a Davidson Alumni event in Denver, where I reconnected with an old theatre friend. I met up with a grad school friend and auditioned as a singer for her band. I met a non-profit contact through Pablo’s colleague who introduced me to a local Director of Development, and both made recommendations for organizations, events, or people to possibly reach out to.

My days are usually very domestic. I’m either cooking and cleaning, or decorating the house. Podcasts are my companion in this domestic life – currently on tap:  TED Talks en español, writers on writing, and passive real estate investing. We eat at home 90% of the time, so my Pinterest recipe board is filling up with our favorites, from healthier options like honey-glazed salmon to game-day fun like French onion beef sliders. Our Bellini Kitchen Master, a wedding gift from Pablo’s aunt, also deserves a shout-out here. Pablo calls it the “kitchen robot” as cooking with it is 95% hands off.

I love living close to downtown. It seems that everywhere in Boulder is trail accessible. We’ve discovered the perfect 3.5 mile loop from our home and often leave in time to watch the sunset over the mountains along the trail. The trail passes a large cemetery with wild flowers growing in the ditch, soccer fields where children are training to compete, a bright yellow house on the corner we call “la casa amarilla,” and a small public park with a winding narrow trail. We are walking distance from an old lodge that was popular in the 70’s, with a pool, and from public tennis courts.

We are renting for now. The cost of housing in Boulder has skyrocketed in the past eight years. The median home price in Boulder has risen from $550,000 in 2011 to around $850,000 in 2017. (Median home value in Greenville is around $178,000.) Compared with national averages, Boulder County’s growth rate is relatively speedy. Due to a highly-educated workforce and strong entrepreneurism, the Boulder area has one of the nation’s largest concentrations of IT employment – 4.5 times the U.S. average. Other industries driving the economy are aerospace, bioscience, cleantech, natural products, and outdoor recreation. While the cost of living here is higher than in Greenville, we are nowhere near the cost of living in Sunnyvale, CA, where Pablo’s team’s home office is located. The median home price in Sunnyvale is $1,945,500.

Philanthropy here is different, too. While affluence is pervasive, generosity with cash contributions is not necessarily. The secular culture, high turnover rate amongst residents, and small local fundraising infrastructure are contributing factors. Those who do give generously tend to feel called by a sense of social justice or a spiritual motivation. Many were raised by parents who taught them to give back. The United Way plays a less significant role than in Greenville and church giving plays a much less significant role than in the Bible Belt.

Boulder may at first seem like a community of rich, white hippies.  Let’s look at some stats:  Boulder County is becoming a bit more diverse, from 90% Anglo in 1990 to 78% Anglo in 2015, with increases in Latino (14%) and Asian populations (5%). People of African descent make up only 0.6% of the population, compared to 18.1% in Greenville County. Boulder is a highly educated community. In the City of Boulder, there are more people with master’s degrees or higher than there are people with Bachelor’s degrees or lower. While the median family income in Boulder County is 50% higher than the national average, Anglo families are faring much better than Latino families in regards to income.

While Boulder is technically a smaller county than Greenville, its proximity to Denver (29.3 miles) lends a metropolitan feel. Pablo and I have plans to attend a Rockies baseball game there soon, and we have tickets to see Deshaun Watson and the Texans play vs. the Broncos. We plan to see Beck play at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, acclaimed for its impeccable acoustics and stunning natural landscape. I’ve heard that Denver also has a world-class symphony orchestra, Broadway shows, and beautiful botanical gardens, so there’s lots left to explore.

Our new neighbors have welcomed us. In the summer, they often throw neighborhood potluck parties in our cul-de-sac. Next door is one of the founders of Boulder Beer, the first craft brewery in Boulder. He’s also a serious cycler. Across the cul-de-sac is a dentist. Next to him lives a friendly German lady and her husband. Caddy cornered, we have a tennis-playing widow and resident New Yorker living next to her daughter and son in-law, avid skiers.

I’m eight weeks into my new life in Boulder – so far so good! The beauty of the natural surroundings and proximity to outdoor recreation is remarkable. I look forward to learning more about the community here and my place in it.