I used to live in Boulder, and I can't emphasize enough how great the location is. It's a town of about 90,000. It's right up against the mountains, the air is great, it's full of bikers and runners. Plenty of river rafting, mountain climbing, skiing and snowshoeing is to be had, too.
The school there, my alma mater, is strong in the sciences (3 nobel prizes in physics this decade). Lots of interest in aerospace, too. Sun, Amgen, and a number of other tech companies are nearby.
Finally, Boulder is just crammed full of geeks in general. Every type from live action role-players to wargaming fanatics is well represented. My roommate said he saw Tom Christiansen at Dragonfire games.
I don't think there's another town of its size that offers the same. Health nuts, geeks and hippies. That's what you'll see in Boulder.
1. What's the hacker/drone ratio there. Do you meet smart people often?
2. What's the women/men ratio. And are girls good looking?
Sorry about question #2, but it is totally relevant to single 20 something guys. Last thing I want to end up is somewhere where everybody is fat and republican (like some, I don't want to name, states in this country).
Boulder is anything but Republican, from everything I've read.
My wife and I are considering moving there. It seems like it's one of the few smaller (and thus maybe more "livable") towns with a lot of startup activity.
BTW, some earlier discussion of nice places to live:
Your friendly neighborhood Fat Republican here! (waves)
There are nice things about Boulder such as smart people, lots of stuff to do, especially if you are into outdoors activities, good food, micro-breweries, etc. There are lots of Linux users in the area, and lots of engineering types.
The local universities can be depended on to bring attractive women to the area, in addition to the ones already there.
I have no idea how much money you have, it will matter as the nicest areas are expensive - you pay for the view. Heading east towards Gunbarrel, Longmont etc. prices go down as the mountain views are less spectacular.
You should know what a "trustafarian" is: a person of any age who does not have to actually work because they have a trust fund. Boulder is crawling with them.
Politically the area will vary from pretty far left in the center of Boulder to "fat-republican" the further out you go.
I won't mention the loopy leftist politics, as they are the hallmark of such places as Ithaca, Boulder, Berkeley and are implicit in areas where "fat Republicans" are not in evidence.
You should check out Ithaca, NY. Most people think of it merely as the starting point of the film "Road Trip", but it's similar to how you describe Boulder (and Santa Cruz, CA btw)
Can anyone say anything about the cost of living in Boulder? I've heard that it's almost Aspen-like in terms of housing costs (which is to say, very high).
Also, if there is someone currently living in CO, what do you feel the likelihood is of this bill passing?
Cost of living in boulder isn't bad... certainly nothing like Aspen. When I was a student here I was paying $400-500 (my share) a month with room mates in a 3 bedroom. Now I have a two bedroom right downtown (by Pearlstreet) for $1295 (I pay half).
As a startup I was surprised to see that bill... I doubt it will pass, but I had never heard about it.
Most people I know rent, and pay ~$500/m per room for an apartment (within walking and biking distance to downtown office space, which is generally pretty cheap too).
If you've got family there are many cities within about a 30 minute commute of Boulder that are much more affordable (larger house/more land for same price). This would include towns such as Longmont, Firestone, and Erie. Some towns in the area border on being rural, but have become less so over the last fifteen years.
I grew up in Longmont and worked in Boulder for a couple years after college. Great area to live and work. I've since moved to Seattle, but I enjoy every trip home to see friends and family in the area.
In terms of CS, University of Colorado, Boulder (http://www.cs.colorado.edu/) is a great school. It's not Cornell, MIT, CMU, etc (Posterous favourite school..) but definitely top 10-20 depending on sub area.
I also like Colorado School of Mines (www.mines.edu), but not sure they're in Boulder.
I did my undergrad there, and the CS department is very good. For grad school it really matters what area you are specializing in. CU is really highly ranked in some areas, and doesn't have any profs focusing on other areas of CS.
The school there, my alma mater, is strong in the sciences (3 nobel prizes in physics this decade). Lots of interest in aerospace, too. Sun, Amgen, and a number of other tech companies are nearby.
Finally, Boulder is just crammed full of geeks in general. Every type from live action role-players to wargaming fanatics is well represented. My roommate said he saw Tom Christiansen at Dragonfire games.
I don't think there's another town of its size that offers the same. Health nuts, geeks and hippies. That's what you'll see in Boulder.