Boulder

Boulder City was a part of the Nebraska Territory until February 28, 1861, when the Territory of Colorado was created by the US Congress. It developed as a supply base for miners going into the mountains. Residents of Boulder City provided these miners with equipment, agricultural products, gambling and drinking establishments.

On November 7, 1861, legislation was passed making way for the state university to be located in Boulder, and on September 20, 1875, the first cornerstone was laid for the first building (Old Main Building) on the CU campus. The university officially opened on September 5, 1877.

Boulder adopted an anti-saloon ordinance in 1907. Statewide prohibition started in Colorado in 1916 and ended with the repeal of national prohibition in 1933.

Since Boulder has operated under residential growth control ordinances since 1976, the growth of employment in the city has far outstripped population growth. Considerable road traffic enters the city each morning and leaves each afternoon, since many employees live in Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville, Broomfield, Westminster, and Denver. Boulder is served by US 36 and a variety of state highways. Parking regulations in Boulder have been explicitly designed to discourage parking by commuters and to encourage the use of mass transit, with mixed results.

Boulder, Colorado, a city of just over 100,000 people, is located approximately 30 miles northwest of Denver at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Boulder is home to the University of Colorado, whose 30,000 students swell the city’s population during the academic year. Over the years, Boulder has made significant investments in the multi-modal network. The city is now well known for its grade-separated bicycle and pedestrian paths, which are integrated into a network of bicycle lanes, cycle-tracks, and on-street bicycle routes. Boulder also provides an innovative community transit network that connects downtown, the University of Colorado campuses, and local shopping amenities. While the city has no rail transit, local and regional shuttle buses are funded by a variety of sources and emphasize minimal headways, enhanced route identity, easy fare payment, and community input in design (RTD, 2005). Due in part to these investments in pedestrian, bicycle, and transit infrastructure, Boulder has been recognized both nationally and internationally for its transportation system.

In 2009, the Boulder metropolitan statistical area (MSA) ranked as the fourth highest in the United States for percentage of commuters who biked to work (5.4 percent). In 2013, the Boulder MSA ranked as the fourth lowest in the United States for percentage of workers who commuted by private automobile (71.9 percent). During the same time period, 11.1 percent of Boulder area workers had no commute whatsoever: they worked out of the home.

The Boulder MSA had a gross metropolitan product of $18.3 billion in 2010, the 110th largest metropolitan economy in the United States.

In 2007, Boulder became the first city in the USA to levy a carbon tax.

In 2013, Boulder appeared on Forbes magazine’s list of Best Places for Business and Careers.

Public schools

The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) administers the public school system in Boulder.

Charter schools

Charter schools (receiving public funding but under private management) within the city of Boulder include Preparatory High School (9–12), Summit Middle School (6–8), and Horizons Alternative School (K–8).

Private schools

A variety of private high schools, middle schools and elementary schools operate in Boulder.

Colleges and universities

• University of Colorado Boulder, public university which contributes roughly 46,000 residents (30,000 undergraduate students, 7,000 graduate students and 10,000 staff/faculty) to the population.
• Naropa University is a private university based on Buddhist principles. It has approximately 400 undergraduate and over 600 graduate students.
• Culinary School of the Rockies

Science institutes

• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
• Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
• Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA)
• Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR)
• Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)
• Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA)
• Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
• Geological Society of America, headquartered at 3300 Penrose Place.
• National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) / University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration(NTIA) – Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Boulder
• Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI)
• Rocky Mountain Institute
• Southwest Research Institute Department of Space Studies
• Space Science Institute
• Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
• UNAVCO National Science Foundation’s Geodetic Facility
• United States Geological Survey (USGS)

One of the most popular sections of Boulder is the famous Pearl Street Mall, home to numerous shops and restaurants. This four-block pedestrian mall is a social hotspot in Boulder, with dozens of restaurants of all kinds and specialty stores that include artisan shops and unique gadget shops. In the summer and on weekends, many street shows and acts can be found throughout the mall, along with street vendors and henna tattoo artists.

Boulder’s traditional Downtown area, including the Pearl Street Mall, is in the western part of present-day Boulder. During the 1950s and 1960s, the city grew to the east, since the west side is bounded by the foothills. Downtown is host to a variety of restaurants, bars, and boutique stores. However, it has few grocery, hardware, or department stores and is therefore more of a “shopping destination” than a neighborhood with stores supporting the local population.

South of Pearl Street and adjacent to the CU Boulder campus is another historic shopping center, The Hill. Featuring some of the city’s landmark stores and venues, such as Albums on the Hill and the Fox Theatre, The Hill has been the center of college life for many of the nearby sororities and fraternities.

The Twenty Ninth Street retail district opened in October 2006, located in central Boulder on the site of the former Crossroads Mall, east of Downtown.

Near the Pearl Street Mall the Farmers’ Market opens every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening, April through October on 13th Street next to Central Park. The market was started in 1986 by regional farmers