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Joined: Sep 2000
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Hard-core CEG'er
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OP
Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 1,757 |
I was visiting a friend in Boulder for a few days. I saw a silver (I think) E0 parked down on 12th St. It had MD plates and a CEG sticker on the left rear window, who was it?!
And to my question...I visited Boulder for a few days, and absolutly loved the area. It was my first time out West, and I really loved it, especially around Boulder. So much that I'm going to apply for a few jobs out there. I really enjoyed the active lifestyle, and the people there. So, to local residents of Boulder or surrounding areas:
How do you like actually living there, through all 4 seasons? Any issues with tourists? What are the winters like there? How does it compare with other places you have lived (esp. with Michigan if possible!)? Biggest downfalls to living there (besides no liquor sales on Sundays)?
Anything else you'd like to throw in would be fine, I'm just trying to get a quality opinion from some locals. Thanks!
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 5,600
Addicted CEG\'er
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Addicted CEG\'er
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 5,600 |
Im the only one who lived (past tense  ) there. Well, thats not true. There is one other CEGer there but I cant remember his SN at the moment or if he has graduated yet. There are a few SVTs in the area, but the other ones are not members. I just moved back east, but lived there for 4 years (school). Ill type up a longer response tonight/this weekend when I can put some time into it and give you some good answers. I know I push it a lot, but sign up at coloradoracing.net. Its a great group of guys and they are enthusiasts of all cars. They meet often and its always good time. Its not cheap rice either, lots of high HP/high $$ cars, and they are all very friendly and down to earth which makes meets fun. No one is too up their own arse to answer questions or talk to you about their car or yours. Im on there, under the same screen name. They have Colorado regional sections or OT forums that you could post in and ask about the area and get a lot of info.
#4559 of 6535 born on Feb 17, 1998
Black 1998.5 CSVT
FOR SALE [cleaning house]: SVT rear swaybar. Reasonable offer and its yours!
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Joined: Aug 2003
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Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,097 |
I just moved to Greeley, CO about 2-3 months ago. Looks like I will end up living in Windsor. I haven't got into the car scene much here because the job that brought me here takes up a lot of time.
98 E0 SVT with some stuff
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 5,600
Addicted CEG\'er
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Addicted CEG\'er
Joined: May 2003
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I forgot about you! I wish you were there when I was, I would have loved seeing that 3L hoss come together.
#4559 of 6535 born on Feb 17, 1998
Black 1998.5 CSVT
FOR SALE [cleaning house]: SVT rear swaybar. Reasonable offer and its yours!
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,097
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,097 |
Tom said he finished my base tune and put it in my Xcal for me... Should arrive next week.
98 E0 SVT with some stuff
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 731
Veteran CEG\'er
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Veteran CEG\'er
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 731 |
Boulder is a town that you either love or hate. . .it is a very expensive town as they are not building anymore houses or it is extremely expensive to build more house there, thus making the cost of living extremely expensive. Alot of my friends attending CU are paying about 500 to 600 for rent in like a 7 bedroom house. There are better parts of colorado to live, like Windsor which is growing as well as Fort Collins, which I'm biased to having pretty much grown up here. Also some of the suburbs of denver are nice like Golden. Hope this helps, again I'm kinda baised against boulder due to the CU vs CSU rivalry, but it seems like a really rich yuppie area to me.
Austin -officially a troll
See it here
Pro-Flow w/ optimizer STILL for sale
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 5,600
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Originally posted by LittleFishie:
How do you like actually living there, through all 4 seasons?
Any issues with tourists?
What are the winters like there? How does it compare with other places you have lived (esp. with Michigan if possible!)?
Biggest downfalls to living there (besides no liquor sales on Sundays)?
Anything else you'd like to throw in would be fine, I'm just trying to get a quality opinion from some locals. Thanks!
Colorado weather on the front range is mild, definitely not like MI. I think you will very much like the winters there being where you are from. Summers are hot and dry. First snow is almost always on halloween or damn close to it. Snow rarely sticks. It will snow one or two days, then it will be 40-50 the next and it will all melt. For most foul weather you are rewarded with beautiful weather right afterwards. It rarely stays nasty and cold for any long period of time. Winters are much more mild than most would think. Very tolerable, and this is coming from someone who grew up in FL! Boulder is a beautiful place.
Jan-March is when most of the snow comes. Still very mild. Many clear days, in fact, I think Boulder has 300+ sunny days per year! Weather gets funky in the spring. You will get a couple of late snow storms. In fact, this year in May it was 70 degrees for a couple of weeks, then the next day is cold and snowing, then the next day is 70 again. Weathermen are useless!
CO doesnt use salt either, so no worries about that!
Many great roads around there for canyon carving. Great driving for sure.
No real issues with tourists. My only hangup about Boulder is that its super liberal. Lots of hippies and people who dont grow up. I always called it "100 square miles surrounded by reality." Cops would rather you be high than drunk. Boulder PD is basically a party patrol.
Public transit is great and easy. You can really get all over town without driving, especially if you dont mind riding your bike (most if not all buses have bike racks in front for the bus/bike combo). Bike paths everywhere, and a VERY bike friendly community, as outdoor sports are HUGE. I think everyone there hikes at least. Any outdoor sport is literally minutes away: hiking, biking, skiing, ice climbing, rock climbing, running. . . . I could go on forever. Its a great place to be young and/or active. Dont forget, world class skiing is only a short drive away (I could get to Breck, Keystone in about 1.25 hours, Vail 1.5. Get the colorado ski pass, unlimited skiing for $300!)
Another plus is that Denver is a very short drive away, so you can do the big city thing if you like. Lots to do.
If you have any more questions about anything let me know. I could go on for a while, so ask away. CO is my second favorite state after FL, and my home away from home! I miss it already. I just wanted to get back to southern hospitality and I need to be near the ocean.
I always said if Colorado was on the coast I would never leave!
Oh yeah, CO has many tracks (road courses and drag). They are closing fast due to people moving in around them and complaining about the noise. They are cheap to run on too, and have open track days all the time.
Derek could speak more on this. So could 94ex, as he used to be in Ft. Collins. IIRC they both spent some time in Boulder.
94ex just beat me to the punch. One more kicker is that housing is VERY expensive. Denver suburbs are cheaper.
Last edited by KingpinSVT; 08/12/06 05:01 AM.
#4559 of 6535 born on Feb 17, 1998
Black 1998.5 CSVT
FOR SALE [cleaning house]: SVT rear swaybar. Reasonable offer and its yours!
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,713
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 4,713 |
Originally posted by LittleFishie:
How do you like actually living there, through all 4 seasons? Any issues with tourists? What are the winters like there? How does it compare with other places you have lived (esp. with Michigan if possible!)? Biggest downfalls to living there (besides no liquor sales on Sundays)?
I lived in Greeley as well. I went to UNC from '98 to '02. My best friend went to CU, so I've spent a lot of time in Boulder. So, I'll throw my 2 cents in.
All 4 seasons are nice. I grew up in the SW, so I'm used to it. When it snows, it'll probably melt off the roads in 24-48hrs max. You can almost count on a sunny day to follow a snow storm. It'll be 32 degrees outside, and you'll need your sunglasses.  You'll have some freak snow storms in May, but for the most part the spring is nice (not gray & cloudy like the NE). Summers are great, and fall is amazing.
Tourists? Well, I didn't live in Boulder, so I can't really speak.
Downfalls? Well, you can buy 3.2 beer on Sundays, but that's it.  (I just moved from UT...3.2 every day!  ). I think Colorado is growing waaay too rapidly. Boulder Co. is kinda cool in that it has a growth limit capped each year and an anti-sprawl boundry. But, that makes living in Boulder Co. really expensive. If you're like the average person and you don't want to pay $1500/mo. for rent in Boulder, you'll look at other communities. But then you're doing the commute thing...which absolutely SUCKS in Colorado. Simply put, there are too many people doing the same damn thing. (Friday, 3:00PM, I'm trying to get through the city...goin' 55mph, then... STOP!  I used to call it the Denver Stop.) The roads are very congested.
On the plus side, CO is very bike friendly. If you're willing and able, a bike commute is a great idea. Plus, the casual lifestyle in CO will allow for you to pack a bunch of clothes into your bag...and you don't really have to worry about wrinkles in your work clothes.  Also, BIG PLUS, Denver is working on expanding their light rail.
Another downfall: I think many of the cities in CO are becoming generic. You can find an AppleBees, Chili's, Barns & Noble, etc etc in darn near every city. Ft. Collins, on the north side, has some cool and original businesses. But on the south side (where the rapid growth is), it's the same ol' stuff you'd find in Longmont. 
All in all, I loved living in CO. It's a pretty cool state. I would consider moving back to CO, and Boulder would be my #1 choice. It has kept it's "feel" and originality over the years.
Derek
Scion xB 5-spd
Previous: 2000 Silver Frost SVT
Please share the road with cyclists.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Hard-core CEG'er
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Wow, thanks for the great replies! You guys answered my questions and then some. Cost of living in Boulder is a big concern for me, as I do not wish to commute far (at least on a car/motorcycle). I really, really enjoyed how bike friendly Boulder was too! I'll have to look into the capped growth limit and the antisprawl boundaries, that sounds good to me (bad to my pocketbook though!). I'm glad to hear that winter is generally mild, as winter is only good for snowboarding and doing donuts in parking lots. The roads looked to be in great condition, smooth and no real imperfections to speak of (granted, my frame of reference is crappy MI roads). I spend most of my time on a motorcycle now, but I would probably buy a fun car/wagon to get me around. The ol' Contour is on it's last legs I fear. Can anyone comment on Pueblo Motorsports course? I also see that Miller Motorsports park is over in Utah...  Decisions, decisions! I applied for jobs in Boulder, Golden, and Denver. Now I just have to decide if I want to stay stateside, or move over to Asia and teach english for a couple years!  Thanks again guys, I think I got most everything I needed to know.
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
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BlackwiddowSVTT has been to the raceway in Pueblo a number of times. Hopefully he'll chime in here. There's also a cool track out by the airport in Denver. I remember people trying to close it down...but years later I saw that it was still open. I forget the name of the track, though. Kingpin, you know what track I'm talking about? The Miller Motorsports Raceway in Tooele is supposed to be VERY nice. I didn't get a chance to check it out in person before I moved to OR. (BTW, Tooele is where my old SVT resides. ) Glad my info was at least somewhat helpful. Let us know if you have any more questions! FWIW, I've had 2 friends teach English over in Japan, 1 in Hungary, and 1 in Greece (he's there now). They all stayed for 1 year or less, but enjoyed their time. Some companies work your arse off, and others are much more lax.
Derek
Scion xB 5-spd
Previous: 2000 Silver Frost SVT
Please share the road with cyclists.
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