March 30, 2010

Althouse in Boulder.

DSC08596

Is this where I belong?

85 comments:

Synova said...

In Boulder?

Well, I'm sure they have a Whole Foods. :-)

Palladian said...

Boulder is Madison with less oxygen and less cheese.

dhagood said...

is boulder that different from madison?

LYNNDH said...

Yes they do. Plus a lot of other things. Here in Colorado Boulder is not refered to in many circles very nicely. And that rep is richly deserved. Moonbats. Republic of Boulder

David said...

Job interview?

Ann Althouse said...

Less moisture.

More sun glare.

Less fat.

Less state government.

More mountains.

Less lakes.

chickelit said...

Don't get me started on Boulder and the Front Range yet. I'm just coming to terms with Cleveland in 1984.

Ann Althouse said...

They have at least 2 Whole Foodses. I've never seen a town with more than 1.

It's a town about being affluent and athletic.

Tari said...

Noooooooooooo. Austin! It's the home of Whole Foods, among other marvelous things.

JAL said...

So are you interviewing Boulder?

Michael Haz said...

Boulder has a better class of paleo-hippies than does Madison.

Santa Fe or Sedona would be a better alternative, at least for me, although the state income tax structure is appealing in Austin.

Sandpoint is incredibly beautiful. Mountains, lakes; a lovely, lovely city.

Palladian said...

"They have at least 2 Whole Foodses. I've never seen a town with more than 1."

New York City, baby! We have 6 of 'em! But we also have Fairway so why go to Whole Foods?

"It's a town about being affluent and athletic."

Well that's two strikes against it.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Vortexes belong in Florida, home of the hurricane.

Chip Ahoy said...

Yes, you belong. So sell your house and mover or else just buy another one. The Flatirons are calling you.

Whole Foods Boulder, Co

1) 1275 Alpine

2) 2584 Baseline Rd

3) 651 Broadway

4) 2905 Pearl st

Other food-related stuff that might interest you that aren't restaurants:

Pepercorn Gourmet goods

1235 Pearl St.

Oliv You & Me

2043 Broadway St.

Dish Gormet

1918 Pearl

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage

2355 30th St

Munson's Farm Stand
Fruits & Veggies

75th / Valmont

Arabesque
Ethnic / Mediterranean

1634 Walnut St.

Asian Seafood Market

2829 28th St.

India's Grocery

2877 28th St.


Organic Dish

2690 28th St

Boulder Tamales

Dunno location

303-415-1916
BoulderTamales@gmail.com
http://www.bouldertamales.com/

Boulder Natural Meats

4450 Arapahoe Ave #100

LonewackoDotCom said...

The real action happens outside the city, and it gets intense, and sexy.

Travis said...

Only minutes away from Lyons Classic Pinball!

Topher said...

Hey, I work one block from that picture! What a great day to be on Pearl Street, too. And several great restaurants within about two blocks of where you're standing, too.

While I agree that the political environment in Boulder isn't the most... open-minded, it is in a great state at least.

Irene said...

less state government

But Boulder has lots of local, "green-minded" ordinances. Rigid.

Madison has, for now, great health care. That would top my list, as I approach retirement.

David said...

Try Colorado Springs.

Less governmental.

Less yuppified.

Less self absorbed.

More military influence.

Don't know about the Whole Foods.

But that's so yesterday.

Peter Hoh said...

Nice boulder!

Looks like granite.

Hunter McDaniel said...

Sorry David, I think it's more fun being in the most conservative 10% of Boulder rather than the most liberal 10% of Colorado Springs.

And I think the professor would feel the same way.

Ron said...

I, for one, don't care either way.

I'm Full of Soup said...

People from the flat lands tend to really like the mountain states and California. I know I do.

traditionalguy said...

The elevation is too high, 250' more than Denver, and that is too much radiation year round on the Althouse Brain. Stay in Madison and stay brain healthy.

Wince said...

With a boulder on my shoulder feelin' kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground...

And she was blinded by the light
Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
She got down but she never got tight, but she'll make it alright

Freeman Hunt said...

People from the flat lands tend to really like the mountain states and California. I know I do.

No kidding. When I drove through Idaho and Montana, I was awestruck.

Bill White said...

This person from the flatlands overdosed on mountains when we drove along Skyline Drive up through Virginia. We didn't get back to blessed flat horizons til we reached western Indiana.

Ann Althouse said...

"Sorry David, I think it's more fun being in the most conservative 10% of Boulder rather than the most liberal 10% of Colorado Springs. And I think the professor would feel the same way."

I think you are right. I've never lived anywhere conservative. If I did, I'd probably spend my time needling conservatives.

Anonymous said...

There are more Tibetans living in The People's Republic of Boulder than in Tibet (a "slight" exaggeration perhaps). Much more sane than Beserkley, by far.

Meade said...

Conservatives handle needling with a good sense of humor, secure in who they are and how they fit in the universe.

It's liberals and lefties who tend to get all touchy and prickly and rigidly ideological.

The nicest guy we've met all week here confessed to being the only Republican in Boulder. I told him we wouldn't hold it against him and all he did was laugh.

Meade said...

And then, like Chip, he told us where the good places are.

Peter V. Bella said...

Boulder is the home of SOF. Say hello to Bob Brown.

David said...

Colorado Springs is not all that conservative, imho. Just less stuck up.

I'm basing this on a small unscientific sampling--my own experience. Pretty limited to be honest, but my son in law is from Colorado Springs and I like him and his family a lot. Pretty strong argument, hey?

I'm sure Boulder will be just fine.

It's just so . . . . trendy.

wv=coatax (Under Obamacare, probably inevitable.)

Anonymous said...

Are you by any chance considering retiring? (Inquiring minds want to know ;-)

Chennaul said...

Now that you know I'm a product of there...heh.

Ann Althouse said...

@Randy We are thinking about how we will retire. No specific plans yet, but we are scouting.

Ann Althouse said...

Once you can retire, there are a lot of reasons why to to it and why not to do it. Maybe you have to play with the idea for a while.

Ann Althouse said...

It's actually kind of amazing that one can retire. I mean, clearly some people are simply disabled from working, either by age or some other issue. But if you can work, why would you stop? Or should that be, if you can retire, why would you work? It's a funny thing.

Anonymous said...

No specific plans yet, but we are scouting.

Sounds like a good plan to me! Lots of fun while scouting, too.

But if you can work, why would you stop? Or should that be, if you can retire, why would you work?

I imagine that once you decide which is the better question, you'll probably have your answer, too.

Perpetually perplexed said...

Why not retire to Alaska? There are enough touchy, prickly, needling liberals and nice, secure conservatives to go 'round for you both. However, no Whole Foods, whatever THAT is.

Anonymous said...

As a Midwesterner who went west, I'll just say there are lots of things I miss. Like the settled mores and traditions. Like the seasons. The dominant, American culture there. I loved teh CA crazy...when I was 20. And the landscape dominates the human in the West--sometimes that's wonderful. But the plains are platforms for human activity.

CO is growing too with lots of California refugees pouring in. So, it will be an adventure, but sometimes you need comfort food, too. Or I do, I guess.

Anonymous said...

re Retiring: It's best to go out at the top of your game and not overstay your welcome to the point where your colleagues all wish you'd leave. If you have plenty to do to fill your days of retirement, and money is not a major issue, then there's nothing to hold you back except your own fear of change. Don't be ruled by the fear that if retirement is not what you imagined it would be, you can't go back. It's no big deal; if you find yourself in that situation, become an independent scholar, write a book, indulge your artistic interests in photography, train for a marathon, travel outside the US and explore the rest of the world, maybe even live abroad for a few months at a time and get to know other places.

Kirk Parker said...

Freeman,

"When I drove through Idaho and Montana, I was awestruck."

Did you make it to Washington? Yeah, I'm biased, but though the Rockies are grand, nothing beats standing at sea level near the Port of Tacoma and seeing Mt. Rainier towering over the landscape. (Pierce County has the greatest elevation differential of any county in the lower 48.)

Kirk Parker said...

Oh, actually--contrary to my previous comment, standing on top of Mt. Rainier and looking out over it all might actually be tops.

traditionalguy said...

Free advice:Retirement is boring. To resume working after spending a 6 to 12 month time to travel and get to know new places is having your cake and eating it too. Thinking differently after 62 is a normal transition that can be aided by new locales, but in the end people do better where our predominant roots are rather than being a transplant into another cultural area. Many places are great visits but are not nearly as good a year round place as home.

Unknown said...

Ann is an Easterner, like me, and you never quite get over those mountains. Don't know that much about WI geography, but I'll bet even the expanse of the prairie (TX, NM) is just as impressive to her eye.

Frankly, someplace with a little less altitude may be your dish of tea. Come back in January and see how you feel. We were in Flagstaff that time of year and the cold gave new meaning to the word bone-chilling.

Ann Althouse said...

Once you can retire, there are a lot of reasons why to do it and why not to do it. Maybe you have to play with the idea for a while.

It's actually kind of amazing that one can retire. I mean, clearly some people are simply disabled from working, either by age or some other issue. But if you can work, why would you stop? Or should that be, if you can retire, why would you work? It's a funny thing.


The Blonde will have to retire because of 40 years on her feet have broken her knees, feet, etc., but we will still have to work. If you can work at something, you should probably stay at it, to some degree, both for mental health, as well as the fact that nobody knows where the economy is going.

AllenS said...

Is that a large testicle that you're standing next to?

Unknown said...

Given the choice, Boulder over Madison any day. More conservatives there than you think. Proximity to a great airport with non stop flights to lots of great places. Wonderful hiking and skiing and biking. Excellent chance of cougar encounters above the flatirons. Liberals in abundance, of course, but they tend to be the sunny sort and not the glum eastern or midwestern variety. Make them pay up.

Unknown said...

Regarding Republicans in CO. It was said at Alfred E. Packer's trial that he ate all the Democrats in Colorado. Obviously, that was a long time ago.

When asked why the grill at CU student union is (was?) named the "Alfred E. Packer Memorial Grill", the response was "just eat there and you'll know why".

kjbe said...

When we retire, we hope to go to the mountains (Colorado or Washington). The husband is just a couple of years away. I'm a good 5 years, after. We're heading out to CO, this summer to backcountry and check it out. The winters, though, do concern me, but the rest of the year could easily, EASILY make up for it...

Robert Burnham said...

We're sort of at the same stage — not pursuing it actively, but retirement is no longer beyond the far blue time-horizon.

For us, taxes and local political stance are going to be very important, and for those reasons, I'm opting for living in a conservative municipality in a conservative state.

Yes, you get a certain frisson with being one of a small countercultural minority. But I do not want politics — local or state — impinging daily on my life.

One of Leftism's biggest crimes is the way it forces you to politicize everything in your life. I just don't want to live like that, and so I'll pick a place where the daily news doesn't make you grind your teeth. Do you really want to spend your retirement attending endless city council meetings as you try to stop the latest tax the Lefties are trying to ram through?

Living in poltical opposition to your surroundings is like being in a storm that never stops. Even if you can successfully wall your life off from the daily barrage, your mental living space will be smaller.

So much as it's a pretty place to visit, the People's Republic of Boulder (bumpersticker motto: "Keep Boulder Weird") is for me at least, no place to live.

Ann Althouse said...

"Keep Boulder Weird"? I've heard of "Keep Austin Weird," but Boulder is not weird. It's upscale suburban with some city blocks that give it a theme-park like downtown. There's nothing strange, nothing gritty, and nothing multicultural as far as I can see. There's no sense of teeming, unruly life. It's very sanitized.

paul a'barge said...

Whoa! Did you get a tenure offer in Boulder? This is *HUGE*!!

Will you take it?

TMink said...

I went to grad school in Denver, and occasionally made the trip to Boulder. I recall a shop that was plastered with no smoking signs only to have a legalize hemp sticker at the bottom.

That's Boulder!

Trey

Ann Althouse said...

Calm down. I'm not looking for a job here. We're on spring break, and giving a little thought to retirement some years from now.

BTW, I was a visiting professor at the law school here in the Spring of 1991 (and I chose not to be considered for a permanent position back then).

Robert Burnham said...

Last time I was in Boulder (May last year), I saw Keep Boulder Weird mugs, t-shirts, and (I think) bumperstickers in the Boulder Book Shop on Pearl St.

The real weirdos are up in the mountains, living in a yurt with a VW Microbus up on blocks in the sideyard.

Boulder is one of those places where midddle-class people with a Leftish bent fancy themselves as more odd and revolutionary (in a cultural sense) than they really are. To such people, thinking of oneself as "weird" is seen as a key positive quality in their personality.

Those folks I can abide — they're harmless. It's the liberal fascists who have to be resisted and thwarted — and that's an all-day, every day battle.

In the end it comes down to time and energy. When you hit retirement, you know the road ahead is shorter than the one behind, and your patience with time-wasting people and politics runs out.

Unless politics is your hobby, go find a less irritating place to live and get on with the things you really want to do.

MadisonMan said...

I found Boulder too *brown*. I missed the green of growing vegetation while I was there. I did like that the snow melted fairly quickly after falling, so you don't spend February surrounded by the accumulated dirt of the winter on black and grey snowbanks.

Simon Kenton said...

Ms Kenton and I live in a canyon near Boulder. (I was too uncool to be permitted to live in the city proper.) I got pissed and retired. Ms Kenton probably never will. We'd be happy to show you half-way around - you know, tag along on an elk hunt, get Meade an introduction to one of the local volunteer fire departments (ours has a new rookie academy just starting), take a concealed-carry class, raft Cataract when it's high. Colorado activities, not Boulder activities, if you know what I mean. You'd have to find somebody else to get you tickets to the Conference on International Affairs.

Opus One Media said...

do I smell a move from one tenured chair to another?

Richard Dolan said...

Retirement. It's a weird, modern idea, itself the product of bureaucratized affluence. As an art form, it reaches its highest expression in academia -- with tenure and sabbaticals and summers off and self-driven scholarly output and gov't paid pensions and all of that never-neverland stuff, 'retirement' is as much about continuation as termination, so utterly different from its meaning in most private sector contexts.

I've never been to Boulder, but your description of it as a bland, affluent suburb makes it sound like a place well worth skipping. The saying in Brooklyn is that you can see the world without ever leaving the boro -- every tribe, ethnicity, language and food group has its enclave. And let's not forget the ocean. But it's not a hiker's paradise. If climbing every mountain is your thing, it won't be the place for you.

I suppose the world is divided into urban folks vs whatever-the-opposite is, and into mountain people vs ocean people (lakes are a poor substitute, but that's the best some can manage). Better to go for something strong than a poor substitute for the opposite.

Anonymous said...

Yes, MadisonMan, that's it. The West is brown. Sort of barren. There are a few days of the year when the grass is green, but it's never as lusciously green as the Midwest.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

It's upscale suburban with some city blocks that give it a theme-park like downtown. There's nothing strange, nothing gritty, and nothing multicultural as far as I can see. There's no sense of teeming, unruly life. It's very sanitized.

Yes. That's right, I think.
I've always called Boulder:
"Rich, white and liberal."

There are old time hippies here, but they all drive big SUVs or fancy sport cars.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

If you are hungry for a yummy hamburger, be sure to try the "Communist Cafe".

er, I mean, "Mountain Sun" on Pearl Street, or "Southern Sun" on South Broadway in the Table Mesa shopping center.

They also serve great home-brewed beer. The berry wheat beers are fantastic.

Unknown said...

I think it's a bit odd shall we say to judge a town by the # of Whole Foods. It is a kind of metric, but never forget that WF used to be called Whole Paycheck by some, and that the Anti-Trust division is making WF divest themselves of 1 or 2 WF in Boulder, where they have devoured several very nice health food stores (Ideal Market and Alfalfas) and that there are other health groceries in Boulder such as Sunflower and Sprouts. Another metric is the number of coffee shops (plenty!).

This year may turn out to be the largest snow fall year on record which portends a possible Boulder Ice Age in the future. Then you really have the opportunity for the paleo diet.

In Boulder there is a glaring lack of ocean despite attempts to make up for it with white water and lake water. There are no light houses. Good scuba diving is at least 450 miles away. Good sailing - a matter of opinion. One may have the pleasure of trying to bring a boat in winds between 70 - 100 mph. On the other hand, you can go X-C skiing before work. . . . And temperature shifts this week may fluctuate by 60 degrees or more.

Boulder has a charming number of pleasant educated people, aging more or less gracefully as well as many others. Boulder does lack a strong multi-cultural element although it does have violent crime and other social ills.

Maybe the question is what do we bring to each of our communities?

Robert Burnham said...

Well, if you do end up moving there, you'll need to buy yourself some substantial firepower and not just to keep the Lefties from taking over:

http://www.beastinthegarden.com/

This book captures perfectly the Boulder mentality.

kjbe said...

"It's very sanitized."

That's too bad. As for the brown, I do like the green of WI, but the upside is there's so much new to do. WA isn't so brown, maybe that'd work better...

Rick said...

You'd have to find somebody else to get you tickets to the Conference on International Affairs.

That's Conference on World Affairs; no need for tickets and it's very Boulder

Kirk Parker said...

OK, my comments above weren't really meant as a sales pitch, but this is: if you think brown is unacceptable, then by all means consider the Puget Sound area. More green than you have ever seen before, but just a short drive from Real Mountains™, and just a bit further to slightly arid if you want to take that in once in a while.

You don't even have to completely give up Madison-style politics: just locate inside Seattle, where they return the execrable Jim McDermott to Congress every 2 years, with nearly single-party-state margins. :-(

Michael in ArchDen said...

Two quick notes on Packer...

First his name was Alferd, not Alfred.

Secondly the famous quote about his partisan tastes goes, "Alferd Packer, you voracious man-eater, there were only seven Democrats in Hinsdale County, and you done et five of 'em."

Rick said...

I'm the other conservative who lives in Boulder.

I have so many wonderful friends who are Boulder liberals. I often ponder the mystery of how we can have so much in common on a personal level and, yet, see the world so completely differently.

Blue@9 said...

I love Boulder. I grew up in Colorado, so maybe I'm biased, but Boulder has a great combination of natural beauty, beautiful people, and a relaxed attitude. Just ignore the smelly hippies and life is good. Oh, and they get 300+ days of sunshine a year.

Blue@9 said...

I have so many wonderful friends who are Boulder liberals. I often ponder the mystery of how we can have so much in common on a personal level and, yet, see the world so completely differently.

Ah, Rick, a kindred spirit. I'm one of the few Republicans in San Francisco. Nearly all of my friends (and my wife) are liberals, and they're fantastic people to boot.

Zach said...

I miss the heck out of Boulder.

There might be a hint of smugness, but a little civic pride never hurt anybody, and they've got a pretty nice thing going.

I spent many an afternoon aimlessly riding my bike around town, just enjoying the view.

Phil 314 said...

Are you going to have a beer with Prof. Churchill?

Keep Boulder Weird

Well that would be easier if weirdo's could actually afford to live there. Nederland is cheaper as is Longmont.

I lived in Denver for many years and loved the Front Range but hated the traffic.

If you want West but less people I'd check out Grand Junction.

MadisonMan said...

never forget that WF used to be called Whole Paycheck by some

Used to? Who stopped calling it that, and why?

Kurt said...

I used to think that I had a "Boulder gene" as a result of the fact that my mother, my grandparents, my great grandmother, etc. had ties to the area. I always have enjoyed visiting, and I contemplated moving there various times. I never have lived there, though, and ever since the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004, I've been under the impression that if I were to ever relocate to Colorado's front range, Fort Collins might be an easier place for me to live than Boulder, with its reactionary left-wing tendencies. Even so, I think Boulder is more beautiful than Fort Collins, and it is much more compactly laid-out, making it easier to navigate on foot or on a bike, and there are all of the wonderful trails and things in Chautauqua Park.

As far as the two Whole Foods stores, if I remember correctly, when I was in Boulder in 2001, there was a Whole Foods and there was also a Wild Oats. In 2006 or 2007, I believe, Wild Oats was bought out by Whole Foods. Evidently, they decided that in Boulder they didn't need to close down the other store, though.

knox said...

If you really want hippie, try Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Dave Chappelle lives there. Antioch College was (is?) there.

TheCrankyProfessor said...

Like mountainous areas?

I think of the Rockies as pointy, nouveau, arriviste mountains. *I* was raised in the tail end of the Appalachias - mountains with some backstory.

Rick said...

Now that I think about it, given your feelings about men in shorts, you don't belong.....sorry to say.

Deborah M. said...

There are seven Whole Foods in the Atlanta metro area - four in the city limits and three in the burbs.

Sprezzatura said...

A while back, after meeting some Danish nannies in Boulder, I turned what was supposed to be a two day trip into a ten day trip.

I love Boulder.

Blue@9 said...

I think of the Rockies as pointy, nouveau, arriviste mountains. *I* was raised in the tail end of the Appalachias - mountains with some backstory.

Oh. I'm so sorry for you.

Sprezzatura said...

"Who stopped calling it that, and why?"

One of the programs on NPR (I don't recall which program; they're (for the most part) indistinguishable) had someone do blind taste tests where the judges where expert "food people." Organic stuff from WF was compared to the organic stuff from Wallmart.

Results:

-Wallmart food was preferred (except for one of the testers)

-The WF prices for produce weren't much higher than Wallmart. (The tested WF was in Boston and the tested Wallmart was in a Boston suburb.)

-Wallmart has a program where they'll pay more (than the prices paid to distant farmers) to local farmers when the local farmers bring their produce to their near-by Wallmart distribution centers. So, Wallmart is supporting "buy local" stuff.

-The "food people" who were part of this blind test were pissed-off when they found out that they were on the record as preferring Wallmart food.

Unknown said...

@Michael

Thanks for the corrections. They say that memory (or is it the knees) is the second thing to go.

BTW, do you still have Packer's tombstone from the Littleton Cemetery or did you give it back?

Oh, I see the city cemented it in place so the kids would stop stealing it on Halloween.

virgil xenophon said...

You Used to be able to get a nice, juicy Packer Berger" at the Student Union in Bolder, Ann, but the PC health-food Nazis have long since outlawed such "just knock-the-breath-out-of-it" rare (literally AND historically) treats.

My days in the Denver/Boulder area were circa 1967, and area is unrecognizable today. Every time I pass thru Denver on business I say to myself: "Now I know how Los Angelenos who lived in LA in the smog-free 30s & 40s felt. in the 70s/80s.

If you want water sports there is always Cherry Creek Resevoir down in Denver and Grand Lake up in the Mountains north of Denver for good sailing--water temp a bit brisk, tho.

And there is always Estes Park. Got to go there and drink at the "Dark Horse Bar"--oldest bar in the Rockie, iirc. Instead of bar stools they have Merry-Go-Round wooden horses painted black with red saddles.Horses nose edges over bar--a hoot! Each horse has own name, "Chilly-Bean" etc. And as dividers between booths the horses with legs sawed off are mounted on top of divider. Late at night drunken patrons mount and "ride" those too. (Google it for good pics of Bar and horses--they seem to have reversed direction of horses at bar since I was there--or my memory fails me) Bar is built over mountain stream--can sit in booths and view it out window from above.