Pearl Street Mall in Downtown Boulder

Boulder (40n01, 105w16 MST) is a city located in Boulder County, Colorado, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 94,673. It is home to the University of Colorado at Boulder, the largest university in Colorado. It has an elevation of 5,430 feet and is 50 km (35 miles) northwest of Denver. Boulder is the largest city in the county and the eighth largest in the state. It is the county seat of Boulder County⁶.

Boulder is well known for its commitment to preserving open space and limited population growth. However, by 2000, limited residential growth combined with university and commercial growth to create traffic congestion.

Boulder has a reputation as a bastion of liberalism. One mayor of the city famously described Boulder as "nestled between the mountains and reality." and is also commonly known as the “People’s Republic of Boulder”. Boulder is, however, diverse and includes a substantial number of conservative and libertarian residents.

History

In 1967, Boulder residents became the first in the nation to tax themselves to acquire and preserve a municipal open space buffer around the city.

Law and government

Boulder was the second city in the U.S. to implement the Hare (or Single Transferable Vote) method of voting in 1917. It was repealed in 1947.

Geography

Boulder is located in the Boulder Valley where the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains. Boulder is famous for the Flatiron rock formations that overlook the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 65.7 km² (25.4 mi²). 63.1 km² (24.4 mi²) of it is land and 2.6 km² (1.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.94% water.

Boulder in fiction

Boulder was a setting for Stephen King's book The Stand (1978), and for the sitcom Mork & Mindy (1978–1982). Some houses and the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) building overlooking the town were used in the filming of Woody Allen's Sleeper.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 94,673 people, 39,596 households, and 16,788 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,499.9/km² (3,884.1/mi²). There are 40,726 housing units at an average density of 645.2/km² (1,670.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 88.33% White, 1.22% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 4.02% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 3.50% from other races, and 2.40% from two or more races. 8.24% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 39,596 households out of which 20.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.3% are married couples living together, 6.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 57.6% are non-families. 33.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.20 and the average family size is 2.84.

In the city the population is spread out with 14.8% under the age of 18, 25.9% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 29 years. For every 100 females there are 106.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 107.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $44,748, and the median income for a family is $70,257. Males have a median income of $41,829 versus $32,100 for females. The per capita income for the city is $27,262. 17.4% of the population and 6.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.4% of those under the age of 18 and 6.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Boulder is also home to the University of Colorado at Boulder, which contributes roughly 30,000 residents to this population. As the National Institute of Standards and Technology is also based in Boulder, the city has a number of foreign citizens greater than in similar_sized cities.

Transportation

Boulder is easily visited from Denver via the Route B Express (http://www.rtd_denver.com/), which runs from Market Street Station to Downtown Boulder (right near the Pearl Street Mall, which is the first stop for any tourist). Hiking trails start just at the edge of town a few blocks away.

Boulder is a city where the bicycle is used as a serious form of transportation, and the city has high rates of bicycle commuting and walking. The city is part of the Denver Regional Transit District, yet tends to go its own way with transportation policy. The city's transportation office, Go Boulder (http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/goboulder/), operates a number of innovative transportation programs. These incude frequent transit services with cute names (Such as Hop, Skip, Bound and Dash), and unique transit pass programs. Many residents and businesses pay for transit not by the ride, but by the year. Entire neighborhoods have banded together to buy a bus pass for everyone living in the area. Additionally, all students at the University of Colorado at Boulder are issued bus passes as part of their school ID, paid for from student fees. Most vehicles have a NextBus satellite tracking system.

However, like most of the other major metropolitan areas of Colorado, the car is by far the most popular form of personal transportation. But with recent increases in traffic load and little room for further roadway expansion within the city, alternative forms of transportation have become increasingly popular even among the middle and upper classes of Boulder.

Colleges, universities, science institutes

• Boulder College of Massage Therapy - http://www.bcmt.org/
• Naropa University - http://www.naropa.edu/
• University of Colorado - http://www.colorado.edu/
• NIST Boulder - http://www.boulder.nist.gov/
• NOAA Boulder - http://noaa.gov/
• National Center for Atmospheric Research / University Corporation for Atmospheric Research _ http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/
• Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) - http://lasp.colorado.edu/
• Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) - http://casa.colorado.edu/
• Space Science Institute - http://www.spacescience.org/
• Southwest Research Institute Department of Space Studies - http://www.boulder.swri.edu/

External links

• "A Brief History of Boulder County (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/lwv/success/history.html)"
• "Brief History (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/boulder/history/)" - another one
• The Boulder Community Network (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/) serves all of Boulder County, Colorado. It is the second-oldest web-based community network in the world, and went on-line on March 15, 1994.
• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=40.019425&longitude=-105.259502&zoom=6)
  • Topographic map from Topozone (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40.019425&lon=-105.259502&s=200&size=m&layer=DRG100)
  • Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=14&lon=-105.259502&lat=40.019425&w=750&h=500)