Boulder is definitely not very diverse, but I would say that Asians are the most prevalent minority in the area. If you wanna be close to campus, the Hill is the spot to stay, and as long as you are a couple blocks outside the main street its not too loud. But, its also likely the most expensive. Boulder is a party town and there are people walking about almost all night, so I usually feel pretty safe. Here's a decent housing site through the school http://ralphieslist.colorado.edu/ As for bars, you'll fit in pretty much anywhere, I feel like a large portion of CU undergrad seniors are in their mid twenties anyway. If you want a fratty atmosphere with lots of drunken sluts and dancing, its The Absinthe House, The Walrus, and 'Round Midnight. More relaxed dive bars are The Sundowner, Pearl St Pub, and The Attic. For cheap drinks, we often go to the Catacombs. Its a terrible bar (although I feel like its a big grad student hangout) but the drinks are by far the cheapest in town. The Sink on the Hill is a Boulder institution and a fun drinking place at night too. West End Tavern is my personal favorite cuz of their beer selection (another plus of living in Colorado, imo its the beer capital of the US). Variety is def a problem. All the good food is just american cuisine. Mexican food is god awful and my friends from here don't believe me when I tell them that its on a completely different level in texas. Asian food is bad as well although I do love Kim's on the Hill.
As I don't reside there I can't comment wrt everyday eating as you can. As a frequent visitor, there are plenty of cool places to keep me coming back on a regular rotation... but then I only go back once every 6 months or a year at most to those places. If you consider Boulder's population I think they are doing fine wrt dining, and again Denver isn't that far away. Not that you'd make the trip to eat on a regular basis, but to provide variety a couple times a month. But you do have to consider the population - meaning just as you're likely to not find the volume of good, diverse restaurants, you won't be able to find a ton of other things associated with big city living. More than anything that's probably one of the big issues for the OP to consider. Boulder is more akin to an Ann Arbor or Corvallis. San Diego, where OP is moving from, would be the Denver, Detroit, Portland cities in the analogy. Personally, I think it's a great trade! As far as Mexican goes, as a almost native Texan, I still don't get the local infatuation with Mexican. Can you find some great unique Mexican food in Texas? Of course. But Tex-Mex type places are way way way overrated. Had a friend from NYC visit Austin recently and somebody pointed her to Guero's and implied it was the bee's knee's of Mexican. It's just typical Tex-Mex. Which you can find at the Rio in Boulder, no?
I didn't say the quality was bad, I only agreed with the variety part, I actually mentioned that there are a lot of good restaurant. The restaurant I mentioned, Salt, is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. I agree, for the size of the town that Boulder is, it actually has some really great places to eat. I disagree about the Mexican food and I don't think the Rio is very good personally. Not to mention a 2 margarita limit, F that:grin:
btw: It is not the University of Colorado; it is CU. Get that right before you move, or you will stand out as a newbie.
Winters in Denver and Boulder are not bad...except for fierce wind days. The midwest plains is significantly colder. Colorado is arid, so cold temperatures are not bone chilling like the more humid states. It's really not that bad. Now, if you get above 8,000 feet in a Mountain Town...different story.
I'm somewhat a foodie...not quite as much as my best friend in Houston, though. The quality Boulder restaurants are over-priced. They are basically at the same price as the top restaurants in Houston are nowhere close to same level. Frascas and the Flagstaff House are priced like Mark's -- puhlease! The Kitchen vs Monica Pope is laughable...and frustratingly more expensive. I like the Kitchen, but the portion and price have me smh. Also, Boulder restaurants gets written up in NYTimes and Food & Wine, etc...completely overrating them. I think it's because when a food critic gets a budget to go explore cities, they want an excuse to go to Boulder, then they have to write about some restaurant here to warrant their expense. There are probably 15 restaurants in Houston better than the Kitchen...just in the American cuisine category alone. I haven't been to Frascas, yet, but most everywhere else. An America's Best Chef won the TV show from Jax's (seafood) next to West End. He was outstanding, but left...now it's like the Denver location. Still, he wasn't close to Reef. Rio is OK, passable...and the margaritas are excellent.
Definitely will be working in a lab on campus, but not sure exactly the details yet. Heck, don't even know if I will be a CU student or keep my UCSD affiliation; I know my degree will stay at UCSD, but not sure what kind of support I'll get from either side yet. Haven't really thought about the food situation; going to really miss Korean BBQ, Taco Tuesdays and late night burritos here in SD, and I'd assume that seafood will be both horrible and overpriced. Really starting to look at this as an opportunity; probably 2 years to try and live someplace new, and if my adviser had to move on, she definitely landed us in a really nice spot.
I'm not a fully trained scientist yet, but yeah, there might be a correlation here Good to hear about the beer; San Diego's up there as well for craft brewing, and I've definitely been spoiled in that regard. How's the basketball scene around campus? Must be some absolutely sick facilities being a BCS school, but is there some decent run for average rec players? How's driving in winter weather? Never had the pleasure of attempting to drive on ice/snow before. Think I'm going to have to plan a trip soon to go visit and check things out.
No, the mexican food and tex mex food in Colorado is terrible. I have been to Riom and it was not very good.
There is pretty good Korean BBQ between Boulder and Denver. You would need to car. I think it is 20 miles away.
As Rhino said, Colorado is a mecca for craft beers and microbrew pubs. I realize San Diego claims that as well, so maybe not much of a difference for you. But, yeah, I can't think of one thing that is known as Colorado -- cuisine wise. But the rooftop views from some restaurants (like Rio, and on The Hill) are awesome. Not many cities have stunning views at restaurants...even Denver. btw: do you own a motorcycle? The day trips are spectacular.
nyc doesn't have good tex-mex. never been to boulder, but i can't imagine they can compete with the real deal. t-mex and bbq are the two things, besides my peeps, that i miss the most about texas.
Colorado isn't much of a foodie mecca. I've had some good rocky mountain trout there, but as you noted, you are going to wrong way if you're a seafood lover. you can probably get some decent elk dishes if that's your thing. certainly boulder has its fair share of vegetarians and you can find something in that area... but no, as far as food goes, you're probably going to be missing what you have. aside from food, colorado is obvious an outdoor lovers paradise. beautiful scenery, great weather and tons of things to do. When I think Colorado, I really do think outdoor extravaganza with generally chill, laid back people, though you'll find towns of all varieties of people. Colorado Springs, for example, is a complete opposite wrt people's general viewpoints. Sounds like you will be busy and on a limited budget. And, just my view from only knowing what i've seen you write in this thread, you will ultimately move back to a coastal city. you come from the water and have lived next to it your whole life. your lamenting missing seafood and surfing. I think you can definitely love Colorado and should really really enjoy your time in Boulder, though.
