Boulder, Colorado has a long history of prioritizing alternative transportation and limiting sprawl through policies protecting open spaces. In the 1950s-60s, Boulder grew rapidly due to new federal labs and university expansion. To control growth, citizens voted to restrict development and purchase open lands. Today, Boulder residents bike and walk much more than average and have shorter commutes due to extensive paths and transit. However, high housing costs now threaten diversity as many workers cannot afford to live in Boulder.

1. Boulder: An Intro & History
What is unique about Boulder that has allowed it to build
and maintain an alternative transportation network.

3. Comparing Great Britain & Colorado
Land Area
Great Britain Colorado
229,848 km² 269,837 km²
Population
60 million 5.2 million (same as Scotland)
Land’s End to John O’Groats Julesburg (NE) to Cortez (SW)
874 miles 559 miles (9 hours driving time)

4. Boulder’s Founding
 First non-native settlement in
1858 as a gateway to gold/silver
mining in mountains
 Until 1876 most of Boulder’s
economy is based on movement
of supplies and people to and
from mining camps in the
mountains to the west

5. Early decisions begin to move Boulder away
from its resource based economy
 Citizens lobby the territorial
legislature to select Boulder as the
site for the State university - it opens
in 1876
 In 1898 the Chautauqua movement
comes to Boulder bringing teachers
from Texas to Boulder for
educational and recreational
purposes
 The city of Boulder bought open
space land for Chautauqua - setting
a precedence that lasts to this day

6. Tourism Continued
By 1905 citizens realize the city
needs to find a more diverse
economic base and thus actively
seek tourists.

7. The 1950’s bring rapid changes to Boulder’s economic
base & highway links
• In 1952 Boulder is awarded federal labs for the National Bureau of Standards
beginning an era of federal labs locating in the city that conduct research in
climate and later telecommunications.
• In 1956 University scientists teamed with a family member from a manufacturing
firm to create Ball Brothers Research Cooperation which has become one of the
world’s leading developers of satellites.

8. Implications of ‘50’s changes to Boulder
 Boulder’s population almost triples from 1950 to 1970 going from 20,000 to about
67,000.
 The housing for many of the newcomers is suburban style single-family and car
centered.
 The Boulder-Denver Turnpike is built giving a direct highway link between the two
cities.

9. Boulder begins to be a part of the Metro Area
 The building of the Boulder-Denver turnpike helps foster interaction
with Denver and fosters more growth in Boulder
 Today Boulder’s interaction with the Denver metro area (3+ million
pop) is mainly through in-commuting (60,000 a day!)

10. Boulder’s Reaction to Rapid Growth
 In 1957 Boulder citizens approve the “Blue Law” which restricts water lines to places below
5,750 feet (above sea level) in order to protect the city’s mountain backdrop
 To further protect the city from “sprawl” citizens vote to tax themselves to purchase and
preserve “open space” land around the city in 1967
 Currently the city owns and manages over 45,000 acres of open space land

12. And Boulder’s economy continues to become more and
more based in the sciences
 More federal labs such as NCAR (above) and NOAA come to Boulder
 By the 1980s public-private partnerships mean Boulder has become a
center for research and inovation

13. Boulder’s Economic Base Today
 Aerospace
 Biosciences
 Information Technology – Data storage
 Information Technology – Software development
 Accommodation and food services
 Natural and Organic Products
Outdoor Recreation
 Renewable Energy

14. Boulder’s Economic Base Continued
A high concentration of advanced
technology industries has helped fuel
venture capital investment in Boulder firms.
Over the past five years more than $687
million was invested in firms in the city of
Boulder, representing more than one -
quarter of the total VC investment in
Colorado companies.

15. Tourism & the Economy
 Estimated visitor nights in 2013 totaled 2,820,827 in
Boulder and total visitor expenditures reached $375.8
million. The total economic impact of tourism in
Boulder (direct economic impact plus secondary
impact) was $419,111,633

16. Boulder’s citizens have a high level of education
Much higher than the US as a whole and thus in general have traveled
a great deal and have strong opinions about the physical appearance of
their city.

17. What does all this mean for Boulder and alternative
transportation?
 Boulder’s highly educated and affluent citizens have voted multiple times
since the 1960s to tax themselves to acquire open space and more recently,
to create bike paths, etc.
 The city’s planning and transportation departments continues to work on
making non-motorized trips within the city easier
 In addition to multi-use paths and bike lanes, there is an extensive bus
system within the city

18. Unintended consequences of Boulder’s slow growth policies
 Median Household Price $500,000+ up from $222,560
(in today’s prices) from 1990
 Losing middle income households ($65,000 –
$150,000) a year in income)
 59% of Boulder’s workforce commutes in every day
(60,000) mostly in singly-occupancy vehicles

19. Intended Consequences of Transportation Policies
 Boulder residents bike 20 times more and walk three times more than the
national average – Marni Ratzel (city transportation planner)
 Boulder County Colorado US
 Average travel time to work 20.1 min 22.8 24.5 25.5
 Drive alone to work 54% 64% 75.5% 76.4%
 Use alternative transportation 34.2% 24.7% 18.2% 19.3%
 Work at home 11.8% 11.3% 6.3% 4.3%

20. Boulder & Deal
Boulder Deal
Population: 103,000 30,000
7 miles N-S 2.8 miles N-S
3.5 miles E-W 1.5 miles E-W