Boulder the "most liberal city" in Colorado?

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The Honorable Stanley Fish

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 13:42 (fifteen years ago) link

the email address im registered under is defunct.

Ooooh, that makes sense. I sent you a few emails the other day, but it's better that they went to a defunct email address because they were written the night before I took the flight out here, and I was in a crazy situation where I didn't know the exact address of the place I'm subleasing at, and the subleaser was in Utah mountainbiking and couldn't be reached by telephone. So I sent you a message like "Umm...I'm really sorry, but there's maybe a 2% chance I might need a favor from you as soon as I get into Boulder".

I'm leaving for the first day at my internship now, but I'll be sure to check my email later.

Z S, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 14:19 (fifteen years ago) link

Jhoshea - the key in life is to start your way at the very bottom and gradually work your way up, and that way everywhere you go seems like an improvement. This is why I was fortunate, in retrospect, to grow up in a shitty tiny town in rural Missouri. Because hey - at least Boulder has mountains and stuff.

Z S, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 14:32 (fifteen years ago) link

yah i have deep and abiding love for the colorado rockies - and a number of people im quite fond of live in boulder - still it is my nemecity

jhøshea, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 14:56 (fifteen years ago) link

uh anyway yr just there for an internship right

jhøshea, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 15:00 (fifteen years ago) link

I can really appreciate Boulder now that I live in Denver and am only there once a week.

kate78, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 15:22 (fifteen years ago) link

Denver is way better than Boulder, though!

But it takes a few years before one can see its charm.

homosexual II, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 16:23 (fifteen years ago) link

ive only ever spent a few days in denver - i liked it tho

jhøshea, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link

i think boulder would be awesome if it weren't for all the people

gbx, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link

everyone says it was amazing in the 70s

jhøshea, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 17:01 (fifteen years ago) link

i think a lot of colorado was amazing in the 60s-70s. e.g. Aspen, when Hunter was running for sheriff.

gbx, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 17:06 (fifteen years ago) link

In response to the original thread question: I lived in Boulder for a time and yeah, like others have noted above, how liberal can a place actually be when it is largely a haven for the super-rich? Like Ann Arbor, another town in which I have lived, there is plenty of leftist hand-wringing being performed over California Sirah and expensive vegetarian cuisine, but I imagine there is also a lot of secret appreciation for capital gains tax cuts and supercheap Mexican labor. Also, at least as of the late 90's, about 70% of those same people commuted to Denver every day in gigantic SUVs. Everyone else seemed to own a Saab, for some reason.

Ann Arbor and Boulder are a far cry from the hotbeds of anti-establishment activism they were before Reaganism set in, yet both towns somehow maintain that illusion. In both cities, people are far too comfortable to be genuinely pissed off at corporate culture.

Seasonal tourists excepted, the real "most liberal city" in Colorado is probably some hippy mountain utopia like Telluride or Crested Butte.

Pillbox, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 18:36 (fifteen years ago) link

Telluride is Aspen v.2.0 and heaving with rich folk. Crested Butte is a main drag with a pizza place that serves 40s and many dirty bros.

Durango is probably more "liberal" than either of them. But fuck it, I just want to move to Marble or Silverton.

gbx, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 19:18 (fifteen years ago) link

there is plenty of leftist hand-wringing being performed over California Sirah

Syrah? Petite Sirah? neither is close to CA's most notable grape.

gabbneb, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 19:25 (fifteen years ago) link

Durango is probably more "liberal" than either of them - Oops. I meant Durango, not Crested Butte. I've never been to Crested Butte. Regarding the Telluride/Aspen thing: that's really too bad, though not surprising at all. I haven't been there in over ten years, but at the time it was a comfortable change of pace from the increasingly upscale and homogenized environs of the Vail/Summit County towns. I suppose its co-option was inevitable. I have purposely avoided Aspen, but I'm sure it has changed drastically from the days when Hunter Thompson was elected Sheriff (or very nearly elected - I forget).

Syrah? Petite Sirah? neither is close to CA's most notable grape. - OK, youve got me. I was referring to Petite Sirah, as it is generally pretty expensive, but you are welcome to subsitute that with any California red you feel to be more appropriate.

Pillbox, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:18 (fifteen years ago) link

gbx they cancelled iron horse as silverton had 12" of snow on saturday. i would like to live in durango i think.

boulder, ugh.

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:22 (fifteen years ago) link

I've actually explored very little of CO's mountain towns - must be because I'm from the NoCo prairie. Actually I have no excuse as I've lived in CO for 28 years.

homosexual II, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:28 (fifteen years ago) link

Durango's the most liberal?

gabbneb, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:42 (fifteen years ago) link

i wouldnt think so.

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:42 (fifteen years ago) link

its got a small cottage and lots of outdoor types, but its also got a lot of ranchers and regular semi rural ppl from my experiences there

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:43 (fifteen years ago) link

"college" wtf

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:44 (fifteen years ago) link

yeah, that's what I was thinking, though the county (of which the 'city' is 1/3, apparently) did go Kerry, barely

gabbneb, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:48 (fifteen years ago) link

i forgot that.

san miguel county had the highest kerry at like 75+% as i recall, but thats because it has telluride, sawpit, and not much else. gunnison county where cb is has lots of ranchers etc.

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 22:03 (fifteen years ago) link

the blue counties in 2004, in descending order of blueness:
San Miguel (Telluride)
Denver
Pitkin (Aspen)
Costilla (San Luis, tiny)
Boulder
Summit (Breckenridge)
Saguache (tiny)
Gunnison (Crested Butte)
Gilpin (Central City)
Routt (Steamboat Springs)
Clear Creek (Georgetown)
Pueblo
Eagle (Vail)
La Plata (Durango)
San Juan (Silverton)
Adams (Aurora-Commerce City)
Las Animas (Trinidad)

gabbneb, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 22:09 (fifteen years ago) link

the great thing about 'catch and release' is it made the people of boulder seem so horrible that it surely could stop anyone from moving here if, of course, more than 8 people had seen it.

keythkeyth, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 05:19 (fifteen years ago) link

Boulder has really good beer though.

I also liked the Sundown Saloon when I lived there.

The place can get really depressing though. Everyone really is a mountain climbing gearhead with bad taste in music. Also, there is very little grasp of sarcasm in that town. Everyone is just so "sincere" about everything, unless they are some rich college kid.

I lived there in 2004-2005. My landlord, who lived next door, would routinely come by and leave pro-Kerry stuff on our front porch. You'll find that despite the illusion that Boulder is a friendly and accepting town, most of the people are quite rude. I moved there from Virginia, driving an old Jeep Cherokee. I was routinely derided for this, and generally assumed to be a republican.

Benjamin-, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 05:38 (fifteen years ago) link

Everyone really is a mountain climbing gearhead with bad taste in music. Also, there is very little grasp of sarcasm in that town. Everyone is just so "sincere" about everything, unless they are some rich college kid.

siiiiiiigh, yes. 2 more months.

Z S, Sunday, 1 June 2008 01:26 (fifteen years ago) link

Hey ZS, Albertson's (here, anyway) has a sale: buy 3 boxes of general mills cereal & get a gallon of milk free.

Abbott, Sunday, 1 June 2008 01:45 (fifteen years ago) link

Oh, and it's $5 for the three boxes (plus the free milk).

Abbott, Sunday, 1 June 2008 01:45 (fifteen years ago) link

Whoa, nice!

The odds of me getting there are not so good, though. Technically it's within biking distance from where I'm at, but I wouldn't be able to carry back much more than the 3 boxes of cereal and gallon of milk. Plus the guy I'm staying with appears to be emotionally attached to King Sooper's.

I caught a bunch of shit when I got here about not knowing what King Sooper's was.

Z S, Sunday, 1 June 2008 01:49 (fifteen years ago) link

I am coming to rescue you!!!

homosexual II, Sunday, 1 June 2008 02:51 (fifteen years ago) link

No worries, I'm doing ok for tonight (check yr email)

Although one guy did say "Dude, you can't say ...."currency" and...uh...."fecal matter" at night, those are daytime words. Normally I would understand, but..." after I said something like "but 80% of currency has fecal matter on it anyway, right?" in a conversation tangentially related to how dirty beer pong is (due to the missed throws hitting the table, floor, dirt etc).

Z S, Sunday, 1 June 2008 04:50 (fifteen years ago) link

ie, fuck you dude we're grownups.

Z S, Sunday, 1 June 2008 04:51 (fifteen years ago) link

I know no one cares, but I have to say,

There are two dudes I barely know hanging out in my weed stenched living room. They just kind of hang out here. All the time. One of them, on the left, was described to me as "just like Kramer" before I ever met him. He's like Kramer in that he always walks in uninvited and is just kind of...there...he's unlike Kramer in that he's never funny, ever. He's has also told me that he has a crush on a 16-year-old girl and the girl's mother, and that girls are best when they're "on the edge of the range" like that.

The other guy, he seemed pretty good natured the first few times I met him, but now, as he lays all over one of the couches, I realize that I'm almost certain he has had his hand down his gym shorts for like half an hour. Not really scratching or jerking it or whatever, but just down in there. Like Al Bundy but way further down. I don't know what to say anymore. What the fuck is wrong with this town?

Z S, Saturday, 7 June 2008 02:35 (fifteen years ago) link

like farther than this:

http://robotninjawhores.com/wp-content/2007/04/paris-hilton-bikini-hand.jpg

Z S, Saturday, 7 June 2008 02:37 (fifteen years ago) link

I think that's technically safe for work, but sorry.

Z S, Saturday, 7 June 2008 02:37 (fifteen years ago) link

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS TOWN?

Z S, Wednesday, 18 June 2008 05:25 (fifteen years ago) link

He's like Kramer in that he always walks in uninvited and is just kind of...there...he's unlike Kramer in that he's never funny, ever.

looool

J0rdan S., Wednesday, 18 June 2008 05:29 (fifteen years ago) link

is boulder just a bunch of crusty hippy "spiritual" types and college kids?

J0rdan S., Wednesday, 18 June 2008 05:31 (fifteen years ago) link

zs maybe you could seek advice from gary during next week's episode of car concerns

J0rdan S., Wednesday, 18 June 2008 05:31 (fifteen years ago) link

I don't know what the hell is going on here. I'm in Boulder, CO living with halfassed stoner (they only smoke spliffs, WTF) college kids - and somehow I'm sitting on a couch arguing with this kid that says China is 50 miles off the coast of Florida, drilling diagonally toward the U.S., drilling our oil. I understand what he's saying, it's a false rumor Cheney helped spread a few days ago, but when I explain what's actually is going on his eyes glaze toward the tv and no one responds. We're all watching some sort of extreme wrestling thing where one fighter is jabbing his elbow into the other guys temple, repeatedly, and they're both covered with blood. Nooooooo

Z S, Wednesday, 18 June 2008 05:36 (fifteen years ago) link

xp Gary's all I got in this goddamned world.

Z S, Wednesday, 18 June 2008 05:36 (fifteen years ago) link

whoa, wtf ZS? Your housing situation sounds fucked. Fuck those people, go take some walks somewhere beautiful; get away from those eyes glazed-over beer pong-playing dudes staring at tv with conspiracy theories dancing around in their heads

lol "just like Kramer" guy

dell, Wednesday, 18 June 2008 18:04 (fifteen years ago) link

Someone's describing Boulder, all right

nabisco, Wednesday, 18 June 2008 18:06 (fifteen years ago) link

That's the thing though, I spend nearly all of my free time either up in the trails in the mountains or at a coffeeshop called the Laughing Goat. But I can't spend ALL of my time away from home. I still have to come back to eat, and then hang out until I'm finally tired enough to go to bed. I can't make enemies of these fools because they're all I've got. If I get antagonistic with them I will literally have no friends. And I don't have a car, so I need someone to take me to get groceries.

Z S, Thursday, 19 June 2008 00:18 (fifteen years ago) link

Occasionally I come across someone who isn't completely braindead and I want to hold onto their leg and say "Please talk to me. Can we please drink wine and talk about something? Anything?". But I doubt that's socially acceptable.

Z S, Thursday, 19 June 2008 00:19 (fifteen years ago) link

Ah, well that's cool-- it sounds like you are making some wise use of your time! But I understand what you're saying...

I doubt that's socially acceptable

Yeah, but it's probably worth trying some variation of that! I would. Seriously.

dell, Thursday, 19 June 2008 00:59 (fifteen years ago) link

I do hope your roomies are like, "And he didn't even want to watch wrestling, but he drunkenly animated a picture of vaginas in about 15 minutes."

Abbott, Thursday, 19 June 2008 01:01 (fifteen years ago) link

So far, I've adopted the strategy of hoping that someone at the coffeeshop will notice that I am always browsing interesting and hilarious websites, and think I'm cool and talk to me. And that they wouldn't be crazy.

"New lows reached at Boulder coffeeshop - no one notices"

Z S, Thursday, 19 June 2008 01:02 (fifteen years ago) link


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