28, I am a long time runner and still train and race 5K's - Marathons. I landed a tech job in Boulder, been here for 18months. I had another offer in Bay Area, I visited both places and settled on Boulder. I had an old teammate who has been in Boulder awhile, talked it up and up.
I visited over the summer for a few days, did some training and loved it here. However. What they don't tell you is the weather is an absolute nightmare.
This place sucks for training. The altitude is not that high. The weather is only good during the summer & fall. Summers are too hot honestly.
Everyone talks about how the winters here are mild. Not really true. If it's not freezing and you get a warm day here, the WIND BLOWS 40-60mph. I looked this up, Boulder is one of the windiest cities in the US. I've never had to run on a treadmill because it was too windy until I came here. Try doing a track workout in 25mph sustained winds, nightmare.
The city itself is cool. But kind of boring? Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, but all the hype kind of kills it. Think Black Panther or The Last Jedi, hype and reality = disappointed.
I know I know, "Just Move".
Boulder is overrated. I want to move.
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Where are you from?
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Are you from SoCal or Hawaii? You sound incredibly soft.
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Austin, TX
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Any city or region has qualities about it that could be intolerable for some. PNW, too rainy. SoCal, too expensive or too much traffic. Florida, too hot and humid. NYC, too crowded along with awful weather. Anywhere in the middle, too boring or not progressive enough (or too windy). I have friends in nearly every corner of the country and we all complain about something!
My two cents: the people you surround yourself with are what makes a place truly enjoyable to live. -
I dont mind the wind but sometimes the drastic weather changes take their toll on me. Last night we were freezing but by 3pm today we were maybe in the 50s?
The part about Boulder that does suck for runners is how populated the trail scene is given that's what we all inherently want to do. Parking lots fill up by the early AM which is annoying. Went to the Boulder Canyon outskirts today because I didnt feel like driving to the foothills after seeing what Dry Creek was like on the way home. Out in the Canyon area it is very hard to relax and get in the zone when the mountains are consistently heavy with both car and foot traffic. I would say that for an outsider the amount of traffic does not fit the scenery at all. -
+1
This post speaks the truth...
with the exception of Florida...no matter how many ‘friends’ I had there, I still could never live in that humid, Florida Man and Zika mosquito infested swamp.
To the OP: if Boulder is too cold in the winter consider moving to Southern Colorado or Northern New Mexico. Still windy but winters are much milder. However I suspect there are other issues you have than just the weather. -
Snarf Burger (not that great) wrote:
28, I am a long time runner and still train and race 5K's - Marathons. I landed a tech job in Boulder, been here for 18months. I had another offer in Bay Area, I visited both places and settled on Boulder. I had an old teammate who has been in Boulder awhile, talked it up and up.
I visited over the summer for a few days, did some training and loved it here. However. What they don't tell you is the weather is an absolute nightmare.
This place sucks for training. The altitude is not that high. The weather is only good during the summer & fall. Summers are too hot honestly.
Everyone talks about how the winters here are mild. Not really true. If it's not freezing and you get a warm day here, the WIND BLOWS 40-60mph. I looked this up, Boulder is one of the windiest cities in the US. I've never had to run on a treadmill because it was too windy until I came here. Try doing a track workout in 25mph sustained winds, nightmare.
The city itself is cool. But kind of boring? Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, but all the hype kind of kills it. Think Black Panther or The Last Jedi, hype and reality = disappointed.
I know I know, "Just Move".
LOL!!! Yeah, please move. -
As someone who grew up in Maine and Minnesota, winters in Colorado are a piece of cake.
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You might not like Snarf Burger, but Snarfs is amazing
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This winter has sucked but Boulder winters are usually much milder. As you may have noticed, the polar vortex is doing that to huge swaths of the country. I think we’ve had 2-3x the number of sub-30 degree days this winter than we had all last year.
The Bay Area is very nice in the winter. In the summer, not so much. -
Travel to some cities you are interested in and start applying to jobs if a place strikes you.
You have endless opportunity in front of you, take advantage of it. -
Ckrkrivi wrote:
Travel to some cities you are interested in and start applying to jobs if a place strikes you.
You have endless opportunity in front of you, take advantage of it.
Wow. One of the most shockingly motivational posts i've seen on this site -
Who the hell refuses a tech job in Bay Area. If you can earn enough to afford living like a decent person over there - and tech jobs are some of the few that can - rest of the drawbacks are really minor, just so that you have something to beatch about on the web
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Exactly right wrote:
+1
This post speaks the truth...
with the exception of Florida...no matter how many ‘friends’ I had there, I still could never live in that humid, Florida Man and Zika mosquito infested swamp.
To the OP: if Boulder is too cold in the winter consider moving to Southern Colorado or Northern New Mexico. Still windy but winters are much milder. However I suspect there are other issues you have than just the weather.
+1
he aint gittin layed. hot College girls everywhere, this loser is whinin. -
Dude. There are some of the best trails, dirt roads, training groups, and running resources in the country in Boulder. If wind and an actual winter are too tough for you to train through, you're probably not really the type that's going to run great times in the future anyway. Stop being so soft. Come to the Midwest and get wrecked by our endless months of darkness and horrible weather.
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ERS wrote:
Dude. There are some of the best trails, dirt roads, training groups, and running resources in the country in Boulder. If wind and an actual winter are too tough for you to train through, you're probably not really the type that's going to run great times in the future anyway. Stop being so soft. Come to the Midwest and get wrecked by our endless months of darkness and horrible weather.
+1
Man up.
If it was good enough for Shorter, it should be good enough for you. -
Please do move. It sounds like you're contributing nothing to Boulder.
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Black Panther was good... Your entire post is invalidated based on that bad judgement.
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I grew up in the Bay Area and live there now (north bay, close to trails). I went to college in Boulder. I agree that running is easier in the Bay Area. I ran in the rain this morning, which is great here - in the redwoods with waterfalls and ferns everywhere. If it's not raining, it is rarely below freezing or hot.
Boulder has less good running days. Summer you usually have to go out before sunrise. The wind is absurd. But great bike paths, neighborhoods, and trails right out of town. And not quite as expensive as many parts of the Bay Area.
Bay Area is great for many and sucks for many. If you don't have a good job, or you have a long commute, or live a long way from trails or good places to run and ride, it's a chore. If you've got a good job and a short commute or work from home, and live next to trails, it can't be beat. So ... be sure you can live the life you want in the Bay Area before jumping into it. And realize that anyone that thinks Boulder sucks just might not be happy anywhere.
