Broomfield

Every now and then I start to feel trapped, or maybe it's just that I'm needing a change, but I start thinking about moving out of Boulder or, at the very least, to a different part of Boulder. Maybe some place a bit cheaper where I won't be wasting so much money on rent while trying to save for a house in the country. For example, if I moved 15 miles away to Broomfield, I could get an apartment that's twice as nice for half the price.

This weekend I did some apartment shopping. One of my stops was in Broomfield. I spent a lot of time trying to get a feel for the place, to see if I could live there for a year or so. It's total suburbia, the kind of place I've long shunned. But it's 15 minutes closer to work, and the apartment I looked at is very nice. It's brand new, has a big, modern floor plan, massive closets, enormous kitchen, brand new appliances, garage, big windows, year-round heated pool, allows dogs, etc. It's half the price of my current apartment, which has a single closet-sized bathroom, a couple of pantry-sized closets, no pantry at all, and a galley kitchen with appliances manufactured around the time I was born. But I do have the mountains and Boulder Creek, which is something Broomfield can never hope to offer.

The complex is completely surrounded by Big Box stores. You name it, it's there. Broomfield is suburbia at its finest. I was also scoping a gym, so I checked out 24 Hour Fitness which is right across the street. The young sales dude gave me the tour and asked if I was ready to join. I explained that I was actually living in Boulder but was considering moving to Broomfield in the summer, and was just scouting potential neighborhoods at this time.

"Oh man I love Boulder!" he said. "It's so quiet out there, plus you have the mountains! The people are so friendly. Wow, I'd love to live out there! But I can't afford the high rent, so I live here in this hell hole."

I decided I should give Boulder a harder look.