Even though the Bolder Boulder 10k road race has retired its sneakers for the year, there’s still plenty to do this summer in Boulder (and surrounding areas) – both for the athletic and otherwise. Many full-time residents with homes in Boulder feel that one of the perks of living in this Front Range community known for its scenery, quality of life, sense of community, and recreational splendor is that the Boulder locals’ scene is startlingly similar to the tourists’.

It’s true. Visit any neighborhood in Boulder, and you’ll find gaggles of cyclists gathering at a house, preparing for a long ride. Or climbers gearing up to take over a crag in Boulder Canyon. Kayakers and tubing enthusiasts take to Boulder Creek;hikers take on Mount Sanitas. Shoppers skitter across Broadway the Farmer’s Market, or over to the Pearl Street Mall. Without asking, there’s no differentiating between those who live here and those who have come here to play.

The Boulder Creek Festival is over, but there are yard sales and garden tours aplenty to be had. Not to mention the Hometown Fair and the Fall Festival. Just outside of Boulder’s boundaries there are activities for the whole family in Louisville, Lafayette, Nederland, Lyons, and Longmont; just take a quick drive or bus ride and enjoy.

It’s not the fertilizer, and it’s not a reference to annual runoff or the residential watering restrictions. Think green, as in environmental, and take another look at Denver homes, where green living is a time-honored commitment.

What’s the Green Story?

At one time Denver was infamous for its poor air quality, a condition that had to do with a combination of factors, including geography and climate, road de-icing practices, car emissions, and industrial smokestacks. “The brown cloud” had become Denver’s black eye until the 1970s, when a bipartisan effort to clean up the air snowballed into other, more whole, approaches to keeping the capital city clean and green.

Denver Green Residential Neighborhoods

Solar homes are becoming quite the rage in green Denver homes these days in all neighborhoods. More geo-specifically, however, bicycle lanes have been installed along 18th, 19th, Wynkoop, Lawrence, Arapahoe, and Glenarm Streets in downtown Denver. Also:

• The pedestrian-bicycle bridge over the Platte River at 3rd Avenue was completed, easing safe travel along the Platte River Trail.
• A ped-bike bridge over I-25 connects North Denver’s Highlands neighborhood and downtown Denver.
• Nearly 30 percent of what used to be Stapelton International Airport is now dedicated to parks and open space–over 4,700 acres. Energy Star® certified homes, access to public transportation, and other features have made the residential development a model for smart growth.

Denver Green Construction

Denver has 17 LEED-certified buildings, with 73 more in the certification process. That includes Aardex’s Signature Center in the Denver West Office Park, perhaps the greenest private office building in the country. And:

• The EPA building in LoDo has been awarded LEED Gold level certification, meaning it has been built and designed to be one of the nation’s most environmentally friendly buildings.
• The former Mile High Stadium, demolished in 2002 to make way for the construction of Invesco Field, still lives on in the form of steel reused in tracks for the metro area’s T-REX light rail expansion.

Denver Green Transportation

Denver leads the nation in terms of new rail projects in dollars per capita. Despite highly-publicized opposition, the public overwhelmingly voted for light rail long before the phrase “carbon footprint” ever made the headlines.

Now that environmental considerations are topping the list of things that make a city great, Denver continues to deliver on its reputation of going the distance. From its incorporation in 1861 to the 21st century, Denver’s come a long way, baby.

Did you know that Boulder condo and townhome subdivisions make up about half of our Top Boulder Real Estate Subdivisions category of listings? Taking a closer look at the next generation of townhome and condo units reveals that higher-end, newer inventory is plentiful in Boulder.

Among them: Boulder Landmark Lofts, which are brand new and centrally located for easy, breezy access to the CU campus, the 29th Street Mall, and Chautauqua.

Also near the top of the list: The Walnut, and 1505 Pearl—somewhat reminiscent of the Broadway Brownstones just up the street, in Boulder’s downtown district.

For something not that completely different, most of the listings in Dakota Ridge Village are large townhomes along the edge of single family home clusters at the north end of town, where highway 36 and Broadway meet.

And then there are the Off Broadway Work/Live Lofts at 4645 N Broadway, not far from Dakota Ridge, in NoBo. These spiffy units compose Boulder’s only work/live property, offering a mixed-use setting with built-in residential real estate.

Whether it’s for part-time resident use, student living, first-time buyer, or starter family living, today’s condo and townhome market in Boulder is beyond a viable option for all kinds of home buyers.

Near Pike National Forest is a beautiful out-of-the-way place between Denver and Colorado Springs that bursts wide open with activity every summer. It’s as pleasant as it sounds: Larkspur, Colorado. It’s a place as quaint as its name, and is home to the Colorado Renaissance Festival during the summer months, and also the full-time wildlife and human residents who adore their privacy, quiet, and mountain views.

Larkspur is the common name for plants in the genus Delphinium
Photo by Flickr–Creative Commons

Along the I-25 corridor between Denver and Colorado Springs is where you’ll find this quiet, small, and intimate community of about 400 full-time residents called Larkspur. Never been? It’s not too late. Take this virtual, pre-tour of what’s at Larkspur before you go.

Larkspur Colorado Neighborhoods
Perry Park– Gorgeous, huge custom homes with spectacular views and stunning natural surroundings in the 80118 zip code. Land from the low-to-mid 100s; single-family homes in the $6M range. To learn more about what’s where, map Perry Park neighborhood

Sage Port– Newer custom homes with lots of surrounding space. Land priced from the ’60s; single-family homes from $250,000 and up. Map the Sage Port neighborhood.

Sage Port, The Hidden Forest– Near the grounds of the Golf Club at Bear Dance, there are fewer homes for sale here, with some homes scheduled for completion this year. Easy access to I-25, Hidden Forest is ten minutes from schools and Castle Rock. Map the Hidden Forest neighborhood.

Metes And Bounds– Between I-25 and highway 83 are stunning custom homes with acreage, and multi-million dollar price tags. On the west side of I-25, you’ll find horse properties in the 400-500s. Map the Metes and Bounds neighborhood.

Of course that’s not all; there are more than 300 active Larkspur real estate listings today, which you can easily browse and sort through at COhomefinder any time you like.

An interesting phenomenon is happening in the Boulder real estate market right now. Unlike most other Colorado markets, there are more buyers than sellers in Boulder. Does that mean inventory is down to zero? Absolutely not. In fact, you’ll find at our Boulder Real Estate and Homes page that today there are:

1,718 Boulder property listings
Min price: $0
Median price: $580,000
Avg price: $793,478
Max price: $6,500,000
(Statistics change daily; search the Boulder MLS for today’s snapshot.)

According to today’s listings, the top five Boulder neighborhoods with the highest number of available homes and properties on the market are:

• University Place with 27 listings
• Newlands with 25 listings
• Pine Brook Hills with 16 listings
• Table Mesa 1 with 16 listings
• Boulder Heights with 14 listings

When shopping the Boulder market, or one that’s similar, luck favors the prepared. Besides knowing what you want, you’ll need to know where the listings are now – and now, and now. The good news is that, with today’s technology, smart shoppers can set themselves up for success while they sleep. Alerts mailed to your email inbox with fresh listings from the Boulder MLS, along with the ability to browse listings before heading out on a drive, and saving, sorting, and refining your lists of Boulder home searches means getting the jump on the market and other buyers.

It’s summer in Boulder. Do you know where your Boulder neighborhoods are? Check them out, map Boulder out, and take to the market; the water’s fine.