Boulder Neighborhoods

There are many Boulder neighborhoods with various styles of architecture and historical significance; everything from Victorian mansions to little post war ranch homes. I’ve been working on building a section here that give you a look at some different parts of Boulder based, in part, on my 30 or so years of living here, and my work in the Boulder real estate market, as well as current interest and input from people like you.

The City of Boulder has it’s own historical way of identifying neighborhoods and in some cases there’s a “popular” method that’s taken root for identifying or naming a neighborhood. Consider “The Hill” as an example. The original real estate developers in Boulder didn’t call it “The Hill” but most locals know what we mean when we use this moniker for the neighborhood and commercial area around 13th & College.

One of the things I’ll bring to you in my Boulder Neighborhoods section is some insight about what kinds of trends I see. Based on my work here as a Boulder Realtor, and living here since the late 1970’s, I’ll include little things that might be obvious to you if you live here, but not so easy to know if you’re planning on relocating from Chicago or Seattle, for example, and haven’t ever explored Boulder real estate on your own.

I’ll continue to explore the history and trends of various neighborhoods around Boulder so if you don’t see an area that you’re interested in reading about, let me know and I’ll add it to the list. It’s a work in progress as there’s constant change in the local Boulder real estate market. As a Boulder Realtor with a history in our area, I hope I can bring you an inside look at some interesting local neighborhoods.

Goss Grove Neighborhood

The Goss Grove neighborhood is a great example of Boulder real estate that’s gone through vast changes over it’s history. The area included is essentially between Arapahoe Ave and Canyon Blvd. and from 15th to Folsom St. It’s full of
mostly turn-of-the-century homes. That’s not turn of the recent century, of course.

Goss Grove got its start as part of a homestead. Marinus Smith built his house on 16th St. between Grove St. and the White Rock Ditch back in 1859. Smith used the western part of the neighborhood as his gardens ane orchards.

Now the western section of the neighborhood is called Orchard Home addition. It was annexed to the City of Boulder in 1902.

Names you might recognize, such as C.J. Goss, Robert Culver and Charles Anderson used the area east of Smith’s land to raise cattle and for farming. These three later promoted the area as Culver’s addition which was annexed to the City of Boulder in 1874.

The Culver-Bixby home on Canyon Blvd. is marked as an historic building.

Several homes were built on Grove St. by 1883 and some of them are still standing today. By 1910 the neighborhood was completely built out.

Through the years between the 1950’s and 1980’s many homes were remodeled and some early redevelopment phases included replacing the older homes with apartment buildings. Over those years and still to some extent today, there are many students from C.U. Boulder living in the Goss Grove neighborhood.

With the value of Boulder real estate this close to downtown increasing in recent years, many people are choosing to move back into the neighborhood to live as opposed to the former trend as investment property filled with CU students. Given that there are still many apartment buildings in the area, this probably won’t change soon.

At the turn of the 20th century, residents of the neighborhood included business owners, lawyers, contractors, other professionals and even the city water commissioner. In those days, students lived in spare rooms of resident families. Goss street was home to former slaves and their descendants who were professionals in industries such as farming, teaching and carpentry.

This kind of diversity exists today and with the current trends back towards owner occupied homes in many central Boulder neighborhoods including Goss Grove, property values should continue to increase as residents put more energy and focus on home repairs and improvements.

Boulder Steel Yards

The Steel Yards community gets its name from a business that served the Boulder community for many, many years. It’s name was Boulder Steel and you can even see the name Boulder Steel Yards in the brick work on one of the surviving buildings that faces west along 30th street.

The area was once slated for a Home Depot business, probably due to the proximity to the railroad line that runs east of the property which is likely what positioned the steel yards there originally. Now we anticipate that these same tracks will service the FasTracks Transit Village planned for the nearby Pollard property on 30th and Pearl.

The Steel Yards has become a thriving community of mixed use residential, retail and office units spread across 22 buildings. This project has really become a great example of a live-work neighborhood can actually function well on many levels. It has revitalized this part of Boulder from a residential point of view and the people really do live and work in the project.

There’s lots of foot traffic and a full use of the neighborhood park, including the dog park. I’ve heard some complaints that people from other parts of Boulder come to the dog park thinking that it’s a city-owned park. In contrast, I’ve heard stories of dogs and people making new friends due to the popularity of the area.

With a great coffee shop, and lot’s of other businesses within easy walking distance, The Steel Yards is a great neighborhood to check out if you’re looking for an alternative to downtown.


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