Boulder vs Bozeman, please help me decide!

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Median home cost in Bozeman last fall was reportedly near $450k. I heard it was around $475k now. In Boulder, it was near $750k last fall. A different source says $800k this year.

These figures show Boulder about 70% higher.

But would need to look at "comparable houses" to get a better sense of relative costs of what a buyer wants.

(Other numbers are out there. Mean price. Offer prices. Assessed value. Need to be consistent for comparison and pay attention to when different stats are cited.)

Boulder is high for a interior west city. (Some neighborhoods in Denver go higher. Others elsewhere in a few places in interior west do too.)

"Bozeman last fall was reportedly near $450k. I heard it was around $475k now. In Boulder, it was near $750k last fall. A different source says $800k this year".

[Reziac]

The obvious place to look for a neighborhood with lots of kids is to look for houses close to a grade school. If you want your kids to be able to play with other kids, an area where everyone needs a bus to get to school indicates the kids are too scattered to walk to one another's homes. (And real play is spontaneous, not planned by parents taking 'em in a car.)

Bozeman itself is lightly sloped to flat (if partly ringed by mountains) ... those trees took time to grow, and mostly indicate that the neighborhood is no longer new. Older neighborhoods have more and bigger trees; it's that simple. New subdivisions are being built on agricultural land, which naturally had no trees because they'd long ago been cleared in favor of crops (and where trees remained, it was usually because that spot is subject to spring flooding).

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Reziac

The obvious place to look for a neighborhood with lots of kids is to look for houses close to a grade school. If you want your kids to be able to play with other kids, an area where everyone needs a bus to get to school indicates the kids are too scattered to walk to one another's homes. (And real play is spontaneous, not planned by parents taking 'em in a car.)

Bozeman itself is lightly sloped to flat (if partly ringed by mountains) ... those trees took time to grow, and mostly indicate that the neighborhood is no longer new. Older neighborhoods have more and bigger trees; it's that simple. New subdivisions are being built on agricultural land, which naturally had no trees because they'd long ago been cleared in favor of crops (and where trees remained, it was usually because that spot is subject to spring flooding).

Do kids still play spontaneously? These days it seems their schedules are pretty full.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by NDak15

Do kids still play spontaneously? These days it seems their schedules are pretty full.

Well, I hope some do... it's sure a lot better for the kids when they can exercise mind and body creatively, rather than with every moment structured.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Well, I hope some do... it's sure a lot better for the kids when they can exercise mind and body creatively, rather than with every moment structured.

I agree but it seems that all I hear from parents is how much they have their kids scheduled. Traveling sports, music, you name it. They just ferry their kids all over.

[alaskaflyer]

The main difference between the two cities is that Boulder is really an urban area and Bozeman despite all the recent growth is still a rural town. No Denver metro to drive to (well, if you want a metro area, Denver or Salt Lake is where you'll drive or fly, or Seattle too), crime rates not comparable really, traffic not comparable. And despite complaints (hey I get it, we were shopping for a weekend home/investment in Bozangeles as recently as last year) the housing market is still much cheaper than Boulder, if higher than almost the whole rest of Montana.

It was the same in the mid-1990's when I lived in both places for the first time and both were smaller - you could see shades of comparison in both communities with the climbing culture, ski culture, people on bikes, university town, coop groceries and the such - but Boulder was so much bigger with the associated "issues" but also shopping and culture advantages too.

Recently I found myself visiting Berkeley again for a few days and - other than climate and proximity to skiing - I see more similarities to Boulder. I know that is a cliche but it's a cliche for a reason.

[MikeyMike11]

Originally Posted by mjdboulder

Thank you for the thought out questions.
Ultimately, I am looking for a neighborhood with LOTS OF KIDS. That's my number one criteria. Need lots of kids since we have little ones. Then good schools (which sounds like they mostly ALL are), trees, and nice houses, not really in the flat area, but somewhere more cozy and treed.

If there is an area in Bozeman with LOTS of kids, that would be where I would want to look first.

I'm raising some kids right now. They should be in bed!!! BUT THEY'RE NOT!!! (yelling upstairs). But anyway, my street is chock full of families, and we live near Longfellow, just south of Main. Not very affordable, but if you have some money, you can't beat this neighborhood. Walking distance to Peet's Hill, their school, Downtown, MSU, parks galore, and the creek and Gallagator trail is right outside. You can always PM me for more details, I don't like pin pointing my location on the internet lol.