“We Should Have Changed the Code Months Ago”
by Osman Parvez ---- Is City Council Against Property Rights? The Camera is reporting on City Council's efforts to block the redevelopment of 1580 Canyon, formerly Robb's Music. Council voted yesterday to review an already approved decision to allow the property owner to build a 54 foot tall building on the site. From the article: Developers received approval from the city's Planning Board last month to tear down the existing building on the site and put the four-story, 54-foot-tall structure in its place. Before yesterday's meeting, Councilwoman Susan Osborne sent an email (on a public list) to colleagues rallying support. [...]
BluePrint Boulder 2008 – Saturday, November 8
by Osman Parvez ---- What: Blueprint Boulder 2008, an urban planning forum for Boulder's future Where: The Boulder Municipal Building (City Hall, 1777 Broadway, on the S.W. corner of Canyon and Broadway) When: Saturday, November 8, 2008, from 9am to 3pm Who: All members of the public, especially those interested in the future of Boulder's Neighborhoods Cost: Free Contact: Scott Rodwin, 303.204.8556 or scott@rodwinarch.com Blueprint Boulder 2008: In Search of a Common Vision for Blueprint Boulder 2008 will host an open public forum. Blueprint Boulder is a free, privately organized, non-profit, grass-roots event rooted in the questions "How do we [...]
Pop and Scrape Survey Now Due
by Osman Parvez ---- Just a reminder to Boulder residents. The Pops and Scrapes Community survey must be postmarked by tomorrow. Or you can deliver it personally to RRC Associates, 4940 Pearl East Circle, Suite 103. Property owners in affected neighborhoods should have received this a few weeks ago via postal mail. If you have plans to improve your property, care about the impact of development on our community, or simply want to protect your property's value, I strongly encourage you to fill-out and return the survey. For those curious about the contents of the survey, I scanned my copy. [...]
The Pops and Scrapes Survey
by Osman Parvez ---- If you own property in the City of Boulder, check your mailbox. You've probably just received your Pops and Scrapes Survey. To protect the potential use of your property and its future resale value, it's very important to respond. However you feel about the issue, it's critical for city officials to hear from a representative group of homeowners, not just those with strong feeling about home expansions. I've been to the workshops and meetings about this issue. City Council intends to move on it as soon as possible. Your survey must be postmarked by November 7th. [...]
The Peloton – An Owner’s View
by Osman Parvez ---- So what's it like to actually live at the Peloton? An owner sent us the following: Hi House Einstein - I was reading some of your blogs about The Peloton. If you'd like the views of an actual resident . . . My wife and I moved there in June, and we adore it. The Community Center is awesome. Our neighbors are wonderful and we are "gelling" into a very caring community. The HOA dues, while expensive, cover almost everything - and electric bills are minimal. Overall, cheaper than the cost of utilities and a club [...]
Washington School Development – What’s Next?
by Osman Parvez ---- This just in from the City... ---------- Wonderland Hill Development Company (WHDC) will host a public open house to present the Washington Village revised site design from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, at Washington School, 1215 Cedar Ave. Representatives from WHDC will be available to answer questions after the presentation. The city will begin its review of the site review application on Monday, Oct. 6. At that time, city staff will post the revised site review application on the city Web site for public review. Interested parties will be able send comments to [...]
The Peloton – Photo Tour and Impressions
by Osman Parvez ---- Last month, residents finally started moving into The Peloton. With phase one's recent completion, we headed down to The Peloton to take a look at a few units. Phase one includes the two east buildings with about 200 residential units, and the three floor community building. Shots of the exterior were posted with the development map update, and we've posted two new sets of the interiors of a loft and two bedroom. Note that the units do not come furnished. The loft is 956 square feet and priced at $409,400. The two bedroom is 1,673 square [...]
Xcel Brings Intelligent Electricity to Life
by Osman Parvez ---- We like things smart in Boulder. Walk around our city and you'll bump into plenty of bookstores and well stocked libraries. Our coffee shops, bike paths, and buses are filled with bookworms and laptop toting smarties. Heck, we may even be the most intelligent city in America (according to Forbes). Now, get ready for smart electricity. Xcel Energy has selected Boulder as its first SmartGridCity and the new system has already started to come online. Earlier this year, Xcel announced that they would test an upgrade to their infrastructure and last month, the first of 15,000 [...]
FasTracks, Worth $7.9 Billion?
by Osman Parvez ---- Over the entire Denver/Boulder metro area, there's been a lot of buzz about a certain public transit project. Last month, the Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) completed its annual FasTracks evaluation and announced a new budget of $7.9 billion, a 68% increase from the original budget. The project has received quite a bit of press over the past few weeks. Starting at the FasTracks website, through editorials in the local papers, and speaking with dozens of people to gain their insights, here's my attempt to dissect the situation. First, I believe a brief review is [...]
Boulder Development Map Update
by Osman Parvez ---- We've just completed a huge update to our Boulder Development Map. With this update, we are publishing over 180 pictures of various development projects in Boulder on Flickr. Clicking on the place marks in the Google map will bring up a description with a thumbnail. Click on the thumbnail to visit the set of photos on Flickr. Some sets, such as The Peloton, contain over a dozen images. Here is a key to serve as a reminder: As always, if you know of any other projects or have photos you think we should include, feel free [...]
Which Way? The Market Diverges
by Osman Parvez ---- Dean Baker is reporting on the divergence between high and low-end homes. He writes, "In several of the former bubble markets higher end home prices appear to be stabilizing, while prices for homes in the bottom tier continue to fall rapidly." In the Case-Shiller data for markets Baker examines, the low end is dropping rapidly while the high end is better holding its value. In LA, the bottom 1/3 fell by 3.2% in June and 12.2% quarterly. The top 1/3 fell only by 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively. He notes similar patterns in other markets. As you [...]
Craving Classical? Boulder’s the Place to Be!
by Osman Parvez ---- Many in Boulder are lamenting the loss of KVOD, Colorado Public Radio’s classical music station, which no longer has decent reception in the city since the switch to 88.1 FM. However, from music festivals to solo recitals, classical music is being performed everywhere. Since 1978, the Colorado Music Festival has been a staple of summer at Chautauqua Park, commonly featuring pieces by Mozart, Stravinsky, and Beethoven. Last Friday, the festival wrapped up six weeks of concerts, with performances by dozens of artists, including the St. Petersburg String Quartet and fifteen-year-old Shannon Lee. A myriad of concerts [...]
Historic Farmstead Auction
by Osman Parvez ---- On August 3rd, the city of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) began taking bids for 131-year-old Woodley Farmstead off 75th and Arapahoe. In 2005, the city bought the thirteen-acre property for $1.26 million. Sealed, public bids will be taken through September 3oth, starting at $750,000 for a six-acre portion of the farm. It was recently written up in the Daily Camera: City officials want to put just under half the original parcel it bought back into private hands to better ensure the historic farm house and outbuildings there are maintained and preserved... The farmstead [...]
What’s Really Happening in the Boulder Market?
by Osman Parvez ---- A comment appeared yesterday. I thought it was a good one, deserving to be unearthed from the dark depths of the comment archives and shared. Anon wrote, "The blog has been interesting this summer. I like the new wider topic areas. However, I think the main purpose - analyzing the local RE market - has been largely ignored the last few months. Frankly, the insight and market insider knowledge isn't there, and three monthly reports float in a month after the month in question ends. I complain only because I find this info very interesting and [...]
We Love Boulder Outdoor Cinema
by Osman Parvez ---- Ahh... the smell of fresh, buttery popcorn. The dark air conditioned theater. The flickering screen. It was magical. This is what comes to mind when I think about my early memories of going to the movies. That and waiting in line for Star Wars. Now you can rediscover the magic of going to the movies through Boulder Outdoor Cinema. It's a Summer tradition. We like to pack a picnic dinner, bring a bottle of wine (against the rules, shhh), and invite a few friends. It's a great way to bring people together and always a fun [...]
