Why are homes in Boulder so expensive?

I came to Boulder in the 1960s as a student at CU. Over more than 50 years in Boulder real estate, I have watched growth and rising property values build wealth and confidence for generations of families. Most of what you pay for here was decided by voters long before you started looking.

The decisions that shaped prices

In 1959, voters approved the Blue Line, a charter amendment that stopped city water service above 5,750 feet to protect the mountain backdrop. That is why the foothills behind town look the way they do.

In 1967, Boulder became the first city in the country to pass a sales tax to buy open space. The city's Open Space and Mountain Parks department now manages more than 46,000 acres in and around Boulder.

In 1971, citizens voted to limit new buildings to 55 feet so they would not block mountain views. In 1976, the Danish Plan limited residential growth to roughly 1.5 to 2 percent a year.

What that means when you buy

Each of those votes protected something people love about Boulder. Each one also limited how much new housing could be built. Demand from the university, the employers here and people who simply want to live under the Flatirons kept growing. The supply of land did not.

That is why a modest house on a good street can cost more than a large one a few miles east. You are paying for a place that cannot be added to. In my experience that has held through every cycle, even in years like this one when prices level off.