Who are we? Ask that question in Boulder County, and you’ll likely get different answers. You also find some common threads.
In Lafayette and Erie, which are growing at the fastest clip, you might hear that Boulder County is a great place to raise kids, as what was once prairie has become cul de sac. If you’re in Longmont, cultural diversity might get the nod. In Boulder, it might be the very high percentage of people holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, although the entire county is more educated than the United States as a whole.
That education level is one of the county’s attractions and one reason you’ll likely find a fair number of people in your neighborhood who aren’t from Colorado. As with the rest of the state, Boulder County is a magnet for people from other places. While that can lead to grudging – or proud, depending on your viewpoint – “Colorado Native” bumper stickers, it also makes for a place a little less set in its ways than locales that don’t see many new migrants.
Plus, you’re more likely to know a scientist or a tech entrepreneur than you would if you lived someplace else.
While Boulder County is sitting pretty compared to many communities, it will also undergo profound changes as the century wears on.
The population is growing older. That’s partly because of the large and aging wave of baby boomers, but also due to the fact that boomers and the generations that have followed live longer than those from previous generations.
“I think people forget that they age every year,” said State Demographer Elizabeth Warner. “So they look at Boulder and say, ‘That’s not that bad.’ Give them five more years, 10 more years. Those (now) 65 will be 70, 75. They’re going to need more services.”
She added that while many seniors may own houses that have appreciated substantially in Boulder County’s hot real estate market, they don’t necessarily have more money to cover expenses.
“Some of them have only their house equity,” Warner said. “Can they get the goods and services they need to stay here? Will it be cost-prohibitive? Will people cash out and have to move a little bit farther east?”
An additional question seniors may be pondering: If they move out of county to a smaller, cheaper place, will they have access to services as comprehensive as the ones they can get in Boulder County?
The county is also becoming more diverse. The contributions of people with different cultures and backgrounds offer a broader view of what Boulder County is and can be.
Yet, there are challenges.
Currently, Latinos, the largest minority, have lower levels of education and are more likely to live in poverty than the population as a whole. The recipe for success that worked for a largely homogenous population will require rethinking as Boulder moves through the coming decades.
“If there is an achievement gap, why does that exist?” asked Community Foundation Trustee Carmen Ramirez, who manages Community and Neighborhood Resources for the city of Longmont. “What systems along the way continue to feed that? It’s hard to figure out where the change has to happen.”
She added, though, that the effort is crucial to our community’s resiliency.
“It really pushes us to think beyond, to think deeper,” she said. “To recognize people’s gifts also means to recognize our differences.”
by Cindy Sutter
