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28th Street is the closest thing to "Main Street" that Boulder has. 28th is HW 36 when traveling between Estes Park and Denver. There are some homes on 28th along the northern portion of town but for the most part 28th is where the grocery stores, Target and lots of business and restaurants occur. This is THE busiest and most high traffic road in Boulder.

A new Trader Joe's for example just went in on 28th at the 29th Street Mall area. 28th has a lot of RTD buses for local passengers and riders going through Boulder.

If you stay on 63rd St. going north crossing HW 119 (Diagonal Highway) heading away from Gunbarrel you really start getting in the country. The scattered homes and farms along 63rd are isolated yet really close to Boulder, Longmont, Gunbarrel and even Lyons.

There are alot of horses and open pastures in the area and for someone wanting country living but to be close to the city this is ideal. The views of the mountains just a few miles to the west are spectacular. The cost of living is very reasonable but the cost of land is still BOulder County prices but not as high as the city of course.

Monte Vista is a small town desert town of about 5,000 people. It is just about 10 miles or so west of Alamosa along HW 160 in the heart of the San Luis Valley. The town is surrounded by agriculture and mountains on the horizons.

The average household income is about $28,000, below Colorado's average. This is a nice little town but it is not "in the mountains" and can be super hot, dry and windy in the summer and desolate and cold in the winter. Monte Vista is pretty especially during the spring and fall and is also famous for the sand crane migration. There is the annual Monte Vista Crane Festival each during the first week of March.

Red Cliff is a tiny town of about 300 people in Eagle County south of Vail along HW 24 on the way to Leadville. This is a pretty valley along the Eagle River and named after the red quartzite cliffs.

The town was a silver mining community early days. This is an amazing valley area with lots of property for the adventurous souls looking for mountain property or land for horses. Average household income is about $50,000.

Estes Park is one of the most touristy places in Colorado due to Rocky Mountain National Park...however it is also a great town and I have several friends who live there and really love it.

Estes Park is great for nature lovers and those who want to take advantage of the world class hiking trails (but that by no means is only found here, that is throughout most of the mountainous part of the entire state!)

Thinking about buying real estate in Estes? The price of property is especially high though there are some areas that have "normal" neighborhoods and high but not extraordinarily high prices considering it is "Estes". The National Park really gives Estes Park a unique market and the tourism in summer is rediculous.

There are many pros and cons of Estes, but if you are a people person, a mountain person and want to buy property in an up and coming town that will only get stronger check out Estes. As of late 2013 the flood in the area really threw the town for a loop and destoyed a lot of property but the community has bounced back and seems to be back to normal for the most part, the community got stronger!

Drake has a population of about 1,000 folks. For most Drake is the little summer town about half way between Loveland and Estes Park along the Big Thompson River road--HW 34.

There is a campground along the river appropriately named, Riverbend Campground close to town. If you take HW 43 just west of Drake there are some county roads and homes up the North Fork of the Big Thompson and eventually you get to the little town of Glen Haven. This whole area was seriously flooded during the recent 2013 floods.

North out of Drake there is Storm Mountain Road and a set of roads where there are beautiful properties and homes. This is pretty area and would be a great spot to buy land or build a cabin, not far from Estes nor Loveland really if you did not have to commute on a regular basis. There are a lot of tourists in the area sight seeing and camping in the summer months mostly because of the proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The area has plenty of hiking trails and whitewater rafting/kayaking and fishing spots.

Boulder County off course includes Boulder, the town, at its heart right at the junction of where the mountain change to plains. The county is not one of Colorado's largest but it has a lot of diversity as far as landscapes and resources. Boulder County is one of the top school districts in the state if not the entire region. It also has one of the most expensive rental and real estate prices, especially in Boulder city limits.

The western boundary of the county is the continental divide up along the Indian Peaks. There are no roads that cross the continental divide, only hiking trails anymore. Then there is Nederland, Ward and the mountain towns...down the many canyons along the border of the foothills you find Boulder the city or tiny Eldorado Canyon the town.

Out away from the mountains to the east the county has some great little towns with amazing "old towns" such as Longmont, Louisville and Lafayette. The county as a whole is also famous for some crazy inventive and progressive legislature. The "green belt" environmental laws that were passed decades ago protects Boulder town from growing and becoming a constant suburb all the way east, this gives the town some of its real estate power. Do not underestimate the cost of land and property in Boulder county especially in the city and up in the foothills around Boulder. This is beautiful and unique country and people.

Salt Creek is a neighborhood west of Pueblo that is primarily Hispanic. The average income is about $30,000 a year and the area's properties are affordable and many are big homes with extra ranch buildings and large lots. Somewhat of a ranchette place out in the flat plains west of Pueblo, but there are creeks and highways in and around the area. Highway 50 marks the northern boundary of the Salt Creek area.

Gypsum is a small town right along I-70 just west of Eagle, basically Gypsum is between Vail and Glenwood Springs on the south side of the interstate.

Gypsum Creek Golf Club is a notable landmark when you are driving through and the area is also know for the Gypsum drywall plant and mine. Gypsum the mineral is calcium sulfate dihydrate, known in its clear form in a rock shop as selenite, in sculpting as alabaster and simply gypsum in building materials and mining--it is also known as plaster of Paris. It is also used as a fertilizer as a source of sulfur for crops.

The town is near both Glenwood Springs and Vail and has economically done well because of the vicinity. There is beautiful land and existing properties that anyone looking to live in the mountains but have access to the ski resorts or larger towns would enjoy. Gypsum is more affordable than nearby Glenwood or Vail but the area is just as nice, just not as many amenities. The average household income in Gypsum is about $60,000.

Glen Haven is a tiny town with only a few handful of people who live in the town, there are residents around the town. There is the famous Bed and Breakfast Inn with a restaurant room and Victorian style rooms. The Inn has been called "One of the Most Romantic Places Ever".

This little sleepy mountain town north of Estes Park is along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. In September 2013 a "1000 year flood" rages through Glen Haven on its way down the North Fork as it made its way to the The Big Thompson River just about 10 miles down stream to the east. The Big Thompson River was the famous site that also historically flooded in 1976. The 2011 flood all but destroyed the businesses and homes of the town and as of a month or so after the flood everything is in the process of being repaired and rebuilt.

Not to deter the hardy mountain folk and for anyone looking for a pretty mountain spot to live that is not far from the front range towns of Fort COllins/Loveland, Glen Haven may be a perfect place, especially now, to invest in land and property. Considering the devestation from the flood there may even be some folk who are selling their properties in order to avoid future flood events.

Just 10 minutes east of Castle Rock is Franktown, this is a very small town of only about 400 people. The average household income in town is high relative to the average for Colorado, it is about $60,000 in Franktown.

The little town has an historic cemetary and is really a fairly short commute to the Denver area to its north, especially for those commutting into the tech center of south Denver. There are some businesses in town but there are some really amazing homes (big properties) outside of town. This would be a great place to invest in land/property if you needed to be near Denver but wanted a country feel and view of the mountains.

There are many many resorts of course, but also some condos and nice homes up on the hills around the ski area. This place is great in the summer and also in the winter if you can take the tourists you will love it.

Conifer is a small unincorporated town not far west of Denver along HW 285. This is a beautiful area that is commutable to and from Denver if need be. It is close enough to Denver but is still deep enough in and through the foothills to feel like the mountains. Many people who have dreamed of living in the mnts but still work in the front range live in Conifer. The price of land and homes is more reasonable than many other comparable places.

The area has some ranches and cattle range still in the southern realms and there are many homes and neigborhoods that are still growing. There are minimal but adequate amenities such as groceries, services and restaurants. Firefighter? Conifer might be a great place to get a job, or if you are in the construction industry too. Schools have a great reputation too.

Highway 285 can get kind of crazy due to tourism traffic especially in the summer but the roads are great and well maintained in the Conifer area.

Louviers is a very small town SW of the Denver metro area right along the foothills area. The town is along HW 85 south of Highlands Park and Chatfield State Park before HW 85 reaches I-25 at Castle Rock.

The population of Louviers is only about 250 people and the average media income is $40,000 or so. This is a pretty area but more of a wayfar for travelers, luckily the nice little town is just west of HW 85 on the other side of Plum Creek so it is protected from the traffic. There is a park with a nice baseball diamond and the neighborhoods have trees and are rather pretty. And if you work in Denver this area is not a bad place to checkout for country lovers, the commute wouldnt be too bad at all.

The neighborhood around Rollins Drive is more affordable by far than any other neigborhoods in Boulder. This is the area and neighborhoods NE from the major intersection of Valmont?Foothills Highway in east Boulder. This is known as a more affordable option for folks who really want to live in Boulder but can't afford to do it west of 28th Street where the real estate climbs significantly steeper as you move west towards Pearl Street pedestrian area. Rollins Drive is one of many small courrts and streets that fishes through the area. Check it out, there are great schools and bike paths all around to get into town and to explore the countryside that is just to the north and east of the neighborhood.

Rifle Ct. has a few homes/ranches just off HW 36 north of where 36 starts heading towards Lyons and gets out of town. Longhorn Road describes the area even better (Rifle Ct. is off Longhorn). This is a great area if you want to live a bit in the country but be close to Boulder for shopping, schools etc... It is not cheap in this area but not as expensive as many areas in BOulder. You can buy larger acreage for about the same price of much much smaller plots of land in or nearer to Boulder proper.

Cokedale is a small town of about 100 people, it lies just west of Trinidad in the far southern realm of central Colorado (about 10 miles west of Trinidad on HW 12). Cokedale lies just a mile or so west of Trinidad Lake and Trinidad State Park.

The town is a former coal mining town and today the average household income is below the Colorado average, in town it is about $25,000. The area is really pretty and is in kind of a scrubby, foothill area, if you keep going west of town it gets more mountainous. There are mining ruins around Cokedale and places to hike and explore.

Marine Street in Boulder reaches almost from the foot of the foothills through campus all the way to eastern Boulder. But...there is one thing that Marine St has in common as it makes its way from west to east, it is all (literally all) about the university! Marine St apartment on the hill is packed with students as you east then Marine St. is where you find Marine Family Housing for CU then Marine St east of campus is still more student dominated housing. For anyone moving to Boulder looking into real estate on Marine st means either you are a student or you are wanting to rent to students.

Simla is a small town way out in the Colorado eastern plains on HW 24 well east of Colorado Springs and not too far from where HW 24 and I-70 meet before continuing east to Kansas. Simla became a town in 1912 and continues to be a hub of the potato farmers in the area today.

Simla really is in the middle of nowhere Colorado and feels like Kansas at that point that far east, you can no longer see the mountains in the west and would have to drive for a couple hours to get to the front range.

The average household income in Simla is about $30,000 a year, below the Colorado average. If you are a farmer looking for land there are possibilities here otherwise the schools are not very strong and you would be very far away from mountains and amenitites.

Sherrelwood is an area of Denver with a population of nearly 20,000 people packed in between Federal Heights and Westminster. Sherrelwood is basically the neighborhoods along the east of HW 36 and the west of I-25 just before the two highways meet each other just north of Denver. This is a great location for getting to most places in the Denver area including DIA.

The average household median income in the Sherrelwood neighborhoods is above $40,000. Funny but the area of Sherrelwood is not really a known word outide of the northern Denver area, the area is better known as part of Westminster or even the southern tail of Federal Heights, this area of Denver is very congested and there are no lack of restaurants, shopping venues, malls, theatres and things to do. Not a bad place if you want to live close to Denver and do not mind being so surrounded by highways.