Hippy Town
Boulder has a reputation. Think of Boulder and you most likely picture of a big ol' box of granola. If you know people who live here you might expand that notion to include words like hippy, green, liberal, easy-going, and sporty. We've been here for almost six months now (really! I can't believe it either) and I can tell you that Boulder's reputation is well-deserved. Aside from loose-fitting, natural-fabric fashion, dreds for white folks, prayer flags in every neighborhood, and other visual cues that this is a non-conformist place (in a the way that non-conformists tend to look alike), here are a smattering of observations:
• The other day in a coffee shop I overheard some people talking about a "gypsy dance" party that was going to have live music, dancing, a feminine altar, and a masculine altar.
• Some of the busstops here have solar panels to fuel the lights that illuminate the shelters at night.
• When people bump into one another or have a problem, the standard "it's okay" phrase is "no worries."
• I have met people named Star, Rain, Peace, and Harmony. And, I have read about people named Rainbeau and Sunflower. You can meet people with unusual names anywhere. I just think there's a greater concentration here.
• Naropa University is a (big) deal here. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. They call themselves "Buddhist Inspired Contemplative Education." If you want a degree in meditation, or an MA in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, or a bachelor's in Peace Studies, they're the university for you.
• There are two gyms here exclusively for rock climbing. Yes, not one, but two rather large indoor facilities floor-to-ceiling with nothing but rock-climbing walls. On any given day, even in winter, you can find people rock climbing outdoors if you venture even a little bit into the mountains.
• The city plows its bike paths before it plows our street. Even in the snow there are people who bike for transportation.
• There are three Whole Foods within the city limits for a town of 90,000. Minneapolis had one for a city four times that.
• In at least two lunch places the trash can is marked "landfill." Putting something in a bin marked "landfill" really makes you think. (These places, like many others, offer an array of recycling options.)
• At the lunch-food part of the farmer's market (when it is farmer's market season) there are two bins: compost and recycling. If you happen to have an item that falls into neither category you have to take it home with you. Seriously.
• People really let it mellow here -- in the bathroom. Are you familiar with the saying, "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down?" I've seen signs requesting this behavior (or lack thereof) in public restrooms, and frequently we'll go into a bathroom to find mellowing, um, already happening.
Of course, no place is defined by any one type of people. The granola/green vibe is strong here, no doubt, but the appeal of the area has attracted a large number of non-hippy people who like to live in places that have what Boulder offers. And companies have learned they can attract quality employees if they locate where quality employees like to live; there is a decidedly yuppy feel here now, too. There are suburbs with 7,000 square-foot homes and a Macy's. Those Whole Foods are not just for people who avoid refined sugar -- like everywhere else they're a kind of upscale grocery store. I don't doubt that Boulder will continue to change as more and more corporations (like my husband's) choose to relocate here. And, I am sure the mix of hippy and yuppy is part of Boulder's appeal for me, part of what makes it feel familiar. You could pick up Park Slope, Brooklyn and deposit it in the center of Boulder and, other than the mountains, no one would notice. Park Slope, our old Brooklyn neighborhood, is known equally for its food coop and multi-million-dollar brownstones.
But Minneapolis didn't have a hippy feel, not even a little bit. I hadn't realized that I missed it. At Christmastime we got on a plane to fly to Virginia and there was a gentleman in khakis and a blue blazer. He wore a belt and shined, lace-up shoes and looked as if he could get off the plane and walk onto Capitol Hill, which he very well may have been planning to do. I thought, that's what we don't have in Boulder, people who look like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm enjoying hanging out with the gore-tex, green tea latte crowd for now.
• The other day in a coffee shop I overheard some people talking about a "gypsy dance" party that was going to have live music, dancing, a feminine altar, and a masculine altar.
• Some of the busstops here have solar panels to fuel the lights that illuminate the shelters at night.
• When people bump into one another or have a problem, the standard "it's okay" phrase is "no worries."
• I have met people named Star, Rain, Peace, and Harmony. And, I have read about people named Rainbeau and Sunflower. You can meet people with unusual names anywhere. I just think there's a greater concentration here.
• Naropa University is a (big) deal here. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. They call themselves "Buddhist Inspired Contemplative Education." If you want a degree in meditation, or an MA in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, or a bachelor's in Peace Studies, they're the university for you.
• There are two gyms here exclusively for rock climbing. Yes, not one, but two rather large indoor facilities floor-to-ceiling with nothing but rock-climbing walls. On any given day, even in winter, you can find people rock climbing outdoors if you venture even a little bit into the mountains.
• The city plows its bike paths before it plows our street. Even in the snow there are people who bike for transportation.
• There are three Whole Foods within the city limits for a town of 90,000. Minneapolis had one for a city four times that.
• In at least two lunch places the trash can is marked "landfill." Putting something in a bin marked "landfill" really makes you think. (These places, like many others, offer an array of recycling options.)
• At the lunch-food part of the farmer's market (when it is farmer's market season) there are two bins: compost and recycling. If you happen to have an item that falls into neither category you have to take it home with you. Seriously.
• People really let it mellow here -- in the bathroom. Are you familiar with the saying, "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down?" I've seen signs requesting this behavior (or lack thereof) in public restrooms, and frequently we'll go into a bathroom to find mellowing, um, already happening.
Of course, no place is defined by any one type of people. The granola/green vibe is strong here, no doubt, but the appeal of the area has attracted a large number of non-hippy people who like to live in places that have what Boulder offers. And companies have learned they can attract quality employees if they locate where quality employees like to live; there is a decidedly yuppy feel here now, too. There are suburbs with 7,000 square-foot homes and a Macy's. Those Whole Foods are not just for people who avoid refined sugar -- like everywhere else they're a kind of upscale grocery store. I don't doubt that Boulder will continue to change as more and more corporations (like my husband's) choose to relocate here. And, I am sure the mix of hippy and yuppy is part of Boulder's appeal for me, part of what makes it feel familiar. You could pick up Park Slope, Brooklyn and deposit it in the center of Boulder and, other than the mountains, no one would notice. Park Slope, our old Brooklyn neighborhood, is known equally for its food coop and multi-million-dollar brownstones.
But Minneapolis didn't have a hippy feel, not even a little bit. I hadn't realized that I missed it. At Christmastime we got on a plane to fly to Virginia and there was a gentleman in khakis and a blue blazer. He wore a belt and shined, lace-up shoes and looked as if he could get off the plane and walk onto Capitol Hill, which he very well may have been planning to do. I thought, that's what we don't have in Boulder, people who look like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm enjoying hanging out with the gore-tex, green tea latte crowd for now.
Comments
I learned "no worries" from a grad school classmate who lived in Colorado, but Denver, I think.
Nothing says Welcome to Virginia like a blue blazer and khaki pants!!