boulder county

On a sunny morning last winter, I found myself facing an oh-so-Colorado predicament. My friend Tom was visiting from Michigan and he wanted to go skiing. Of course I wanted to go with him, but I had two non-negotiable work deadlines to meet that day. What to do? Take my work to the ski area, of course. As Tom loaded up the ski gear, I packed my laptop and charger. We made our way up Boulder Canyon and arrived at Eldora Mountain a little before 9 a.m. While Tom skied over to the chairlift, I found a cozy corner in the West…

After spending $40,000 to electrify her Boulder home, which included installing heat pumps, K.K. DuVivier was ready to disconnect from natural gas and have her meter turned off. Then she got the bill to flip the switch: $5,333. The bill marked due Dec. 12 arrived after what DuVivier described as frustrating rounds of calls and emails as she tried to stop the gas service she no longer needs from Xcel Energy. The bill didn’t say why she owed more than $5,000. When she contacted Xcel again, DuVivier got an email saying the…

There are a plethora of highly anticipated restaurants making their debut in Denver this year, but if you can’t wait that long to satisfy your appetite, Yelp is here to help. On Tuesday, the restaurant review platform released its annual list of the top 100 places to eat in the U.S. in 2024, which includes three spots in Denver and one in Lafayette. It’s the 11th time Yelp has curated the list by analyzing user submissions and ranking them based on review ratings and volumes, alongside community input. The top spot in…

Parkway Food Hall, a 16,000-square-foot facility featuring eight restaurant spots, a full bar and several other amenities, is planned to open in the former Alfalfa’s grocery store spot at 700 Ken Pratt Blvd. in Longmont in May. “There’s nothing like this in Longmont,” Chris Nehls, Blackfox Parkway Associates vice president, said in a release. “Though Denver has one of the highest rates of food halls in the country, Longmont has been left out of the fun, until now.” Blackfox Parkway Associates owns the building where…

Many community members who turned out to a Boulder Planning Board hearing last week voiced strong opposition to a developer’s concept plan that would tear down the historic Dark Horse Tavern and build a mixed-use commercial and residential development on the property. The Dark Horse has been a Boulder landmark since 1975, known for its selection of bar food and drinks as well as its assortment of Colorado Buffaloes memorabilia, unique décor and fun atmosphere, according to its website. Not to mention the bar’s infamous…

Conditions are looking up for tenants in metro Denver and Boulder as more new apartments keep rolling into the market, keeping rents in check and providing more options for those looking for housing, according to a quarterly update from the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. The average rent for an apartment in the seven-county metro area, including Boulder, was $1,870 in the fourth quarter, which is down from $1,888 in the third quarter and not much above the average of $1,838 a year earlier. Two years ago, the…

A Front Range property management company has agreed to pay about $1 million to the state after illegally billing tenants for standard apartment services like repairs, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday. Boulder-based Four Star Realty reached the settlement with Attorney General Phil Weiser after an investigation by the Colorado Department of Law exposed multiple instances of the company charging renters for unnecessary work, unrelated damages and other fees not outlined in their leases. The…

It’s been 10 years since Colorado launched the first legal recreational marijuana market in the world and became a pioneer in drug reform. But when it came to the nascent industry, the first sales on Jan. 1, 2014, were more a starting block than a finish line. In the decade since legalization, Colorado has refined laws, catalyzed new ones and served as a litmus test for the rest of the country as states followed its lead. Today, cannabis is recreationally available for sale in 24 states — where more than half of Americans…

The news of potential interest rate cuts next year could leave would-be homebuyers with visions of lower mortgage rates dancing in their heads. But it’s too late to take advantage of more favorable terms on that $13 million house in Boulder or the $14.7 million, nine-bedroom home in Golden. Those two made the list of some of the priciest home sales across the state in 2023, a year in which higher mortgages certainly didn’t hinder the luxury home market. There’s luxury, and then there’s Aspen luxury. The most expensive…

Colorado is in a heated battle with Illinois to win designation as the nation’s top hub for quantum technology, with potentially $1 billion in federal support, not to mention multiple times that in economic activity, at stake. The CHIPS and Science Act directs $52 billion in federal dollars to boost U.S. competitiveness in semiconductors and restore the country’s leadership in chip manufacturing and other advanced technologies. The Biden administration announced Monday that it would make the first award under the act by…