Comparing Boulder and Adelaide

I’ve been asked by several people to write a blog post comparing Adelaide, South Australia to Boulder, Colorado in the USA.  I agreed before thinking through the consequences of annoying people in both cities, but I’ll do my best.  Just know that I love you both.

Let’s start with Wikipedia’s thumbnail of Boulder and Adelaide. –

Just looking at the thumbnail photos from Wikipedia, you’ll notice there are palm trees in Adelaide, and this huge blue patch to the West of the city that is the Gulf Saint Vincent.  All along the West coast are beaches.  We’ve always said that Boulder would be perfect if it had an ocean.  To the West of Boulder you see lots of green, and that’s the Rocky Mountains – peaks that reach up to over 14,000 feet or 4,200 meters.  To be fair, when you are standing in Boulder you are already at 5,430 feet or 1,655 meters above sea level, so the mountains don’t look quite as tall as that, but compared to Mount Lofty – they are mountains.

Both Adelaide and Boulder value green space.  Adelaide planned the space from the beginning and has managed to preserve most of it, while Boulder started buying up open space years ago and continues today to try to prevent urban sprawl.  That also makes the real estate more expensive in Boulder because it is such a nice place to live, while Adelaide is considered pretty economical especially compared to Sydney.  For me, I’m paying less for housing in Adelaide than I was in Boulder County and I have a much better location.

If you like hiking and biking, both are great places.  If you like skiing and snowshoeing you’ve got to go with Boulder, and if you like surfing and snorkeling, you’ve got to go with Adelaide.  As a city, Boulder feels much smaller but you have Denver down the road if you want the big city.  Adelaide feels like a much bigger city, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel like a Big City.  Yes, there are lots more people here but when I go for a walk down Rundle Mall it doesn’t feel hugely different from walking down the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.  The buildings are a few stories taller in Adelaide, but both are very clean and the people are friendly.

From Wikipedia – Adelaide (

i/ˈædəleɪd/ ad-ə-layd)^[8] is the capital city of the state of South Australia, and the fifth-most populous city of Australia. In June 2014, Adelaide had an estimated resident population of 1.31 million.^[1]

Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for a freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide’s founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens, in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Light’s design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parklands. Early Adelaide was shaped by prosperity and wealth—up until the Second World War, it was Australia’s third largest city.^[11] It has been noted for early examples of religious freedom, a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties.^{[citation needed]} It has been known as the “City of Churches” since the mid-19th century.^[12]

As South Australia’s seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street and in various districts of the metropolitan area. Today, Adelaide is noted for its many festivals and sporting events, its food and wine, its long beach fronts, and its large defence and manufacturing sectors. It ranks highly in terms of liveability, being listed in the Top 10 of The Economist Intelligence Unit‘s World’s Most Liveable Cities index in 2010,^[13] 2011,^[14] 2012^[15] and 2015.^[16] It was also ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia in 2011,^[17] 2012^[18] and 2013.^[19]

 

From Wikipedia – Boulder (/ˈboʊldər/) is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Boulder County, and the 11th most populous municipality in the U.S. state of Colorado.^[7] Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 5,430 feet (1,655 m) above sea level.^[8] The city is 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Denver.^[9]

The population of the City of Boulder was 97,385 people at the 2010 United States Census,^[10] while the population of the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area was 294,567.^[11]

Boulder is famous for its colorful Western history, being a choice destination for hippies in the late 1960s, and as home of the main campus of the University of Colorado, the state’s largest university. Furthermore, the city of Boulder frequently receives high rankings in health, well-being, quality of life, education and art.^[12]