As a kid who was born and raised in Boulder, sometimes it is easy for me to get lost in the thought of “where we were”- for context, I have obviously seen a huge change in Boulder over the last 60 years.
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to eat dinner at Shakey’s Pizza and then walk over to play Putt Putt. Today Kathmandu sits where Shakey’s was and Putt Putt is now Trader Joe’s. The Hill area had some of Boulder’s nicest clothing stores. My Mom would take me to the Buccaneer, now an empty Chase Bank at 13th and College, and Kinsley’s was the high end men’s clothing store, now the Waffle Lab. Our neighbors a few doors down were the Bova family, as in Bova’s pantry and across the street was the Fruehauf family who started Fruehauf Plant and Garden Center which turned into just patio furniture. That building now demolished and senior affordable housing is supposed to be developed. Bova’s is now part of the new Hill Hotel, Moxy, scheduled to open Spring 2024. The Dean Callan & Company office in the 1970’s was the SW corner of Broadway and Baseline. Today this site is into the city for conversion into a 30 unit residential development.
Change, for the most part, is good. It demonstrates foresight, leadership, and courage. But what happens when change comes unexpectedly or unnecessarily- like now; like wars in Ukraine/Russia and now Israel/Hamas, like interest rates, like inflation, like disfunction within our Government OR right here in our backyard when change comes in the form of growing homeless populations or unprecedented office vacancy rates.
Change yields opportunity and what to do next in this real estate cycle and managing these unpredictable developments will take a bold approach. Opportunities appear to be on our doorstep with AI and aerospace. What won’t ever change is Boulder’s safety net. Boulder’s nestled amongst the striking Flatirons, minutes from world class biking, hiking, climbing and short drive to skiing. Its economy boosted by one of the nation’s top research universities (and Coach Prime), 17 federally funded research labs and consistently recognized as a center of entrepreneurship and innovation.
Of course, you can always voice how you want change to occur, and November is a great time to get out and vote. With or without Putt Putt, we continue to love where we live, work and play…
-Becky Callan Gamble, CEO
