Boulder, Colorado

"People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty." (A curse uttered by Chief Niwot of the Arapaho on his arrival at the first European camp in the vicinity of Boulder in 1858. The Arapaho and the gold prospectors came to peaceful terms but Chief Niwot and many of his people were later killed in the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.)

The gold prospectors struck ore in several places and, as was usual in those days, completely displaced the Native Americans from the area. The mining of gold, silver and coal in the Boulder area was a significant part of the economy until the mid-1900's. That influence didn't really start to decline until the 1940's when Boulder started to actively recruit clean industry to come into the area. One of the early companies recruited was the National Bureau of Standards (today's National Institute of Standards and Technology), home of the famous "atomic clock." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research center is in Boulder, too.

Boulder is home to the University of Colorado at Boulder, primary site of UC and the largest university in Colorado. Also in Boulder is Naropa University (formerly the Naropa Institute), founded by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the only accredited, Buddhist-inspired institute of higher learning in the United States.

Several decades ago, the City of Boulder made a decision to turn Pearl Street through downtown into a pedestrian mall and, through that vehicle, revitalize the downtown area of the city. Many of the original buildings were refurbed and retrofitted, turning Pearl Street into a showcase for how to turn a fading downtown into a vibrant retail, entertainment and economic engine for the local economy.