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1954: Highway 36 The 1954 Construction of Highway 36 is a critical point because it is the major connection between Boulder and Denver. This event explains the high interaction between the two cities, and allows Boulder to have a unique economy because Denver’s market is easily accessible (and has all the necessary amenities because it holds the metropolitan dominance). Without such a lively and localized economy, the City of Boulder may not be as highly attractive to the creative class, and the technological sector would not have a readily supply of potential employees. The economy also contributes to Boulder's reputation as one of the best places to live.
Boulder's Economy Is Highly Localized Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation was applied to Boulder to analyze the trade area boundary between Boulder and Denver, Colorado. This was done because they are close in distance and appear to have similar amenities, but differ greatly in population size and character. The data used for this technique were the 2010 populations of Denver (600,158 people) and Boulder (97,385 people) and the distance between them, which was only 34.1 miles (2010 U.S. Census). I chose to use the University of Colorado Boulder for Boulder’s point and the University of Denver for Denver’s point because they were both established in the 1800s and as focal points. I used the equation:
Bpi= 34.1 miles/1+(√600, 158 /97,385)= 9.791856271 miles The breaking point calculated is about 10 miles for Boulder. Conversely, the breaking point is about 24 miles for Denver, indicating that Boulder has a much smaller trade boundary. This application of the gravity model confirmed that Boulder and the capital are unequal market boundaries. This can be attributed to Boulder's localized economy, which is mostly possible because Highway 36 provides easy assess to all the necessary big-box stores (in Denver). |