The most important thing to remember when talking about town-gown relationships in Boulder is that Boulder is the town of 50 thousand gowns.

Virtually every public opinion poll taken in Boulder in the last 10 years has found that more than two-thirds of the adults in town (people over the age of 18 for these purposes) are college graduates - and more than half of the graduates have advanced degrees as well. Nationally, only about a quarter of all adults have college degrees.

The city population is roughly 100 thousand and about 75 thousand are 18 or older, so that works out to about 50 thousand college grads.

Moreover, educational achievement among the non-degree holders is also high. About one-third of non-degree holders are students who are in the process of getting a degree. Another third or more have some college. In one survey, pollsters couldn’t find a single respondent who hadn’t at least graduated from high school.

Paul Danish: The town of 50 thousand gowns, Colorado Daily, Sunday, August 21, 2005.