There is so much still good about Boulder, no matter what you hear on media. And there is so much more than just the Pearl St Mall in "Downtown." There are restaurants on side streets crossing the Mall, There are restaurants and shops on streets that run parallel to Pearl. There are more places, east and west of the Mall on the further ends of Pearl. The Museum of Boulder is along Broadway a block from Pearl.
There are a variety of city parking garages which are all free, all weekend. Use them, they access so many places. Even during the week, we find that the time saved in hunting around looking for a street space or a getting a ticket for overstaying your time paid, or paying way more than you need to prevent a ticket, it is cheaper and quicker to use a garage. There are hundreds of spaces in each garage. The two we use are never full. You only pay for the time you actually use and the first 15 minutes are free. I once made a quick pickup in a shop close to the 15th St Garage and the car was out in under 15 minutes, no charge at all.
The garages are clean and no longer have any vagrants hanging around. They have elevators that work. Our other favorite is the Walnut and 10th St Garage, underneath the St Julien which has some reserved space on G1 for Valet Service of the hotel but the rest of both levels is for the public to use.
The Boulder Theater is downtown as is E-Town's broadcast and concert space. There is a nightclub, the Velvet Elk, there is Poke at Pearl Poke, near Pearl but not on it, Pasta Jay is on West Pearl but not the Mall. The New Local, an arts seller and Spruce Confections are even further west on Pearl. Spruce has concerts on the patio on Sundays in the summer and Espresso! provides the Jazz. Food and drink is available, children and dogs welcome.
Admittedly there are some vacancies right now, mostly towards the east and beyond the Mall itself. Some of those spaces are used for pop up stores such as King Arthur Baking which comes in winter to cover the holidays with products for gifts or for yourself. I found it very useful last winter. There are some unique shops there, for vinyl album collectors, Paradise Found and some local shops providing souvenir items. Browse around and see what you did not know was in downtown Boulder off the Mall. If you want some pictures and reviews, look through my site and see what is in Downtown Boulder. I am putting together a collection that could entice you to try places you have not done before. read more