Martin Acres

Martin Acres fills the block of south Boulder between Broadway and the US-36 on-ramps, bounded by Baseline Road on the north and Table Mesa Drive on the south. The land was once part of William Martin's cattle homestead, worked through the late 1800s and into the 1920s before developers began platting it as a subdivision in 1954. Builders marketed the new houses as "Williams High Country Homes," aimed at young families who wanted a foothold in Boulder without the price tag of the older neighborhoods closer to downtown. The timing lined up with the new Boulder-Denver Turnpike, today's US-36, which turned what had been a slow county-road drive into a straight run down the hill to Denver.

Martin Acres is largely 1950s and 1960s ranch homes. Some have updated interiors or additions, and some haven't, so condition differs from property to property rather than following the year built.

The east edge along US-36 carries a steady hum of highway noise that fades within a couple of blocks, while the interior grid stays quiet enough for kids to bike between friends' houses without much cross traffic to worry about. Broadway and Table Mesa Drive both carry real commercial and bus traffic, but neither one cuts through the middle of the neighborhood itself.

That combination of an affordable ranch house and a quick highway on-ramp has always drawn a particular mix of people: young families priced out of North Boulder, CU staff and grad students who'd rather skip an HOA, and renters who value the commute over a walk to Pearl Street. It's a fit for people who want Boulder's mountain views and school district without competing for a bungalow near downtown, and less of a fit for anyone who wants total quiet on the east end or a five-minute walk to restaurants.

Weekday mornings send part of the neighborhood toward the US36 & Table Mesa Park-n-Ride to catch a Flatiron Flyer bus into Denver, while families on the west side walk kids over the Bear Creek Path to Creekside Elementary at Martin Park. Early risers head to South Boulder Recreation Center on Gillaspie Drive for lap swim before work. The neighbors are a genuine mix: longtime owners who bought when a ranch house cost real money but not Boulder money, grad students renting a room down the street, and families who moved in for the school boundary and stayed for the yard.

Bear Canyon Creek runs through Martin Park. You can use the ballfield or tennis courts, and there's a playground and picnic shelter too. There's also a little library. On the eastern side of the neighborhood you'll hear traffic noise from US 36, which is worth standing outside and listening for before you decide. Housing is a mix of original and renovated.

Broadway forms Martin Acres' western edge, and the RTD SKIP bus runs it roughly every 10 minutes on weekdays, connecting the neighborhood to CU, the Pearl Street area, and north Boulder without a car. Route 204 covers the same corridor with more local stops. For Denver, the US36 & Table Mesa Park-n-Ride at 5170 Table Mesa Drive puts Flatiron Flyer buses a short drive from most Martin Acres blocks, with free parking for the first 24 hours inside the RTD district. The Bear Creek Path gives cyclists a flat, paved route north to the CU Research Park, skipping Broadway traffic entirely. Street parking is easy on the interior blocks and only gets tight right along Broadway itself.