Ben Casnocha wrote a great article on the spirit of entreprepreneurialism in Boulder. Ben pretty much hits the nail on the head as far as why I choose to live in Boulder.
BTW, I also do believe that Arrington is accurate when he says that living in Boulder may simply be a tradeoff between quality of life and professional opportunity. However, Arrington fails to mention many other important components of this tradeoff.
For me, the Boulder quality of life is at least partially enabled by the lack of congestion. This means that I can spend just as much time at work as somebody in silicon valley and still have family time and get in the occasional hike or bike ride, which makes me healthier and happier and, consequently more productive. And I’m not looking at an 18-month time horizon for productivity, but a 20-year horizon. I recognize that this may not be true for everybody, but for me, I’m pretty sure that Boulder offers greater long-term professional opportunity than silicon valley…