Real Estate Electrified
In today’s real estate market, a home’s walkability affects its desirability. Many buyers want easy on-foot access to restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, schools, parks, and trails. And in idyllic Boulder, a high Walk Score is a buyer’s (and seller’s!) dream come true. In the U.S., homes within walking distance of such desirable amenities sell for an average of 23.5% more than their car-dependent counterparts.
Conveniences that are too far to be considered walkable are more manageable on bike, and with new technology, these locations are even easier to access on e-bikes. E-bikes have taken over the streets and pathways of Boulder, and cargo e-bikes are essentially the new Subaru. People of all generations are discovering that e-bikes work for recreation, fitness, commuting, and as an alternative to car-based transportation. In our pre-pandemic world, the e-bike revolution was slowly gaining traction. When the pandemic hit, the avoidance of public transportation and the yearning to get outside propelled the e-bike industry forward.
Boulder was perfectly poised to be a poster child for this new electric world. Our city’s love affair of the bicycle dates back over 50 years. In 1968, Al Bartlett, well-known for his promotion of sustainable living, submitted a plan to the city entitled “Bikeways for Boulder”. The document included a map of potential bicycle routes on lightly trafficked streets to be marked with clear signage. The city liked what they saw and in 1970, the first Boulder Bikeways section was created. This pre-Boulder Creek Path route ran from the Boulder Public Library to Scott Carpenter Park, and included major intersections that required dismounting. Gradually, the bike paths became a popular public concept. Now, Boulder boasts more than 300 miles of bike lanes, bike paths, bike routes, designated shoulders, and paths.
With Boulder’s two-wheeled citizens zipping around town on the latest cargo e-bikes, it’s hard to imagine that e-bikes have been around for well over a century. The very first electric bicycles were patented in the 1880s and 1890s. One of the first patents described a battery-powered bicycle with a motor mounted inside the rear wheel hub and the battery sitting inside the triangle of the frame, a similar concept to many modern e-bikes.
Fast-forward to the late 1980s to the advent of what’s now known as pedal-assist, a technology that provides the rider motor-assisted momentum through pedaling. This added power allows riders to experience the same sensation as riding a regular bike but with more ease and speed. At the time, e-bikes still used heavy lead-acid and NiCad batteries, but once Lithium-Ion batteries hit the scene, manufacturers were able increase battery capacity while keeping overall battery weight significantly lower. It was simply a matter of time before the fast- paced world of technology took the reins and fast-tracked e-bike innovation.
So while the popular real estate syndicators like Zillow and RedFin offer up a Bike Score in addition to a Walk Score, it may be time to add in the E-bike Score, as well. Just as automobiles increased interstate travel and airliners made worldwide jet-setting possible, e- bikes have made the widespread attractions of our town easier to access, elevating our quality of life as well as our real estate values.