Welcome to Louisville & Lafayette
Louisville and Lafayette are family-friendly cities conveniently located between Boulder and Denver. Both cities were first developed as coal mining towns in the 19th century and today form part of the high-tech corridor between the larger cities of Boulder and Denver. Lafayette prospered as the wealthiest Colorado coal mining town of the 19th century. Both towns are steeped in heritage and feature Old Town historic districts with trendy restaurants, breweries, and boutiques. The real estate mix in Louisville and Lafayette includes a range of classic and contemporary single-family homes, from charming renovated turn-of-the-century properties to spacious modern houses.
What to Love
Historic Old Town districts
Trendy breweries
Family-friendly small-town atmosphere
Close to Boulder and Denver
People & Lifestyle
Louisville and Lafayette offer an idyllic small-town lifestyle with great downtown areas and access to lots of parks and trails. Louisville has consistently ranked among CNN and Money Magazine’s 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. The thriving economies of nearby Boulder and Denver provide plentiful employment opportunities. Both communities offer a homey atmosphere with family-friendly events throughout the year.
Dining, Entertainment & Shopping
Old Town is Louisville’s charming historic downtown district. Centered on Main, Front, and Pine Streets, Old Town features an enticing array of independent restaurants, boutique shopping, art galleries, and live music venues. This attractive historic district is comprised of more than 100 businesses housed within quaint 19th-century buildings. Lucky Pie offers organic pizza toppings and rustic Italian cooking served alongside craft beer in an industrial-chic space. Moxie Bread Company is a wonderfully old-fashioned bakery with goods made from grains milled on the premises. Moxie’s menu includes delicious bread, pastries, sandwiches, and salads. LuLu’s BBQ serves mouthwatering Texas Hill Country-style barbecued meats in a rustic setting. The Waterloo is a family-run restaurant and tavern with Tex-Mex cooking and live music.
Lafayette also has an Old Town downtown district, with trendy modern businesses and captivating Victorian architecture. The Post Brewing Company pairs excellent craft beers and cocktails with hearty Southern-style comfort food. Lafayette Collectibles and Flea Market features more than 175 vendors selling a diverse array of vintage items, antiques, and decorative pieces for the home. Acreage by Stem Ciders offers exceptional ciders and plates of flavorful Basque cuisine in a unique hilltop setting. Acreage lives up to its name with a verdant 12-acre property featuring pretty garden and patio dining areas. The airy indoor taproom has more than 20 craft ciders on draft.
Things to Do
Louisville Historical Museum is comprised of three historic buildings with exhibits on the city’s past. The main building is a 1900s general store containing artifacts and photographs exploring Louisville’s heritage. Louisville Historical Museum also has an authentically furnished coalminer’s house and a scale model of the community at the turn of the last century.
Coal Creek Golf Course on Louisville’s outskirts offers 18 holes of golfing with great views of Boulder’s Flatirons rock formations. Taste of Louisville on the first Saturday in June features food from top local restaurants plus local craft beers, arts-and-crafts vendors, children’s entertainment, and performances from local bands. Other popular annual events include Louisville’s Labor Day Parade and Fall Festival. Louisville Farmers’ Market takes place each Saturday on Old Town’s Front Street.
Lafayette has lots of parks and greenspace, including the beautiful Waneka Lake Park. This tree-shaded park surrounds a popular fishing lake with paddleboat rentals available. Waneka Lake Park spans 147 acres, and its amenities include a playground and trails for jogging and running. The park also contains Lafayette’s oldest surviving structure: the 1870s Waneka Granary.
Annual events in Lafayette include an oatmeal breakfast and 5K fun run for January’s Oatmeal Festival, the Lafayette Peach Festival celebrating the famous Palisades peach harvest in August, and September’s Lafayette Brew Fest with beers from more than 20 local breweries.
Schools
Louisville and Lafayette are zoned to the Boulder Valley School District. Highlights include:
Louisville
Fireside Elementary School, Pubic, PK-5
Coal Creek Elementary School, Public, K-5
Louisville Middle School, Public, 6-8
Monarch High School, Public, 9-12
Lafayette
Lafayette Elementary School, Public, PK-5
Angevine Middle School, Public, 6-8
Centaurus High School, Public, 9-12