Boulder is such a small city with such a great transportation system, it doesn t really matter! I would however suggest getting an apartment on the bike trail. This is really the center attraction of the city. The bike trail goes west to east crossing over the creek a few times. Boulder has the best bike trails in the U.S. Shopping ; well Safeway is next to this bike trail, and there are apartments next to it. I d start there. Stay away from the hill above the campus, if there ever is any trouble, that s where you ll find it. The Boulder international Hostel has houses , a few of them, that let you rent by the day, week, or month. It s somewhat reasonable, and would be a way to get something quick until you have time to find a house nearby. Any hotels are out of sight. Check google maps and do a search for local shopping, you might find something you want to be next to.Take a look at Boulder from space using flashearth (nothing to download like google earth) also.
There aren t any really bad sections near CU. Not a lot of parking but an excellent bus system. I like the Bike Trail idea. Check CraigsList Boulder to get an idea of what is available.http://boulder.craigslist.org/