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This thread is hilarious. Culturally, Denver is not remotely in the league of Minneapolis, Seattle or Portland. A few microbreweries and a lame downtown pedestrian mall surrounded by a collection of some of the most tedious and whitebread suburbs in the U.S. do not a city make. For the last five years I have spent around two weeks in Denver each year for business. I have some good friends there, so I do not entirely dread my trips. Nearly every mid size city in the country is building condos downtown. Legal marijuana notwithstanding - Yawn: Charlotte with snow and an occasional view. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Antonio, Kansas City to name a few mid-sized metros that have much more going on and a more developed vibe and sense of place, plus better music, food, museums and nightlife than Denver, which I am sure is a great place if you have never lived anywhere other than Colorado. Happy to be a hater on one of the most boring cities I am obliged to spend time in.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I like Denver, I think it's a pretty attractive city with nice parks and its downtown has definitely been improving over the years to where people would want to live there. The city has a fairly prosperous feel to it in many parts as well. I can't deny I've probably developed a greater appreciation for the city since moving to New Mexico a two years ago considering it's the only real major city in this whole time zone.
I don't think it's following Seattle's footsteps though. Seattle was already inherently much more more dense in the 90's than Denver is now. Though the two cities do share some similar DNA with the REI type outdoor culture, micro-brews, legal cannibas etc. But beyond that I think Seattle honestly just has more originality and character than Denver. Especially in terms of food and as others had mentioned, music.
On a side night, the Broncos were pitiful to watch in the last Superbowl game. Oyyyy!
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 09-01-2014 at 10:04 PM..
I'm not sure why the OP fails to note that Seattle also has legal marijuana. That is one thing that is unique to these two cities - they are the only major cities where marijuana is fully legal.
This thread is hilarious. Culturally, Denver is not remotely in the league of Minneapolis, Seattle or Portland. A few microbreweries and a lame downtown pedestrian mall surrounded by a collection of some of the most tedious and whitebread suburbs in the U.S. do not a city make. For the last five years I have spent around two weeks in Denver each year for business. I have some good friends there, so I do not entirely dread my trips. Nearly every mid size city in the country is building condos downtown. Legal marijuana notwithstanding - Yawn: Charlotte with snow and an occasional view. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Antonio, Kansas City to name a few mid-sized metros that have much more going on and a more developed vibe and sense of place, plus better music, food, museums and nightlife than Denver, which I am sure is a great place if you have never lived anywhere other than Colorado. Happy to be a hater on one of the most boring cities I am obliged to spend time in.
My same sentiments, although I was a bit more reserved about it because it would just fuel more fire from Denver supporters. Denver attracts Millennials because it offers some urban amenities but at a cheaper price than West Coast cities.
Denver is filling in the gaps with a lot of infill projects, and the new rail lines- especially to the airport, will move the city up one notch, in terms of urban feel. That said, the OP implies that Seattle is some sort of has-been, which it certainly isn't. Denver has received a lot of press lately, but Washingtonians are just more subdued- and Seattle is just as much the place to be.
It's always felt to me like Denver was more of a homebase for people to go and explore the surrounding area, whereas Seattleites spend more time hanging out in town and have a lot more to do around the city. Denver's doing a lot to improve itself, but all the hype has come at a cost. Denver real estate prices and especially rent have skyrocketed in the last two years. I had a lot of fun while I lived there, and the people and their positive attitude is what makes the city great. Five years ago it was a cheap place to relocate to, and held allure to many people as an accessible place to offer people their first taste of the west. But in my opinion, the Denver metro is now overpriced for what you get.
Again Denver's got a lot going on, and it's reached a critical mass where it is a desired destination and projects do sprout up and get underway in relatively short order. It's still got a ways to go, though. But my problem with it is that for the entire time I lived there, I couldn't get it out of my mind that I really wanted to be in the mountains, not in town. Not a fault of Denver for being next to them and not in them, but to me the attraction to the city was always what lies immediately to the west!
Did Seattle suddenly stop becoming popular amongst millenials because I know a bunch who just moved to Seattle.
Yeah. I have two friends who just moved there in the past few months---one to Capitol Hill and one to Renton (suburbs). Both are gay 20-somethings with a lot of disposable income. A lot of my friends talk about Seattle longingly all the time. It seems to STILL have a VERY strong allure for potential new residents.
As for me it's too expensive in Seattle, there's too much cloudiness, traffic is a nightmare, and I don't want to live there when they finally have their long-overdue mega-earthquake.
I'm not sure why the OP fails to note that Seattle also has legal marijuana. That is one thing that is unique to these two cities - they are the only major cities where marijuana is fully legal.
...and? I'm a "hip" 20-something with no desire to smoke weed. Besides, with the way Pittsburgh has been heading with its "crunchiness" and "hipness" as of late I fully expect it to be legalized here, too, before long. I don't think that will instantly make Pittsburgh in the same league as Seattle or Denver.
My same sentiments, although I was a bit more reserved about it because it would just fuel more fire from Denver supporters. Denver attracts Millennials because it offers some urban amenities but at a cheaper price than West Coast cities.
Denver like Phoenix, et al. is a wannabe West Coast city.
I'm a Millennial and it seems like a lot of my "hipster/cool" friends want to move to the large metros like NYC, Chicago, Philly, DC, LA, SF, PHX, but Seattle still has the same vibe to me as when people describe it in the 90's.
I'm not sure why the OP fails to note that Seattle also has legal marijuana. That is one thing that is unique to these two cities - they are the only major cities where marijuana is fully legal.
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