Denver vs. Minneapolis (neighbourhood, university, live)

[Northstar17]

Could someone please tell me how Denver would compare to Minneapolis as an overall atmosphere. I know Denver is an bigger city, but metro. areas are roughly the same. How does Denver feel, it looks like a nice city, but I want to hear went the locals have to say...

[chilaili]

Are you moving from Minneapolis? If so, what area? I moved to Colorado from the Twin Cities two years ago today and whilst I still don't know Denver very well (hangs head in shame) I can tell you a little bit about it.

One thing I miss is the lakes - there are very few around here and they are not very big and the river cannot of course be compared to the Mississippi. Culturally speaking there is probably more than I'm aware of. I just started visiting the Denver Art Museum (DAM) and Botanic Gardens but have yet to check out the Nature & Science Museum or the Denver Zoo - both of which I understand are spectacular. I found in Minneapolis that the university is a very pervasive influence - I just noticed it a lot more in the general atmosphere of the city and its neighbourhoods. Not so much in Denver. There are lots of parks in Denver and a more "historic neighbourhoods" kind of atmosphere. LoDo is a fun & funky neighbourhood a bit like the pricier parts of Uptown; 16th Street reminds me of downtown Hennepin and Cherry Creek is like Edina.

The great thing about Denver is that you can be out of the city very quickly and in the foothills or mountains. Mpls seems to go on for much longer.

[Katiana]

If you live around the University of Denver, as my DD does, you will get some of that university feeling. That DD went to college in Minnesota and both she and I loved going to Minneapolis. It is her opinion that they are similar cities, lifestyle-wise.

[vegaspilgrim]

I'm curious about the question too-- but from the other direction. Even though I'll probably move back to Denver, which I already know all about, I'm interested in checking out some midwestern cities as well. I haven't really thought about Minneapolis/St Paul, but maybe I should? Is the economy similar? Is MPLS growing fast?