What makes Colorado a great state? (Denver, Fort Collins: appointed, luxury, school district)

[GoneNative]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

No, we don't.

I agree. You might think Mexican food in Denver a real thrill if you're from, say, North Dakota. But like so much of Denver and what it offers, it's really a cheap, on-the-fly derivative of the real thing. The city thinks it's Nordstom's, but it's really Target, and our culinary scene is no exception. There a few good places near where I live, but they're awfully pricey. What makes Mexican food--good Mexican food--so fun is that it's not only really good, but it's usually really cheap. Ten-dollar entres sort of takes the fun out of the experience. They're even charging for chips and salsa these days--I'm sure we'll have to bring our own silverware soon.

[GoneNative]

What I like most about Colorado is that is has one of the more robust and vibrant Catholic and evangelical scenes in the country. It's not just "part of the culture" as it is in other parts of the country, so Colorado's religious population has to carve a niche out for itself. A friend told me that Bl. Pope John Paul II saw Denver as the hub of the New Evangelization, which, I'm sure, is why he chose Denver for World Youth Day in the 90s. In many ways, Colorado's religious scene is a primer on how to do faith in postmodern, 21st Century America.

[King_of_the_Desert]

Wow the question was what I love about living in Colorado. I have found several places that serve really delicious Mexican food, and I have a usual place that is top notch. We have a large Hispanic population and they have brought tasty cuisine with them. We also have fantastic access to fresh hatch chiles. It is something good about our state and thus I am answering the askers question. Didn't think that comment would resonate so negatively, but I still stand by it.

[JMM64]

Geez people way to go being overly negative. I'm not saying Denver and Colorado is perfect but Denver is still an up and coming city and to compare everything in it to New York, LA, etc. is foolish. Food is all oppinionative and if someone thinks the food in Denver is good, let them. Many people do love the Mexican food here, I can't comment on this however as I've never been a fan of Mexican food.

I've been to many overpriced over-hyped restaurants nationwide and there's always someone be it me or not that disagrees with someone else's opinion about the food. Denver will never be a world class city so stop expecting it to be in every arena! No one in Denver thinks it's Nordstroms's as someone pointed out earlier (whatever this means), it's simply called just being positive and happy. If perfection in all areas of life and ammenities in one city is what you seek you're on the wrong planet! If you want authentic delicious mexican food that's undoubtably the best, go to Mexico!

Colorado is a great place to live because people are happy here and the quality of life is great. People always try to compare Colorado and Denver to "New York" or "San Francisco" as nearly all threads like this show, but the fact that Colorado is not like these places is what makes it great (to most people). Transplants always try to bring everything from their home states to Colorado with them, yet even if they can find similarities it's never good enough for them. If people don't understand that every place is different and what you make of it, yet are upset when it's not the comfy cozy home they left then I feel sorry for them. They should keep it to themselves and not bother everyone else, and everyone is guilty of this including Colorado transplants in other states but Colorado transplants elsewhere are obviously a major minority as Colorado is growing and still only the 22nd most populated state. I mean I've lived in 10 states and have visited 48 of them and never do I go in with the mentality that one of them is the basis for the Suave and luxury style of life, Colorado unforunately has dealt with too much of this and to accept any of it as a fact is nonsense. Stay happy and Colorado will not dissapoint!

Anyway before I rant anymore Colorado is great because it offers something for everyone, the weather is great and (most) of the people are friendly and happy. Sure everywhere is great it's all personal perception, but if you come to Colorado with a positive attitude and don't listen to all the negative transplants you can and will be very happy!

[certainquirk]

Colorado is part of the great Southwest. We are a very unique area of the country. The air is dry and the sky is big and blue. We have a ration of sun that much of the country never sees. We have a mostly educated and friendly population. The people on the Great Plains are content to live a rural, quiet and isolated lives. The Front Range is a 400 mile collection of eclectic towns, cities and peoples who all share a front row seat to the Rocky Mountains. And the mountains are incredible. There are few words to describe the immensity and beauty of them. On the far Western Slope is the gateway to the desert southwest of Arizona and Utah. The San Luis Valley in the south is populated with families from old Mexico and Native America. There's diversity, and there's optimism and hope in this state that many other places lack. Contrary to what you may have read, Denver is a first class, energetic city. (I say this as a former truck driver who's seen most of this country a hundred of times over). Unless you must have an LA or New York, believe me, Denver will fill all your big city needs. Good luck with the move.

[certainquirk]

And of course, the Front Range is 300 miles, not 400. Little too much wine last night.

[Katarina Witt]

The first state to give women the vote in a state-wide election (by men!). Wyoming came in to the union with women voting.

Women's suffrage in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[bongo]

It's a big state with diverse ecosystems & cultures.

When I lived in Steamboat & Ft Collins it was much less diverse & more ritzy than when I lived in Aguilar, Alamosa, La Veta, Trinidad which were quite diverse. When I lived in Manitou, it appeared gay-friendly, while right next door in ColoSpgs more conservative.

I'm a new mexico food lover, but have hit good mexican food in Alamosa.

But I digress. Back to the OP question. What makes the state great.... the rockies!

[anyam22]

Loved your upbeat positive comments, certainquirk. I moved from the south to Colorado over thirty years ago and have never, never looked back. I've lived in Fort Collins, Westcliffe, and now Frisco. They are all hugely different and they are all hugely lovely places to live (though housing in Frisco, of course, is a bit out of bounds...for me anyway). My son graduated from Boulder and I've spent a lot of time there and that is a great, fun place also. Pagosa Springs is a favorite place as well as Durango. Someone said earlier that the Colo landscape seems like one big white bread, mayo sandwich to them?????Wow. That's weird. I can't imagine how anyone would get that idea unless they had never left the plains. Most of the time when I drive around in the mountains to the various towns, I am simply in awe of the landscape. It brings tears to my eyes and a full feeling to my heart. This landscape isn't "a white bread sandwich", it's a multi grained, healthy, healing sandwich! Good luck on coming. Leave expectations and negativity behind, take a lot of what you read with a grain of salt, open up your eyes and heart and you're gonna love it!

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by GoneNative

I agree. You might think Mexican food in Denver a real thrill if you're from, say, North Dakota. But like so much of Denver and what it offers, it's really a cheap, on-the-fly derivative of the real thing. The city thinks it's Nordstom's, but it's really Target, and our culinary scene is no exception. There a few good places near where I live, but they're awfully pricey. What makes Mexican food--good Mexican food--so fun is that it's not only really good, but it's usually really cheap. Ten-dollar entres sort of takes the fun out of the experience. They're even charging for chips and salsa these days--I'm sure we'll have to bring our own silverware soon.

I think you may need to get out of your neighborhood more, I had some damn good mexican food yesterday, and for 4 people with drinks and free chips and salsa it cost us $25 + tip. Also I can't think of one person that thinks of Colorado as being Nordstrom's in fact most do not worry about what you consider the level of Colorado, they are all busy living their life.

also it is funny to me how many people complain about the mexican food in Colorado, yet I have met people from California that moved here that love the Mexican food here, not to mention people from Texas, and people moving out of or into Colorado either love or hate the Mexican food. But the funniest part is when I hear things like you just typed, the funniest part is that you do not even seem to understand that much like Chinese food, mexican food is cooked differently with much different specialties depending on the region the cook is from. I have several friends that come from more inland areas of mexico, they laugh at Californians that swear you cannot have authentic mexican food without fish tacos, there are 6 of them from the same area and not one of them had ever heard of fish tacos before they came up here to work for my uncle. The thing is their style of mexican food is not going to be close to what someone from southern California considers authentic. So you may not like the style of most mexican food in Colorado, but that does not mean it is not good or authentic, in fact personally I find some of the worst mexican food I have ever ate to be in restaurants that are trying to be like California mexican, not to mention even a few I have ate at in LA.