Colorado Culture? (Denver, Pueblo, Boulder: home, living, gym)

[NickTahoes]

Can someone shed some light on current Colorado culture?

Having come here from upstate NY (Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse), I initially described it to friends and families as a t-shirt and jeans culture. I typically meet a native Coloradan maybe 2 in 10 people, so 20% of the time.

Native Coloradans seem reserved and friendly. Possibly overwhelmed with the influx of folks from elsewhere. MidWest relocates are so stoic. I call them the army of Spocks if you know the star trek reference. The Cali relocates remind me the most of NY'ers. Speak their mind, and opinions to share.

The Southern Denver mix seems to be
20% Coloradans, 40% Cali's, 30% Mid-West, 10% other

The dress down here has me confused, most folks wear what's comfortable, or their old clothes as if they are going to paint their house. I saw a couple so dressed down, I could swear they were impoverished , but then they climbed into a Mercedes and drove away. We went to a child's birthday party, I wore a polo and jeans, and felt over dressed as most folks wore faded t-shirts and jeans. Also can more people please wear gym clothes around? I think that's a Cali thing.

How does an upstate NY'er used to dressing their socio-economic station and going 150mph acclimate to Southern Denver culture?

[WolfBoy914]

What's not to understand? Wear what's comfortable... not what you think will impress other people.

[wankel7]

Culture? Huh, I never noticed. You see the trendy crap downtown. Up in the mountains you see clothes you would wear outdoors.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by NickTahoes

Can someone shed some light on current Colorado culture?

Having come here from upstate NY (Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse), I initially described it to friends and families as a t-shirt and jeans culture. I typically meet a native Coloradan maybe 2 in 10 people, so 20% of the time.

Native Coloradans seem reserved and friendly. Possibly overwhelmed with the influx of folks from elsewhere. MidWest relocates are so stoic. I call them the army of Spocks if you know the star trek reference. The Cali relocates remind me the most of NY'ers. Speak their mind, and opinions to share.

The Southern Denver mix seems to be
20% Coloradans, 40% Cali's, 30% Mid-West, 10% other

The dress down here has me confused, most folks wear what's comfortable, or their old clothes as if they are going to paint their house. I saw a couple so dressed down, I could swear they were impoverished , but then they climbed into a Mercedes and drove away. We went to a child's birthday party, I wore a polo and jeans, and felt over dressed as most folks wore faded t-shirts and jeans. Also can more people please wear gym clothes around? I think that's a Cali thing.

How does an upstate NY'er used to dressing their socio-economic station and going 150mph acclimate to Southern Denver culture?

First of all, Denver metro pretty much has the same character (or lack thereof) of any urban/suburban blob city in the western United States. Colorado's resort areas are pretty much the home of affluent phonies from somewhere else trying to look and act like "real Coloradans." To any long-time Coloradan, they stick out like a sore thumb.

The Eastern Plains of Colorado is farm and ranch country--populated by those types of folks almost exclusively. They are friendly, but independent and often blunt. If you want a friend who will stick with you through thick and thin, they can't be beat, though.

The southern half of Colorado is heavily influenced by a Hispanic culture that predates statehood. Until relatively recent years, the Hispanic and Anglo culture of that area lived together and worked together, but with neither really assimilating much of the other. It's still that way to some extent.

Western Colorado used to be like the Eastern Plains, a lot plain-talking, hard-working ranchers and farmers. An added feature was the mining culture, found both there and in much of southern Colorado. The miners were hard-working and hard-drinking, hard-living folks--and a lot of that mentality still lives there. The modern version of that is the oil and gas "culture" that can be found in many areas of the state where that industry is active. This area is being "resort-ized" pretty heavily, so the old culture is getting pretty diluted.

Of course, in the southwestern corner of Colorado, there is the Native American culture of the Ute Indians--with the Jicarilla Apache Reservation just across the border in New Mexico and the Navajo Reservation just across the border in New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.

So which Colorado culture are you asking about? There are a lot of them.

[CosmicWizard]

NickTahoes wrote:

Having come here from upstate NY (Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse), I initially described it to friends and families as a t-shirt and jeans culture.

The dress down here has me confused, most folks wear what's comfortable, or their old clothes as if they are going to paint their house. I saw a couple so dressed down, I could swear they were impoverished , but then they climbed into a Mercedes and drove away. We went to a child's birthday party, I wore a polo and jeans, and felt over dressed as most folks wore faded t-shirts and jeans.

How does an upstate NY'er used to dressing their socio-economic station and going 150mph acclimate to Southern Denver culture

Colorado.....where dress up attire means cleaning your hiking boots and ironing your jeans.

[Josseppie]

Pueblo is more of a industrial city that meets the south west, a rather unique city not only in Colorado but the United States.

[SergeGainsbourg]

Cosmicwizard, you left out Boulder!

[Bob from down south]

Originally Posted by SergeGainsbourg

Cosmicwizard, you left out Boulder!

Here, I'll have a go at it.

In Boulder, dressing up means applying a new coat of fluorescent green to your spiked hair, taking some Brasso to the metal tiedown rings sticking out all over your body, using a hose to wash the mud out from between your toes and you Birkenstocks, and spraying 100% DEET spray into your armpits for odor and insect control.

[lalahartma]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

Here, I'll have a go at it.

In Boulder, dressing up means applying a new coat of fluorescent green to your spiked hair, taking some Brasso to the metal tiedown rings sticking out all over your body, using a hose to wash the mud out from between your toes and you Birkenstocks, and spraying 100% DEET spray into your armpits for odor and insect control.

So untrue.

[jodyr]

I've never really thought about it, which I think sums it up. I'm usually not focused on outward appearance, unless I'm attending a special event (which is rare). I wear what I have, I have what I wear. My husband is from upstate NY, and is of the same ilk. Chalk it up to personality, maybe?