Second Visit impressions - Surprisingly expensive Denver!

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by robertzimmerman

50% non-white, which is objectively verifiable, or fairly to mostly segregated, which is admittedly an opinion, but not an outlandish one?

Yes, I lived here from 1965 to 1983 and from 2000 until now.

Sorry, but having lived in New York City and Washington, it's really hard for me to think of Denver as an ethnic city. In my eyes, it's overwhelmingly Caucasian.

[OneMoreMove]

Having lived in loads of cities around the world, Denver overwhelming Caucasian, yes. There are hispanic areas, there are black neighborhoods, a little asian area, yes it's true. And numerically there are more minorities that people realize but those minorities are very clustered around several areas.

Leave those areas and it's not exactly diverse, I agree.

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by OneMoreMove

Having lived in loads of cities around the world, Denver overwhelming Caucasian, yes. There are hispanic areas, there are black neighborhoods, a little asian area, yes it's true. And numerically there are more minorities that people realize but those minorities are very clustered around several areas.

Leave those areas and it's not exactly diverse, I agree.

I agree, too. Shortly after we settled in Denver, my youngest asked me, "Where are all the brown people, Mom?" Denver may be only 50% Caucasian, but they tend to flock together. And the southern suburbs? Overwhelmingly white! That said, I don't see much overt racism. I don't think my neighbors would freak out if a minority family moved into a house on the block. It's the 'burbs. If you keep your lawn green and trimmed nicely, everybody leaves you alone.

[OneMoreMove]

Where are these statistics coming from? Denver doesn't seem like it's anywhere close to 50 percent non-white to me, and that's just the city. In the suburbs, it's mostly white except in a few areas.

I found this and this which both seem to suggest that it's way more than 50% white. Just my observation from driving around and living in Denver tells me that it's more like 80% white if you take the whole metro area into consideration.

[denver_hacker]

Originally Posted by OneMoreMove

Where are these statistics coming from? Denver doesn't seem like it's anywhere close to 50 percent non-white to me, and that's just the city. In the suburbs, it's mostly white except in a few areas.

I found this and this which both seem to suggest that it's way more than 50% white. Just my observation from driving around and living in Denver tells me that it's more like 80% white if you take the whole metro area into consideration.

Keep in mind that the census considers "White" a race, with "Hispanic" being a sub-classification of "White" and not a race. See my earlier Wiki link on the term "Hispanic" for details. Basically, the "White" total includes the "Hispanic" number...

Here's a more recent census report:

Denver city, Colorado - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder

And an article on the shifting demographics of the area:

Denver suburbs grow more diverse, census numbers show - The Denver Post

And this is just the city of Denver...

[zenkonami]

I'm wondering if the 'burbs are "whiter" anyway...I won't suggest that the City of Denver is San Francisco, L.A., Seattle or New York when it comes to diversity, but I am surrounded by neighbors of all different ethnic backgrounds, and I'm not living anywhere special in the city (Cap Hill, for example) but rather in a fairly non-descript area of southern Denver.

On the other hand, I don't pay a lot of attention to it. I tend to notice those of a different political persuasion far more than their ethnic heritage. =)

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

Sorry, but having lived in New York City and Washington, it's really hard for me to think of Denver as an ethnic city. In my eyes, it's overwhelmingly Caucasian.

Majority, yes. Overwhelmingly Caucasian? I don't think so.

Races in Denver:

White Non-Hispanic (51.9%)
Hispanic (31.7%)
Other race (15.6%)
Black (11.1%)
Two or more races (3.7%)
American Indian (2.2%)
Vietnamese (0.8%)

[Katarina Witt]

Re: Denver suburbs:

Denver suburbs grow more diverse, census numbers show - The Denver Post

Adams County was the second- most diverse county along the Front Range, with a minority population of 44.2 percent, according to the Census Bureau.

Arapahoe County last year had the highest percentage of black residents in Colorado — 9.4 percent — slightly ahead of Denver's 9.3 percent.

[Willy702]

If the OP wants cheap Midwestern life why doesn't he/she move to Omaha or Rapid City? I think its a pretty clear cut case of you get what you pay for. Denver may be surrounded by a lot of distant open land, but few want to live out there either. If cheap costs are that important there is always plenty of affordability in Greeley.

[whoisjongalt]

If you are from either coast, Denver seems cheap. If you are from the midwest, south, or some small town it seems expensive. It's all relative. I'd say it that overall it is pretty average in terms of cost of living. You can buy a pretty nice 1BR condo downtown for 200K or a nice house in the burbs for $250K. The Glass House is a great building but it's also on of the most expensive in Denver. Downtown real estate is around $300/sq. ft. but you can buy a really nice house in many areas for $100/sq. ft right now.