Is Denver area nothing but brown sprawl/highways/chain stores? (Boulder: appointed, house)

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by cityfilms

Why did you go to Denver? Denver is a large city, full of the same BS you'll find in Chicago or Atlanta, full of bums, gullible liberals, and a bitter vibe, not to mention cops and a city gov't that sees the populace as nothing but open wallets to steal from (see previous sentence regarding liberals).

Denver is nothing more than a city that just happens to be right up near the mountains. Only a select few get to enjoy the mountains, but 90% of the population is the same demographic I alluded to in my previous paragraph.

Wow, bitter much?

To the OP:
Denver is very far from brown! In the spring it can be gloriously green and in the winter it's beautifully white. When on earth did you visit?

[Snikt]

What big city doesn't have highways and chain stores?? If you have to try to convince yourself this is a good area, then maybe it's not a good fit for you.

Personally I don't really care about the brown, especially since you can go in the mountains and see some of the most stunning scenery in the country

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Co_guy_94

And it snows year round too!

Which is why we have lots of "chain" stores.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Choosy

Hi there, we are interested in moving to Colorado, but have become concerned after a few visits that it is too much brown sprawl, highways and chain stores. We keep hearing that there are cool places nearby to visit, nature to see, "there really are trees!" but this was not too much our experience in Denver and surrounding areas while we were there. We are looking for nature, walkable, affordable, liberal - Portland, OR is our ideal but weather and distance are obstacles to that. Advice, please? Is there more to CO than what we're seeing? Thank you!

It sounds like you didn't actually visit the city of Denver. There are quaint, old, well-kept neighborhoods with huge trees. It's very green from May to October. Granted, it's dry here in the summer so everything is irrigated, like you'll find in Southern California, for instance. But it's sunny, warm to hot, and low humidity all summer and very nice. Denver is liberal (which I see as a positive) and most of the inner city is walkable. We also have bike lanes everywhere. People are very out-doorsy in Denver.

Winter is generally dry and yes, brown without leaves on most trees. But at least it's sunny most days and you get warm days here and there. I don't know what you mean about chain stores... they're in every city in the U.S.

[JrzDefector]

Actually, I think it's too green in Denver given that this is really a high-desert climate. That's an awful lot of water that goes to keep lawns green.

I'm from Jersey, so I don't really see the sprawl as an issue. I come from a state that was almost entirely "sprawl."

I live on the east side of the city in the cheaper part of Park Hill and I love it. I can walk to a couple of great restaurants and bakeries, a book shop, a small Italian market, a full-size grocery store (about a mile away), some big-box stores if I'm really ambitious and catch a bus to pretty much anywhere if I ever feel like learning the bus system. I'm just off of 70 and only 20 minutes from the airport. If I want to leave the city, I can be in Boulder in 30-45 minutes and in the mountains in an hour. I love being outdoors, but I actually don't get out of the city much because there's so much here to keep me occupied.

And actually, having grown up around a lot of trees, I find the emptiness outside of Denver kind of interesting, even if it freaks me out a little. Like those malls in Aurora that are on the edge of what looks like vast plains - it makes me feel like I'm shopping at the edge of the world, which is a little surreal. But then, if you drive into the mountains, you're going to see all the trees you could ask for. And they turn such a lovely golden color in the fall!

[md21722]

It sounds to me like you visited the city of Portland and the suburbs of Denver.

Visting Clackamas or Gladstone would be like visiting Centennial or Highlands Ranch.

If you like things as green as they are in the PNW, then you're going to have to live in a similarly humid & wet climate. Colorado's climate is much drier.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

This reminds me of a neighbor we had. I went to the nursery and bought some elm trees. I gave them 2 of them so we could have matching trees in the front. Come fall theirs shed leaves faster than hours cause they did a poor job watering them. One day I came home from work and the trees in front of their place were gone. I knocked on the door and asked what happened to the trees? He said, "Didn't you see? They died". He asked what we did to keep ours alive.

Nothing, the leaves fall off every fall. Blank stare. AWKWARD!!

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by Dwavies

Sprawl? Denver is far from a sprawl. Try visiting the likes of Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Atlanta to appreciate how much Denver is not a sprawl.

One could easily make an argument that Denver has sprawl, and if the OP is comparing Denver to Portland (which is a smaller city with very strict growth boundaries), then yes Denver is very sprawling. Yes, it's less than other cities, but it's still there. Just go up and down I-25, to see how far North and South the burbs really go. The growth in Parker/Castle Rock, just shows that the sprawl is expanding.

I'm not saying Denver is a bad town, but I think you have blinders on if you're not noticing at least a little sprawl to it. And again, saying that it's less sprawling that other, more sprawled out cities, is not really a logical argument.

How many times can I use sprawl in the same post?!?!?! Ha

That said, I think a lot of the initial comments were a bit off base. I can understand the complaints though, if Portland is their ideal town, as it's almost a polar opposite city from Denver.

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

This reminds me of a neighbor we had. I went to the nursery and bought some elm trees. I gave them 2 of them so we could have matching trees in the front. Come fall theirs shed leaves faster than hours cause they did a poor job watering them. One day I came home from work and the trees in front of their place were gone. I knocked on the door and asked what happened to the trees? He said, "Didn't you see? They died". He asked what we did to keep ours alive.

Nothing, the leaves fall off every fall. Blank stare. AWKWARD!!

WOW, where was this? You have to kind of wonder why people like that would want to own a house?

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by davemess10

WOW, where was this? You have to kind of wonder why people like that would want to own a house?

Granted, it was here in SD not when I was in CO but still, the trees native to N America still lose their leaves here.