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It's really a mix of what you want i guess. every big city in america has gangs so that shouldn't matter either way. the italian food in chicago has denver beat by miles, but the chicano/mexican food in denver is superior to chicago's by miles as well. chicago is kinda like the NYC or LA of the midwest region. where as, denver is a pretty damn big city in the southwest but nowhere near as big as chicago. but its still 3.1 million across the metro area so there is plenty to do.
out doors, i'd have to say denver has chicago beat. there's so many natural wodners to see in colorado, or the southwest region in general, such as, mesa verde, pikes peak, estes park, sand dunes, mountains in general, etc. but chicago does have a great lake and denver is in the southwest where the only water here is like small rivers or the rio grande or colorado rivers. so if you like the water/lakes i'd pick chicago. but if you like the destert terrain, mountains, natural land wonders, pick denver/colorado.
chicago is an extremely big city with like 9 million in its metro area, and denver is a big city with over 3 million. so not a small city like albuquerque or reno or salt lake, or other big cities in the southwest, but its also not an LA or NYC or chicago in size. so it really depends on what you want.
the ethnicity in both cities is very different. chicago has a lot of african americans, italians, greeks, puerto ricans, and a decent % of mexican americans are moving into chicago in recent years. and denver has a lot of mexican americans, and a decent african american community in upper east denver, and asians in south, southeast, some in southwest denver.
if you look at the numbers, the city and county of denver has not very good public schools. cure, arapahoe county, douglas, etc have great schools cuz therre the predominately white suburbs in the denver metro area. but i passed a billboard in my house in denver yesterday that read the city of denver has a drop out rate of 55%, the 10th highest for a major city in america. so i wouldn't automatically assume the schools in denver are so great. also, denver has racial tension as well, maybe not as much, but plenty between mexican americans and african americans. denver has a very large percentage of mexicans (35%) not counting illegal immigrants and a decent black population 10% as well. so denver does have racial.gang tensions as well. the CBI database for colorado reported that denver metro area has roughly 220 gangs with over 15,000 members in 2003. so it think it depends on what the person wants and there personaly taste. chicago is a midwest city and denver is a mountain west/southwest city. it really just depends.
Are you kidding? I have only spent a few days or a week there from time to time in classes or seminars, but I can't wait to leave. I mean after the Navy Pier and riding around on the El and worrying about gangs, what else is there, unless you can move to one of the very affluent suburbs?
I have a friend who went to medical school there and calls it the worst hell hole on earth. Denver always!
Oh honey, I'm gonna assume you are also one of the Coloradans who tells me Montbello is full of gang bangers. The Montbello families are some of the nicest people I've ever worked with and the teens are uber polite. How about a little less racism!?
I've lived in both Chi-town and Denver. I worked at a high school on the south side of Chicago, one that made national news. Not once did I "fear" "gangs". I also rode the green line all the time without fear. Chicago is full of very kind and diverse people. People who are genuine and bold and who take friendship seriously. I rock climb, hike, bike and had no problem finding an outdoorsy community in Chi. The winters are a myth. No better or worse than Denver. Get yourself a longer coat and enjoy the winter community in Chi.
Denver is great too. Lots to do outside, great eateries, decent art scene. However, I find the majority of people I meet in Denver to be passive-aggressive and racist. Not everyone, certainly, but this is a comment I hear from quite a few people who moved to Denver from other places. So many people remark, "it's SO hard to make friends in Denver." I mean, heck, y'all make fun of Texans for no good reason.
The great thing about America, U-hauls go both ways. Good luck in your relocation!!
Assaults DO happen on the "L" more than I want to admit. I've known several people who got mugged in the middle of the day on the "L". I've been harassed on the "L" myself, to the point where I feared for my safety. Maybe the Green Line is just safer though.
Winters in Denver are considerably better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chidenv
I also rode the green line all the time without fear.
The winters are a myth. No better or worse than Denver.
Definitely a big difference compared to Denver! Diverse YES, but not sure if I'd say they are generally "kind" though, haha. Not any less kind than other major cities though.
Rootsy,
I repectfully disagree! I would never be happy in Chicago. If you are into outdoor stuff as I am, Denver has Chicago beat by miles. I mountain bike all the time locally and the high country, we have over 600 miles of paved paths here in town if you bike, walk, or rollerblade. The climate is infinitely better - winter in Chicago is about as bad as it gets. I guess if you are into night clubs, bistros etc, then Chicago may be your bag. And it is humid there, horrible in the summers and the winters. And we haven't even discussed the Rockies! Denver is the number one empty nester destination in the US by a wide margin - I wonder why?
haha This is such a silly argument, Might as well compare Denver to Paris then if its so good.
Chicago and Denver do not even compare Chicago has so much more things going on and stuff to do it will make Denver look like a village.
Nightlife-Chicago
Food-Chicago
Entertainment-Chicago
Overall Culture-Chicago ( by a mile)
Sports-Chicago
Skyline-Chicago
Job opportunities-Chicago
Public Transportation-Chicago
Ethnic diversity-Chicago
Weather-Denver
SO can we shut this thread down because Denver is not a top 15 USA city and Chicago is top 3. So South Denver Guy can stop talking smack on Chicago.
Denver is a nice medium size city and for some people the small size and outdoor activities are nice, but stop saying it is better than Chicago because that's just insulting your intelligence.
haha This is such a silly argument, Might as well compare Denver to Paris then if its so good.
Chicago and Denver do not even compare Chicago has so much more things going on and stuff to do it will make Denver look like a village.
Nightlife-Chicago
Food-Chicago
Entertainment-Chicago
Overall Culture-Chicago ( by a mile)
Sports-Chicago
Skyline-Chicago
Job opportunities-Chicago
Public Transportation-Chicago
Ethnic diversity-Chicago
Weather-Denver
SO can we shut this thread down because Denver is not a top 15 USA city and Chicago is top 3. So South Denver Guy can stop talking smack on Chicago.
Denver is a nice medium size city and for some people the small size and outdoor activities are nice, but stop saying it is better than Chicago because that's just insulting your intelligence.
Let's add some more categories:
Crime-Chicago
Congestedness-Chicago
Pollution-Chicago
Political Corruption-Chicago
Organized Crime-Chicago
High Taxes-Chicago
Population Decline-Chicago
Obese population-Chicago
Yep. Chicago is beats Denver by a mile in these categories too. I must be an idiot for living out here.
Oh honey, I'm gonna assume you are also one of the Coloradans who tells me Montbello is full of gang bangers. The Montbello families are some of the nicest people I've ever worked with and the teens are uber polite. How about a little less racism!?
I've lived in both Chi-town and Denver. I worked at a high school on the south side of Chicago, one that made national news. Not once did I "fear" "gangs". I also rode the green line all the time without fear. Chicago is full of very kind and diverse people. People who are genuine and bold and who take friendship seriously. I rock climb, hike, bike and had no problem finding an outdoorsy community in Chi. The winters are a myth. No better or worse than Denver. Get yourself a longer coat and enjoy the winter community in Chi.
Denver is great too. Lots to do outside, great eateries, decent art scene. However, I find the majority of people I meet in Denver to be passive-aggressive and racist. Not everyone, certainly, but this is a comment I hear from quite a few people who moved to Denver from other places. So many people remark, "it's SO hard to make friends in Denver." I mean, heck, y'all make fun of Texans for no good reason.
The great thing about America, U-hauls go both ways. Good luck in your relocation!!
Let's add some more categories:
Crime-Chicago
Congestedness-Chicago
Pollution-Chicago
Political Corruption-Chicago
Organized Crime-Chicago
High Taxes-Chicago
Population Decline-Chicago
Obese population-Chicago
Yep. Chicago is beats Denver by a mile in these categories too. I must be an idiot for living out here.
These last few post should be read by everyone considering a move to Denver. Chicago has all the city pluses, but also the city minuses. Denver lacks a lot of city pluses (something people are generally not aware of) but also generally lacks the minuses; it also has the mountains, and much better weather.
haha This is such a silly argument, Might as well compare Denver to Paris then if its so good.
Chicago and Denver do not even compare Chicago has so much more things going on and stuff to do it will make Denver look like a village.
Nightlife-Chicago
Food-Chicago
Entertainment-Chicago
Overall Culture-Chicago ( by a mile)
Sports-Chicago
Skyline-Chicago
Job opportunities-Chicago
Public Transportation-Chicago
Ethnic diversity-Chicago
Weather-Denver
SO can we shut this thread down because Denver is not a top 15 USA city and Chicago is top 3. So South Denver Guy can stop talking smack on Chicago.
Denver is a nice medium size city and for some people the small size and outdoor activities are nice, but stop saying it is better than Chicago because that's just insulting your intelligence.
Denver more then holds its own with Chicago.
Here is the list with my opinion:
Nightlife - Tied.
Chicago has some fun areas like the miracle mile and clubs in downtown and Boys town (I have to say Halsted is a fun street with great street fairs) but Denver has LODO, the 16th street mall and capitol hill.
Food-Chicago has more, its a larger city, then again in Denver you can find anything you need and want including some great restaurants in downtown in walking distance from the performing arts center and basketball arena. Makes for a great night out.
Entertainment- Not sure what you mean by entertainment since you have culture separate. If we are talking movies then any city with a movie theater is the same and Denver has plenty of them. Denver also has 6 flags, water world, and its close to world class skiing and some of the best resort towns not only in the nation but the world.
Overall Culture- Denver is the center for performing arts in the Rocky Mountain Region, it pains me to say that as a booster of Pueblo but its true. I have season tickets at the Buell, one of the largest performing art centers in the country, and they get some of the best musicals. This year I am going to see Beauty and the Beast, Wicked, The Book of Mormon (its already sold out), to name a few. Then Denver gets top concerts as I am going to see Madonna in October (I am in the 13th row! ) and Neal Diamond in July. This is on top of the many small and medium concerts and local plays Denver has that I don't attend and don't know much about but hear my friends talk about them all the time. So sure technically Chicago might be better but to say someone who lives in or near Denver is lacking in the culture scene would be wrong.
Sports- Both Denver and Chicago have all the major sports (NFL, NBA, Hockey, and Baseball) and college sports in division 1 and division 2 so I would call it a tie.
Skyline-This is personal preference but I happen to like how the Denver skyline look with the back drop of the rocky mountains better then the Chicago skyline. However the Chicago skyline is bigger.
Job opportunities- I have never looked for a job in either city so I am not qualified to answer this one.
Public Transportation- Chicago since they have a subway system.
Ethnic diversity-
Chicago
45.0% White
32.9% Black or African American
13.4% from some other race;
5.5% Asian
2.7% from two or more races
0.5% American Indian.
White 68.9% ( Non Hispanic white- 52.2%)
Black or African American: 10.2%
Native American: 1.4%
Asian: 3.4%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: 0.1%
Some other race: 9.2%
Two or more races: 4.1%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 31.8%; Mexican Americans made up 31.2% of the city's population.
From looking at this I would say that both cities are equally diverse.
Weather- Denver
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hey...
) and Neal Diamond in July. This is on top of the many small and medium concerts and local plays Denver has that I don't attend and don't know much about but hear my friends talk about them all the time. So sure technically Chicago might be better but to say someone who lives in or near Denver is lacking in the culture scene would be wrong. 
