My initial impression of Denver (Colorado Springs, Commerce City: place to live, move, homeless)

[flamadiddle]

I'm back and staying in Lone Tree this time to experience the suburban area. Lone Tree has been awesome. The RTD train ride into work today was also nice, although as I watched the traffic heading into town, I wondered what everyone is complaining about here with regards to traffic? It was snowing and traffic seemed to be moving along just fine from Lone Tree toward Downtown via 87. Oddly the traffic seemed worse heading Southbound, but I'm guessing that's because a lot of people work in DTC.

Anyway, we took a look at some homes in the Parker area yesterday and so far so good. We're still up in the air between Chicago and Denver, but I'm really impressed with Denver so far. We also went to White Fence Farm in Lakewood yesterday for Dinner (Had to visit since we used to frequent the original location just outside Chicago).

Loving the weather too.... snow is good!

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by hammertime33

Don't let Internet Warriors bother you, and certainly don't confuse them for the typical Denverite.

Although I must say your comment is odd. I've traveled quite a bit, and there aren't too many US cities the same size I'd be able to say are as clean as Denver (litter-wise at least - Denver has some air quality issues). Usually CD visitors who post on here say things like 'I was amazed about how clean Denver was.

Goodness, yes! I've traveled quite a bit and lived in several large cities. Denver is super clean by comparison.

[JohnnyDenver]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

The RTD train ride into work today was also nice, although as I watched the traffic heading into town, I wondered what everyone is complaining about here with regards to traffic? It was snowing and traffic seemed to be moving along just fine from Lone Tree toward Downtown via 87. Oddly the traffic seemed worse heading Southbound, but I'm guessing that's because a lot of people work in DTC.

Traffic was somewhat lighter today due to the holiday week, otherwise it would have been a parking lot.

[step33]

Yep, today was a day with a LOT of people not working. Heck, it's a ghost town here at my office.

And my family really likes White Fence Farm. It's certainly an interesting place to experience a couple times per year. We go in the summer mostly so the kids can play outside while we wait for a table.

[rubyphire]

When I saw Denver for the first time I thought "Wow, this is literally the cleanest city I have ever seen"! Of course, I came from Los Angeles where almost all building are riddled with graffiti and trash lines all the streets.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by rubyphire

When I saw Denver for the first time I thought "Wow, this is literally the cleanest city I have ever seen"! Of course, I came from Los Angeles where almost all building are riddled with graffiti and trash lines all the streets.

Denver is very clean, the only cleaner city that I have lived in would be Singapore.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

I'm back and staying in Lone Tree this time to experience the suburban area. Lone Tree has been awesome. The RTD train ride into work today was also nice, although as I watched the traffic heading into town, I wondered what everyone is complaining about here with regards to traffic? It was snowing and traffic seemed to be moving along just fine from Lone Tree toward Downtown via 87. Oddly the traffic seemed worse heading Southbound, but I'm guessing that's because a lot of people work in DTC.

Anyway, we took a look at some homes in the Parker area yesterday and so far so good. We're still up in the air between Chicago and Denver, but I'm really impressed with Denver so far. We also went to White Fence Farm in Lakewood yesterday for Dinner (Had to visit since we used to frequent the original location just outside Chicago).

Loving the weather too.... snow is good!

A couple of things to keep in mind about the traffic in and around Lone Tree...

1. School is out right now. On a normal day, you would have several thousand more cars on the road because:
-- Most kids do not ride the school bus.
-- The area north of County Line Road and south of Quincy and east of Holly actually feeds into one high school (3500 students + 500 teachers and staff). This kids have to be at school for class to start at 7:10 am.
-- The same area feeds into 2 middle schools. One is at Holly and Belleview (1400 students and staff), the other is on the same campus as the high school (1700 teachers and staff).

2. Holiday week for many parents as well. Since the community is pretty wealthy, there are many people not only taking the days off between the holidays, but many of them have traveled out of the state to go on vacation and/or visit family.

3. Lack of sun meant no sun glare. The rising sun disrupts eastbound traffic especially on C-470 as the sun shines directly in the faces of these commuters slowing everything down.

The mess returns on Jan. 5-6.

[randomparent]

As someone who lives on this end of town, I'll concur with David about the reduced traffic because of the holidays. This is not typical. School's back in session on the 5th. I suggest watching the traffic cams that morning for a more realistic idea of what the commute looks like on a regular weekday. There are certainly cities with much worse congestion, so what's doable is all in your perspective.

Glad you enjoyed your visit!

[step33]

Just for reference sake, I think we have about 30% of our staff IN the office today. Some folks are working from home, some are on vacation. I would guess that's fairly common for much of the offices this time of year.

The drive took 50% longer with probably 25% of the traffic - roads were snow packed but not too slick so the drive wasn't really that bad.

[Stormhammer]

Why Lone Tree?

Man, as someone also in Atlanta, I just need to buck up and visit Denver.

... I haven't been skiing in awhile. Might be a good excuse!