Why is Denver SOOO wildly popular and is it living up to it's reputation? (Colorado Springs: 2015, home)

[Jimrob1]

Denver seems to be on every list imaginable as a place to move to. The past year I have also noticed Denver in Best places for Retirees. That is for retirees looking for a major city/metro environment. Adequate things to do, Medical, public transportation and better chance for part time work. As well as income tax deductions on Retirement Income.

[harrison21]

Originally Posted by step33

Heck, in my social circles there just aren't many natives. Most everyone I know is from somewhere else.

Same for me, and my social circle is pretty big. Honestly, I feel like it's extremely rare for me to even meet a Denver native, even just in passing. There seems to just be so few of them! I have one close friend who is a native. None of the people I work with are Denver natives either (about 40 people at my work). There are 3 or 4 originally from other places in CO, but most are from other states.

[Mezter]

I think Denver just does a good job at catering to young people, families, and older people. The weather is pretty decent, the mountains are beautiful, and many love the combination of nature/urban environment side by side

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by harrison21

Same for me, and my social circle is pretty big. Honestly, I feel like it's extremely rare for me to even meet a Denver native, even just in passing. There seems to just be so few of them! I have one close friend who is a native. None of the people I work with are Denver natives either (about 40 people at my work). There are 3 or 4 originally from other places in CO, but most are from other states.

I live in an older neighborhood where parents left their houses to their native kids. I'd say probably 4/10 are natives on my street.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

For transplants - What was the appeal that brought you to Denver and did the appeal become reality?

Job was on the southern edge of Denver and the commute from Colorado Springs in 1980 was horrible. I had moved to Colo Spgs because my wife was transfered from the Boston suburbs.
Many jobs later and working from home for the last 19 years, I am very happy here.

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

I love the winter weather just as much now as I did on day one.

For me, coming from 30 years in the Northeast, Winters here are perfect. Snow and sun. But, most importantly, there is no February slush month.

Originally Posted by ColoGuy

The weather is pretty good in that it is dry and things dry out quickly.

No mildew. No bugs. A patio (we have 2) is GREAT compared with a screened-in porch.

Originally Posted by joy_eq

never felt the same type of church community that grew up with in the south.

Great! As a militant atheist, I am happy with the godless city.

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

There's a strong nativist undercurrent.

I have never encountered this. I did marry a native (wife #2). I always thought the Colorado Native bumper stickers were camp humor.

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

...noticed Denver in Best places for Retirees. That is for retirees looking for a major city/metro environment. Adequate things to do, medical, public transportation and better chance for part time work. As well as income tax deductions on Retirement Income.

Exactly.
This why we live in the City & County of Denver. For example, only 4 miles to Kaiser when I had to go for chemo.

Lots of restaurants. We cannot even visit all the ones within walking distance.
People. 10K+ new people into the City every year. Makes it vibrant.
Traffic is a breeze compared with Boston.
Taxes. Normal to low.

[DougStark]

No one's mentioned that the soil SUCKS. Miserable clay soil. Anyone from the east and south will curse the stuff when they move here.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by DougStark

No one's mentioned that the soil SUCKS. Miserable clay soil. Anyone from the east and south will curse the stuff when they move here.

Better than caliche.

[Apple Tree]

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

Loving most of the comments, but agree, back to the original topic - "For transplants - What was the appeal that brought you to Denver and did the appeal become reality?

For natives (like myself) - Why do you think we are one of the hottest places to be in the U.S. right now? Is it sustainable?"

It is not sustainable. A plant cannot grow to the sky.

Denver is on fire right now. It is the envy of every other city, attracting people left and right. What will be the undoing?
- Climate Change. Denver is already a VERY arid place. If you make this place any more brown, it will be bleached. A prolonged drought like California, and suddenly our daily habits change drastically. Wildfires will become more common to this already dry area. Then combine that with the erratic weather you get with climate change, and the floods/mudslides like the one in Boulder 2 years ago will not be a rare occurrence anymore.
- Pollution. Colorado is getting about 3,000 new oil and gas wells per year, many on the front range. This will hurt air quality in a huge way. Denver is already one of the only cities who is increasing its smog levels.... most cities are decreasing. And telling the oil guys to stop drilling can be very difficult. Much of our low taxes are thanks to drilling.
- Cost of living. With so many people coming to the area, it is becoming more of a "have" city.... you either are a have or a have not. Great that we are attracting folks who have good jobs... that is awesome. But when our son or daughter wants to be a teacher, they will be priced out of the area much like they would be in San Fran.
- Cost of living 2. I predict that people will move to the West to enjoy the things that Denver has to offer, but then will see the cost of living and congestion of Denver and decide that the West is pretty big. You can get the quality of life in other places. Boise. SLC, Provo, and Park City. Grand Junction. Bozeman. Missoula. All of those places are actually closer to the Rockies than Denver is.
- Landlocked. A huge number of people want to live by a coast. And folks, the only water we have in these parts are a few man-made lakes.

Bottom line, Denver is a wonderful place to live IF you have the right situation. But is this kind of growth sustainable? No. In the 50s, people were saying that the Southern California boom would never end. Now it is the most congested, biggest boom and bust economy in the country.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by emm74

I would put this as the biggest downside as well. I moved here 9 years ago from Boston, and I miss the huge variety of options that were easily available to me within driving distance.

But I moved here for family and the family is still here, so I'm here. And despite what is undeniably a higher cost of living and of course housing since I moved here, I've not completely lost my Boston set point, so it still feels relatively affordable to me.

I've been to the NE, so understand what you mean. I guess I never think about it since we just fly when we go somewhere (usually back to CA). In all my years in the L.A. area, we never strayed north of the San Fernando Valley lol! I've been to San Francisco and Sacramento, but by plane. We'd drive down to San Diego regularly, but that's the equivalent to going to the Springs from Denver.

[denverian]

We moved here 10 years ago from the L.A. metro area.

What we like is being in the actual city of Denver, near all the urban amenities, but we still have good schools for our kids. I like the density and growth in Denver (I'm definitely a big city person) and having so many non-chain restaurants and entertainment within 15 minutes of our home. I like that it's not a very religious city (I could never deal with "in your face" religion of the South, for instance) and how accepted we are here as a gay couple with kids. We know many other gay couples with kids too. It's a great place for us to raise our kids.

That said, I'd move back to L.A. or San Diego if the opportunity came up. I like gardening and hate cold and snow. I do like summer here since it's quite similar to So Cal.