Anyone notice how smug Denver has become (Colorado Springs, Parker: sales, credit)

[eatsDEN]

I think your exposure was limited. Folks here have thought this place, generally, is the bee's knees for quite awhile...
before, maybe the folks you encountered were merely not sharing their esteem for their home locale with you, an outsider...

[step33]

I've been smug about the Denver area since at least 2002

[emm74]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

I'm not sad about missing out on the Denver run up, I can afford a home in any of the neighborhoods I would want to live in in Denver. They are all significantly cheaper than where I currently live. Where I live has also experienced a run up. Many places in this country are booming

The point is the RE boom has either changed the character of Denver or unleashed a latent smugness. You can see the glimmer in peoples eye that I don't see in Coastal CA about housing.

Its sad, because the RE booms really hurt families in the long run. You only benefit from a RE boom if you sell and move away somewhere cheaper.

When I first encountered Denver, it didn't have that "breaking its arm to pat itself on the back" attitude that it seems to have now.

And this isn't smug? Only the people in Denver making factual statements about the Denver housing market can be smug?

[JrzDefector]

I got out of New Jersey and came to Denver, then bought just before the housing market became unreasonable. Smug? No. Overjoyed? Hell yeah. Rapturous? Possibly.

After years of living in a place where I was unhappy and would never have been able to own a house due to costs and taxes, I now have the life I always wanted. I don't think that's smugness. It's appreciation and gratitude.

[ayoitzrimz]

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

I got out of New Jersey and came to Denver, then bought just before the housing market became unreasonable. Smug? No. Overjoyed? Hell yeah. Rapturous? Possibly.

After years of living in a place where I was unhappy and would never have been able to own a house due to costs and taxes, I now have the life I always wanted. I don't think that's smugness. It's appreciation and gratitude.

That's exactly how I feel after moving from Staten Island NY Something about the tri-state area that just drains all joy and happiness from you and it's nice to get it back. I do feel bad for those renting in Denver or those that are being priced out - many of my friends are struggling with this now - but what can you do? Just be grateful for what you have. Some people will look at it and out of jealousy, hatred, or just rotting of the heart, will start to hate and resent - some people just can't see other people being happy. I think most of us see it as you see it - gratitude and happiness

Why shouldn't I be happy if my house is appreciating like crazy? Wouldn't I be pissed when the inevitable downturn come and house prices plummet? Live and let live, is why I choose Denver and not the OC

** Caveat: none of this applies to DaveBarnes. Us frequent visitors have come to appreciate his gruff demeanor but I can imagine how it would look to those who don't know him. Sorry for calling you out Dave! It is with love and humor that I say it not hate

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

I'm not sad about missing out on the Denver run up, I can afford a home in any of the neighborhoods I would want to live in in Denver. They are all significantly cheaper than where I currently live. Where I live has also experienced a run up. Many places in this country are booming

[Hipchik]

Nope. Haven't noticed any smugness.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

I have been I've been traveling regularly to Denver since 2007. I have a great group of friends there that moved from Orange County, having sold their home near the height of the bubble in 2005 and renting for almost two years in CA, seeking a more relaxed and less materially focused lifestyle.

In 2007, I thought that much of metro Denver was truly one of the best values in the country. Great neighborhoods, the people were pretty laid back and happy and weren't all consumed with Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate. People were friendly and seemed interested in community. It was refreshing

So impressed with Denver that during the economic downturn I even considered perhaps living in CO part time to experience a different type of lifestyle.

Fast forward to 2015, Denver has become quite smug. Seems like people drone on and on with strings of banalities related to the housing market. Gauche conversations about how much money they are making in "appreciation". Breaking their arms patting themselves on the back about living in Denver and so on, its the smuggery I saw right before the real estate collapse in CA.

From the north side, to the east side, to the west side to the south, all Denver talks about (especially on this board) is real estate and "how great" every aspect of Denver is.

Has Denver always been like this or is this smugness something more recent?

I suppose if anyone would recognize smug materialism, it would definitely be someone from Newport Beach

I'm one of those people who sold in OC in 2005 and moved to Denver. I don't discuss my equity gains with people here, in real life. But the "smugness" is nothing like Newport Beach. "OMG! You live in Irvine??? How do you deal with the heat? I could never live so far from the beach! Irvine... isn't that next to Barstow??"

[Co_guy_94]

Originally Posted by denverian

I suppose if anyone would recognize smug materialism, it would definitely be someone from Newport Beach

I'm one of those people who sold in OC in 2005 and moved to Denver. I don't discuss my equity gains with people here, in real life. But the "smugness" is nothing like Newport Beach. "OMG! You live in Irvine??? How do you deal with the heat? I could never live so far from the beach! Irvine... isn't that next to Barstow??"

LOL, spot on. Not to mention any smugness I've encountered is usually from people that moved here from OC that talked about how they were able to pay for their homes in full with what they made from the sale of their home back in CA.

I would say most of my friends, some of whom grew up here have been very hush-hush about the current market, any "paper gains" and simply enjoying where we live and feeling fortunate to not be house hunting at present.

If anything, what I've noticed is not really smugness but slight irritability at the huge influx of people. The traffic is becoming awful, lines are longer, and going up the mountains on a weekend?? Fo-get-about-it. Yep, the secret has long been out...CO is a great place to be and low and behold, it doesn't snow year round here!

[GoldenZephyr]

Originally Posted by denverian

I suppose if anyone would recognize smug materialism, it would definitely be someone from Newport Beach

I'm one of those people who sold in OC in 2005 and moved to Denver. I don't discuss my equity gains with people here, in real life. But the "smugness" is nothing like Newport Beach. "OMG! You live in Irvine??? How do you deal with the heat? I could never live so far from the beach! Irvine... isn't that next to Barstow??"

Actually, I think Irvine is a very nice city, no one I know puts down Irvine. Sure there are a few smug people in Newport Beach, one of the most affluent places in the country and the world, but I'm not sure its the same level of smugness that I sense in Denver.

There are many people in Newport of extraordinary wealth, but don't think that real estate prices are a result of their own genius. They recognize prices reflect demand because of the goldilocks climate, natural beauty, safety, world class amenities, and rarified shores. There are few places like it in all the world.

There are a number of Denverians who boast endlessly about real estate, talk ad nauseam about how their home in Stapleton went up. How their place in Parker just went up again. They seem to erroneously believe real estate prices somehow reflect their innate genius, rather than fortuitous timing. Usually with that glimmer, that twinkle that belies an innate smugness. It's arrogance and its too bad because the Denver metro I think would be better than that. I get it, some people are smug, everyplace has them, its just that Denver seems to have reached a tipping point. Others have noticed, and the very responses to this thread seem to indicate that my observations have been true.

Just my thoughts, while I didn't want to compare locations Newport Beach is a bit more humble low key in comparison to its actual position and desirability. If anything, it underplays itself.

Don't get angry, Denver acts just a bit cocky (smug). It kind of overstates its desirability without acknowledging any of its deficiencies. (i.e. boasting about 300 days of "sunshine" a year.")