Denver residents are most similar to? (Boulder, Frisco: transplants, neighborhoods, school districts)

[Gaylord_Focker]

Before I moved here, I sort of expected a west coast vibe, as in super liberal, big on the environment, progressive. And while I see a lot of that, I'm not sure that attitude dominates here.

Who do you think Denver residents are most similar to?

[FluorescentLightsAreEvil]

In my mind, the stereotypical Denver resident grew up in a conservative suburb of Chicago or an expensive new-money suburb of Los Angeles. They got really into Dave Matthews Band in high school and rejected their friends from the church youth group, started smoking pot, and moved to Boulder for undergrad. Now, as adults, they try to convince each other that they're all forward thinking, liberal, and rugged, but at heart, they fall back on their suburban sensibilities when nobody's looking.

In terms of the cityscape itself, I find Denver most similar to Kansas City, Missouri. In terms of people, I probably find Denver most similar to Phoenix or the parts of Texas where there aren't any actual Texans.

[Pemgin]

My experiences with Denver have mostly given off more of a Pacific Northwest vibe with a wiff of the Midwest.

[Thoreau424]

They're a mix of midwestern, PNW, and northern (WI, Minnesota, etc). No southern or eastern.

[Katarina Witt]

Here's where people in Colorado are from (or were born anyway):
https://www.denverite.com/colorado-n...ulation-23886/
Colorado, 42.7%
California, 6%
Texas, 3.3%
Illinois, 2.9%
New York, 2.3%
Ohio, Kansas, 1.7%
Michigan, Pennsylvania, 1.6%
Iowa, Nebraska, 1.5%
Missouri, 1.3%
Minnesota, New Mexico, 1.2%
Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, 1%
All others, <1%
Smallest number, Delaware, Rhode Island and Vermont, 0.1%

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by FluorescentLightsAreEvil

In terms of people, I probably find Denver most similar the parts of Texas where there aren't any actual Texans.

Exactly which "parts" of Texas where there aren't any "actual" Texans?

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Seems to me like there's a lot of people in the Denver Metropolitan area that speaks with a thick and twangy Michigan accent.

Their accent screams "Michigan" when they pronounce the word "not" as "naaatt", and they pronounce the word "too" as " toooh"

A conversation might go something like this:

Person "A" says to Person "B" "yuuu did naaat",
Person "B" snaps back at Person "A", "I did tooooh"

In "Michobonics", the word "naaat" is pronounced as if the doctor tells you to open your mouth and say, "AAAAH" and then tack on the letter "t" at the end of it. Also, in "Michobonics" The words "tooooh" and "yuuu" rhymes with "oooo" as in the phrase, "ooooh neato" .

[Indigo Cardinal]

I tend to view Colorado in general as where the Midwest meets the West Coast. In some places it blends, it some places, there's definite 'dividing lines'.

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by FluorescentLightsAreEvil

In my mind, the stereotypical Denver resident grew up in a conservative suburb of Chicago or an expensive new-money suburb of Los Angeles. They got really into Dave Matthews Band in high school and rejected their friends from the church youth group, started smoking pot, and moved to Boulder for undergrad. Now, as adults, they try to convince each other that they're all forward thinking, liberal, and rugged, but at heart, they fall back on their suburban sensibilities when nobody's looking.

In terms of the cityscape itself, I find Denver most similar to Kansas City, Missouri. In terms of people, I probably find Denver most similar to Phoenix or the parts of Texas where there aren't any actual Texans.

This is perfect analysis. Californians have been coming to Metro Denver in droves. Comparing Denver to Phoenix makes sense, because Phoenix is another place that has been overrun with Californians. Most of the population centers of the interior West (Phoenix, Tucson, Denver, Dallas, Houston, and Austin) have seen a ton of migration from California since the 1990s.

Look at how Denver has been voting since Obama 2008. Before Obama 2008, Colorado was a generally Republican state. With the migration, Colorado is now a liberal state that the Republicans are going to have a very difficult time with in the years to come.

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Exactly which "parts" of Texas where there aren't any "actual" Texans?

Parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area are very transplant heavy. In certain Central Dallas neighborhoods (south of Interstate 635), there are a lot of 20-somethings relocating to Dallas for career options. Post 2008, a lot of Millennials moved to Dallas because Dallas didn't crash as badly as a lot of parts of the country. Single, college-educated Millennials have been moving into a few Central Dallas neighborhoods in droves for a while.

In the northern suburbs of Dallas (Collin County), older, more established people are pouring into Plano, Frisco, and McKinney. These people are mostly moving into these suburbs for strong school districts. Plano is the most established of these cities, originating as a white flight suburb. In 1970, the population of Plano was 17,000. By 1990, it was 128,000, and it is now around 285,000. Frisco had a population of 6,000 in 1990, and 34,000 in 2000, and is now at 164,000. Transplants into Collin County are usually families, as the Collin County suburbs are usual family oriented. Asians have been moving into Collin County at a high rate. Asians are now 17% of the population of Collin County. Not many Asians in Collin County were native Texans. If you just look at Collin County's explosive growth rate, it is comprised of migration from other areas of the United States and from other countries.

The Fort Worth side of DFW is more Texan than the Dallas side (city of Dallas and the Collin County suburbs).

Both Austin and Houston are transplant heavy.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by RJ312

This is perfect analysis. Californians have been coming to Metro Denver in droves. Comparing Denver to Phoenix makes sense, because Phoenix is another place that has been overrun with Californians. Most of the population centers of the interior West (Phoenix, Tucson, Denver, Dallas, Houston, and Austin) have seen a ton of migration from California since the 1990s.

Look at how Denver has been voting since Obama 2008. Before Obama 2008, Colorado was a generally Republican state. With the migration, Colorado is now a liberal state that the Republicans are going to have a very difficult time with in the years to come.



Parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area are very transplant heavy. In certain Central Dallas neighborhoods (south of Interstate 635), there are a lot of 20-somethings relocating to Dallas for career options. Post 2008, a lot of Millennials moved to Dallas because Dallas didn't crash as badly as a lot of parts of the country. Single, college-educated Millennials have been moving into a few Central Dallas neighborhoods in droves for a while.

In the northern suburbs of Dallas (Collin County), older, more established people are pouring into Plano, Frisco, and McKinney. These people are mostly moving into these suburbs for strong school districts. Plano is the most established of these cities, originating as a white flight suburb. In 1970, the population of Plano was 17,000. By 1990, it was 128,000, and it is now around 285,000. Frisco had a population of 6,000 in 1990, and 34,000 in 2000, and is now at 164,000. Transplants into Collin County are usually families, as the Collin County suburbs are usual family oriented. Asians have been moving into Collin County at a high rate. Asians are now 17% of the population of Collin County. Not many Asians in Collin County were native Texans. If you just look at Collin County's explosive growth rate, it is comprised of migration from other areas of the United States and from other countries.

The Fort Worth side of DFW is more Texan than the Dallas side (city of Dallas and the Collin County suburbs).

Both Austin and Houston are transplant heavy.

Actually, Colorado has been purple for as long as I've lived here (1980). Most of that time, we've had a Democratic governor. We've usually had both Dems and Repubs as senators. Our congressional delegation has been mixed.