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I ride my bike year round as well. In Boulder, the bike paths are cleared before the roads. They make bike tires for ice just like they do car tires for ice. Even so, ice is hardly ever an issue. Last Sunday I rode to work at 5am in shorts when it was 9 degrees out. Just need to dress properly and wear the right stuff. The only days I don't ride is when the winds are above 50mph.
I just bought some winter apparel at Bicycle Village last night to do exactly this. The office is only 7.5 miles away, so it isn’t too bad of a commute. All I really need now is to replace my slicks with something with more traction. Completely possible to be a year round cyclist in my opinion. People do it in much less hospitable climates.
How do you know these cars did not come from those states that use salt? I've seen some, too, and in some instances, they'll still have their license plates from NY, IL, MI, etc.
I'm not claiming that body rust is impossible here. However, it is not as prevalent as other cold-weather states. And I attribute that to the lack of salt use on the roads.
I know it from the fact that my brother has had a 1985 F150 truck since 1990, original Colo vehicle. The rocker panels are rusted as well as the wheel wells. Yes, If the truck had been in Chicago all these years, it would be in the junk yard. And if the truck had been in inland CA or Arizona, the paint would be shot but the body would have no rust.
Anything with chloride (rock salt, magnesium chloride, etc.) is EXTREMELY corrosive. Scientists are always trying to find better alternatives that are not corrosive. I read recently about a study that used beet juice (or some part of beet waste.) Look it up.
If I had a nice classic car or truck in Denver, I wouldn't drive it in the winter.
Every time I read a post you make about Denver it’s more and more obvious that you haven’t been here in 20 years. I really do t know what the hell youre talking about. Affirmative Action issues???? The job market you are describing is the same as talking about the job market in 1928.
That post by Grad_Student was actually one of the most analytical I've read in a while. Denver is what like 65-68% White? Minorities are for sure outnumbered, especially in the suburbs. That's on a high level, and I've read the "subtle racism" on other review boards about the city as well.
I've also heard the job market was a pretty dark time in Denver post-2001 as well, much like the Bay Area for tech during that time. Same deal with the defense industry in the early 1990s in Los Angeles. Depending on your industry during a recession, certain cities can get hit really hard.
Denver has pros and cons. I lived in Colorado for four years back in my youth and was a mountain trail runner. I loved it. I am also Native American, so the area was great for my outdoor lifestyle. But it's also great for many people of Colorado who center upon outdoor activities such as hiking, running, skiing, biking, etc. The weather is moderate. It does get cold in the winter with snow but not nearly as bad as Chicago. I know this because I went to college in the midwest as an undergraduate. The summer gets hot but not nearly as bad as Phoenix. I grew up in rural AZ.
The job market is tricky. During the good years, Denver seems perfect with many, many job opportunities - like a roaring flood. But in the bad years a job search can be futile for many months. I was an engineer working in information technology in the late 1990s when the job market was booming. I started out at entry-level testing in 1998. I usually quit a job and got a major raise and promotion because the shortage was so bad. By late 2000 I was a manager with a great salary relative to the times and location.
But it crashed in 2001. By 2002 I was doing minimum wage labor to survive and moved to Florida out of desparation for a new job.
So, the first CON is that the job market can be unreliable over the span of ten years. In 1998-early 2000 the job market was excellent. By 2002 it had turned upside down and died. Many IT companies went out of business. There were huge layoffs, and the rare job opening had hundreds or even thousands of applicants (in engineering). It was horrible. Right now, the job market is back, but I don't trust it anymore.
The second CON comes from the minority perspective. Affirmative action is a major topic of divisiveness in the school systems of Colorado. There is a lot of racial tension because of it. You don't really see race riots or segregationists in the style of the segregated south of the 1950s, but the resentment towards that policy breeds modern "subtle racism" or "institional racism". The resentment against minority students in the law school or medical school (for example) is very bad.
The third CON comes in the gender ratio. It's bad for men. The place is called "Menver" because the men generally outnumber the women by far. There are women who revel in the attention and become serial daters with multiple dates lined up per week on apps such as Tinder. Normally, this CON against men would be a PRO for women in general. But for an African American and single mom, the mostly white male population of Denver would probably not be interested. From the minority perspective, I can tell you young blonde white women (unmarried wtihout children) are put on the pedestal in Colorado - especially Boulder. The few African American men are likely with white women. So, from the gender ratio perspective, I wouldn't think it's a good idea for an African American woman.
I would recommend looking around in detail for the cities of interest. I am kind of surprised you would want to leave Virginia. I went there for an FSU soccer game and was impressed with the state in general and the different cities and metro regions. I have been to DC, Maryland and nearby Arlington many times, so I thought the area was great for minorities and a career.
I see you moved from Denver 16 years ago. Have you kept up with the employment scene since then?
The misnomer of "Menver" has been brought up many times here, with most people agreeing that it really is just a myth. A very old myth. Not worth bringing up again, I would think.
My work just offered $230 monthly if we'd give up our parking passes and alternate commute into work. You can only ride if there's no ice and it's above 32F. At 9 am and 5 pm, there's quite a few days (more often than not) in Nov - March where it's unridable. I'll have to have an alternate plan to get into work for the winter months.
I see you moved from Denver 16 years ago. Have you kept up with the employment scene since then?
The misnomer of "Menver" has been brought up many times here, with most people agreeing that it really is just a myth. A very old myth. Not worth bringing up again, I would think.
I seriously doubt he's even been back here, let alone kept up with the job market trends. His commentary on that particular aspect of Denver should be considered 100% irrelevant.
That post by Grad_Student was actually one of the most analytical I've read in a while. Denver is what like 65-68% White? Minorities are for sure outnumbered, especially in the suburbs. That's on a high level, and I've read the "subtle racism" on other review boards about the city as well.
I've also heard the job market was a pretty dark time in Denver post-2001 as well, much like the Bay Area for tech during that time. Same deal with the defense industry in the early 1990s in Los Angeles. Depending on your industry during a recession, certain cities can get hit really hard.
Denver is 53.6% non-Hispanic white.
Regarding suburbs, Adams County is 50.1% non-Hispanic white. Arapahoe County is 60.5% NHW. Jefferson is whiter, 78.3%. Douglas County 82.6%. Boulder County (not part of MSA but still part of the urban area), 77.9% NHW. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...rado/PST045217
Don't know what you mean by post 2001. It's 17 years post now, and CO and Denver have both had some of the lowest UE rates in the country the last few years. The Great Recession of 2008-09 was pretty bad for a while, but that's 10 years ago now.
I ride my bike year round as well. In Boulder, the bike paths are cleared before the roads. They make bike tires for ice just like they do car tires for ice. Even so, ice is hardly ever an issue. Last Sunday I rode to work at 5am in shorts when it was 9 degrees out. Just need to dress properly and wear the right stuff. The only days I don't ride is when the winds are above 50mph.
By that logic you could ride through the winter of Alaska. Normal people only ride when it's above 32, which is not most of the winter, at least at 9AM.
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Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii
The misnomer of "Menver" has been brought up many times here, with most people agreeing that it really is just a myth. A very old myth. Not worth bringing up again, I would think.
We have all these wise guys / gals on this forum who are over 40 who love to claim that CO in general is perfectly balanced. They aren't on the scene, they just like to make comments. But at 20-30, it's totally male dominated. Just got back from the Christmas party at my apartment complex. Tried to talk to about 10 girls, only 1 (under 40 at least ) responded back with a conversation. During the time when we were on the silent disco dance floor, 4 different guys came up, started to dance, and try to hit on her with us there. That's your typical night out in Denver. You can tell the difference if you go to somewhere like DC or Louisiana.
Hi!
I live in Aurora so my perspective may differ slightly, and have never been to Virginia. But I moved here from NYC for grad school... after fantasizing about it since childhood... so if you want to talk broad brush east coast stereotypes and how it's different here...I can do that.
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Originally Posted by Va83
I’m almost sure that I’ll need a car and to learn to drive in the snow lol. Can you tell me about insurance and things like that.
Yes, you will need a car. I never even got licensed in NY and then tried to get it done before moving, but couldn't pass the road test there. Seriously I don't even know how people drive there...
So, I moved here and got it all done in a week. Anyway, because I'm a poor graduate student I just got around to the process of actually acquiring a car and the plan is to drive off with it at the end of the week (unless for some reason I hate it, but then I'll have to wait til January if I wanna get picky).
My dad, being a NYer calls it "car culture". I wouldn't quite call it that. You need a car - because it's spread out. People also like to go out and do things and get exercise - because it's spread out. You have the space and natural beauty to take advantage of and do that stuff. "Car culture" I think like Florida or LA.
Regarding winter driving. I worked with a broker and he said AWD is a no-brainer, that's why so many people here have Subarus and Jeeps. Though that's also a bit stereotypical. I know some CO natives w/ FWD Toyota sedans and such (and students that inherited some basic FWD car from their parents and are too broke to care about getting something fancy, lol).
Denver itself doesn't get a lot of snow. Although already there have been a few days we had light flurries, but because of the up/downs in temp, it would refreeze as ice on the streets for a day or two. So there's that.
I think FWD is doable, if you aren't planning on doing a lot of outdoorsy stuff. Personally learning to snowboard (among other things) is on my bucket list and being a new driver I decided to play it safe and do AWD.
Auto insurance is supposedly below national avg., <100/month on avg from what I've researched. I can't speak much to that, because I'm a new driver thus considered a liability and gonna probably pay over double what the average person does for a year...which, fair enough, I'm probably paying average coastal city rates..
However, I was required to get renters' insurance when I moved and that was pretty cheap...
not sure if that's because it's Aurora and not Denver proper.
Anyway, enough about cars lol.
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How about the people? I know us east coast people (stereotypes) and west coast (stereotypes) but what would Colorado be considered?
Lol, I have a lot to say about this, because I generally hate people. Or at least I did my whole life on the east coast.
It's all very relative. I know people who moved here from the south or small town/rural areas and think people here are "aloof" or unfriendly. That is just a general city thing I think. Generally people seem happier/calmer. I think that comes with having more space. And people do like their space... so there's this thing of respecting each others' personal bubbles but also being friendly and polite. I have always struggled to make friends growing up, but it's been relatively easy here. Especially considering I've only been here like 4 months and don't have a car, which can easily get you left out of things because "oh yeah.. that's gonna be hard to get to..."
Drivers are waaaay polite compared to NYC... again probably a space thing. I also find people are very friendly when it comes to offering rides, carpooling and such (which goes back to the not being as left out as I probably could be).
So the biggest stereotype I that I think is truth, is that east coasters are "ruder" and generally more neurotic and competitive. Sometimes seemingly for no reason other than they've been conditioned to be that way, haha, due to over-saturation (that applies to job markets, infrastructure, social events.. pretty much everything). Why people would intentionally want to be that way, I'll probably never understand. (I swear some east coasters have Stockholm Syndrome...)
Not sure where Denver would fall into the stereotypes, though. It's kind of a melting pot, in more ways than one... There seem to be a lot of Midwest and CA transplants, and it has a bit of a mixed vibe of both places, I think. It's also more culturally homogeneous, at least in my experience compared to NYC, in terms of demographics. As in, there's not as much identity politics going on (which I think is a positive, but that depends if you're into that scene or not...) So your gender/race/sexual orientation/insert label here isn't as relevant to your lifestyle, as just the fact that you live here is going to dictate that.
To me, it doesn't feel "coastal"...if that makes sense...until you try to compare it to the Midwest (or even, for example, inland PA). Then you start noticing where the west coast influence is. Of course, there's also the Rocky Mountain West influence but that's mixed in as well... I have been to Phoenix and that felt more purely "western". It's hard to describe.
I looked at going to school in Pittsburgh, and while CO is landlocked, Pitts just "felt" more landlocked and stereotypically Midwestern. Maybe that is the CA influence here, or maybe it's because Pitt still has some of the weather and pop. density of an east coast city so it comes off less...breathable? Who knows.
As far as outdoorsy stuff, I don't think you need to be into any of that. A lot of people talk about it, meet each other that way and such, so there is a social advantage I think to having some interest. Honestly, Denver would not have been my first choice place to live because it still is a bit removed from nature and the outdoor culture. I have to see mountains or remind myself sometimes where I am, lol. Because of the obligations of being a grad student, I've acquired "FOMO", I feel there's so much of Colorado I'm missing out on....
So, hypothetically, you could just live here, do the 9-5 urban working life routine, and stay indoors for like 90% of your day. My dream home is more "cabin in the mountains" (more realistically, probably a western suburb of Denver), so that's not really my thing...but yeah, you can pretty much go as indoor or outdoor as you want.
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) responded back with a conversation. During the time when we were on the silent disco dance floor, 4 different guys came up, started to dance, and try to hit on her with us there. That's your typical night out in Denver. You can tell the difference if you go to somewhere like DC or Louisiana.
