After one year in Denver... (vacation, appointed, moving)

[scanner]

my girlfriend and I moved to Denver about a year ago from tampa. all in all i'd say we like it. the weather is much more agreeable, even when it snows. the mountains are beautiful. downtown has a ton to offer. i could go on.

as seen on other boards, this city/state has a lot to offer, so i wont harp.

here's what i've found that i either didnt expect or was disappointed to find (keep in mind, this is my perspective and opinion, not a denver bashing session):

-it has a bit of a mid west/open plains feel. obviously, half of the state [i]is[i] open plains. but it feels, at times a little cowish/country. which leads me to my next point

-other than municipal denver, boulder and fort collins, this is a very conservative state. florida is too, but it feels that the people are much more in your face about it here. more preachy (i.e. CO Springs). of course, this isnt every case, but in my personal experience.

-the sunshine is great. but like all great things, it can get old at times. coming from the sunshine state, there's something to be said for overcast, rainy days. i knew denver got a lot of sun before i moved here, but i was hoping for a little more gloom in the winter.

-it feels a bit isolated. looking at a map that much is evident. but the nearest city worth visiting you have to fly to. not really a big deal for now, but once i've grown bored w/ the city...

-the personal bubble issue. maybe because im from the east coast and my parents are new yorkers, but i feel i have a right to a personal bubble. why is it constantly violated on-line at the grocery store? im checking out, waiting to pay and the next person walks up and im literally elbow to elbow with them. now, if im on the rush hour 7 train out of queens, this predicament is unavoidable and quite normal. but at safeway and its only us? are we really that comfortable with each other? i mean, we've only know each other for...wait...we dont know each other...[mod cut] whats your problem? can someone please explain this to me? this drives my girlfriend and i completely crazy.

those are my only gripes. other than that, this was a great move on our part. it was all gut instinct. we'd only been on skiing vacations before moving here and had only driven through denver. our gamble paid off. thanks for letting me rant.

cheers!

[steveindenver]

All of it so true ....

[livecontent]

Scanner,

This is a good post--gave you a rep. Nice to here a honest review, after a year.

I do not agree with it all. I am from New York and I think people in New York, especially NYC, have less of a personal space. It is a result of the European influence where people talked closer to each other, used their hands and touch each other, mostly on the arms and shoulders. However, my point of view may be is that I may be much older than you, and my experiences in NY had more contact with many European Immigrants.

Also, the Denver is in the West--the biggest City and on the Great Plains. I would hope it continues to have a unique identity of "cowish/country", as you said. It would be a bland country if everything was the same. This is a very isolated area with many wide open spaces and frontier counties--another difference that I hope never changes. All these differences are under the one big influence--the sun; this what really makes the West and the people that I admire.

Livecontent

[rolo99]

I too have lived here just over a year and am very happy with our move. Prior to this, we spent 6 mos. in N. Tucson (Catalina) but prior to that we were Michigan natives.

When we moved here last April it seemed very green compared to Tucson, but when we visited Michigan in Sept, we'd forgotten how green Mich. is. But....with that green comes rain. I never had to worry about a summer event getting rained out. Although I agree that June & July where everyday was hot & sunny got to be a bit much. One cloudy, cool, rainy day would have been nice.

Biggest surprise....cost to register a vehicle. YIKES!

I haven't noticed the lack of personal space, but there are so many people here from other places that you can't really say it's a Colorado thing.

I love the "cowiness" because I have a horse that chases 'em!

[Wyomiles]

scanner, when I cuddle up to you in line don't take it personal, I'm just trying to get some of that Florida sunshine you brought with ya ! It's always a long winter don't ya know : )

[Mike78613]

Thanks for your feedback. I did notice you said this:

-the sunshine is great. but like all great things, it can get old at times. coming from the sunshine state, there's something to be said for overcast, rainy days. i knew denver got a lot of sun before i moved here, but i was hoping for a little more gloom in the winter.

You should be living in Seattle

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by scanner

-it feels a bit isolated. looking at a map that much is evident. but the nearest city worth visiting you have to fly to. not really a big deal for now, but once i've grown bored w/ the city...

I'm with you here. Actually, in terms of international flights, Denver is doing a lot better than it did years before. But yeah, they don't call 'em wide open spaces for nothing.

-the personal bubble issue. maybe because im from the east coast and my parents are new yorkers, but i feel i have a right to a personal bubble. why is it constantly violated on-line at the grocery store? im checking out, waiting to pay and the next person walks up and im literally elbow to elbow with them. now, if im on the rush hour 7 train out of queens, this predicament is unavoidable and quite normal. but at safeway and its only us? are we really that comfortable with each other? i mean, we've only know each other for...wait...we dont know each other...[mod cut] whats your problem? can someone please explain this to me? this drives my girlfriend and i completely crazy.

I'm with you here,too, as well, at least as far as my experience goes.
But I think it's just supermarket behavior.
Let me explain: I moved from Denver, where the people behind me in the grocery check-out invariably come *right up* behind me, elbow to elbow just as you describe--to north Florida, where people politely give me some space and I never feel hurried or infiltrated.
I can't think of any other occasion where this happened to me in Denver: not waiting in line (notice I said "in" line, not "on" line) for Botanic Gardens concert tickets, not at a Broncos game, not even on the #15 Colfax bus.
It was strictly a grocery store phenomenon.
Perhaps it developed with Type A Denverites. As supermarkets introduced the new custom of unloading our own shopping carts,the stressed-out Type As, unable to wait because they just have to empty those carts, began creeping up in line, sort of like a car at a red light.
The Type B's just inwardly sigh--and deal with it.
Does King Soops still unload for the customer? That kept a little bit of distance between folks in line.

[HighlandsGal]

Hmmm.....in almost a year here myself I have never witnessed this grocery store phenomenon.....what have I been missing???

[Katiana]

Does King Soops still unload for the customer? That kept a little bit of distance between folks in line.

Yes, they do. I too, have never personally experienced this grocery-store thing, but I've sure noticed a lot of line-hopping and so on that I never saw back in Champaign, IL (from whence I came here). It irritates me to be in line and another line opens up and the person behind me goes over and gets out before me, sometimes way before. This happens at Kohl's, Hobby Lobby, you name it. It's not just grocery stores.

[scanner]

livecontent-

i know what you mean about the european influence in the city. both sets of my grandparents were irish immigrants and fairly hands on. but here it seems strange in a sense because its a place of such wide open spaces, why crowd each other? lets breath. thanks for the rep, too! *highfive*


wyomiles-

long winter is fine. if you want some of my FL sunshine you can have it! i sweated it out down there long enough!


mike- i like cold, rainy days. but i dunno if i like it that much.


bluewillowplate- type-A's, huh? i guess that could explain it. especially when im on-line at cherry creek mall.


thanks for responding everyone!