Would you recommend Denver to a single black woman? Please be honest...Thanks (Aurora: fit in, lease)

[Georgiapeach32]

I'm a 32 year old single, childless black female. I've been offered a position in Denver with a starting salary of $55,000. I was born and raised in Atlanta, Ga and have lived here all my life. I really want to change so I'm considering taking this position in Denver. Would you recommend Denver to a black woman? I've done some research and I know the black population is small in Denver but that doesn't concern me. I just want to make sure people will be receptive. GA's race relations have improved but there are still some places I would never recommend whites to go and some places blacks shouldn't go. Also, I am single so I'm just wondering are white men, hispanic men receptive to dating black women there? That's certainly not the case here in GA. I have a rockin' personality, I never have an attitude and if I were mad you'd never know. I have tons of white and Asian friends. I greet people wherever I go and from time to time like to engage in casual conversation with people in grocery lines and what not. Do you think my personality would fit in Denver? Also, I am not used to snow, is it really that bad in Denver? Mind you, Atlanta rarely gets snow so when we do, our city is always ill-prepared. I'm assuming Denver is probably more prepared. Also do you think $55,000 is enough to sustain a decent living in Denver? Also what are the dangerous areas that I should stay out of as I'd hate to sign a 12 month lease in a rough area. What are some nicer places to live in Denver for a single woman? What are the dangers of driving in the snow there?
Please be honest even if you think it'll hurt my feelings.

[rolo99]

Hmmm.....I'm not black but I am a woman and I think you'd be fine. I highly suggest a visit out here before you sign on any dotted lines. I moved here from Michigan, so I'm used to the snow. But this winter was NOTHING compared to a Michigan winter. There were a few 4-6" snowfalls, maybe 4, but they melted in a few days. The sun was out most of the time, making a 35 degree day quite pleasant in a sweatshirt & jeans. It may take you a bit to adjust to the cold. Another thing I don't miss is the humidity. It's nice & dry here. LOVE that!

As for the salary, you'll be fine on $55k. My husband was supporting both of us on that when we first moved here. It was tight for 2, but would be a lot less tight for one.

As for the black population, there's less black people here and many more hispanics than we had in Michigan, but it's no issue for me. You sound like a fun, outgoing woman, so I'm sure it'll be no problem for you.

Do you know where you'd be working? If you give us an idea of where you'll be working and what you want to pay in rent, I'm sure someone can suggest a place. I bought a house, so I'm not much help in the rent area.

[formercalifornian]

Of course! It's true that some of the suburbs are low diversity (friendly, but definitely vanilla); nonetheless, I think you'll find that there are plenty of places in the metro area that would be comfortable & welcoming to you.

[Saul Menowitz]

I'm a white male and just moved here from Chicago. I've lived in DC, New Orleans, Iowa and Chicago. Grew up in integrated neighborhoods, lots of black friends etc.

Based on my experience so far here, people are extremely friendly and outgoing. I've also noticed that Denver is much less segregated than Chicago. In addition, in terms of friendliness, I've noticed no difference between whites and blacks. What I mean by that is that generally when I'm walking down the street, other people, regardless of race, will say, "Good morning" etc. This does NOT happen in Chicago and certainly not in DC. I think this is a great place for a white or black person to live, esp. if you're interested in outdoor activities. Finally, I also think there's a fairly strong Christian community with all denominations well represented, if that's of interest to you.

[tfox]

I think you'll do fine here.

The cities of Denver and Aurora (the largest suburb, to the east) are both fairly diverse. The city of Denver recently became majority-minority, meaning it has just under 50% non-Hispanic Caucasian. The balance is split between Hispanics, African-American, Asian, and Native-American, in that order, though overall African Americans comprise a small portion by the standards of any city east of the Mississippi. The last three mayors of Denver have been Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic, so I think that shows that Denver residents tend to judge the person rather than the color of political candidates, and I think that holds true of people in general. Outside of the cities of Denver and Aurora, the outer suburbs tend to not have a lot of diversity; the inner suburbs, including parts of Lakewood, Englewood, Littleton, Westminster, Arvada, etc tend to be more diverse than the outer suburbs but not as diverse as Denver and Aurora.

Rough areas: actually very few areas are truly rough, so even the toughest neighborhoods are pretty tame compared to most eastern cities. Still, as a general rule of thumb, I'd be careful about anywhere close to I-70 east of I-25 (the Stapleton area excepted, which is very nice), or anything near Colfax east of Quebec in east Denver and Aurora. On the west side, I'd be careful about anything south/southwest of the football stadium down to about Mississippi west to about Sheridan (north-northwest of Colfax is good however). Actually, I don't want to get myself in trouble, as there are many good neighborhoods even where I just described, but it's kind of a rule of thumb.

Nicer places to live: well, pretty much everywhere else. Actually, it sort of depends on whether you like suburbs or city. The suburbs are largely cheaper, and mostly very suburban. The city neighborhoods are more urban and more expensive, though many neighborhoods in Denver are also suburban in character. There's a bunch of other threads you can look at talking about the best of the city neighborhoods and the best of the suburbs.

As for singles, I've been out of that scene for some time, but I don't think you'd have any problem. While some people may have their preferences, inter-racial relationships are common and not really something anyone cares about here. Denver is actually known for being a bit lopsided towards men, so the numbers may work out in your favor. I'd say that there's a heavy concentration of singles in the core cities of Denver and Boulder, whereas the outer suburbs tend to be mostly families.

I wouldn't worry too much about snow. It comes, it melts, mostly within a day or two. Truly large dumpings of snow happen about once every other winter, so it's not a regular occurrence. When that happens, usually Denver does shut down for a day or two while they try to get it all cleaned up. You will have to deal with a real winter -- we're not Atlanta -- so perhaps that will take some getting used to, but people transplant here from southern California all the time.

[ColoradoHereWeCome]

Originally Posted by Georgiapeach32

I'm a 32 year old single, childless black female. I've been offered a position in Denver with a starting salary of $55,000. I was born and raised in Atlanta, Ga and have lived here all my life. I really want to change so I'm considering taking this position in Denver. Would you recommend Denver to a black woman? I've done some research and I know the black population is small in Denver but that doesn't concern me. I just want to make sure people will be receptive. GA's race relations have improved but there are still some places I would never recommend whites to go and some places blacks shouldn't go. Also, I am single so I'm just wondering are white men, hispanic men receptive to dating black women there? That's certainly not the case here in GA. I have a rockin' personality, I never have an attitude and if I were mad you'd never know. I have tons of white and Asian friends. I greet people wherever I go and from time to time like to engage in casual conversation with people in grocery lines and what not. Do you think my personality would fit in Denver? Also, I am not used to snow, is it really that bad in Denver? Mind you, Atlanta rarely gets snow so when we do, our city is always ill-prepared. I'm assuming Denver is probably more prepared. Also do you think $55,000 is enough to sustain a decent living in Denver? Also what are the dangerous areas that I should stay out of as I'd hate to sign a 12 month lease in a rough area. What are some nicer places to live in Denver for a single woman? What are the dangers of driving in the snow there?
Please be honest even if you think it'll hurt my feelings.

I'm not sure if I could answer the location questions for you. It sounded to me like you feel that you need to defend your personality as if the "typical" perception of a 32 year old black woman was rude with an attitude, which I don't think it is. I think if you're as great as you sound, you will fit in anywhere. Don't worry so much about what people think - you seem confident. Take a visit to Denver and see if it's worth leaving your entire life behind for a pay raise. Good Luck!

[Georgiapeach32]

To: ColoradoHereWeCome

Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. However I think you are wrong in your perception. The stereotype of most black women, regardless of age is that they indeed have attitude problems and these stereotypes are portrayed by blacks themselves. (Check out many of the movies directed by blacks). Yes I have to defend my personality all the time and that's just the way things are. I'm not sure if you can understand this. I don't know what your background is but this is something I have to do everyday even with other black women. I've even had other black women ask me "Where's your black woman attittude honey?" or "You seem so calm for a black woman". You see what I'm getting at? And to further complicate the things, people are not as receptive of black women versus other races of women into their circle because of black women's perceived attitude. Did you know that there are more single black women than any other race? Do you know why? You could blame it on black men but I'm not the type of woman to put all the blame on men. I'll let you ponder on this......but again, thanks for your input.

[enigmakairos]

I, as a black woman, completely understand your defensiveness on the "angry black woman" stereotype. However, I also recognize that I tend to over-defend myself against it. As I get older I'm starting to recognize that in most cases it's not necessary - those who are familiar with and tend to feed in to the stereotype are going to view you that way no matter how you act, and the rest will try to see you as you are as long as there aren't any other biases in the way.

Regarding the dating scene, I'm hitched, so I certainly can't give any details on the singles scene, but I DO think you should prepare yourself to cross color lines. As long as that's not an issue, I think the question is whether the liberal attitudes of the city translates to there being many non-whites willing to date outside of their race. Of course there are always some. But enough to make your pond big enough to catch a nice fish or two, I dunno.

*forgive the cheesy metaphor.

Good luck if you do decide to come out to Denver!

[oberon]

Georgiapeach, I think you'll be happy in Denver, as long as you're willing to date men of other races, 'cause there aren't very many black people here. As enigmakairos so eloquently puts it. As far as whether that's "accepted", no one here cares about any color except green. I've personally never bothered to consider the "angry black" stereotype, and I'm sure most other people here are the same way. I treat everyone according to how they behave, not as stereotypes dictate. I'd like to believe many or perhaps even most of my fellow Denverites are the same way.

[DenverLawGal]

I'm a black 35 year old living here. I'm married, but have played the single life. I was raised in Colo. and therefore have much more of a "white" background than you have. I have visited Atlanta many times as well as parts in Tennessee, and color is def. an issue there. My husband is 1/2 Puerto Rican, but you'd never guess, he looks white. That said, we don't get nearly the b.s. we got when in the South.

I think people are more open-minded here than the South. But with that said, sometimes I feel like I'm in the south here. People are wayyyyyy laid back, no real city life here. There is not much in the way of adult nightlife, not like Atlanta, not even close. It's also very small, more like a burb of Atlanta. No huge freeways, just this most irritating I-25, which you'll crack up about -- I think it's 5 lanes tops. Malls are limited, but then again, it took me a few years to get to everyone and to get sick of them.

I'm actually very sick of living here, but I'm a local, and probably have feelings like you wanting to get out of my usual rut. I'm moving to Miami.

OK, so what I love about Denver --- we have more sun than L.A. Way more. I mean, compared to Atlanta, it's like the sun is on top of us. In Atlanta, you can barely see the sun thru all the haze. It might snow, but nothing crazy, then the next day it's sunny again!

My absolute fav about this city and I pray I find it elsewhere --- it is sooooo pedestrian friendly. Downtown especially. I'd stay away from burbs, since you don't have kids (no kids, right?) or a guy. We live in the burbs right now and are going out of our minds with boredom. We are moving back downtown next month.

I hope I've been fair and helpful to you. Here's my thinking. Just move! There's no harm. The economy is decent here, jobs decent, good pay for most working professionals. And it's not the end of the world if you don't like it. I really hope you enjoy your stay here, I would love to see more color here.

I forgot to say, this is one of the most CLEANEST cities I've ever seen. Although it's not nearly big enough to be a real city. And I guess when I think of cities I think of dirt and grit.

ugh, oh yes, I have to point this out, remember it's my opinion so please don't harsh on me. The Christian thing that another poster mentioned? It's huge here, I mean weird huge. Maybe it's where I'm living. But I doubt it. I mean, I grew up in a small town in Colo. and then moved to Denver when I was 18, I'm 35 now. So I have a pretty good grip. Downtown is full of progressive, modern, hip people. Once you leave downtown (takes about 5 minutes, haha) then all of sudden you are in Christian world. I don't mean Catholic or what not, but more of the what would jesus do types.

It's a huge turn off for me. You might be like that. That's ok, just not me.