Little things you love about Denver that make Denver ... Denver (Arvada: transplants, mortgage)

[UDAirman71]

I’ve been reading this forum for awhile now and I’ve heard all about the weather, the suburbs, the great places to eat, the terrible traffic, et cetera, et cetera What I haven’t come across yet though are the little things that are different in Denver.

Is it Pop? Soda? Coke?

Are there things you get/don’t get at a restaurant? For example when I went to New York City and asked for mustard with a hamburger they just looked at me funny and then went in the back to dig some up.

If there’s anything else you can think of that you thought was strange when you got there, or if there’s anything that guests or relatives thought was strange/different when they came to visit I’d be interested in knowing.

Oh it might not hurt to include what part of the country you or they come from.

[Drew303]

Only in Denver do people go 55 in the left lane and refuse to move over!

[zionvier]

Originally Posted by Drew303

Only in Denver do people go 55 in the left lane and refuse to move over!

Unfortunately that's not a Denver only thing... I've found in most of my travels that the right lanes travel the fastest when it's light to moderate traffic, but you will have to strategically figure out when to pass that occasional vehicle doing the "right thing" and is going slow in the slow lane... obviously in heavy traffic no one is moving fast

[zionvier]

As for the little things in Denver, I'm having trouble thinking of anything personally. Might be because I've lived in 3 other states around the country, so whether it's pop, cola, soda, etc I don't notice... it all translates the same in my head. Kind of like people that are fluent in two languages, someone could be speaking to you in one language and the next sentence switch to the other language and you don't even realize it.

If you've never see a traffic light at the bottom of a merge ramp onto a major highway or interstate, that might freak you out the first time.. I remember it did to me the first time I encountered one.

When you're talking about going places a lot of times it's referred to as "going up to <blah>" or "going down to <blah>" ... since it works from going north and south on the front range as well as going east and west since you're going up the mountain or down the mountain ;-) Even if I'm in Denver and going to Pikes Peak I'll say I'm going UP to Pikes, even though it's south.

[vegaspilgrim]

Most Denver natives say "pop."
Some oldtimers pronounce "wash" like "warsh," as in "warshington park."
Also I've heard some call a shopping cart a "buggy."

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Some oldtimers pronounce "wash" like "warsh," as in "warshington park."

I'd never noticed that. I guess it's normal to me, since my relatives in Ohio say it the same way.

[DenverAztec]

Denver has alleys in almost all of the neighborhoods, unlike the suburbs.

Natives do say "pop" instead of soda, but that has changed with the variety of options.

Natives freak out when they encounter a large bug or spider as we are not use to them growing the size they do in the southern states, they usually freeze here in the winter.

We focus more on the beauty that the weather brings then the negatives of it. We know it will change either that same day or within a week.

Natives will generally avoid you rather then become combative or try to figure you out if you are rude to them.

[Ticky909]

The brown cloud. Used to be bigger in the 80's. A cloud reducing visibility, involves particulate matter, aerosols, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ammonia, etc, etc. Thats fairly unique to denver, since the temp inversions against the mountains made it so strong.

also : beards and facial hair seem extremely popular among all ages 20 and up.

[livecontent]

Dogs, Dogs, everywhere. Mostly, everyone has a dog or dogs. I grew up in New York and dogs were not as prevalent. In the ethnic neighborhood where I grew up, Italian, Polish; there were very few dogs and rarely multiple dogs, like here--yet everyone paid their mortgage first and did without luxuries. Here, it is luxury and pets first, mortgage last.

Also, most yards where not enclosed by a fence and a stockade fence was very rare with some wire fences. Here everyone, especially newer areas, want to fence themselves, partly because of dog ownership but there may be other reasons. However, I noticed that recent immigrants, Vietnamese, Russsians etc. to Denver, in my ethnic neighborhood in Arvada, do not have dogs but have money; however, Mexican immigrants mostly have dogs and no money--there is a "proverb" in there somewhere. When I lived in prosperous Europe, less dogs; when I visited poor Mexico, dogs everywhere.

This is just an observation, and not an insult to dog lovers, because I have learned people in Denver will defend their "beasts", vociferously and sometimes violently, from any complaint or imaginary insult---so do not get your hackles up. Also, I get along with and like very much all my neighbors (and sometimes their dogs), rich, poor, Russians, Vietnamese, Mexican, Laotians, Cubans, Chinese, Koreans, Hispanic, Whites, Blacks, Rednecks and those indeterminate individuals----we all have our unique characteristics that I appreciate.

Livecontent

[David Aguilar]

Disclaimer: Native-Californian here.

Natives say "Pop".
Transplants say whatever they say where they came from.
I still say "Soda".

Fountain soda tastes funny here for the first few days.

Chocolate doesn't taste as good as it does in other parts of the country.

Some people like to say street names incorrectly, for example: Gal-uh-pay-go for Galapago, or ZOO-NYE, for Zuni. This has been discussed on the forum before.

Those freeway on-ramp stoplights, don't function properly. They're on a timer as opposed to censors, and they let both lanes enter the freeway at the exact same time.

When the speed limit is 55, people go 65.
When the speed limit is 65, people go 70.
When the speed limit is 75, people go 70.

For some reason, when it comes to freight carts or bins, they like to call them gurneys.

Never noticed the "warsh" thing here.

Snow is no excuse, for anything.

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

Natives will generally avoid you rather then become combative or try to figure you out if you are rude to them.

Agreed! Coloradans are a little harder to get to know, many seem content with their lives before you decided to enter it.