What do you dislike about Denver? (Aurora, Boulder: fit in, low crime, home)

[Josseppie]

My biggest criticism about Denver is how most residents seem to think that the state ends when the metro ends. News flash Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Lamar, Grand Junction etc. are in Colorado too!

Also, I will never understand why the founders of Denver let the city be so small. In fact its only a matter of time before other cities in the state pass up the city of Denver as the most populous city even though the Denver metro area will most likely always be the largest in the state. Some possibilities are: Aurora, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. All have more land then the city of Denver and more land to grow.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

I agree, the 16th street mall is a giant pile of **it. Every single corner has at least one or two Starbucks. I also find it amusing how they call it a pedestrian mall when it's actually a busway. A stinking annoying bus road. Anybody who thinks the 16th street mall is the epitome of cool is really, really lame IMO. Just about any other street in Denver is better-- Market/Larimer/Wynkoop/Wazee, E. Colfax between Broadway & Colorado, 13th ave, 17th ave, old south Pearl St, Broadway from downtown to Alameda, 1st Ave, 32nd Ave, heck, even Federal or Colorado blvd or Parker Rd all blow away the 16th street mall IMO.

Agreed, the 16th street mall is pretty sterile. There are great positives on it like the Paramount theater, and other great buildings. However I like the old unique city scapes like you mentioned.

The good thing about it, was that I read they put it in to attract suburbinites and bring downtown back to life. Of course I don't know if Downtown Denver was bad in the 80s, but most Cities had downtowns that needed fixed in the 80s. (the generation that hated cities and loved suburbia-of course it was a republican one).

A few good things about it is:

It was designed by the great architect I.M. Pei (also the Rock and Roll hall of fame), and it is a very clean and nice walkway.
It is great for people watching.
The free bus was a good way to go from Union St. station to LoDo on 10 degree days. I lived in Uptown, and worked in Lodo, so I would ride it to work when it was too cold to walk.

Bad things:
It is very sterile, trendy, and chain galore.
It isn't really a real city street. It is mostly used by suburbinites and tourist. Lots of Colorado and Denver nick knack shops.
I hate pedestian malls because it concentrates everything in one area, while making other streets in downtown dead at night.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by FunkyMonk

I usually don't see too much critisism or bad things written about Denver on these forums. I think that it's because overall, Denver is a pretty good city and doesn't have many major problems. But in the spirit of constructive critisism, I would like to start a thread where people can tell about things they do not like in Denver.

I actually just want to see what people have to say on this. I feel like most people I meet really like Denver. Lots of natives here say that they will never leave. But there must be some things you don't like?

I'll start. My biggest dislike about Denver Is the lack of diversity and lack of buzz for a big city. I think the pace is too slow and the racial/cultural demographic is more narrow than i'm used to. There is a distinct lack of street life. And there is a certain rude, distant attitude a lot of people have which I think is part of the Libertarian, individualist culture here.

Another dislike I have is the sprawl. Just like Phoenix, Tucson or LA. Denver is a very sprawled, car-dependent western city without a decent subway system. It makes it hard to get around, and makes much of the city look boring and unnattractive.

What else? I'm interested in hearing it.

Geez, what a bunch of complainers! Let's just bulldoze the 16th St. Mall and all move away!

Seriously, other cities in this country envy the 16th St. Mall. I was down there for dinner last weekend and there were so many people out and about - it was great. Lack of street life? Maybe in Highlands Ranch, but I live in the actual city, so I see plenty of street life. There were people all over downtown last Saturday evening and plenty of people out on Colfax.

I find people here to be generally pleasant - I go to Philly a couple times per year for work, so I know what rude is! And as for sprawl, it's there, but it could be a lot worse. I grew up in KC and if you compare the KC metro are to Denver, they're about the same size in area, but Denver has nearly a million more people. When it comes to sprawl, there are bigger offenders out there than Denver.

My main complaint is the freeway system. So many freeways are rough, full of pot holes, and only have two lanes in each direction, so always backed up. And then there's winter - I'm no big fan of it, but that's not going to change.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Mr. Answers

I take back what I said. THIS is the most annoying thing about Denver. Columbus is within a 5 hour drive of half of the US population. Denver is within a five hour drive of....yeah I got nothin'. Limon? Woo.

I've never in my life enjoyed driving to other cities. I don't feel isolated here - only 2 hours by plane to anywhere in California, 4 hours from the East Coast. In the past 3.5 years I've lived in Denver, the furthest I've driven is to Boulder and DIA.

[MantaRay]

Mine is a perspective of someone who hasn't lived in Denver, but who has visited and who has done a lot of research on various cities to determine the top 5 where I would like to retire and currently has Denver as my #1 out of 5.

First, what made Denver #1 for me- more bike trails connecting subdivisions, parks, shopping, downtown than anywhere else in the US. The 16th Street Mall, which is a pedestrian amenity that few US cities have in their downtowns- I can probably count them on one hand. Low humidity- which makes summer heat and winter cold more bearable. I've been in 100 degree Tucson heat and 93 degree humid sticky Jacksonville heat, and the 93 was worse than the 100. I've also been outside when it's sunny, no clouds, no wind, and 32 degrees and also when it's overcast and wet and 45 degrees, and the 45 degrees was worse. The number of town centers built. Belmar, Southlands, Northfield, Cherry Creek, Walnut Creek, etc. It's like you can go to a different town each day of the week just by going to a different suburb. All sorts of ethnic restaurants. The best new residential developments built or in progress in America, Stapleton, Reunion, downtown condos overlooking Cherry Creek and in the Commons Park area. Riverfront parks, The Market at Larimer, and the nicest Performing Arts Center I've seen anywhere. I'm saying all this just so there is context to what I'm about to say I don't like about Denver, my #1 chosen place to retire, which there really isn't much I don't like.

I don't like that with as much land space and homes that Denver has, housing prices are closer to prices in cities that don't have much open land space and have a lot lower homes-to-families seeking homes ratio, supply-to-demand ratio. I don't like that, although I'm not a Broncos fan, I can't really get a Bronco's ticket in case a team I do like comes to town or in case I decide on a Friday that I'd just like to check out a football game on Sunday. Like I said, there's not much I don't like.

While I was visiting, a lady in the mall told me she had moved from Chicago with her husband and had lived in Denver for something like 5 years and she just hated that Denver doesn't have any water and she couldn't wait to move back to Chicago. I was thinking to myself what about the riverfront parks downtown and all these reservoirs I see on the map where I'm sure people boat, etc. And I was sure Denver has running tap water, so she couldn't be talking about that. So I was thinking what do you mean Denver doesn't have water, but I wasn't that interested in carrying on a conversation so I just said oh and chuckled and left with my purchases. Just goes to show some people are going to hype up a complaint WAY beyond the reality of the situation.

[HighlandsGal]

I also dislike that Denver is so isolated from the rest of the U.S. Luckily, there is a direct flight to my hometown (Grand Rapids, MI) which is nice to have in an emergency (like I did over Christmas when my grandma passed away). But as for driving somewhere, it's awful. And of course, unless you go somewhere on Southwest or something flying is expensive.

My only real dislike is drivers here. I think they are awful.....mostly for being too slow and not knowing how to drive around the stadium curve and merge onto a highway.

Edit to add: I wish there were more lakes around too!!

[MantaRay]

What am I missing here? I count- Barr Lake, Standley Lake, Bear Creek Lake, Marston Lake, Chatfield Lake, Cherry Creek Lake, and Aurora Reservoir in the city area, and Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Lake/Grand Lake in the vicinity of RMNP. Is it that all those lakes get filled up with people boating so to make them crowded most of the time? Having places to put a kayak in is one of the reasons Denver is tops on my list. If I'm always going to be crowded out, that could be an issue.

[the_koolkat]

I started a thread like this before I moved here too, Give Me 10 reasons NOT to move the Denver, for the exact same reasons. Everything I had read about Denver has been very positive and I wanted a well rounded look at the place I was about to call home. The pages of complaints only encouraged me! I have lived in Denver for 7 months now and I just completely love it!! The one thing I really don't like is the pan handlers downtown. "Spare Change." There is no such thing. When I was working and my commute took me downtown twice a day I could not get from my train stop to my bus stop without being approached a dozen times or more. Yesterday I had a guy try to give me a handful of tokens for my bus pass and he was grabbing for my pass. Give me a break. Just because I am not standing on a corner begging doesn't mean I am doing any better then the next guy.

[wanttomoveeast]

This is one of my top three b*tches. Proximity to other cities, and ability to get out of this country is downright maddening. I think it's a relevant dislike of Denver. Unless, of course, you are one of those people that is not interested in travel and wants to just enjoy the mountains or whatever in surrounding Denver, like the above poster mentioned, there are other towns here. Then my dislike wouldn't be your dislike.

Originally Posted by Mr. Answers

I take back what I said. THIS is the most annoying thing about Denver. Columbus is within a 5 hour drive of half of the US population. Denver is within a five hour drive of....yeah I got nothin'. Limon? Woo.

[Drew303]

My #1 dislike about Denver is the horrible drivers!!!! Idiots who do 50 in the left lane and wonder why there is a line of 50 cars behind them and refuse to move over. Idiots who make my commute to work take 2 hours if there is an inch of snow because they wont drive over 5 miles an hour. Idiots who wont turn right on red. I could go on for days.....