What do you dislike about Denver? (Parker, Limon: transplants, real estate, neighborhood)

[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.

[finnicky7]

Absolutely horrible drivers! Minus Montreal, I haven't seen such **** poor driving in North
America! They tailgate when its dry and drive like grandma Moses when there is a hint of snow.

[cowboyxjon]

I love Denver. And I actually don't mind a lot of the negatives that the original poster points out -- I don't care about the sprawl although I live in the city myself, I don't mind not having a subway, and I don't mind that the city isn't as diverse as other cities. Oh well.

I do, however, dislike the 16th Street Mall. I don't like a lot of the storefronts and I don't think it has anything unique to offer over any other part of the metro area. Even though I work downtown and see the mall every day, I hardly ever consider it when I want to shop or go out for a drink, etc. It's just ... underwhelming?

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by FunkyMonk

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.

denver is 100000x better than LA as far as sprawl. its pretty much a big square that trails a little bit up and down the 25 to other metro areas. la has to contour to natural land features and is a nightmare of roads and freeways that have little rhyme or reason to their design(especially older interchange design). denver has some clear cut housing areas and a few solid job centers while la again has no rhyme or reason anymore other than oil being centered in carson/south bay.

so yea, i dont think denver has a sprawl problem. maybe coming from someone from a small town they may think that, but coming from the nastiest sprawl in the us, it doesn't have a problem.

my biggest beef is the negative feeling towards californians. dont get it too much in person(infact every neighborhood i visited was lovely and full of nice people when i managed to talk to some), but over the web its in your face all the time. perhaps some of that beef should be with the transplants that created the problem as well

[vegaspilgrim]

I thought you were moving back to Thailand? So why do care about Denver?

The Denver metro area is my home, born and raised, and overall I love it. These are some of my few criticisms:

• Too much water sucking, allergen creating, fertilizing polluting Kentucky Bluegrass in people's yards and city parks that absolutely does not belong in that climate.
• Misleading media/tourism/real estate promotion campaigns that portrays Denver as in the Rocky Mountains when it's actually on the Great Plains. There's nothing wrong with the plains, but it creates a lot of disillusionment for outsiders. It's time to re-adopt the city's original slogan: The Queen City of the Plains.
• Too many dogs everywhere.
• Too much self-congratulatory hype about the city in general which attracts people like yourself thinking Denver is the next Austin or Seattle or whatever, end up getting disillusioned when it doesn't meet your unrealistic tastes/standards and then complaining on forums like this. Denver's a fine city, but I wish it acted a little more realistically.
• At the same time, Denver/ the state of Colorado isn't doing much to encourage new business to relocate to the state, and thus a lot of jobs/potential jobs are leaking out to bigger cities with more muscle on one hand (like Chicago) or smaller cities with better tax incentives, lower costs, etc (like Albuquerque, SLC, Boise, etc). Together with the previous point this is an extremely annoying combination. The cockiness needs to end; Denver needs to get back to the basics.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

I love Denver. And I actually don't mind a lot of the negatives that the original poster points out -- I don't care about the sprawl although I live in the city myself, I don't mind not having a subway, and I don't mind that the city isn't as diverse as other cities. Oh well.

I do, however, dislike the 16th Street Mall. I don't like a lot of the storefronts and I don't think it has anything unique to offer over any other part of the metro area. Even though I work downtown and see the mall every day, I hardly ever consider it when I want to shop or go out for a drink, etc. It's just ... underwhelming?

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.

[steveindenver]

Don't live in the suburbs and quit your bitching. Continue to live there and it is your fault.

[Katiana]

The isolation from the rest of the US. When our kids were little, it took 3 days to drive to Pittsburgh, or cost in excess of $1000 to fly four people there. It was hard when my parents needed more help, to get out there to help them.

[Mr. Answers]

I don't like the transient nature of the city. Too few people bother putting down roots in the city before moving on to bigger and better things, making the city a playground for who treat it like a resort stop on the way to the slopes rather than a place to call home.

Downtown Denver is pretty annoying. I had some college friends come visit over break recently and they asked me to recommend some great stuff to see downtown. All I could come up with is the capitol and Larimer Square. The 16th Street Mall is so cliche and Lodo is pretty lame unless you want to spend the night puking up the insane number of shots you've had (my friends don't drink).

Unless you move to Denver from somewhere else, you just don't realize how dry and dusty it is. That sucks--but that's what chapstick and lotion are for.

[Mr. Answers]

Originally Posted by Katiana

The isolation from the rest of the US. When our kids were little, it took 3 days to drive to Pittsburgh, or cost in excess of $1000 to fly four people there. It was hard when my parents needed more help, to get out there to help them.

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.