Denver: The good, the bad and the ugly (Commerce City, Center: houses, neighborhoods)

[Osito]

Originally Posted by glennarbor

If you want to see true ugliness and no walking, visit Detroit. Denver is a paradise in comparison.

True, true. There are no words to describe what is wrong with that city. How awful the way those beautiful historic buildings have just been left to rot. Some of them have been demolished they're in such bad shape. Really something else I tell ya.

[Scott5280]

I do have to say the long brown months of winter here associated with the dryness is my only true dislike..However taking routine hikes behind the front range hogbacks of Roxborough Park, Deer Creek, Ken Caryl or the more forested hillsides surrounding Boulder&Conifer tend to balance out the winter drab for me..The landscape does tend to get more interesting as you increase in elevation --scrub oak,generally more red soil and rock outcroppings..The higher elevation valleys and hillsides seem to stay greener longer in spring as they are often cooler and shadow earlier in the eves... I have always enjoyed the foothills and mountains over anywhere in the city as far as topography and appeal ,and I have never been too impressed with the over all look of Denver itself..
Not saying it sucks;it's what you look up at from Denver that makes it distinctive...For me living in either Boulder or the Springs wins hands down as far as front range natural beauty...A nice summer drive along upper bear creek towards Evergreen is about as good as it gets too..I call Central Denver home now and love the ammenities and mixed architecture, but I would not describe it as amazing as far as scenery..That being said though much of Central LA, Phoenix,or Vegas are not anything to rave about either...Over all as a decent sized city city, Denver has my vote as one of the best for quality of life style,social climate, and smarter growth potential, and for the many people moving here obviously the good far out weighs the negative..

[FunkyMonk]

In my original post, the good and the bad got posted. I also wrote "the ugly" and it somehow got cut off, along with part of my "the bad" list. So I will add some more.

More good:
Lots of people here are active. There seems to be a little less obesity here than some other cities. But, we're still definantly in the US here on that one.
Very clean streets.
Good place to raise a family.
Great airport with central location and cheap ticket prices to go in any direction.

More bad:
The food. To me, most places have too much of a traditional American, greasy, unhealthy style where meat is always the main dish.
The thin air. I've really, really gotten used to it, but still when I run or bike ride it can really kill me sometimes.
It's isolated here. Geographically and culturally.
Lack of nightlife
Lack of streetlife because everyone just drives.
Very car-dependent. In Denver, if you don't drive, it limits things big time.

The ugly:
I gotta be honest. Denver has a lot of rough, uneducated, trashy people. I'm sorry, no offense, but it's just true. If you ride the bus you know what i'm talking about. Sometimes I just can't believe how crude and fried some people are around here. It makes me drop my jaw in disbelief very often. Lot's of stereoptypical, 90's style gangster people and lots of trailer trash. No offense to people who live in trailers, I lived in one for a few years myself
The ugliness of the suburban sprawl. I would rather have a denser city, with more open space and nature, instead of endless sprawling concrete and buildings spread out with so much wasted space. And this sprawl causes a lot of other issues too.

I think that's it. Denver has a lot of good and bad, but not too much ugly.

Overall I like Denver and it gets a thumbs up from me. But i'm not gonna stick around. This city feels very mediocre to me. There's nothing too bad about it, and nothing spectacular about it either, it's mostly in the middle on things. I don't dislike it, but there is nothing about it that excites me too much and I just can't say that I love it, or even that a like it a lot. I just "like it".

[Katiana]

This is the second time you have mentioned uneducated, "trashy" people. (I personally hate that term.) I just don't get where you get your perception. Here are the stats for Denver's educational level from City Data:

For population 25 years and over in Denver

High school or higher: 78.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 34.5%
Graduate or professional degree: 12.4%

For the US (from the census bureau):

High school or higher: 80.4%
Bachelor's or higher: 24.4%

So Denver, the city, is very similar for high school and almost 50% higher for bachelor's degree or higher.

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

That's only if you live in the Central part of the city like Capitol Hill, LoDo, Highlands, Five Points, etc. There's huge sections of the city-county that are extremely unfriendly to pedestrians. Hampden, Southmoor, Kennedy, Bear Valley, Stapleton, Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, Lowry, Indian Creek, and the huge industrial corridor that runs alongside Santa Fe Dr, I-25, and the Central Platte Valley are all examples of unwalkable neighborhoods in the city-county of Denver.

Exactly. Denvers core area is the only really walkable part of the city. I have been car-free in Denver for a few months and now I have legs and abs of steel from it. It is not easy here, and i've done it in many places.

Denver does have great trails. And you can always find a nice open trail to travel on. But you will be traveling for LONG distances on these trails.

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by Katiana

This is the second time you have mentioned uneducated, "trashy" people. (I personally hate that term.) I just don't get where you get your perception. Here are the stats for Denver's educational level from City Data:

For population 25 years and over in Denver

High school or higher: 78.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 34.5%
Graduate or professional degree: 12.4%

For the US (from the census bureau):

High school or higher: 80.4%
Bachelor's or higher: 24.4%

So Denver, the city, is very similar for high school and almost 50% higher for bachelor's degree or higher.

I just encounter lots of people here who talk about "hustlin" and "gettin ****ed up" and similar things as they use profanity the entire time they speak. I meet lots of people who were in jail or prison, and openly talk about it with no shame, and their whole style and demeanor is rough and criminal.

And as for those stats, they account for the quantity of educated people. But not the quality of the education.

Maybe some of you all manage to avoid this side of Denver, but I run into it a lot because I don't drive and i'm out and about a lot. I suppose if you drive everywhere you go you would be able to avoid a lot of this. But trust me, there is a HUGE underbelly to this city.

[steveindenver]

Exactly. Denvers core area is the only really walkable part of the city.

Except that most of the areas he mentioned are entirely walkable, Two of which are nationally credited for as much.

[steveindenver]

I just encounter lots of people here who talk about "hustlin" and "gettin ****ed up" and similar things as they use profanity the entire time they speak. I meet lots of people who were in jail or prison, and openly talk about it with no shame, and their whole style and demeanor is rough and criminal.

Maybe some of you all manage to avoid this side of Denver, but I run into it a lot because I don't drive and i'm out and about a lot. I suppose if you drive everywhere you go you would be able to avoid a lot of this. But trust me, there is a HUGE underbelly to this city.

That says nothing of the city but who you are associating with. We lived for years just off of Colfax (oh no! Colfax!) and still walk / ride everywhere and I can't recall any similar experience.

[FunkyMonk]

Originally Posted by steveindenver

That says nothing of the city but who you are associating with. We lived for years just off of Colfax (oh no! Colfax!) and still walk / ride everywhere and I can't recall any similar experience.

Colfax is not very dangerous and it is exagerated how bad it is, I agree. But if you've never seen these type of folks on Colfax you must not be looking too hard or must be ignoring everone. Because they are out there every day. Prostitution, crack selling, it's all there, how can you not see it?

[ottodog]

Originally Posted by FunkyMonk

I gotta be honest. Denver has a lot of rough, uneducated, trashy people. I'm sorry, no offense, but it's just true. If you ride the bus you know what i'm talking about.

We have busses??