Would anyone in their right mind consider Denver a Midwestern city? (Aurora: house, landscaping)

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Just what IS the west coast then?

I can assure you back in PA or even Illinois, we thought of California as the west coast.

Correct, but that's just like we out here on the west side thinking that Florida is on the East Coast. People are very territorial.

I think in general, some define areas of the country in terms of geography and some think of it in terms of mindset. This includes nearly every state, but I often hear from people who talk about "West Coast" "East Coast" "Midwest" and "South" and then talk about California, Texas and Florida as being totally separate. Technically, California IS the west coast. To be precise, it takes up nearly the entire side. However, most of those who live outside of California like to classify Californians as the worst kind of pests who move into our states. But....we like to vacation there!

[jazzlover]

Denver in years past had a fairly strong "midwestern vibe" because an awful lot of people who relocated there were from the Midwest. In the last 20 years or so, California and East Coast transplants have become more predominant, so that is no longer the case.

Historically, things are even more "muddy." Denver and a portion of Colorado essentially east of the Continental Divide ( Kansas Territory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) was part of Kansas Territory until 1861--in fact, Denver was named after the Kansas Territorial Governor, James W. Denver. (When Colorado's first relatively small mining boom--the 1859 Gold Rush--went bust in early 1860's, the saying was "In God we trusted, in Kansas we busted"--referring to the fact that the portion of today's Colorado where the gold rush occurred was then in Kansas Territory.)

Many people, including a lot of Coloradans, also fail to realize that all of present-day Colorado essentially west of the Continental Divide, and all of Colorado south of the Arkansas River on the East Slope was not part of the United States until 1848--it was part of Mexico that was ceded to the US in the Mexican Cession of 1848. The remainder of Colorado was part of the Lousiana Purchase of 1803. So, there are long-standing cultural differences across Colorado.

The other factor that made Colorado unique from the Midwest culturally was that the big early boom in Colorado's history was mining-based (though agriculture immediately followed--to feed the mining camps). As such, Colorado was a classic "boom" environment--with all of the lawlessness and vice that generally followed such booms. Thus, things like gambling, prostitution, and easy availability of alcohol were much more prevalent here than in many areas of the more staid and agrarian Midwest. That mindset and lifestyle--which was common in Colorado over a century ago--still continues today among many old-line native Coloradans. Put succinctly, there are still quite a few hard-working, hard-drinking, hard-living native Coloradans around--maybe not in culturally "diluted" Denver or the resort towns, but certainly in the more rural non-resort communities. Equally strong in the southern half of Colorado is the old-line Hispanic culture tracing its roots back to the "Nuevo Mejicanos" who migrated north from New Mexico starting in the 1850's. Nearly banished from Colorado--except on Colorado's two Indian Reservations, the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain in southwest Colorado--is the Native American culture.

All in all, a pretty interesting place, culturally. Yes, there is a Midwestern influence, but it is not very pervasive or dominant, in my opinion.

[Katiana]

When my cousins visited here for the first time, they were surprised that so many of the houses were of midwestern-style architecture, not southwestern.

[David Aguilar]

A guy I used to work with (here in CO) always referred to Denver/CO as being part of the Midwest. He grew up in Western South Dakota/Eastern Wyoming and considered those areas Midwestern as well. He seemed to be in his right mind.

I've heard Denver/CO considered to be the Midwest a few other times. I never had thought of it as such, and still don't, yet I wouldn't consider the word "Midwest" to be a pejorative.

What chaps me more is people who consider Denver to be in the Rocky Mountains. Before I moved here, people back in CA would say things like: "Bet you can't wait to be living in those Rocky Mountains!", like I'd be living like a mountain-man or something after I moved to Denver. Sure, I see the mountains every day, but I haven't even been to them since July.

Denver/Eastern CO is part of the Great Plains. Period. And I'm fine with that.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

What chaps me more is people who consider Denver to be in the Rocky Mountains. Before I moved here, people back in CA would say things like: "Bet you can't wait to be living in those Rocky Mountains!", like I'd be living like a mountain-man or something after I moved to Denver. Sure, I see the mountains every day, but I haven't even been to them since July.

Denver/Eastern CO is part of the Great Plains. Period. And I'm fine with that.

That is so true! Before my husband got a job transfer, we had only been to the airport. When we found out we were moving to Denver, I started doing my research and received a lot of magazines and flyers from the Chamber of Commerce. The photos made it seem like Denver sat in the middle of a mountain range! When we were driving through Kansas and finally got to the Colorado border, the miles and miles of flat, yellow grass started to make me nervous. My mapquest directions indicated we only had a few more miles before our turnoff and it still looked the same. My friends who have come to visit call me Laura Ingalls! That being said, the Rocky Mountains are gorgeous looming over the city and I'm fine with the flatness too. Having grown up in Seattle, when it snows hard and you have to commute through the hills, it can be a little harrowing. Denver is a pretty area once you stop being shocked it's not in the mountains.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

That is so true! Before my husband got a job transfer, we had only been to the airport. When we found out we were moving to Denver, I started doing my research and received a lot of magazines and flyers from the Chamber of Commerce. The photos made it seem like Denver sat in the middle of a mountain range! When we were driving through Kansas and finally got to the Colorado border, the miles and miles of flat, yellow grass started to make me nervous. My mapquest directions indicated we only had a few more miles before our turnoff and it still looked the same. My friends who have come to visit call me Laura Ingalls! That being said, the Rocky Mountains are gorgeous looming over the city and I'm fine with the flatness too. Having grown up in Seattle, when it snows hard and you have to commute through the hills, it can be a little harrowing. Denver is a pretty area once you stop being shocked it's not in the mountains.

Let me guess, you probably thought Denver looked like this:


Source: Wikipedia

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Let me guess, you probably thought Denver looked like this:


Source: Wikipedia

Hey! That's Spokane...my old college stompin' grounds. Go Zags!

Actually, Spokane isn't all that mountainous. It's surrounded by thick lush forests, but I'm talking more about this:

[vegaspilgrim]

...except when you got there you found out it actually looked more like this:

.
(my picture, Arapahoe Rd & Parker Rd)

I definitely think Denver has a MAJOR schiziophrenic image problem.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

...except when you got there you found out it actually looked more like this:

.
(my picture, Arapahoe Rd & Parker Rd)

I definitely think Denver has a MAJOR schiziophrenic image problem.

Hey! That's my car!

Actually, even that picture makes it look kind of mountaineous. Maybe we need to turn our cameras the other way!

Regardless...I think Denver is a great city. You wanna talk flat? Go to Florida...the whole state seems to be sinking (the highest point is called Mount Dora...but when we went there, it wasn't even as high as the hill I live on now) but I never really noticed because I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the ocean.

[David Aguilar]

Vegas, ROFLMAO!!!!!

I try hard to imagine Denver how I imagined it before I ever saw Denver.


I think I imagined it as a "quiet" big city, isolated and hemmed in by close-by mountains on all sides.

Maybe something like this:



Source: visitsaltlake.com


When I first came out here, I was hoping for Seattle without all the water. I was dead-wrong, but Denver is an easy taste to acquire. When snow is on the ground, Denver looks even prettier.