Urban living in Denver (Aurora, Lakewood: apartment, lease, lofts)

[D-town 720]

I live in denver and have yet to have any need for a car. The light rail takes me around the metro as well as a bus system. In fact I am sure you can catch a bus to anywhere in the metro at civic center. If I wanted to hit the rockies I usually can hitch a ride with a friend. Not ideal but it works for me. I also heard that denver is the fourth most walkable metro in the U.S. Obviously the Denver hater has no idea what he is talking about in terms of denver's walkability. Downtown denver is very walkable and offers a very concentrated and walkable core which is not so common in a lot of major cities.

Hoods near downtown like captial hill, golden triangle, arapahoe square, are very walkable. You would be hard pressed to not to find a cafe, bar, or some boutique on every corner.


Walkable cities
A Brookings Institution survey ranks the 30 biggest metropolitan areas according to the number of “walkable urban places” relative to the area’s population:
1. Washington
2. Boston
3. San Francisco
4. Denver
5. Portland, Ore.
6. Seattle
7. Chicago
8. Miami
9. Pittsburgh
10. New York
11. San Diego
12. Los Angeles
13. Philadelphia
14. Atlanta
15. Baltimore
16. St. Louis
17. Minneapolis
18. Detroit
19. Columbus, Ohio
20. Las Vegas
21. Houston
22. San Antonio
23. Kansas City, Mo.
24. Orlando, Fla.
25. Dallas
26. Phoenix
27. Sacramento, Calif.
28. Cincinnati
29. Cleveland
30. Tampa, Fla.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22097393/

[Mike from back east]

D-Town, I see that Denver's "sister city" of Portland is ranked next to us. I see that NYC is rated 10th; I thought Manhattan would be #1, it's marvelous, you CAN walk everywhere, it's flat, it's a simple grid layout, thousands of taxi cabs, great subway system, deli on almost every corner, coffee shops - just about the most remarkable city I've seen, only the expense makes it off limits for most of us. I've done a good bit of walking around downtown Denver and find it very walkable too.

[D-town 720]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

D-Town, I see that Denver's "sister city" of Portland is ranked next to us. I see that NYC is rated 10th; I thought Manhattan would be #1, it's marvelous, you CAN walk everywhere, it's flat, it's a simple grid layout, thousands of taxi cabs, great subway system, deli on almost every corner, coffee shops - just about the most remarkable city I've seen, only the expense makes it off limits for most of us. I've done a good bit of walking around downtown Denver and find it very walkable too.

Yeah I would agree that Manhattan is the most walkable place. I remember staying there for a time on the upper east side and having trouble finding restaurants and grocery stores. What i didn't realize is that there isn't room for a full block layout of such things and had to look in between other nestled shops.

I am not sure why New York didn't rank as high but I am assuming since the study dealt with metro areas that the tri state area (NY metro?) is quite large covering rural areas.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by steveindenver

That statement could not be more wrong. There are tons of ethnic resteraunts and grocers within the city itself. I'd argue the reason people call the city bland is because they visit folks who don't live in the city. Of course the suburbs with strip mall after strip mall are bland.

Oh, I'm sorry, I must have just imagined that, I must have made these pictures up on photoshop. Silly me:

Parker Rd/ Leetsdale Dr photo tour
Aurora photo tour-- Iliff Ave.
Photo tour: Federal Blvd

Old strip malls (not new strip malls) are where you can find some of the most authentic ethnic food around, since the rents are a lot cheaper. A lot of mom and pop, low margin businesses can't afford the sky high rent on the first floor of new urbanist condo buildings in trendy places like Ballpark/Uptown. If you want to write off ALL strip malls as bland, focussing only their architectural form and completely ignoring the busineses that they house inside, then fine... but that's pure ideology talking, not logic.

Beware, this area is the biggest PITA to get to and from Denver proper in all of Denver. Most of the entertainment in Denver is just east and south of the city.

Again, you are absolutely schiziophrenic when it comes to the map of Denver. Sorry to break the news, steve, but you don't own Denver. You're just one of almost 600,000 people who live in the city, whose borders are a lot more expansive than your own East Colfax neighborhood. You imagine Denver is some small town of 50,000 people or so when it's a city of almost 600k in a greater metro area of almost 3 million. And you seem to be of the opinion that a city is defined primarily by its entertainment districts. I think a city is defined by its business districts. Most people are not in a profession where their workplace is located on Colfax Ave and not everybody goes out drinking on bars on Colfax every night (not that there's anything wrong with that).

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by JProg305

I like that Denver is racially/ethnically diverse, fairly progressive, has an expanding light rail system, has a relatively mild climate (I've also lived in Kansas City, D.C., and Kentucky so I've experienced some harsh winters), has alot of outdoor opportunities and parks, and is sunny (this is particularly important to my girlfriend who can't stand the idea of the Pacific Northwest on account of the weather patterns).

If you think the winters in the above places are harsh, Denver may not be for you. We had snow today, April 27. We may have more before it stops till perhaps Sept/Oct/ or at the latest early November. Granted, there are weeks of warm, sunny weather (warm for winter that is) between snowfalls, especially in the spring and fall months, but it's still a long winter season. Now I love the climate here, but I am from Pittsburgh and did "time" in Champaign, IL.

[steveindenver]

Again, you are absolutely schiziophrenic when it comes to the map of Denver. Sorry to break the news, steve, but you don't own Denver. You're just one of almost 600,000 people who live in the city, whose borders are a lot more expansive than your own East Colfax neighborhood. You imagine Denver is some small town of 50,000 people or so when it's a city of almost 600k in a greater metro area of almost 3 million. And you seem to be of the opinion that a city is defined primarily by its entertainment districts. I think a city is defined by its business districts. Most people are not in a profession where their workplace is located on Colfax Ave and not everybody goes out drinking on bars on Colfax every night (not that there's anything wrong with that).

The oriental is in the Highlands area. So are some trendy (yet rather ****ty) resteraunts.

The rest of Denver is on the other side of the highway -- east of downtown and south of downtown -- not to mention probably 90+ percent of businesses and certainly every large corporation in the state.

Look, I'm not bagging on the highlands it is a great area and I enjoy visiting the area -- but it is a great pain in my Moderator cut: languageeverytime I have to and everyone I know who lives over there laments this fact. A couple of them have actually moved back now that they have made their money in what *was* a great area to invest until recently.

You seem to have missed the most important part of vegas' quote, where he said within "walking distance to downtown" and I happen to totally agree with him. The vast majority of authentic ethnic restaurants in Metro Denver are going to be found in strip malls on S. Federal Blvd and Parker Rd. Central Denver can seem very white bread when compared to DTC and Aurora.

You never lived in Denver. You lived in said suburbs. Your comments on this subject are about as valid as mine on the moon.

How do you go about doing that??? Do you rent a car every time you want to go to the mountains???

Learn to read.

I don't think you quite understand what "proper" means. Denver-proper refers to the entire city-county limits of Denver. Therefore, the Highlands area is a part of Denver-proper. Also, its easy to get to Downtown from the Highlands via the 15th Street pedestrian bridge, Speer Blvd, and Water Street.

The highlands is a part of Denver proper as it is in the City and County of Denver. The pedestrian bridge you refer to runs through a public park that closes at 10pm and they hand out tickets. Again, if you actually had experience with the area here you would know that. You don't. Moderator cut: not necessary, rude

[JProg305]

I guess I was wrong. I thought that, in general, Denver had relatively mild winters. I know that it snows and that there are occasional blizzards and freaky out of season storms but I thought that the sunshine and dry weather ensured that Denver's winters were milder than the wet, windy, and cold winters in places like Kansas City and D.C. In any case, I'm not worried about it. My girlfriend, on the other hand, is a true blue Floridian who has never lived in another state so I might have to buy her a parka or something. Although I like being able to walk around the neighborhood and find a cafe, bookstore, pub, art gallery, market, etc., I also enjoy exploring older strip malls. These areas tend to be overlooked by snobbish hipsters, but in my experience some of the best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Cuban, Colombian, Peruvian, Mexican, Salvadorean, Laotian, etc. cuisine can be found in seemingly nondescript strip malls in older suburbs and on the fringes and marginal areas of most cities. At least this seems to be the case in Miami, Kansas City, D.C., and other areas I've visited. Oh, by the way, go Nuggets!!!

[Scott5280]

Originally Posted by JProg305

I guess I was wrong. I thought that, in general, Denver had relatively mild winters. I know that it snows and that there are occasional blizzards and freaky out of season storms but I thought that the sunshine and dry weather ensured that Denver's winters were milder than the wet, windy, and cold winters in places like Kansas City and D.C. In any case, I'm not worried about it. My girlfriend, on the other hand, is a true blue Floridian who has never lived in another state so I might have to buy her a parka or something. Although I like being able to walk around the neighborhood and find a cafe, bookstore, pub, art gallery, market, etc., I also enjoy exploring older strip malls. These areas tend to be overlooked by snobbish hipsters, but in my experience some of the best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Cuban, Colombian, Peruvian, Mexican, Salvadorean, Laotian, etc. cuisine can be found in seemingly nondescript strip malls in older suburbs and on the fringes and marginal areas of most cities. At least this seems to be the case in Miami, Kansas City, D.C., and other areas I've visited. Oh, by the way, go Nuggets!!!

The weather typically is milder than KC, and DC...It may snow at some odd times..meaning late in the season April, early May..but the dry climate and warm chinook winter winds make it seem much warmer..40 degrees and sunny feels like 60 elsewhere also due to the elevation/dry climate..sounds crazy, but it's true...We had 60-70 degree temps. as well.. every month of this year..I wore shorts about a week out of every winter month this year..it is dry though..very dry..lotion is a must...We too suffer from a tragic hipster scene, but having visited the Miami area myself..it seems much tamer here by comparison.

[JProg305]

Can you elaborate on Denver's tragic hipster scene? I wish there was some way to devise a "hipster quotient" for studying the scene in individual cities. Obviously, cities like Portland, Seattle, New York (Williamsburg in Brookly in particular), Minneapolis (from what I hear), and various other cities have a really high hipster quotient. Miami has a hipster scene too, but it's not nearly as bad as other cities I've visited. In fact, Kansas City has way more hipsters per capita than Miami.

[Scott5280]

Actually I probably have no business complaining negatively about the hipster scene..I would have easily fallen into that category myself several years back... only living in some other towns and cities..Denver my own hometown wasn't quite a hip enough place for me to live or tear apart during that phase( it has changed though.) Now I'm just too socially/chronoligically removed from that forementioned label at 42 years of age.. and possibly envious of the younger days. At best it would be disingenuous of me to comment on hipsters; sorry to have brought that up...