University of Denver? (Boulder: apartment, neighborhoods, law school)

[topaz3335]

Hi everyone,

Alright so I just go accepted at University of Denver for grad. school and I'm trying to get a feel for the city/university before I decide if I'm gonna go. Unfortunately I cannot afford to fly out there before I actually move out there (if I did in fact accept at Denver) so I'm relying on other's opinions to help me make my decision.
So here I go: I'm not a huge fan of big cities, I like small or university towns, places I consider more...manageable I suppose. I know Denver is fairly large, and while I was born in San Diego and live there currently, I still like smaller places. Will Denver be too big for me? Or are there neighborhoods within the city that help it feel more small towny? Also how are the winters? I've lived in Utah and Idaho for a number of years, so I've done cold and snow, is Colorado similar? Colder? Snowier? Also can I manage without a car if I had to? I'll most likely have one, but I thought I should check beforehand.

Really any information about life in Denver, the University life, etc. would be so appreciated. Thanks!

[Mike from back east]

Relax, Denver is going to be a good experience.

There is an index of threads at the top of the Denver forum. In there you'll find lots of info, look for these.

- Under TRANSIT, see Car Free Living. Yes, it can easily be done in Denver.
- Under COLLEGES, see UC Denver

Use the search tool with keywords like UCDenver, etc.

We have countless threads on the weather. If you've done UT and ID winters, you'll find Denver rather mild.

Best of luck to you in this effort.

[EscapeCalifornia]

The area around DU is pretty urban from what I recall. If you prefer small college towns, Denver probably isn't it. Are you sure you can't get to Denver for even a weekend before deciding? I can't imagine committing to (or rejecting) a city sight unseen.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

The area around DU is pretty urban from what I recall. If you prefer small college towns, Denver probably isn't it. Are you sure you can't get to Denver for even a weekend before deciding? I can't imagine committing to (or rejecting) a city sight unseen.

My daughter lives in the DU area. It is urban residential for the most part. In other words, it's not downtown. There are neat restaurants, shops, things like that in the area.

I do agree that you should visit the area before making your decision.

[Legs1357]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

The area around DU is pretty urban from what I recall. If you prefer small college towns, Denver probably isn't it. Are you sure you can't get to Denver for even a weekend before deciding? I can't imagine committing to (or rejecting) a city sight unseen.

I committed to attending GWU in DC sight unseen due to budgetary/time constraints. It was scary but you know what, I'm in love GW and DC. I did get to go up for a weekend to look for an apartment but only after I'd sent in my deposit.

I would agree that DU is "urban residential". I love the DU area and would have gone there if the program would have been a better fit for me. I've never really been to a "college town" (does Boulder count??) so I'm not sure what that would feel like but DU definitely has a distinct campus. While Denver is a large city, it's no San Francisco, New York, DC, etc. I think it's very manageable.

[bouldergranola]

I did undergrad at CU and law school at DU. In my opinion, the two campuses are distinctly different. Boulder has more of a college town feel (though it has expanded beyond being simply a college town). DU is a lovely campus but it is in an urban area. For example, in Boulder one is always aware of the college. There are the soaring towers of Williams Village as you enter the city from the East and several main arteries go past CU. DU is much more tucked away and you could miss it unless you know where to look.

In Denver, there are several neighborhoods you can live in that might give you a small town feeling. I enjoyed the Washington Park/S. Gaylord area. Several friends live in Stapleton and they love it there.

You can manage without a car in Denver. There is a lightrail station at Buchtel that can take you into downtown and into the southern suburbs. Several bus lines also feed into that station.

I cannot tell you whether our winters are more/less snowy than Utah and Idaho as I have never been to either of those places in the winter. HTH.

[Zalman B]

Originally Posted by topaz3335

Hi everyone,

Alright so I just go accepted at University of Denver for grad. school and I'm trying to get a feel for the city/university before I decide if I'm gonna go. Unfortunately I cannot afford to fly out there before I actually move out there (if I did in fact accept at Denver) so I'm relying on other's opinions to help me make my decision.
So here I go: I'm not a huge fan of big cities, I like small or university towns, places I consider more...manageable I suppose. I know Denver is fairly large, and while I was born in San Diego and live there currently, I still like smaller places. Will Denver be too big for me? Or are there neighborhoods within the city that help it feel more small towny? Also how are the winters? I've lived in Utah and Idaho for a number of years, so I've done cold and snow, is Colorado similar? Colder? Snowier? Also can I manage without a car if I had to? I'll most likely have one, but I thought I should check beforehand.

Really any information about life in Denver, the University life, etc. would be so appreciated. Thanks!

I'm actually in a remarkably similar situation. I was admitted to a grad program at DU (to start this fall) and sought out the opinions of just about everyone I knew regarding the city of Denver. It turns out quite a large number of people I know in Albany, NY have firsthand experience with the city.

Even more surprising to me, the responses were almost uniformly encouraging. This was surprising because large numbers of people rarely agree on anything, particularly something as subjective as whether they liked living in a particular place. In fact, the most common response I got was something akin to envy, because I had the opportunity to move out there.

Talking with people I know, and reading many of the helpful posts on this board, it seems like a car in Denver - while certainly nice for certain things - isn't an absolute necessity, which is good because I don't expect to have one.

Good luck with your decision and let me know if you have any specific questions that I might be able to help with (though I am probably just as in-the-dark as you are).