Negatives about living in the Denver, CO area (Arvada, Longmont: sales, vehicle registration)

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Some suburbanites. Nonetheless, until Denver expands its public transportation offerings, my family must still have a car, but at least we're down to one!

I'll agree with this. My office is downtown and parking is $120/month. 80% of the people in my office use RTD (Eco Pass) to get to work, and most of the people who work at my office happen to live in the suburbs. In fact, one guy commutes in from Conifer every day on RTD.

I think it's fine to use a mixture of both transit and personal vehicle. I live IN Denver and I have no intention of getting rid of my Jeep.

And to keep this on topic: I also have problems with dry skin now that I live here. It's definitely a negative, but not enough to make me want to move.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

And to keep this on topic: I also have problems with dry skin now that I live here. It's definitely a negative, but not enough to make me want to move.

LOL. My shriveled hands have me researching more humid climates.

[formercalifornian]

Hooking up a humidifier to our heating system has made a world of difference.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

Hooking up a humidifier to our heating system has made a world of difference.

Like I said, it's really the only thing that bugs me about living here. We do have a house humidifier...when we open the front door, the storm door immediately fogs up so I know it's working. That, however, hasn't done much for my skin and kid's nosebleeds and nothing at all for the shock I get when touching the light switch.

Dryness isn't a reason to move from Denver any more than moving from the humidity in Florida. You just have to work around it. I put lotion on every day after I shower and that helps. It's one of those things I can't forget, even if I'm in a hurry. Forgetting means endless itching for the rest of the day and an extreme tightness in my skin. I've seen people wearing shorts here whose legs are just one mass of dry flaky skin so I know it's not just me. I guess it keeps the lotion companies in business!

[SaxnFlutman]

Oddly, when I lived here as a kid, going to CU, over 30 years ago, the lack of humidity was a big issue, lips, hands, face, hair all dried out, etc. However, now I love it (after 15 years in overly humid Atlanta), both the fact the heat & cold are easy to take, and for some reason, my skin, hair, lips & hands are just fine, and I don't even own a humidifier. Maybe eating & applying a little organic coconut oil is making the difference...

However, what drives me mad about the Denver metro area is trying to drive anywhere, unless you already know exactly where you are going! Street signs, even at very wide, major intersections are placed at the REAR of the intersection, and worse, generally not lit up at night! WTF??? I've never been in a big city (well, maybe Boston) you could approach a major intersection & have absolutely no clue what the cross street is, even as you sit at the light!

C'mon Denver, what is this, & why do people stand for this? It's dangerous, as are the very poorly defined lanes, even on freeways. And as are signs that are vague or only last minute, when there are lanes splitting off, or an upcoming fork in the road! I've been driving 40 accident-free years, yet I've had too many "close-calls", solely due to some really wack signage! Thankfully, unlike Atlanta (where people drive as if they are on the Autobahn), people here drive pretty slow, & not as aggressively, & there's less traffic on the roads at night (when I tend to be out more)

Other than that, I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of cultural diversity, & with some of the local bands I've seen so far. But since I'm still fairly new, I'm making no absolute judgments about anything yet....

[denverian]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

I'll agree with this. My office is downtown and parking is $120/month. 80% of the people in my office use RTD (Eco Pass) to get to work, and most of the people who work at my office happen to live in the suburbs. In fact, one guy commutes in from Conifer every day on RTD.

I think it's fine to use a mixture of both transit and personal vehicle. I live IN Denver and I have no intention of getting rid of my Jeep.

And to keep this on topic: I also have problems with dry skin now that I live here. It's definitely a negative, but not enough to make me want to move.

I recently interviewed with a company downtown and was kind of shocked to hear that you have to pay so much for parking, even in their own parking garage! I'd be fine with taking the bus to work downtown, but I have to drop off kids at daycare in the opposite direction first, and I can't take an hour to get 7 miles. Although maybe it isn't as slow as I think coming from Stapleton.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by SaxnFlutman

Oddly, when I lived here as a kid, going to CU, over 30 years ago, the lack of humidity was a big issue, lips, hands, face, hair all dried out, etc. However, now I love it (after 15 years in overly humid Atlanta), both the fact the heat & cold are easy to take, and for some reason, my skin, hair, lips & hands are just fine, and I don't even own a humidifier. Maybe eating & applying a little organic coconut oil is making the difference...

However, what drives me mad about the Denver metro area is trying to drive anywhere, unless you already know exactly where you are going! Street signs, even at very wide, major intersections are placed at the REAR of the intersection, and worse, generally not lit up at night! WTF??? I've never been in a big city (well, maybe Boston) you could approach a major intersection & have absolutely no clue what the cross street is, even as you sit at the light!

C'mon Denver, what is this, & why do people stand for this? It's dangerous, as are the very poorly defined lanes, even on freeways. And as are signs that are vague or only last minute, when there are lanes splitting off, or an upcoming fork in the road! I've been driving 40 accident-free years, yet I've had too many "close-calls", solely due to some really wack signage! Thankfully, unlike Atlanta (where people drive as if they are on the Autobahn), people here drive pretty slow, & not as aggressively, & there's less traffic on the roads at night (when I tend to be out more)

Other than that, I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of cultural diversity, & with some of the local bands I've seen so far. But since I'm still fairly new, I'm making no absolute judgments about anything yet....

I never thought about the sign thing, but where we used to live in Orange County, the intersections with traffic lights had big, lit signs with the street name. I don't remember if that's a California thing, or if it was just my particular city.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

Like I said, it's really the only thing that bugs me about living here. We do have a house humidifier...when we open the front door, the storm door immediately fogs up so I know it's working. That, however, hasn't done much for my skin and kid's nosebleeds and nothing at all for the shock I get when touching the light switch.

We used a house humidifier that was hooked up to our furnace for awhile, but it wasn't putting enough humidity in the air. The only way to do that was to have the blower on constantly.

We switched to a whole house console - more of a pain because we have to keep it filled, but way, way better for us. We know we have enough humidity when we can pet the cat without a spark!

[Ghostgecko]

I lived there for about a year...am in wLA now...Santa Monica.

1. The traffic (Although much worse here...) people don't always know how to move when they need to. The weather makes it worse. Being somebody who had my permit in the snow in Indiana...they cannot drive in it whatsoever...funny at times, sad at others.

2. The weather itself. You have to wash your car a lot. It will snow and get crappy for like three days, and then right after that, the slush is gone and it's sunny...60 degrees. You get used to it, but it claimed my chrome wheels.

3. The pretentiousness. Although I met awesome people wherever I live, there really was an attitude that made it hard to get out there for me at times. Every time I tried to get out there and meet people it seemed if you were not extreme, ready to jump off a cliff naked...they were like...no dude...you're not REAL enough for me...I was like...um...ok. But again, that's in LA...and much more epidemic.

4. Parking much worse, out here, than there, Denver did alright, but at times it can be a menace. Again, depends on where you frequent.

5. Isolation...once you leave, it's hours on the freeway to the next major city...many hours. But that's ok...because it's beautiful...and a great many of places to stop, reflect and take pictures along the way. Being from Indiana...the mountains NEVER got old to me...every day here they make me smile too.

6. Cost of Living...although less expensive than LA...not by much. And you can actually make more here without a degree or professional status...not so much there. But then again, that's my experience and opinion...part of a forum is opinion.

7. California and Texas...all I heard is how much they hate them...get tired of hearing complaints about people that make up the city. It's a major city...that's part of the cool factor...the diversity still intrigues me out there in LA, even if they don't want to know me...I want to know them. It's a struggle factor that barely keeps me here at times.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by emersonheights

I rarely hear bad things about the Denver area. We are thinking of moving to the Denver area this year. I was wondering what some of the Negatives of living in the Denver area?

We were living in Western Colorado last year and for a variety of reasons wanted to leave, so I started putting together a list of places that we would like to move to, and Denver was in the top five. We ended up in the Bay Area (California) which was the better choice for us. The negatives about Denver are:

• very dry climate
• snowy, cold and dry in the winter
• not much diversity of culture
• it's a fairly small city (larger cities are more to our taste)
• lack of excellent public transportation

Not that public trans is critical for us (we have vehicles) but having been accustomed to living in the D.C. area and now northern California, a good public trans system is a great perk.