Denver vs Seattle vs Miami (living, best, cost, largest)

[MDborn]

Thanks for reading. You can reply or vote, I don't mind either. Here are the criteria:
- I love sports, college, pro and highschool
- My favorite time of the year is summer, especially the 4th of July, and I love watching 4th of July fireworks
- I love camping, hiking, boating, and just being outside.
- I like snow in the winter, but I can live without it.
- I would like a good place to raise a family
- I would like a place with zoo's, aquariums, museums, ect..
- I like warm weather, but I also like cold weather
- I like being around bodies of water, but just like snow, it's not a necessity

[MDborn]

Thanks for the votes so far.

[intelfan11315]

I personally love miami more than any US city, but after reading your interests, Denver is a complete fit for you and you would definitely be MUCH happier there. To whoever voted Miami, you must be stupid.

[MDborn]

Alright, thanks for the reply.

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by MDborn

Thanks for reading. You can reply or vote, I don't mind either. Here are the criteria:
- I love sports, college, pro and highschool
- My favorite time of the year is summer, especially the 4th of July, and I love watching 4th of July fireworks
- I love camping, hiking, boating, and just being outside.
- I like snow in the winter, but I can live without it.
- I would like a good place to raise a family
- I would like a place with zoo's, aquariums, museums, ect..
- I like warm weather, but I also like cold weather
- I like being around bodies of water, but just like snow, it's not a necessity

I suppose it depends on which of these you rank as higher priorities.

-Sports: Denver is miles ahead in this category. Seattle is a decent sports town too with great fans, but Denver has a more comprehensive range of sports to enjoy. In the Denver area you have: NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS, NCAA hockey, football, and basketball as well as dozens of high schools with their various sports programs.

-4th of July: I'm sure that all three cities have places where 4th of July celebrations are fantastic. Of course, there are no large bodies of water in Denver, and a lot of fireworks shows look great over water. Sadly, though, fireworks shows are becoming a thing of the past. Regulations keep getting more and more restrictive.

-Camping/hiking/boating: Seattle and Denver both have great access to theses. It's all about knowing where to go to appreciate it. Boating in Denver is limited to small lakes, while Seattle and Miami, well, you know.

-Snow: Denver gets it, but it can be surprisingly seasonal in the winter. 65 and sunny on Christmas Day, even. Then a blizzard the next day. It's weird.

-Family: All three cities have at least 3 million people. You'll have no problem finding family friendly events in any of them.

-Zoos, aquariums, museums: Denver zoo is really good, as are Denver museums. The aquarium is small, but it is still really nice. I am not as familiar with Seattle, but I understand the Seattle aquarium and Seattle museums are fantastic as well. Can't comment on Miami on this one.

-Warm weather: If you enjoy seasonal changes, Denver is probably the best option. Seattle would be good too, but the ocean regulates annual temps. If you like cool weather too, Miami may not be what you are looking for.

-Water: As I already mentioned, water in Denver is negligible compared to the other two. If this is something that is low on your priority list (remember, coastal cities tend to have higher cost of living) then perhaps Seattle and Miami's advantage are mitigated. Otherwise...


I would narrow it to Denver vs Seattle. Between these two you have the criteria that you are looking for and a two-way race may be easier for you than a three-way. You probably can't go wrong in either of these two. Keep in mind that wherever you end up, it's only as good as you make it out to be. Good luck in your search!

[MDborn]

Thanks for the reply, and thanks for everyone that voted so far.

[GoneNative]

Far and away, Denver. It fits your criteria almost perfectly, and it does so much more than either Seattle or Miami.

Denver is a sports-crazed city with an incredible devotion to its sports teams--especially the Broncos. College sports is a real snoozer in Colorado, but there is a real, possible clinical, obsession with football (I happen to share that obsession).

Weather: Colorado experiences all four seasons, and it experiences them dramatically. It averages a whopping 60 inches of snow each year (more in the souther and western suburbs) and yet it stays mild and sunny most of the year. That great weather makes it a very outdoorsy town. People definitely take advantage of the mountains as much as they can--hiking, camping, etc. My experience has been that skiing is not something that natives do a lot of--it's primarily the domain of tourists and transplants. But virtually everyone takes advantage of the parks and hiking close to town. There is also suprisingly excellent hiking on the eastern plains (Pawnee Buttes, Commanche Nat'l Grasslands, etc.).

Denver--most especially the suburbs--is a great "family city." It is, like much of middle-America, very family-oriented. School, church, and kid-oriented activities and events are important to a lot of people here. The impression I got from visiting Miami and Seattle was that those cities are more "hipster"--more oriented around singles, students, and scholars. Denver, like any city, has its share of singles, but the emphasis and "feel" of the Denver area is much more "pack the family into the Tahoe and head to church/Olive Garden/Joe's baseball game." That's not true of everybody, but it's certainly true of a good chunk of the Denver area (less true of the city of Denver, perhaps).

[grapico]

Originally Posted by GoneNative

Far and away, Denver. It fits your criteria almost perfectly, and it does so much more than either Seattle or Miami.

Denver is a sports-crazed city with an incredible devotion to its sports teams--especially the Broncos. College sports is a real snoozer in Colorado, but there is a real, possible clinical, obsession with football (I happen to share that obsession).

Weather: Colorado experiences all four seasons, and it experiences them dramatically. It averages a whopping 60 inches of snow each year (more in the souther and western suburbs) and yet it stays mild and sunny most of the year. That great weather makes it a very outdoorsy town. People definitely take advantage of the mountains as much as they can--hiking, camping, etc. My experience has been that skiing is not something that natives do a lot of--it's primarily the domain of tourists and transplants. But virtually everyone takes advantage of the parks and hiking close to town. There is also suprisingly excellent hiking on the eastern plains (Pawnee Buttes, Commanche Nat'l Grasslands, etc.).

Denver--most especially the suburbs--is a great "family city." It is, like much of middle-America, very family-oriented. School, church, and kid-oriented activities and events are important to a lot of people here. The impression I got from visiting Miami and Seattle was that those cities are more "hipster"--more oriented around singles, students, and scholars. Denver, like any city, has its share of singles, but the emphasis and "feel" of the Denver area is much more "pack the family into the Tahoe and head to church/Olive Garden/Joe's baseball game." That's not true of everybody, but it's certainly true of a good chunk of the Denver area (less true of the city of Denver, perhaps).

I agree on this... outside of the ocean, it fits his criteria almost perfectly.

[ironcouger]

I would think Seattle has more for families to do . Seattle has three metro zoo's all large . The worlds largest private air and space museum. The worlds largest car museum opens this fall. Two large aquariums. Seattle is within an hour of several ski resorts . Seattle is close to 3 national parks . The summers are nice some of the best in the USA. Seattle metro has several large firework shows on the fourth. We actually have one on the 3rd every year also we start celabrating the day before lol. Emerald Downs has concerts and a big Firework show at night on the 3rd. The winters are mild thats because Seattle is at sea level . Seattle has beaches in city and is close to ocean beaches also. So if you want oceans, mountains, beaches, national parks, and urban cities Seattle might be a good choice.

[MDborn]

Thanks for all the replies and votes so far. I'm leaning towards seattle but I could still be swayed to Denver. Any other replies or votes are welcome.