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I lived in a suburb near Dallas, TX for the first 23 years of my life. I hated the extreme heat/humidity and lack of outdoors opportunities in the area. I wanted to move to an outdoorsy location for a long time, but reluctantly moved to the Destin, FL area for a job after college. Now I'm almost 26 years old and I'm ready to finally move to a location I want.
A few things about me:
I love rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and generally lots of outdoors activities geared towards mountains. I don't really care much for the ocean or beach. I also enjoy playing board games late into the night at comic book shops. Good food is really important to me! I love finding good restaurants and enjoy eating all kinds of food (Indian, Mexican, Thai, German, everything). I'm a single guy and I eat out at least once per day, but often twice (lunch and dinner), so I really appreciate a good variety of high quality restaurants.
If it will affect your suggestions, I'm an engineer currently working in the defense industry and I'm looking to potentially move into the tech sector (I'm not completely against taking a defense job, however).
I'm trying to decide if I'd rather live in Seattle or Denver. I've read through tons of threads on here comparing the two cities, but I'm still not sure which would be a better fit for me. I feel like the Denver area is closer to an abundance of outdoors opportunities, but Seattle sounds like it has a better city life (food, culture, etc.). I've never been to Seattle, but I've been to areas of Europe with comparable weather and I think I'd like it a lot (I love the lush, green vegetation). I like drizzly rain for some reason too and that won't stop me from going on a day hike!
Are there enough outdoors activities close to Seattle to satisfy my desires? Ideally, I'd go out almost every weekend to hike/bike/climb/etc. I'm afraid that maybe there aren't many trails or places to go. I don't want to have to hit the same crowded trail every few weekends.
On the other hand, is there enough good food and city life near Denver to make the other half of me happy? The food options here in Destin are pretty bad. I really can't wait to escape.
I'm also open to other suggestions too. I'm not against places like Salt Lake City, SF Bay area, Portland, and possibly others, but I think Denver and Seattle top my list right now.
Speaking for Seattle - there are a ton of outdoor opportunities. You've got stunning mountain ranges on both sides of you (Cascades are within 40 minutes), an amazing National Park (Olympic) nearby, tons of Islands, and a huge range of trails. There is great hiking, great water activities, rock climbing, mountain biking - really, almost anything you can think of. The main limiting factor for outdoor activities in Seattle is the weather. There are really only 3-4 months of the year when you can likely count on having good weather (albeit, those 3-4 months usually have amazing weather). Of course, it's not like you can't do anything if it's cold, rainy, icy, etc., but it does create more of a challenge. Denver has sunny weather for much of the year (although it does get pretty cold and often snowy during the winter).
It's funny, I came into this city vs city board to make the exact same topic - Seattle vs Denver. Those are the 2 cities I would love to live in. I am thinking Seattle. The weather and amenities just seem to trump Denver in my opinion. The 2 cities have very similar population but Seattle just seems "bigger" and I like the architectural styles better. I say go for a few Google Map streetview drives and get a faux feel for the areas. What's very important to me is how visible the mountains are from my daily scenery.
Populations of city proper are nearly identical.
Denver 2012: 634,265
Seattle 2012:634,535
It's funny, I came into this city vs city board to make the exact same topic - Seattle vs Denver. Those are the 2 cities I would love to live in. I am thinking Seattle. The weather and amenities just seem to trump Denver in my opinion. The 2 cities have very similar population but Seattle just seems "bigger" and I like the architectural styles better. I say go for a few Google Map streetview drives and get a faux feel for the areas. What's very important to me is how visible the mountains are from my daily scenery.
Populations of city proper are nearly identical.
Denver 2012: 634,265
Seattle 2012:634,535
Wow, neck and neck!
I wouldn't say Seattle trumps Denver in amenities (and especially weather) at all, but I guess it's all opinion based. However, Seattle is actually larger. The city population may be similar, but Seattle's metro is nearly 1 million people larger.
Seattle- 3.6 million
Denver- 2.7 million
I wouldn't say Seattle trumps Denver in amenities (and especially weather) at all, but I guess it's all opinion based. However, Seattle is actually larger. The city population may be similar, but Seattle's metro is nearly 1 million people larger.
Seattle- 3.6 million
Denver- 2.7 million
Indeed it is opinion based...but if Seattle's metro is almost 1 million larger, I can see it having more amenitieis. But I guess it depends on what we call amenities. The weather, sorry I'm gonna have to say (IMO) Seattle's is better :P I love gray skies and rain. Although Denver does get a lot more snow...these seem like 2 really great cities. Not to mention I love marijuana and both cities provide that as well :P
Indeed it is opinion based...but if Seattle's metro is almost 1 million larger, I can see it having more amenitieis. But I guess it depends on what we call amenities. The weather, sorry I'm gonna have to say (IMO) Seattle's is better :P I love gray skies and rain. Although Denver does get a lot more snow...these seem like 2 really great cities. Not to mention I love marijuana and both cities provide that as well :P
That's fair. As far as amenities go, I just don't think there are many things Seattle completely outdoes Denver in (and vice versa), but it really does depend on ones preference. I can also see how Seattle's weather could be more appealing to some people. I love the rain
That's fair. As far as amenities go, I just don't think there are many things Seattle completely outdoes Denver in (and vice versa), but it really does depend on ones preference. I can also see how Seattle's weather could be more appealing to some people. I love the rain
I'd say Seattle's urban fabric is definitely better than Denver's, especially outside of Downtown.
It's funny, I came into this city vs city board to make the exact same topic - Seattle vs Denver. Those are the 2 cities I would love to live in. I am thinking Seattle. The weather and amenities just seem to trump Denver in my opinion. The 2 cities have very similar population but Seattle just seems "bigger" and I like the architectural styles better. I say go for a few Google Map streetview drives and get a faux feel for the areas. What's very important to me is how visible the mountains are from my daily scenery.
Populations of city proper are nearly identical.
Denver 2012: 634,265
Seattle 2012:634,535
Wow, neck and neck!
Denver city proper is 153 square miles of land whereas Seattle is 83 square miles of land, making Seattle close to twice as dense as Denver. Stretch out Seattle's border to include 153 square miles of land and you'll have a much higher population. This is further emphasized by Seattle's metro having 1 million more people.
Denver city proper is 153 square miles of land whereas Seattle is 83 square miles of land, making Seattle close to twice as dense as Denver. Stretch out Seattle's border to include 153 square miles of land and you'll have a much higher population. This is further emphasized by Seattle's metro having 1 million more people.
This needs clarification. The airport is inside the city limits of Denver. DIA has a land area of approximately 54 square miles according to wikipedia. When this is accounted for, the density figures are much closer.
Seattle 652,405/83.87 gives a density of 7779
Denver 649,495/99 gives a density of 6560
Yes Seattle still leads but this is a more realistic view of what one would experience wandering around the streets of each city.
This needs clarification. The airport is inside the city limits of Denver. DIA has a land area of approximately 54 square miles according to wikipedia. When this is accounted for, the density figures are much closer.
Seattle 652,405/83.87 gives a density of 7779
Denver 649,495/99 gives a density of 6560
Yes Seattle still leads but this is a more realistic view of what one would experience wandering around the streets of each city.
Thank you for the clarification! I wasn't aware that DIA was so large.
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