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Denver is the definition of generic media hipster/Yuppie darling. At least Austin has 6th street and SXSW to give it a little edge and culture. Denver's not even in the mountains or hills. Flat and boring terrain. It has some urbanity, but to me, it's just a wannabe Seattle with better weather.
You can call Denver generic in comparison to a lot of cities, but Austin is not one of them lol. No one has ever said Denver is in the mountains. But I think it's funny how you mentioned flat and boring terrain when much of Austin is just that. And nothing about Denver is trying to replicate Seattle in any way. I really don't understand why this is the narrative people who don't like Denver are going with these days.
Denver is the definition of generic media hipster/Yuppie darling. At least Austin has 6th street and SXSW to give it a little edge and culture. Denver's not even in the mountains or hills. Flat and boring terrain. It has some urbanity, but to me, it's just a wannabe Seattle with better weather.
If that's your opinion of Denver, what do you think of Minneapolis? It's flat to rolling hills for hundreds of miles in every direction. And the weather is far worse than Denver's or Austin's.
Denver and MSP shopping how? You got Cherry Creek and then what? I've been to MSP too. They have more shopping for sure but then again they are the largest metro of the three but whether is it MORE upscale or has more variety that I am not sure can be said in confidence since you haven't been to Austin.
Yes, from what I've seen, Denver and Minneapolis seem to have more variety, including upscale retailers. I could be wrong though.
Keep in mind, I haven't been all over Austin and its suburbs. Austin, itself, is sprawling city that takes up 298 sq miles whereas as Minneapolis is only 55 sq miles. An apples to apples comparison in terms of land area would include Minneapolis, St. Paul and about 25 of their suburbs - (I doubt I have been to most of those burbs)
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Originally Posted by walker1962
Dining...Austin DEFINITELY over MSP. Equal at least to Denver. Great BBQ, Great Sushi, Great Tex-Mex in Austin.
MSP has more variety than both Denver and Austin - Hmong, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indian, Korean, Ethiopian, Sushi and Tex-Mex (who doesn't have Tex-Mex?), etc... You can have your BBQ.
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Originally Posted by walker1962
Jobs - Denver/Austin growth beats MSP. No one is moving to Minnesota.
Yeah, yeah. The Denver and Austin areas are currently growing at a faster rate than the Minneapolis area, but it's not like no one is moving to Minneapolis - the MSP MSA has grown over 6% since 2010. As far as jobs are concerned, the Minneapolis area offers plenty of high-paying, professional jobs. It's one of the top metros for medical device manufacturing, banking and finance, retail, agriculture and food, healthcare, etc... As long as the Minneapolis area maintains a strong, diverse, and highly educated economy, it will continue to grow at a healthy rate. The fact that the state government and one of the country's largest research universities are located there helps too.
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Originally Posted by walker1962
Entertainment outside of Sports - name some festivals known nationally in MSP and Denver? Austin has SXSW, Austin City Limits Music Fest and U.S. Formula 1 Grand Prix with accompanying music acts.
Outdoors activity - Denver over Austin but again MSP? Austin has a great water front, lakes to the west, camping, and wine country nearby. When it's hot people got tubing, Sailing nearby on rivers and lakes,or to Barton Springs a 70 degree oasis just southwest of downtown.
Minneapolis has been a major stop for national and start-up bands for decades and has one of the best local music scenes in the country. As far as music festivals, it has one of the largest, if not the largest, hip-hop festivals in the country - Soundset. SXSW has become... meh. I went four years straight and it got progressively worse. Also, I could care less about Formula 1, NASCAR or whatever motorhead event you think is entertaining so... good for Austin. Also, if we are going to talk lakes, camping, tubing, sailing, etc... that's going to MPLS.
If that's your opinion of Denver, what do you think of Minneapolis? It's flat to rolling hills for hundreds of miles in every direction. And the weather is far worse than Denver's or Austin's.
Well to be fair The Twin Cities do have some beautiful areas. Maybe no mountains but the areas along the rivers are very beautiful and have nice topography!
Quote:
Originally Posted by walker1962
Denver and MSP shopping how? You got Cherry Creek and then what? I've been to MSP too. They have more shopping for sure but then again they are the largest metro of the three but whether is it MORE upscale or has more variety that I am not sure can be said in confidence since you haven't been to Austin.
You kind of answered your own question. Denver and Minneapolis are larger therefore they have more to offer in the shopping department. Does Austin even have anywhere comparable to Cherry Creek?
Downtown Denver's retail is very limited, though it finally has the basics needed to live there (groceries etc.). No major stores at all...I think the Whole Foods might be the biggest! Minneapolis easily beats it in that regard (at least there's a full-size Target, as well as its own newish Whole Foods), even if some retailers have been moving out. Both have successful historic districts, with Denver's more successful based on my limited experience. Downtown Minneapolis is "easy" to work in because of skywalks, but they force retailers to choose between the daytime office worker crowd and the sidewalks, leaving both way too limited. Neither is very touristy, though each is successful with conventions.
Both are very similar in having lots of walkable neighborhoods full of 100-year-old houses on tree-lined streets and occasional commercial districts full of local retailers.
Downtown Denver's retail is very limited, though it finally has the basics needed to live there (groceries etc.). No major stores at all...I think the Whole Foods might be the biggest! Minneapolis easily beats it in that regard (at least there's a full-size Target, as well as its own newish Whole Foods), even if some retailers have been moving out. Both have successful historic districts, with Denver's more successful based on my limited experience. Downtown Minneapolis is "easy" to work in because of skywalks, but they force retailers to choose between the daytime office worker crowd and the sidewalks, leaving both way too limited. Neither is very touristy, though each is successful with conventions.
Both are very similar in having lots of walkable neighborhoods full of 100-year-old houses on tree-lined streets and occasional commercial districts full of local retailers.
Downtown Denver has a 1.25 Mile long mall packed with restaurants and retail from beginning to end. I wouldn’t call that limited. City Target will be opening on 16th Street this Summer and the largest Grocery store Downtown is King Soopers (A Kroger chain) in LoDo.
16th is good for restaurants and bars. It's fair for retail oriented to people who are already there. But it doesn't have major stores at all. The Target will be a mini version...28,000 sf vs. three or four times that for a City Target and even more for a suburban Target.
16th is good for restaurants and bars. It's fair for retail oriented to people who are already there. But it doesn't have major stores at all. The Target will be a mini version...28,000 sf.
It’s definitely no shopping destination, but there’s not much need to put everything downtown when Cherry Creek is 3 miles away. Downtown still has all the basics though (A few Department stores, clothing stores groceries stores, restaurants, etc). I’d say it’s more generic than it is limited.
I've lived in Denver and Mpls-St. Paul. A son of mine lived in Austin for many years. I visited often.
Austin.
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