Driving on Incline/decline Roads (Denver, Aurora: purchase, subdivisions, to live)

[nebulous1]

Are the roads around the big cities, such as Denver, very steep? I was in Washington state and boy, the inclines and declines went on for miles. I was afraid I was going to burn off my brakes trying to keep from going too fast down the inclines. I found it to be nerve wracking. Do you purchase special brakes, or just go "Yeeh haw" and let the car go as fast as it reaches on these declines?
I am not used to the mountainous roads, but I wondered if that is problem if you live in the populated areas or suburbs.
I was considering moving there.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by nebulous1

Are the roads around the big cities, such as Denver, very steep? I was in Washington state and boy, the inclines and declines went on for miles. I was afraid I was going to burn off my brakes trying to keep from going too fast down the inclines. I found it to be nerve wracking. Do you purchase special brakes, or just go "Yeeh haw" and let the car go as fast as it reaches on these declines? I am not used to the mountainous roads, but I wondered if that is problem if you live in the populated areas or suburbs. I was considering moving there.

Denver is largely flat, its actually on the prairie, about 10-20 miles east of the Front Range, which is mountainous and steep. The only steepness you'll find here is if you choose to live up on the side of the mountain. Same is true for COL SPGS and the rest of the Front Range (aka the I-25 Corridor), i.e., its quite gentle or flat until you get into the foothills or mountains. Fear not.

[vegaspilgrim]

There are actually a couple of streets here and there that are moderately steep, such as Holly St just north of Leetsdale. Dartmouth before it curves into Parker is sloped just enough that I've seen cars get stuck there trying to go uphill in the snow. In extreme SE Aurora, some subdivisions like Saddle Rock, Heritage at Eagle Bend, and Tallyns Reach definitely have inclines. By and large, though, it's nothing to worry about.

[Katarina Witt]

Golden, Boulder, places in that area have more hills. Thinking about this, from about Wadsworth Blvd west, there are more hills. Even west Denver is hilly. (Look at a map). The east side (east of I-25) is quite flat,except for some isolated spots, such as vegaspilgrim described.

[esya]

To answer the question about how to drive downhill, I must say that most people do it the wrong way-by riding the brakes. Even with the ABS brakes, that is the wrong way. If you must drive down a sustained steep hill, like one marked with the downhill truck sign in the mountains, you should be shifting down to 2 or 3 even in a automatic. You should be able to go around the curves downhill at the right speed without using your brakes. This of course means that you can't speed up and slow down the way most of the SUV drivers do, going fast on the straights and braking on the curves. For those of us who actually know how to drive it is completely annoying that these are the drivers who hog the left hand side of the road even on curvy mountainous roads. This is particularly true in the winter, when loose gravel or ice may be present.

[DannyBanany]

I-70 west of Denver has some major inclines because it goes up into the mountains from the prairie. Other than that, Denver is pretty flat.

[nebulous1]

Thanks guys for the information, it helps!