Second Visit impressions - Surprisingly expensive Denver! (Boulder, Frisco: homes, unemployed)

[OneMoreMove]

Denver is much cheaper than NY.
Denver is more expensive than the south.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by UnemployedFinanceGuy

Hello All,
. Water - Shock!!! - I cannot believe how much Denver residents pay just for water supply - I mean, over $180 per month just for water???? Come on!!!! I can't even imagine how much you pay for other utilities. In New York City you pay on an average $40 - in the South less than that.

This is the desert, dude.

3. Light rail or Rip-off rail? - I paid $6 for a short 7 station one way ride. The light rail cars are uncomfortable - but at least they are clean and air conditioned. In New York City a Subway ride across all 5 boroughs is $2.25.

Denver's attempt at commuter rail is in its infancy stage compared to east coast cities.

4. Expensive ride from the Airport - The cheapest option from the Airport to town is a $12 ride on public transport. In New York City, a ride from LaGuardia to ANYWHERE in NYC is $2.25 on public transport.

yeah, you're talking about the metro of course it's cheap
hop on a cab or shuttle and you'll pay the same price you do on a cab or shuttle here

5. Super expensive real estate - I was looking at condo prices (my friend recently bought one) in the central Denver Area - a one bedroom on average seems to go for $250K and if you get a 2BR2BA in one of the newer buildings you can pay as much as $500K+. Okay - so a bit cheaper than NY but 500K??

yeah i agree with you. Denver real estate is trying to be like the big city but without the urban amenities you get in the big city

Thank you for your answers and any corrections you may have on my observations.

You pretty much hit it on the nail. The downtown area is overpriced because that's what happens everytime old neighborhoods are gentrified

[TomHavard]

yeah i agree with you. Denver real estate is trying to be like the big city but without the urban amenities you get in the big city

Many great parks, An extensive series of trails, An aquarium, Zoo, Too many museums to list, a federal mint, more show venues than I can think of right now, Hundreds of restaurants (not your suburban chains, although some of them too), multiple malls and shopping districts for all tastes. A public transit system that works very well in the city itself and all of this for about half the price of Seattle.

What exactly is it missing?

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by TomHavard

What exactly is it missing?

Cool, hip neighborhoods.
better more convenient public transportation
regular, consistent coffee shop venues for poetry slams and local musicians
ethnic diversity
corner delis and grocers
local amateur theater

[Count David]

We routinely paid over $100/mo for water when we lived in two different places in Aurora. 2 adults, 2 kids. The first time, a 3 bed/2 bath apartment. The second time a 4 bed/3 bath house.

We now pay $0 for water (a rented condo that includes water in its HOA).

Electric/gas is fairly cheap here IMO. Groceries too. Housing (for rent and purchase) is available in all price ranges, from "poverty" to "I need to impress everybody with my address".

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

We routinely paid over $100/mo for water when we lived in two different places in Aurora. 2 adults, 2 kids. The first time, a 3 bed/2 bath apartment.

Were they charging tenants for watering the lawn and filling the pool?

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

Cool, hip neighborhoods.
Don't like Wash Park (East and West), University, Platt Park, Cap Hill, Uptown, and others?

better more convenient public transportation
Please elaborate on what could be better?

regular, consistent coffee shop venues for poetry slams and local musicians
You got me there, I'm not into the music, poetry scene

ethnic diversity Denver is ~50% minority, way better than the highly touted Seattle.

corner delis and grocers
I don't live downtown, but I have lived in Denver, as has my daughter. It seems like each neighborhood, with the possible exception of LoDo, has a grocery store, and delis seem to be pretty abundant.

local amateur theater
Surely you jest? Pick up a Westword.

***

[Count David]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Were they charging tenants for watering the lawn and filling the pool?

The apartment's fee also included sewer, dumpster, and yes, watering/upkeep of common areas. It might as well have been an HOA.

[vegaspilgrim]

If you really enjoy a place, you'll stress the good and overlook the bad stuff. If you just plain don't like it, all the little problems and annoyances only become more apparent.

At least you were able to visit twice and thoroughly investigate to see if Denver is for you... sounds like it's not. Better to spend a little money visiting to find that out now than having to cut your losses later.

I do agree with you on the "rip off rail" part.

[OneMoreMove]

Originally Posted by TomHavard

Many great parks, An extensive series of trails, An aquarium, Zoo, Too many museums to list, a federal mint, more show venues than I can think of right now, Hundreds of restaurants (not your suburban chains, although some of them too), multiple malls and shopping districts for all tastes. A public transit system that works very well in the city itself and all of this for about half the price of Seattle.

What exactly is it missing?

With all due respect, you just can't compare Denver to places like NYC, SF, Paris, Hong Kong, etc. Denver doesn't have 'nothing' but it's not exactly the destination city that people dream of moving to all over the world.

Denver has nice parks, but they are nothing spectacular - generally flat and kind of dry, and mostly look the same. There aren't too many museums to list, it's pretty short list compared to some cities. Federal mint? Hmm...

Hundreds of restaurants? Well, Denver's not exactly the restaurant capital of the world. Every city has 'multiple malls' so that's not really a draw. The public transit system works well, but again that's not a ground breaking characteristic for a city.

But yea, it's half the price of Seattle and LA and NY and lots of other cities. I wonder why that is?

I like Denver but let's be realistic about what it is and what it isn't.