Yet another Cap Hill / Congress / Cheesey Man / Cherry Creek / Wash Park / City Park / LoDo / LoHi / etc. comparison (Denver: lease)

[dancingmanatee]

Hey everyone! So I'm female in my early 20s and I just moved back from college NC and my head is going topsy-turvy trying to find a place to live. Help a girl out? For the sake of argument, let's pretend that I neither have a budget nor any preferences in my type of housing, and that I work from home. This is just about the neighborhoods.

The college I went to was very East Coast preppy, drama filled, and country club-esque. I hated it. So I want to avoid that type of atmosphere. Being back in Colorado reminded me why I love it here -- everyone is MUCH more friendly and down-to-earth.

However, I am (technically) a yuppie. I just don't put as much stock into the accumulation of wealth or prestige as a measurement of success. I've also been great friends with stoner people, but I really value being financially independent and achieving something with a career.

I enjoy going out to bars and clubs, but not every weekend. I love trying new food and restaurants, but also eating Whole Foods healthy. I'm not into sports, but I'd definitely enjoy a good Rockies game. Basically, I'd want all the fun of DT, but without being surrounded by the (as my co-worker calls it) fraternity attitude.

I also want to make some friends who enjoy weekend trips to the mountains (hiking, biking, camping, Boulder festivals, etc) but who are just as happy chilling in the park for an afternoon too. I love concerts, comedy shows, and film (indie, documentary, Hollywood, doesn't matter!), but I don't really care for art museums. I don't consider myself the artsy or hipster type.

Have I confused you yet? Any recommendations you all have would be fantastic! Thank you

[royhobbstn]

West Highlands, Washington Park West, Platt Park. A pleasant amount of yuppiness, but not so much it makes you sick.

[Autodidact]

I strongly suggest you investigate all of the Highlands neighborhood.

[Z3N1TH 0N3]

Cap Hill has a ton of yuppie types. Cheeseman, Congress Park, City Park and Uptown might also be what you're looking for. I'd definitely avoid a place like Cherry Creek though given your preferences. It's very posh and upscale. LoDo is similar to that.

What about Boulder? It's about 30 mins from downtown and it'd definitely fit your yuppie preference.

[KottkeKU]

You basically just described me and what I was looking for when I was thinking of a move to Denver. I settled in the Baker/West Wash Park area, which is just south of downtown. I really liked it a lot, Baker in particular reminded me of my college town, old, traditional, historical looking homes and businesses, with Broadway being our main entertainment street. It was just what we were looking for not having ever been to denver, but now that i know my way around a little bit, i ended up moving north to cap hill after my lease ended. mostly to be closer to places on colfax, like the bluebird theatre, the ogden, fillmore, even dazzle which i can walk to now, etc. I see concerts pretty often, so its a nice area to be able to walk to some of the shows i will see.

Actually, highlands is a really cool area. I think you would really like it, but the problem is that you are somewhat far away from most concert venues and other parts of denver that you might miss out on if your in the highlands.. like colfax, broadway, and DU areas for example. However, it isn't all that bad because from what i can tell many of the best restaurants and bars in denver are in the highlands. that scores some points in my book, lol.. but you would have to drive/transport everywhere which sucks.

I really like Uptown, you might try and see if you can find a place that's walking distance to places on Colfax, although I am not certain the exact streets that are considered "uptown"... but its got to start around 23rd st and getting higher to about 32nd or so? (I could be way off, maybe someone else can be more accurate), so thats a good dozen blocks or so until you get to just Colfax. that's probably a 5-10 minute walk alone, then you have to trek east or west along colfax, so you could be walking a ways depending on where your going but I really don't mind a 15-20 minute walk around town. Colfax has many of the places you will most likely be visiting like bars, concert venues and all that. So it might be wise to look for a place that is within a dozen blocks or so to Colfax, so you don't have to drive all hammered and such.

the other popular areas, cap hill, wash park, etc. all have their own pros and cons. You really can't go wrong with cap hill if your in your 20's and not into the nightlife/club/materialistic scene though.