Is Denver less pretentious than other comparable U.S Cities? (fit in, transplants)

[BIGBILLYBADASS]

Originally Posted by Owain1

They always say not to feed the trolls.. But I live in NYC, work for a fortune 50, and would rather blow my brains out than live in Atlanta. Denver on the other hand seems great.
30 mph is believed to be the boundary between death and life for a pedestrian hit. Using cars and speed to show off is ridiculous. I would love to live in a city where the biggest problem is speeders and not murder.
Oh and Atlanta is a hot bed of trend and business? I've only ever, unfortunately, seen it on terrible reality tv shows.

I've spent considerable time in both denver and atlanta. I thought I would love denver, I hated it. I thought I would hate atlanta, loved it. The culture of denver from my experience is to be extremely fake and passive agressive, and the words style and denver do not go together at all. Everything there just seemed very backward to me.

[gav6791]

Welcome to City-Data, BIGBILLYBADASS.

I think you'll find nothing says "I'm a badass" like chatting on sites like City-Data. Join the melee.

[GoneNative]

It's a cowtown.

But it's a cowtown with beautiful natural scenery, nice suburbs, and enough sophistication to make it a pretty interesting place. There's a lot to boast about, but prancing around like you're Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, etc. is silly.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by GoneNative

It's a cowtown.... There's a lot to boast about

And, a lot to roast.

[Owain1]

Miami is a tier 1 place. Denver earns that title because it is the gateway to the Rockies. But Atlanta? If people around the world don't know it it isn't exactly the place to be...

[harrison21]

Originally Posted by jwiley

Yes there are plenty of pretentious people in Denver and throughout the front range, however it is a different pretension. Instead of BMWs and top of the line clothing, it is what sports you are participating in, how much hiking/skiing/biking you are involved in, your zip code, what school your kids go to, and what kind of car you drive that many try to define others by.

This is so true! That's exactly what I was going to say. I will say that I used to live in Vail and it was SO much worse up there with the spots/hiking/skiing/boarding etc. The ironic thing is most people would describe themselves as "laid back" but I found them to be extremely pretentious and that's why I moved. By comparison, people in Denver aren't half as bad. The nice thing about Denver is that there are so many other transplants who don't have the typical Colorado attitude of being snobby about outdoor athletics. I've been here for about 6 months and found making new friends very easy here, because I mostly hang out with other transplants. I find the people to be very down to earth. The thing that cracks me up about the Denver natives is the snobbery about neighborhoods/what they think is "dangerous" or a "bad neighborhood." Denver's "worst" neighborhoods don't compare at all to truly bad areas of other cities.

[Hipchik]

Originally Posted by Almeida93

Is Denver less pretentious than other comparable cities such as
Dallas
Miami
Houston

How in the heck did you come up with those cities as comps?
Not even close.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

My wife drives a black BMW and she isn't pretentious. Great car.

There may have been a time in the past when a BMW had more prestige, but nowadays its firmly taken a place in middle class America. There's a lot of "non-pretentious" vehicles in the same $35k - $60k price range (crewcab pickup trucks, various SUVs) and when you consider that price range is not much higher than other more "typical" middle-class cars, its not a great leap of faith to see how it has become integrated into middle class life.

So our definition of "pretentitous" probably has to be updated to keep with the times!

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by harrison21

This is so true! That's exactly what I was going to say. I will say that I used to live in Vail and it was SO much worse up there with the spots/hiking/skiing/boarding etc. The ironic thing is most people would describe themselves as "laid back" but I found them to be extremely pretentious and that's why I moved. By comparison, people in Denver aren't half as bad. The nice thing about Denver is that there are so many other transplants who don't have the typical Colorado attitude of being snobby about outdoor athletics. I've been here for about 6 months and found making new friends very easy here, because I mostly hang out with other transplants. I find the people to be very down to earth. The thing that cracks me up about the Denver natives is the snobbery about neighborhoods/what they think is "dangerous" or a "bad neighborhood." Denver's "worst" neighborhoods don't compare at all to truly bad areas of other cities.

I agree. I find that the recent transplants here are a lot friendlier and down to earth than the "born and raised" natives and long-timers. And I say this as a Denver native.

[Fit4Fit]

Originally Posted by jwiley

Yes there are plenty of pretentious people in Denver and throughout the front range, however it is a different pretension. Instead of BMWs and top of the line clothing, it is what sports you are participating in, how much hiking/skiing/biking you are involved in,

I have lived in Dallas and Miami...and yes this is spot on. Denver is not pretentious in that way, it's more about the notches you get from outdoor activities.

If you're a true city person, you won't fit in very well here. I meet people who do outdoor activities as well and seldom if ever extend an invitation to join. It's very closed in and with the same group of people they've always known.

What's funny is I live in a complex near the mountains and I rarely hear about people talk about going skiing, and the friends I know never talk about it either. So I really don't know who the hell are these people who are going. The ones who do, seem really insular about it and almost secretive.

Miami is not pretentious like that. You don't have to jet ski and waterboard to enjoy the beach. People make dates regularly just meeting up at the beach. It costs nothing. I went this past October and it was so much more accessible than any ski resort in Colorado. Because when you go to the beach, you don't have to go just to ski. You can shop, drink, stay in a hotel, bike, get a tattoo. You can bring a radio and cooler and talk about everything under the sun. You can't do **** all in Colorado mountain towns. If you're not there to ski you have no business being there.