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You don't have to be the outdoorsy adventurous type to enjoy living here. I moved here 2 years ago from the east coast, where I had spent my entire life. I also grew up in VA. Hubby and I do not do winter sports and aren't the adventurous types at all, at least not where physical activity is concerned. We are also not into major league sports or fly fish, and we get along quite well. We're more rainy-day bookstore/movies types. Back east, it was too icky to do much outside on a regular basis. Out here, it's very hard to stay inside when it's so nice outside. I just got back from an hour-long walk. Mid-'40's and sunshine - I had to get out. Here, it's actually hard to live someplace here where there isn't a paved trail close by. You can bike or walk along so many trails, both in the city and the suburbs, many of them along creeks and flat. Or not. There is also a pretty active performing arts scene, and several artsy-type movie theaters. We love the breweries.
But you should at least have an adventurous spirit, especially to move so far from home to a place so different. Do you like to look at the mountains? Are you intrigued by the West and open spaces? Did you know that Denver is flat and on the prairie? Will it bother you to be so far from other large metropolitan areas? Some people have a problem with this. You can't just hop on Amtrak and be in NYC in 2 hours. How do you feel about snow? Denver and Charlotte have very different types of winters.
If I was you I'd look at more cities, While Denver is great its not this super diverse place compared to many other cities on the east and west coasts. your still in the mid west remember. the mountains are are almost a must if your moving here but thats my opinion, Half the fun in the state is the mountains, and the foods is pretty much just chain places except for a few family owned resturants. Shopping is better here than the surrounding states(more options overall). do as you want but a lot of people move here and come to regret it because its not like they envisioned it or thought the landscape would be full of trees when in reality it's flat and just like normal desert/plains mid west cities. The winter can be rough but their not intolerable like they are in Kansas, Its a dry winter compared to a wet winter.
In my opinion, the whole "outdoorsy" stereotype regarding Denver is exaggerated. I tend to be more "indoorsy" myself. I do enjoy going on a camping trip once or twice a summer, enjoy an occasional hike and love going to the park, but I don't live here specifically for the outdoor recreation.
I live here for the climate, live-and-let-live attitude, and the high quality of life (not to mention, a great circle of friends). I genuinely enjoy the city, as do many people I know. Heck, I've met people who never even go to the mountains. It is expensive here, and the climate is vastly different than what you're used to, but I love Denver.
You can totally have a good life here without being outdoorsy. However, I would analyze how mobile your career is. Would you be able to easily move away or transfer if you did end up hating it here? If you are young, no kids, no house, etc you should just give it a try and see if you like it if the other two options don't pan out.
I think it also comes down to how social/extroverted you are. If you are a social butterfly and have been able to make friends easily, you will be able to make friends and do non-outdoorsy things. There are plenty of non outdoorsy things/people here, but it is a much smaller pool than other places. If you tend to be more of an introverted type, or one who doesn't make friends as easily, you might be more likely to become bored and lonely. I hear from a lot of my friends how they feel very cold, lonely, isolated here...especially in the winter. It is a little more manageable being introverted, and outdoorsy, because you can just do all of your hiking, biking etc when you are bored.
If I was you I'd look at more cities, While Denver is great its not this super diverse place compared to many other cities on the east and west coasts. your still in the mid west remember. the mountains are are almost a must if your moving here but thats my opinion, Half the fun in the state is the mountains, and the foods is pretty much just chain places except for a few family owned resturants. Shopping is better here than the surrounding states(more options overall). do as you want but a lot of people move here and come to regret it because its not like they envisioned it or thought the landscape would be full of trees when in reality it's flat and just like normal desert/plains mid west cities. The winter can be rough but their not intolerable like they are in Kansas, Its a dry winter compared to a wet winter.
I would say this is somewhat incorrect. First of all there might be a lot of Midwest people here who set the tone, but Denver is technically the "Gateway to the West". Being 16 hours driving from Los Angeles and 16 hours from Minneapolis makes it this way.
Food wise this is straight up wrong. Denver has a really great restaurant scene if you ask me. For instance much better Italian food here than anything I had when I lived in SoCal.
I would say this is somewhat incorrect. First of all there might be a lot of Midwest people here who set the tone, but Denver is technically the "Gateway to the West". Being 16 hours driving from Los Angeles and 16 hours from Minneapolis makes it this way.
Food wise this is straight up wrong. Denver has a really great restaurant scene if you ask me. For instance much better Italian food here than anything I had when I lived in SoCal.
The best city for singles. For millennials. For entrepreneurs. For outdoorspeople. Over the past few years, Denver has ranked at or near the top of virtually every U.S. index there is; it was only a matter of time before outsiders “discovered” its dynamic dining scene too. This year alone, Nobu Matsuhisa, Gregory Gourdet, Deborah Schneider and Hugh Acheson staked claims here; Jeffrey Wall of Atlanta’s Kimball House is on his way, and so is the team behind New York’s Death & Co.
Meanwhile, there’s no stopping our homegrown talent. Beard award-winners Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson (Frasca) will be opening Tavernetta soon; fellow recipient Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja et al.) is expanding her mini empire with Ultreia. Rising stars like Hop Alley’s Tommy Lee, The Way Back’s Chad Michael George, Joshua Pollack of Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen and Bar Dough’s Mac MacKissock have swiftly garnered national acclaim. The spotlight that was already trained on our impressive field of food halls (The Source, Avanti F&B, Union Station) just intensified with the opening of The Central Market; Stanley Marketplace will be even bigger. And though Denver’s long been at the craft-brewing forefront, it’s poised to break whole new ground (theoretically, at least) with the legalization of cannabis use in restaurants and bars. Innovationwise, this is the wonderfully Wild West all over again.
I'm graduating college soon and could wind up in either Denver, DC, or Charlotte. I like Denver due to its progressiveness, departure from what I'm used to (I've lived in Virginia my whole life), and generally low costs. I've never been to Denver.
I would check your assumptions of "progressiveness" against reality, and also visit the city (again to get reality, not an imagined impression). Costs are probably lower in Virginia than Denver, so double-check that too with real numbers and real data. I haven't encountered any of those alleged "low costs" here.
Denver will also be less familiar to you than say Charlotte and its east coast culture and thinking. You already seem concerned about fitting in, so the culture difference in Colorado might surprise you even more than just the "outdoors-factor".
Last edited by Thoreau424; 01-18-2017 at 07:18 PM..
I would check your assumptions of "progressiveness" against reality, and also visit the city (again to get reality, not an imagined impression). Costs are probably lower in Virginia than Denver, so double-check that too with real numbers and real data. I haven't encountered any of those alleged "low costs" here.
Denver will also be less familiar to you than say Charlotte and its east coast culture and thinking. You already seem concerned about fitting in, so the culture difference in Colorado might surprise you even more than just the "outdoors-factor".
I've only researched rent costs, Denver is definitely cheaper than DC/Northern Virginia and is on par with Charlotte in terms of rent alone.
What is different about the culture, exactly? I'm pretty used to "southern" culture that can be found in Charlotte and don't feel the most at home there either. I spent last summer in the DC/Northern Virginia Area and felt that I fit in well there, though a lot of people in DC were a bit pretentious. I just assume that people are pretty open minded and easy going in Denver.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN_Ski
You can totally have a good life here without being outdoorsy. However, I would analyze how mobile your career is. Would you be able to easily move away or transfer if you did end up hating it here? If you are young, no kids, no house, etc you should just give it a try and see if you like it if the other two options don't pan out.
I think it also comes down to how social/extroverted you are. If you are a social butterfly and have been able to make friends easily, you will be able to make friends and do non-outdoorsy things. There are plenty of non outdoorsy things/people here, but it is a much smaller pool than other places. If you tend to be more of an introverted type, or one who doesn't make friends as easily, you might be more likely to become bored and lonely. I hear from a lot of my friends how they feel very cold, lonely, isolated here...especially in the winter. It is a little more manageable being introverted, and outdoorsy, because you can just do all of your hiking, biking etc when you are bored.
I'm introverted, but I'm pretty comfortable with putting myself out there to make new friends with people I have things in common with. I'll be straight out of college, so I feel that there will be no better time to make such a daring move. I've never been west of Nashville, so this would really be an incredible experience, even if I don't stay long. The company I would be with has other offices across the country so I could probably negotiate a move if I needed to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jHolman91
If I was you I'd look at more cities, While Denver is great its not this super diverse place compared to many other cities on the east and west coasts. your still in the mid west remember. the mountains are are almost a must if your moving here but thats my opinion, Half the fun in the state is the mountains, and the foods is pretty much just chain places except for a few family owned resturants. Shopping is better here than the surrounding states(more options overall). do as you want but a lot of people move here and come to regret it because its not like they envisioned it or thought the landscape would be full of trees when in reality it's flat and just like normal desert/plains mid west cities. The winter can be rough but their not intolerable like they are in Kansas, Its a dry winter compared to a wet winter.
Yeah I'm aware that Denver isn't the most racially diverse place, but it does *seem* like there is a decent LGBT presence there, which is what I'm more concerned with. I'm only looking at these 3 cities due to job offers that I have already received and there's no time to start applying to new places in different cities. To me it seems like Denver has everything that Charlotte has, but with the added bonus of mountains, which I may or may not make a ton of use of. I haven't been prone to make weekend trips to a neighboring city in the past so it doesn't bother me how Denver is isolated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gorges
You don't have to be the outdoorsy adventurous type to enjoy living here. I moved here 2 years ago from the east coast, where I had spent my entire life. I also grew up in VA. Hubby and I do not do winter sports and aren't the adventurous types at all, at least not where physical activity is concerned. We are also not into major league sports or fly fish, and we get along quite well. We're more rainy-day bookstore/movies types. Back east, it was too icky to do much outside on a regular basis. Out here, it's very hard to stay inside when it's so nice outside. I just got back from an hour-long walk. Mid-'40's and sunshine - I had to get out. Here, it's actually hard to live someplace here where there isn't a paved trail close by. You can bike or walk along so many trails, both in the city and the suburbs, many of them along creeks and flat. Or not. There is also a pretty active performing arts scene, and several artsy-type movie theaters. We love the breweries.
But you should at least have an adventurous spirit, especially to move so far from home to a place so different. Do you like to look at the mountains? Are you intrigued by the West and open spaces? Did you know that Denver is flat and on the prairie? Will it bother you to be so far from other large metropolitan areas? Some people have a problem with this. You can't just hop on Amtrak and be in NYC in 2 hours. How do you feel about snow? Denver and Charlotte have very different types of winters.
Thanks for the input! Yeah I do consider myself adventurous, albeit introverted. I like snow if it isn't too windy and I do like mountains, especially the views. I'm in school at Virginia Tech, which is somewhat mountainous and I love having those nearby. And yeah I don't really mind being isolated because I've never been one to make a weekend trip to a nearby city.
I'm in school at Virginia Tech, which is somewhat mountainous and I love having those nearby. And yeah I don't really mind being isolated because I've never been one to make a weekend trip to a nearby city.
I spent four wonderful years in B'burg. Beautiful area.
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