Considering moving to Denver, but I'm "indoorsy" (Glendale: fit in, transplants)

[corevo]

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.

From what I hear, climbing, hiking, and snow sports are a big part of the culture in Denver. I'm worried that I won't really fit in in Denver or maybe its not right for me. I've never really been an adventurous outdoorsy person. I'll go hiking if I'm with good company and its not a long drive away, but generally I prefer staying within the city or at home in my free time. I've never been snowboarding or skiing. In my free time I like to cook, grab drinks with friends, play or watch soccer, workout, and play videogames. For reference, I'm a 22 year old gay male.

Maybe if I move to Denver I would discover that I love snow sports, but I wouldn't bet money on that happening.

I guess my question is, is that all there is to do during the day on weekends? Will people give me funny looks if they ask me what I did over the weekend and I don't say that I did something adventurous?

[bluescreen73]

Honestly, if you're not into the outdoors there's a good chance you won't like it here. Denver isn't lush like other areas of the country. It's on the plains and it's very dry. On top of that, the COL is high for an inland city.

I love it here, but then again I hiked about 100 miles (including 5 summits above 13,000') last year and plan to do even more this year.

If you're indoorsy try Dallas - a city I like to pejoratively call the indoor capital of the US. Zero outdoor focus and almost nothing in the way of natural beauty, but it's cheap(ish) and has a s*&tload of botox lovers, scads of 30k millionaires, chain restaurants galore, and more shopping malls than you can shake a stick at.

[davebarnes]

I think that you should give Charlotte, NC a good look.
Most of us, here in Denver, live in tepees and are closely connected to nature.
And, our state constitution contains a ban on homosexual marriage.
We have no decent restaurants. Just ask the folks from Chicago.
Soccer is for sissies. RugbyTown USA | Infinity Park at Glendale
No one drinks here anymore as we are too stoned to drive/walk to the liquor store.
You will be required to buy an item from The North Face.
Subaru is the only vehicle legally allowed for newcomers.

[pikabike]

What's the point of moving to a city whose biggest, most enduring draw through both boom and bust is outdoor recreation?

It's like moving to Hawaii when you have little to no interest in ocean-related activities or sea life.

The leisure interests you named can be done in most medium to large cities. You are used to low COL. Seems like cities with young, indoors-oriented people and not so expensive COL would be better candidates than Denver.

Of all the possible matches, an avowed indoors person choosing Denver strikes me as downright masochistic. For a long time people derogatively called it Cowtown, and some still do. What a shame.

[corevo]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Honestly, if you're not into the outdoors there's a good chance you won't like it here. Denver isn't lush like other areas of the country. It's on the plains and it's very dry. On top of that, the COL is high for an inland city.

I love it here, but then again I hiked about 100 miles (including 5 summits above 13,000') last year and plan to do even more this year.

If you're indoorsy try Dallas - a city I like to pejoratively call the indoor capital of the US. Zero outdoor focus and almost nothing in the way of natural beauty, but it's cheap(ish) and has a s*&tload of botox lovers, scads of 30k millionaires, chain restaurants galore, and more shopping malls than you can shake a stick at.

Do you go hiking alone or do you go with friends? I feel like its important to note that I don't dislike doing things outside, I just usually prioritize other things. The COL in Denver at a glance seems a bit lower than in Charlotte (if I want to live in a good neighborhood), and much much lower than DC. Dallas isn't an option for me because of jobs.

Originally Posted by davebarnes

I think that you should give Charlotte, NC a good look.
Most of us, here in Denver, live in tepees and are closely connected to nature.
And, our state constitution contains a ban on homosexual marriage.
We have no decent restaurants. Just ask the folks from Chicago.
Soccer is for sissies. RugbyTown USA | Infinity Park at Glendale
No one drinks here anymore as we are too stoned to drive/walk to the liquor store.

Interesting. NC has something similar in their constitution plus HB2 so Denver has the edge here.

Originally Posted by pikabike

What's the point of moving to a city whose biggest, most enduring draw through both boom and bust is outdoor recreation?

It's like moving to Hawaii when you have little to no interest in ocean-related activities or sea life.

The leisure interests you named can be done in most medium to large cities. You are used to low COL. Seems like cities with young, indoors-oriented people and not so expensive COL would be better candidates than Denver.

Of all the possible matches, an avowed indoors person choosing Denver strikes me as downright masochistic. For a long time people derogatively called it Cowtown, and some still do. What a shame.

I see your point, but the COL in Denver is still much lower than DC and competitive with Charlotte, which are my other options. I'm not opposed to outdoor stuff and it could become an acquired taste, I suppose.

[pikabike]

Yes, you could acquire more of an outdoors interest, as long as you don't mind the possibility of moving soon in case you don't like it. Look at some of the other threads here and you'll see a lot of bitter complaints about "Denver isn't what I thought it would be" and/or "The people are [pick a negative adjective] and I can't hook up with anybody."

I wondered why DC was on your list at all, given that it is very expensive, and from what I've heard, people are obsessed about advancing their careers, unless that is a high priority for you also.

Then again, I suppose if you have lived in one area your whole life so far, you want to see different places. You really should visit before you decide, though.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by corevo

Do you go hiking alone or do you go with friends? I feel like its important to note that I don't dislike doing things outside, I just usually prioritize other things. The COL in Denver at a glance seems a bit lower than in Charlotte (if I want to live in a good neighborhood), and much much lower than DC. Dallas isn't an option for me because of jobs.

Both. I have a couple close friends and one friend of a friend I usually go with, but I've been known to head out alone if I'm planning a foothills hike and nobody can come along.

I don't ski, either - no desire to, but I do own a pair of snowshoes and use them a few times a year.

[harrison21]

I'm "indoorsy" as well and I love Denver! I have many "indoorsy" friends here (I'm female and so are the great majority of my friends, so that might make a difference). I lived in Vail when I first moved to Colorado; it was for the only job I could find right out of college. I HATED Vail. I pretended to be more outdoorsy than I am for awhile because yes, there was literally nothing else to do and no one was interested in doing or talking about anything else. I would have sat home by myself every weekend otherwise. Personally, I don't find Denver to be like that at all. The people here are much more diverse in their interests. I have not been skiing once since I left Vail (four years ago) and I would say that a good 50-60% of people I meet here have no interest in skiing/boarding at all. I have met 0 people that have the "life consuming obsession" that I saw with every single person in Vail. I'm sure part of that is just the crowd I gravitate toward, and I'm sure someone is going to comment and insist that everyone they know skis/boards, but at least there are like-minded people to be found here. I think living in Vail first made me really, really appreciate everything about Denver. I'm never bored here, and I do appreciate the great weather (very low humidity, many warm days in the winter) when I engage in my type of outdoorsy activities, such as drinking on patios and walking around outdoor festivals . Since Denver has so many transplants, I've had no problems making friends here. I will say that coming from the Midwest, I think Denver is extremely expensive, but of course that's all based on your perspective. I'm sure there are other cities I'd be just as happy in too, but for now I'm happy to call Denver home.

[history nerd]

Originally Posted by corevo

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.

From what I hear, climbing, hiking, and snow sports are a big part of the culture in Denver. I'm worried that I won't really fit in in Denver or maybe its not right for me. I've never really been an adventurous outdoorsy person. I'll go hiking if I'm with good company and its not a long drive away, but generally I prefer staying within the city or at home in my free time. I've never been snowboarding or skiing. In my free time I like to cook, grab drinks with friends, play or watch soccer, workout, and play videogames. For reference, I'm a 22 year old gay male.

Maybe if I move to Denver I would discover that I love snow sports, but I wouldn't bet money on that happening.

I guess my question is, is that all there is to do during the day on weekends? Will people give me funny looks if they ask me what I did over the weekend and I don't say that I did something adventurous?

I don't think you should avoid Denver... I usually go drink with friends (great beer scene) and play video games almost every weekend and no one judges me.

I also don't know why you would specifically draw you to Denver over other comparable cities if you don't have at least a cursory interest in it's unique features.

[Scot5]

Most people don't climb, most don't ski or snowboard regularly, and most aren't obsessed with hiking. That stereotype is really only true in smaller mountain towns.

You like to cook? Denver has a ton of grocery stores (and farmer's markets in the summer). Drink? Craft beer scene is one of the best in the country. Soccer? Shouldn't be hard finding a group to play pick-up games. Workout? Well, you can do that in any city, but Colorado in general is health/fitness minded (the avg person is probably 2/3 the size of a Virginian).

And even if you don't give a **** about the outdoors, there's still a great reason to move here: the weather. ~300 days of sunshine, low humidity, and easily manageable winters. We don't get 4ft of snow like Buffalo, 90% humidity like Houston, or 120° in the summer like Phoenix.