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Old 07-20-2017, 07:55 AM
 
Location: 0.83 Atmospheres
11,477 posts, read 11,444,157 times
Reputation: 11976

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil P View Post
I never get people who get all excited about Denver without a car. Is the downtown good and traversable without a car? It's pretty decent (Alexandria is way better though just cause there's so much available off of the metro lines near there), but the whole deal about Colorado is the mountains, and good luck getting there without a car. Why would you pay Denver exorbitant prices without going to the mountains?
I tend to agree. I understand minimizing the amount you drive by living close in. I only put about 3000 miles a year on my car (wife's car is another story), but I need a way to get to the mountains.
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Old 07-20-2017, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
760 posts, read 874,924 times
Reputation: 1521
Yeah, without making it seems like I am trying to convince someone not to move here, I really don't see the point of living in Denver if you are not an active participant in the mountain sports.

Don't get me wrong, Denver has a great downtown, and there is plenty to do within the city. But with the COL, the congestion, and the lack of transit, I really don't see the point of living in the city unless you are coming here for career reasons, and have a great job lined up...or I guess you are into pot.

I also see a little bit of over exaggerated pride with current resident when talking up the city. "You can't beat all of the amazing restaurants, breweries, and parks within the city"! But the thing is, unless you are coming from rural midwest, or backward south east, most of the cities in the country (I'll say the top 30 in population) have the same type of amenities now days. Sure, that wasn't the case 5+ years ago, but today most cities are really starting to all look the same. There are even places that I think are even better than Denver in some ways. I went to Kansas City this spring, and I was blown away by all of the brewery and food options. The list of places I wanted to go was so much larger than any list I had in Denver. When I go back to Milwaukee, there are always at least 3-5 new breweries/restaurants to go to, and they have all been pretty amazing. Then when I come back to Denver, I feel like I have already tapped everything out, and anything that is new is very hit or miss.

So yeah, I didn't mean to make this a Denver bashing post. I still love it here, and the city has everything I need to be content. I just think that with its trendiness, and it's high COL, it really isn't the "best" at anything. Denver is cool for the overall package, but if you break it down piece by piece, there are many places that do it much better.

Last edited by MN_Ski; 07-20-2017 at 11:14 AM..
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Old 07-20-2017, 11:07 AM
 
Location: OC
12,734 posts, read 9,363,481 times
Reputation: 10524
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN_Ski View Post
Yeah, without making it seems like I am trying to convince someone not to move here, I really don't see the point of living in Denver if you are not an active participant in the mountain sports.

Don't get me wrong, Denver has a great downtown, and there is plenty to do within the city. But with the COL, the congestion, and the lack of transit, I really don't see the point of living in the city unless you are coming here for career reasons, and have a great job lined up...or I guess you are into pot.

I also see a little bit of over exaggerated pride with current resident when talking up the city. "You can't beat all of the amazing restaurants, breweries, and parks within the city"! But the thing is, unless you are coming from rural midwest, or backward south east, most of the cities in the country (I'll say the top 30 in population) have the same type of amenities now days. Sure, that wasn't the case 5+ years ago, but today most cities are really starting to all look the same. There are even places that I think are even better than Denver in some ways. I went to Kansas City this spring, and I was blown away by all of the brewery and food options. The list of places I wanted to go was so much larger than any list I had in Denver. When I go back to Milwaukee, there are always at least 3-5 new breweries/restaurants to go to, and they have all been pretty amazing. Then when I come back to Denver, I feel like I have already tapped everything out, and anything that is new is very hit or miss.

So yeah, I didn't mean to make this a Denver bashing post. I still love it here, and the city has everything I need to be content. I just think that with its trendiness, and it's high COL, it really isn't the "best" at anything. Denver is cool for the overall package, but if you break it down piece by piece, there are many places that do it much better.
Of the tech hubs, Denver seems to be relatively affordable.

SF
NYC
LA
DC
Seattle
Boston
Denver
Portland
Minneapolis
Austin
Atlanta

The above was my very unscientific rankings of COL among tech hubs.
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Old 07-20-2017, 11:18 AM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,026,046 times
Reputation: 38265
I am not "an active participant in mountain sports" nor are the vast majority of people I know. I do enjoy traveling to the mountains from time to time to enjoy the scenery, but that's a handful of times a year. Kind of like the number of times I went to the ocean when I lived in Boston. I actually prefer the ocean to the mountains, but the time I spent in it was still pretty limited.

Most people have reasons that go far beyond recreational activities when deciding where to live. Not that those recreational opportunities don't matter at all, but for most people, they are just one (often relatively small) piece of the puzzle.
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Old 07-20-2017, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
760 posts, read 874,924 times
Reputation: 1521
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker View Post
Of the tech hubs, Denver seems to be relatively affordable.

SF
NYC
LA
DC
Seattle
Boston
Denver
Portland
Minneapolis
Austin
Atlanta

The above was my very unscientific rankings of COL among tech hubs.
I'd say that is a pretty good list. In my opinion, Denver's COL seems to be closer to the DC/Seattle/Boston side of things, but its amenities are closer to the Minneapolis/Austin/Atlanta side. What fills that gap would be the mountains, or a good job. You also have to factor in the salaries for each city.

Last edited by MN_Ski; 07-20-2017 at 11:29 AM..
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Old 07-21-2017, 08:38 AM
 
Location: Middletown, DE
136 posts, read 134,535 times
Reputation: 406
You certainly can get by in Denver without a car, if you live and work near the light rail. But what's the point? The main reason to live there is the mountains and plains. Can't get to either without a car.

We don't ski, but summer and fall hikes on the easy mountain trails are not to be missed. Without a car all you can do is read about them. And exploring the small towns and old wagon trails on the eastern plains is a whole different kind of interesting. No car - no go. That doesn't even speak to exploring the desert southwest, northern Rockies, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.

I grew up in Silver Spring, MD, and spent a few years living in northern VA. Used the metro extensively to get around and loved it. But for three decades in Denver about the only time we used the light rail was to get downtown from a suburban park and ride station for shopping, dinner or to attend to the theater.
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Old 07-22-2017, 01:38 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
135 posts, read 152,679 times
Reputation: 149
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN_Ski View Post
Yeah, without making it seems like I am trying to convince someone not to move here, I really don't see the point of living in Denver if you are not an active participant in the mountain sports.

Don't get me wrong, Denver has a great downtown, and there is plenty to do within the city. But with the COL, the congestion, and the lack of transit, I really don't see the point of living in the city unless you are coming here for career reasons, and have a great job lined up...or I guess you are into pot.

I also see a little bit of over exaggerated pride with current resident when talking up the city. "You can't beat all of the amazing restaurants, breweries, and parks within the city"! But the thing is, unless you are coming from rural midwest, or backward south east, most of the cities in the country (I'll say the top 30 in population) have the same type of amenities now days. Sure, that wasn't the case 5+ years ago, but today most cities are really starting to all look the same. There are even places that I think are even better than Denver in some ways. I went to Kansas City this spring, and I was blown away by all of the brewery and food options. The list of places I wanted to go was so much larger than any list I had in Denver. When I go back to Milwaukee, there are always at least 3-5 new breweries/restaurants to go to, and they have all been pretty amazing. Then when I come back to Denver, I feel like I have already tapped everything out, and anything that is new is very hit or miss.

So yeah, I didn't mean to make this a Denver bashing post. I still love it here, and the city has everything I need to be content. I just think that with its trendiness, and it's high COL, it really isn't the "best" at anything. Denver is cool for the overall package, but if you break it down piece by piece, there are many places that do it much better.
Well just because you don't see the point, doesn't mean no one else does. I don't give two sh!ts about skiing or really any other recreational activity, and love it here. By the way, of course you're going to find new stuff in cities you don't live in, because you don't live there.
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Old 07-23-2017, 09:37 AM
 
6,801 posts, read 10,429,567 times
Reputation: 8297
I would highly recommend you have a car in Denver unless you live and limit your travels to the exact right spots along a light rail line or something - which is probably pricey..... unless you are okay taking Uber etc. everywhere?
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Old 07-23-2017, 12:24 PM
 
Location: Berkeley Neighborhood, Denver, CO USA
17,670 posts, read 29,556,070 times
Reputation: 33185
Quote:
Originally Posted by otowi View Post
I would highly recommend you have a car in Denver unless you live and limit your travels to the exact right spots along a light rail line or something - which is probably pricey..... unless you are okay taking Uber etc. everywhere?
There is also Car2Go.
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Old 07-24-2017, 10:54 AM
 
5,109 posts, read 3,366,252 times
Reputation: 11546
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN_Ski View Post
Yeah, without making it seems like I am trying to convince someone not to move here, I really don't see the point of living in Denver if you are not an active participant in the mountain sports.
I disagree. We don't do mountain or winter sports, but love living here. Lived most of our lives in the DC/Baltimore area so we are aware of what the east-coast locations have to offer. We just love the feeling of the west, being able to get to the Tetons or to Santa Fe in a day. Never spent more than a couple of hours in any ski town, and that was in the summer, but I can appreciate the beauty without doing the sports.
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