Help me like Denver (Boulder: lease, credit, home)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by DC Transplants

We moved here a few months ago from Washington DC and we are having a hard time finding what's great about this city. We love the mountains and have spent a good bit of time in Boulder, but we can't quite figure Denver out. What do you love about it? Where is the diversity? Great restaurants? Most walkable neighborhoods? And it seems insane to have such limited public transport for such a huge population. What gives? Anything that has a similar feel to Dupont or Adams Morgan (if you are familiar with DC). We are renting short term and looking for a neighborhood to (maybe) call home?

Aurora is the most diverse city in Colorado, but it's still not super-diverse. It's also fairly suburban.

What do I love about the Denver metro area? The scenery, climate, and outdoorsiness. I grew up here, but after spending a fair amount of my 20s and 30s in a metro with a crappy climate, no scenery, and a garbage outdoor scene (Dallas-Fort Worth), I realized how much I took Colorado for granted. I've gotten myself into much better shape hiking, and am thinking about doing some backpacking and back-country camping.

Denver's public transportation doesn't compare well to the northeast corridor, but it's solid for a city that grew quickly post-WWII.

Also compared to DFW, I like how centralized everything in Denver is. I can take a train to downtown and am within walking distance of all 4 pro sports and several walkable neighborhoods. I don't have to drive all over hell and creation to get to things if I don't want to. Again, it's not as walkable as the Northeast Corridor, but it's better than a lot of Sunbelt Cities.

[alloo66]

As a western city the public transportation is pretty good. What have you explored? What is your expectation? Have you checked out this website? https://www.denver.org/

Good luck.

[TCHP]

You will need to realize choice may mean a dozen restaurants of a similar cuisine spread across the entire metro instead of several dozen within a few blocks of mass transit. You need to understand the subtle differences in a variety of styles of green chili. Learn to appreciate the radical difference between a visit to Red Rocks for a rocking good show and a trip the National Western Stock show and the smell of hay and stock animals. Embrace outdoor activities and a variety of personally involved sports mediums ahead of spectator sports. Grow to like the subtleties of the different micro/nano breweries and distilleries throughout the region. Overcome the fear of visiting southern CO and indulge in the varied aspects of natural and man made places compared to NorCo. Be prepared to spend lots of time driving. Learn to appreciate the feel of a pair of well fitting cowboy boots. Rejoice in the fact your golf drive will carry further and beware your slice will do the same. Learn how to read water to improve your chances while angling for trout.

[mic111]

Wow, what a sad misfire. Can you explain why you moved here? It would help with people answering your question and remind you of your reasoning.

Your premove visit should have shown the lack of diversity, lack of public transportation and the quantity and quality of restaurants.

I suspect you have culture shock. East coast busy culture, lots of people, brusqueness etc. doesn't translate well here. The culture here is much more relaxed and laid back.

If you truly want to make it a success you have to change your lifestyle to adapt to the slower pace and find new interests and traditions. There was tons to do in the fall/holiday season but that is over so my suggestions for going forward (not knowing what your interests are):

- Go to the stock show in Jan. Try the dancing horses show or show dogs show if you don't like rodeo. The Wild West Show is also pretty good.
- Go to the Colorado Indian Market in Jan. to see all the art and do a little shopping. https://www.denver.org/event/colorad...rt-fest/59953/
- Try the Denver March Powwow, in March.
https://www.crazycrow.com/site/event...-march-powwow/
- Go to the Colorado RV and Adventure show in Jan. Think about getting an RV to visit national parks and to go camping in the national forest.
https://denverconvention.com/events/...e-Travel-Show2
- Pick 3 new hobbies and pursue them.

If you like botantical gardens, join ours and look at the classes and events. Become familiar with what grows here.

I would suggest the museums but nothing compares to DC museums so that will just make you more depressed and regretful.

My answer as to what is great about Denver:
- The size. It is all pretty accessible within a reasonable amount of driving time.
- Low crime. It is very safe. You can go anywhere without worrying about the area.
- The amenities and activities. For me they are just right. Enough different things to choose from without there being too much hassle getting to them or them being affordable.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by mic111

Wow, what a sad misfire. Can you explain why you moved here? It would help with people answering your question and remind you of your reasoning.

Your premove visit should have shown the lack of diversity, lack of public transportation and the quantity and quality of restaurants.

I suspect you have culture shock. East coast busy culture, lots of people, brusqueness etc. doesn't translate well here. The culture here is much more relaxed and laid back.

If you truly want to make it a success you have to change your lifestyle to adapt to the slower pace and find new interests and traditions. There was tons to do in the fall/holiday season but that is over so my suggestions for going forward (not knowing what your interests are):

- Go to the stock show in Jan. Try the dancing horses show or show dogs show if you don't like rodeo. The Wild West Show is also pretty good.
- Go to the Colorado Indian Market in Jan. to see all the art and do a little shopping. https://www.denver.org/event/colorad...rt-fest/59953/
- Try the Denver March Powwow, in March.
https://www.crazycrow.com/site/event...-march-powwow/
- Go to the Colorado RV and Adventure show in Jan. Think about getting an RV to visit national parks and to go camping in the national forest.
https://denverconvention.com/events/...e-Travel-Show2
- Pick 3 new hobbies and pursue them.

If you like botantical gardens, join ours and look at the classes and events. Become familiar with what grows here.

I would suggest the museums but nothing compares to DC museums so that will just make you more depressed and regretful.

My answer as to what is great about Denver:
- The size. It is all pretty accessible within a reasonable amount of driving time.
- Low crime. It is very safe. You can go anywhere without worrying about the area.
- The amenities and activities. For me they are just right. Enough different things to choose from without there being too much hassle getting to them or them being affordable.

That was my reaction also: You moved here without knowing the things you complain about? How much did you visit and look around before deciding to move to Denver?

Denver has more public transit than it did in the 80s, but it is nowhere near that of a big east coast city. It does not have the ginormous densepacked population of those places, and commercial centers developed in a shorter period than the long slower growth of much older cities.

If the car thing really is not for you, your Things To Do will be severely restricted to the urban area. IF you like that, check out things like the science/natural history museum (whatever they call themselves now, LOL), bike or walk on the many miles of the South Platte paved trail (excellent birding along it), browse the deservedly-famous Tattered Cover bookstores, see an indie movie at one of the Landmark cinemas, eat dimsum in the Asian restaurant/store strip down Federal Blvd (which is just as seedy-looking as any east coast city’s), and maybe shop at the REI flagship store at the confluence of the S. Platte and Cherry Creek rivers.

It is entirely possible that you are not a good fit with Denver or CO. Give it more time, but don’t expect miracles. It isn’t DC, and I bet nearly everyone in Denver is glad for that.

[whoisjongalt]

Cherry Creek North sounds like what you would like depending on your budget.

[2bindenver]

Born in DC, raised in Montgomery County. Denver is smaller, time moves more slowly. We do have light rail, but it’s not like Metro. We have sports, nearly all in the same place. We have Boulder, and Golden, and Colorado Springs. Go to Estes Park, Dillon, Steamboat, Glenwood. Visit the Santa Fe Arts Disctrict on the th first Friday.

Museums have an entrance fee, but there are free days. https://www.milehighonthecheap.com/denver-zoo-free-day/

We don’t have lightning bugs or cicadas. No real humidity or hurricanes.

Life is good here.

[DC Transplants]

Thank you for all of these great ideas. To answer the most obvious question, we didn't have the chance for a pre-move visit. My husband accepted a job and we were here 2 weeks later. Ironically, within a few months of being here, his role is mostly remote or travel so i suppose we could have stayed back east after all! I'm actually glad we moved though and I didn't mean to give the impression we hated it here. We don't. I just feel like there must be so much more to this city than we have currently experienced.

As for what we enjoy, we love walking our dog, hiking/skiing, museums, arts, gardening and having a variety of restaurants and coffee shops out our door. We would also like to find a neighborhood that has a good mix of ages and is not all young children as we aren't in that stage of life anymore.

Thanks to all of your neighborhood ideas, we did some exploring today and realized we definitely want to be within the city limits of Denver. In fact, if our current neighborhood (Berkeley off Tennyson) was downtown, it would be perfect. We just feel it's too suburban to the north and west.

Our exploring today landed us in Washington Park, Cheeseman Park and Cherry Creek North. All lovely areas that felt more like what I'm looking for. Historic or newly renovated homes, tree lined streets, access to shops and restaurants, very walkable and great parks. We are going to visit Rino, Highlands and Congress and City Parks tomorrow.

I appreciate all the feedback and really do want to find a corner of Denver that feels like home. As 2BinDenver pointed out, there is no humidity here and that's definitely enough to keep me here.

[pikabike]

Denver and the towns around it have some surprising and wonderful things. The hardest part of your wish list is having them near your home, or not having to drive.

Unless you hate history, I think a visit to the CO History Museum (I might not have the right name, but there is only one and it is in the city) might be good, partly because AFAIK there isn’t one in DC, so you won’t be thinking, The One In DC Was Better. Public transit goes there.

Louisville’s Sweet Cow makes one of the best ice creams I’ve eaten, and I grew up in an ice cream-crazy area (New England). You would need to drive.

One of the most incredible things about CO is the amazing clouds that frequently scud by. You’ll see clouds that do not occur in most other places. And viewing them is FREE, UNLIMITED, ANYTIME including at night with the moon highlighting them, and you can do it anywhere, car or no car.

BTW, I live in a rural part of CO far from Denver but lived in the Front Range for many years. That South Platte trail remains something I came to realize is very special, for both its natural features as well as for the human-made amenities accessible to and from it.

[davebarnes]

Dear OP,

To paraphrase a misattribution of Horace Greeley: "Go east, young woman, go east".

West of the Mississippi River there are only 2 cities with the attributes you seek: San Francisco and Seattle. And, only a few neighborhoods in each. All the other cities (including St Louis, Minneapolis, Texas cities) are too provincial.

Continue east as only Chicago west of the Appalachian Mountains will meet your criteria.

Parts of Boston (Back Bay), NYC, Philadelphia (Society Hill) and Baltimore would be suitable.

I do think that many large cities in western Europe would be good. London would be the best.

P.S. Denver and DC have the same population, but Denver (excluding the airport) is 67% larger in land area. It will never be as dense as DC.