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Maybe this is part of my dilemma? It could be some people's problems with living here. I think this part of the country is hugely children-oriented and if you don't have 'em, well, it does make having a social life kind of a challenge. Not that it can't be done.
Maybe this is part of my dilemma? It could be some people's problems with living here. I think this part of the country is hugely children-oriented and if you don't have 'em, well, it does make having a social life kind of a challenge. Not that it can't be done.
You're right as the suburbs have become the place with lots of kids. When I was single, the places full of minivans, sidewalks and community parks with playgrounds would have been a huge RED flag. When we were looking for houses this time, we went to our neighborhood when school had just let out and there were kids all over the place. Funny...that was our "selling point."
The grass isn't always greener however. Now that I've got kids, I've got a lot more people who I socialize with, but I still consider my true friends those who I knew when I was single. It's nice not to talk about my kids all of the time or have to interact with that overachieving mother who thinks her kid is a genius and my kid is slow. Plus, when you don't have kids, you don't have to worry about being volunteered for a position that you "would be perfect for" on the PTA!
Enjoy the single life. Married with kids is great too but totally different. I wouldn't go back for anything, but sometimes suburbia isn't all that better than living with friends in an apartment.
I was looking for hints as to where FunkyMonk was moving to and stumbled upon this post from December 2008.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyMonk
Honestly you would probably be better off going to another state. Myself, I am living in Colorado right now and I love it
I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers, but reading through some of Funky's old posts, I think Funky has lived in three, (now four) different places in their relatively short C-D career. I think that is awesome, but in my vagabondish dreams I think I'd stay in each place a little longer.
First of all, Denver is 80% suburbs, so many of you are saying 80% of Denver is bland and boring. Second, why does everyone assume FunkyMonk lived in the suburbs? Judging by his past posts I would guess he lived somewhere around City Park or Congress Park. Denver is pretty sprawling once you leave the boundary of Colorado Blvd, Alameda, Federal, and MLK. Highland and Park Hill are exceptions, but for the most part, the rest of Denver is indistinguishable from Commerce City, Aurora, Lakewood, Greenwood Village, and Englewood. For all of those from Michigan who think Denver is Shangri-La, no offense, but almost any state would probably seem better considering the current state of your economy. I'm glad he got out. Nobody should live where they are unhappy.
FYI: Milwaukee has lost about 10% of its workforce since 2000. Not exactly the poster child for job growth.
I've been to Denver several times, and while the scenery is beautiful, the lack of greenery and the overabundance of big wooden stockade privacy fences was maddening.
What's funny is I see a trend here. A trend of miserability. I have to start wondering how much of this I have taken in as negative (yeah, been here 6 months and ALL six months have been a financial struggle, my first roommates in Aurora were not a good scenario, and traffic coming from the Florida Keys has been an interesting adjustment.
I have to wonder just how much of this is adjustment from a big city or if people just have a problem here. Luckily, I'm not the only one having this problem. Nevertheless, I don't generalize the whole city as having issues with friendliness on more than my own experiences. Oh yeah, and I have lived in Lakewood and in Aurora. so much for a one-sided theory. There's just no "southern hospitality" here, that's for sure.
What's wrong with neighbors being friendly and open. Although people were wierd in Key West, they were generally friendly. Sometimes too much, but I'll take overly-kind and annoying anyday over stone-expression and rough on the road.
Maybe it's just me, but I have to wonder if the lack of oxygen does this? (I'll bet Denverites are tired of that joke)
oh we are deadset on not wanting kids. We've been happily married for about 6 yrs. now, and do not want that lifestyle. We bought in the burbs because at the time it was all we could afford, and we figured all burbs would be the same. wrongo. We wanted to live where we rented, a little bit south of Capitol Hill around the Wash Park area, but no way could we afford it. So, it's been a learning experience, but yeah, we'll use your technique to make sure we aren't buying in kidland. Not that there's anything wrong w/them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the3Ds
You're right as the suburbs have become the place with lots of kids. When I was single, the places full of minivans, sidewalks and community parks with playgrounds would have been a huge RED flag. When we were looking for houses this time, we went to our neighborhood when school had just let out and there were kids all over the place. Funny...that was our "selling point."
The grass isn't always greener however. Now that I've got kids, I've got a lot more people who I socialize with, but I still consider my true friends those who I knew when I was single. It's nice not to talk about my kids all of the time or have to interact with that overachieving mother who thinks her kid is a genius and my kid is slow. Plus, when you don't have kids, you don't have to worry about being volunteered for a position that you "would be perfect for" on the PTA!
Enjoy the single life. Married with kids is great too but totally different. I wouldn't go back for anything, but sometimes suburbia isn't all that better than living with friends in an apartment.
HA! (on the last one). I don't know about miserableness, just some aren't so thrilled here. I can see other's opinions as to how great it is here, it's just not for me. Moving from a coastal city or islands or a tiny town to Denver would probably take some adjustment no matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghostgecko
What's funny is I see a trend here. A trend of miserability. I have to start wondering how much of this I have taken in as negative (yeah, been here 6 months and ALL six months have been a financial struggle, my first roommates in Aurora were not a good scenario, and traffic coming from the Florida Keys has been an interesting adjustment.
I have to wonder just how much of this is adjustment from a big city or if people just have a problem here. Luckily, I'm not the only one having this problem. Nevertheless, I don't generalize the whole city as having issues with friendliness on more than my own experiences. Oh yeah, and I have lived in Lakewood and in Aurora. so much for a one-sided theory. There's just no "southern hospitality" here, that's for sure.
What's wrong with neighbors being friendly and open. Although people were wierd in Key West, they were generally friendly. Sometimes too much, but I'll take overly-kind and annoying anyday over stone-expression and rough on the road.
Maybe it's just me, but I have to wonder if the lack of oxygen does this? (I'll bet Denverites are tired of that joke)
Aye, curious that he would complain so much about Denver and then post this without saying where he wound up that is so magical. I haven't posted here much but I'm moving there from Louisiana next weekend and I've read his thread about Denver...I like hearing differing viewpoints and I'm sure some of what he said is valid, but don't complain that much without stating where you've gone that you prefer so much more.
Heck, where I'm at now I've been for ten years. I am three hours from Houston, six hours from Dallas, two and half hours from New Orleans, an hour from Baton Rouge, and maybe half a day's drive to Pensacola/Panama City (which puts most of Florida within easy reach as well)...and I can almost not wait to get out of here and go back to somewhere I have easy access to the mountains and not be miserably hot during the summer (originally from Alaska). I'm not particularily fond of any of the cities I am in close proximity too. Sure, N.O. is great to visit once in a while but hardly a place I would want to live (their crime rate would make Denver look like Happytown, USA). Houston...uh, no, hot as hell and traffic is horrible. Dallas actually wasn't too bad, I kind of liked it but not sure I would want to live there. Baton Rouge? Just a larger version of Lafayette with all the headaches that go along with larger populations. But...while I may not care for those cities I know plenty of people who do, to each their own.
E, I have lived in Louisiana as well and completely agree about the heat and humidity. Ugh.
We're also about to transition to the Denver area, where is dependent on which job I land. Unfortunately they are all scattered across the metro.
We're moving there for family, the mountains and the fact that we love the area. We understand that it's not all roses and champagne but it encompasses everything we love about a town.
I said it earlier, monk we wish you well. I hope you are happy where you've landed.
First of all, I did live in Denver. I lived in East Denver well within the city limits, but it might as well have been a suburb, the entire scene was totally suburban. And I spent most of my time downtown, I went there almost everyday.
Lets be honest. Just about the only places in Denver that do not resemble suburbia are Cap Hill, Downtown, LoDo, and some other parts right around the core. All the areas on the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western parts of the city of Denver are totally sprawled and suburban. Even though it's technically "Denver" on a map, it looks just like the suburbs.
I lived there for long enough to see what it is like. A few months is more than enough time to get a grasp on a place and learn all about it if you are out every day doing things. To those of you who say that you must live in a place for years just to form an opinion about it, I totally disgree.
No offense to anyone. But I honestly think that most people who like Denver
just came from much worse places. I notice that most people who like Denver came from the midwest or the south. And (this is just my opinion) but I think Denver is definantly a lot better than most cities and towns in these places.
I had a friend in Denver who was from Ohio, and he thought Denver was paradise. But it's just because he grew up in Ohio, and then moved to Denver and those are the only two places he ever lived. Besides that, he has only visited other places on vacations.
It's all relative. Before Denver I spent a lot of time in big, awesome international cities. And also a few beautiful little towns with amazing nature just a bike ride away from the middle of town.
Then I went to Denver...... and it just didn't compare. The city of Denver is fairly ugly and sprawled. The nature is a day trip away by car only. The city is not international or buzzing with energy. And it also was not peaceful and friendly...... I just didn't see anything that stood out about it.
I've lived in about a dozen different places of all kinds. Deserts to rainforests. Some of the biggest cities in the world, to towns of ten thousand. From the 45th floor of a skyscraper, to a shack in a forest. Several different countries.
And Denver is just near the bottom of the list for me. To me, the only really good things about Denver are that it is fairly safe, it has nice mountains nearby. The weather is pretty nice in Denver, but there are a lot of places in the US with better weather for sure.
I personally did NOT like the high altitude, it makes Arizona feel humid. It is brutal dryness. The cost of living is fairly low in Denver, but really it wasn't as low as I thought.
Right now i'm on the West Coast. And I think that the entire West Coast is preferable to Denver. From Seattle down to San Diego. This is the place to be. There are some big problems out here too, like a very high cost of living and dangerous streets in lots of places to name a few. But the quality of life is just superior to me.
Here we have great weather, beautiful nature, and the culture out here is much more interesting and international. People are more open-minded and there is a lot more fun to be had. There are a lot more opportunities and a lot more different things to see and do.
Out here. There are extremely good and bad things going on. I prefer it to the dullness and tedium of Denver.
I could continue. But basically, I came to the realization that the West Coast is the place to be for me. I think that it really is the best in the US. I also like the Nevada and Arizona. The East Coast is also nice, but I havn't spent much time there.
When it comes to the Rocky Mountains, the Midwest and most of the South. No thanks, i'll pass.
Denver is not awful. And Denver is not great. It's just mediocre. There is nothing spectacular about it. Nothing awful about it. Nothing too interesting.
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Plus, when you don't have kids, you don't have to worry about being volunteered for a position that you "would be perfect for" on the PTA! 
