Thoughts on Denver?

[5thIndian]

The people, in general, seem happier and healthier to me in CO. You notice it in airports, hospitals, schools, stores, everywhere. But I am comparing it to PA. Southern states I frequent are NC and KY and although people are friendly they still don't seem as happy or as healthy to me as CO. This is very scientific, ha ha.
Well, I think you should go for it. You are young! I agree with other posters who said it will help you to grow and you may regret it later if you don't. I did what you are thinking of doing when I graduated from college many years ago. I moved to Steamboat Springs for 2 years. I would have stayed permanently but I couldn't get a "real" job in my field and was sick of being under-employed. It is hard to get a "real" job there if you are not from CO; it was 30 years ago and it is the same now; my son lives there. So keep that in mind. In retrospect, I wish I had weathered the hard times and stayed. I feel like I belong there more than here. Once you know the life there, nothing measures up. The only negs are: you will miss family - but airfares are reasonable to Denv usually, you will miss the lushness of the eastern landscape - less pollen tho, and, you will use a lot of moisturizer - less hair friz tho. Socially you will do fine too. Some areas are seriously lacking in females. I had more dates when I lived there than I ever did in college! ah, those were the days.

[newhandle]

I retired and moved here in Oct from Va. Literally, I am thankful everyday that I moved here. It is very different from the South in culture, climate (especially if you garden) and scenery. Try it and if you don't like it move again. It made it easier for me in that I visited here for a number of years so I had good friends here when I moved, but I have found the folks friendly. There are a lot of groups which will welcome you with open arms.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by newhandle

I retired and moved here in Oct from Va. Literally, I am thankful everyday that I moved here. ......

Ditto. We left Fairfax County, VA in June 2005 and never looked back. We love this Front Range climate with the dry air and temps that are a lot less extreme than the heat of AZ/NV or the frigidity of the high country, or the wetness of the Pacific Northwest.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by kristen0886

P.S. - I love the Avett Brothers too! Their newest album is amazing!

Originally Posted by Brian_M

If you're up for the hour+ drive into the mountains (with 10,000 other people) every weekend, then there's some crowded outdoor activities. I can't bring myself to fight the crowds

This happened to us, too.
We just got bogged down with the traffic and hassle of getting up there, not to mention the expense of a lift ticket, but it is a big state with plenty of *different* outdoor opportunities.

Originally Posted by ajmac10

Just go with an open mind and an open heart, whether you like it or not, you won't regret it because you'll be better for it in the long run.

I agree.
Eons ago when I was 20-something, I made a move to San Francisco that did not work out (and I came back home to Colorado.) No regrets, and it was definitely a character-building experience. I still love SFO.

[kristen0886]

Thanks so much for the feedback & the encouragement, everyone! I definitely have that attitude of and I think all the time about not wanting to regret something down the road. I really do believe you tend to be more disappointed by what you don't do than what you do.

Haha, 5th Indian, coming from a school where the ratio was probably 70 to 30 women to men (and most of the men being way fratty ), I feel like it's my turn to have the ratio flipped And for someone with naturally wavy hair, I'm willing to deal with extra moisturizer for less frizz. You might have sold me In all seriousness though, being in a community of active, healthy people is really appealing. I was raised to love getting out there and moving, and I'm tired of being the "hardcore friend" because I go on biking or hiking vacations or run for an hour after work everyday. Both the outdoor opportunities and community in Denver are a huge draw.

Well, thanks again, and if anyone has anything else to add, I'm totally open to more thoughts! I'm definitely moving - it's mostly down to Nashville, TN (when it's not under water - yikes!) & Denver. Will probably ultimately come down to where I can find a job. Either way, I'm so excited about the adventure of going somewhere brand new! Thanks for your help!

[D-town 720]

Originally Posted by kristen0886

Thanks so much for the feedback & the encouragement, everyone! I definitely have that attitude of and I think all the time about not wanting to regret something down the road. I really do believe you tend to be more disappointed by what you don't do than what you do.

Haha, 5th Indian, coming from a school where the ratio was probably 70 to 30 women to men (and most of the men being way fratty ), I feel like it's my turn to have the ratio flipped And for someone with naturally wavy hair, I'm willing to deal with extra moisturizer for less frizz. You might have sold me In all seriousness though, being in a community of active, healthy people is really appealing. I was raised to love getting out there and moving, and I'm tired of being the "hardcore friend" because I go on biking or hiking vacations or run for an hour after work everyday. Both the outdoor opportunities and community in Denver are a huge draw.

Well, thanks again, and if anyone has anything else to add, I'm totally open to more thoughts! I'm definitely moving - it's mostly down to Nashville, TN (when it's not under water - yikes!) & Denver. Will probably ultimately come down to where I can find a job. Either way, I'm so excited about the adventure of going somewhere brand new! Thanks for your help!

Dont get too excited about the men to women ratio. Denver is a top ten percentage gay city and I think that makes up for the half percent men to women ratio

But yeah go for it. You're 23 and this move might make you aviod a mid life crisis later....

[80skeys]

Personally, Denver is in the top five on my list of favorite cities in the U.S. I like it because it's got a kind of "big/small city" feel. It's got a good selection of restaurants. It's laid back. The mountains are next door. It's safe and peaceful as far as cities go. The weather is good. All things considered, it's good.

Things I don't like about it: in my opinion it lacks in art and culture, lacks in diversity, somewhat difficult to make friends, too many suburbs, not enough cool happening neigbhorhoods, and the weather is too dry and brown. What Brian_M said is true: Denver doesn't have much of a personality, it's somewhat bland.

The other thing is that Denver is isolated from other major or interesting cities. Things to do on the weekend? Stay in the city or go to the mountains. That's about it. Don't get me wrong, the mountains are absolutely fantastic. But, as the original post states, it would be nice to have a wide variety of interesting things to do on the weekend.

[zenkonami]

If you got a few bucks in your pocket, there's plenty to do in the city of Denver. Home of a lot of great beer and a lot of great brewpubs and bars. There's a good amount of theatre in town for a city this size and a fair amount of live music, plus some pretty good art galleries and plenty of sculpture and art projects all over the city. Lots of parks and most of them are fairly distinct.

Overall I agree with 80skeys...we could certainly use a little more arts and culture here, but most of what we have is fairly well concentrated and I think improving all the time. It's definitely an improvement over Kansas City, Phoenix or Las Vegas (unless your partial to Las Vegas' style of "arts and culture"), and if Los Angeles were a basis of comparison, it's a far larger city where the "arts and culture" is a lot more spread out and takes a lot longer to get to. The artwork all over Denver certainly gives the impression of a well cultured city.

Personally I kind of like that we are THE major city in the region.

Personally, Denver is in the top five on my list of favorite cities in the U.S. I like it because it's got a kind of "big/small city" feel. It's got a good selection of restaurants. It's laid back. The mountains are next door. It's safe and peaceful as far as cities go. The weather is good. All things considered, it's good.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by bogotrep

Actually this is incorrect.

The reverse is true here. The city is more expensive and housing prices get cheaper the further out you go.

I was going to say that too. Price per square foot in Denver proper is close to, if not double what you'd pay in most suburbs.