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You’re right you did say miles not minutes, my bad. I usually associate miles to minutes with driving so I often end up transposing the two. You’re still not 15 miles from skiing in Denver though.
15 miles gets you to the edge of the metro - Red Rocks Area, which is kind of a zoo. The good trails and getting above timberline in the mountains is 30-50 miles, or about 45-1:10 minutes driving without traffic. It's still pretty darn close for a metro, but it's not Denver's backyard and it's not a weekday evening excursion option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Losfrisco
Phoenix, our nations 5th largest city-
Quick, anyone, name a landmark anywhere in the city that would identify it as Phoenix to a casual observer!
....and that is the big problem with what I think is an otherwise unfairly criticized city.
That lake with the golf course! Phoenix wasn't built by or for type A bigger than yours individuals, it's a collection of a lot of small cities that are in the same sunny valley.
I'll say up front that I'm not exactly a Denver homer, but IMO the criticisms against Denver on CD are pretty warranted. Being a popular city, most of the complaints stem from the city not living up to expectations rather than people decrying it as a hellhole.
The city checks a lot of boxes for these news agencies pushing articles towards their audience of party centric single people, but looking from a more holistic lens, the city probably has a more unfairly positive rather than negative reputation. It is a big city and a regional hub so complaints about it not being a major city are unwarranted, but the other areas not so much.
The beer and cannabis culture can be as much of a con as a pro, thinking about what heavy alcohol and weed users are like. Cannabis will be legal nationwide by 2021 so it's not really a banner to hold anymore. Weed won't be grown in CO in 2027. The nightlife is great if you want to get hit on by a bunch of dudes, if not, it's pretty lackluster - though the live music scene is good. The mountains are great, but the immediate 30 minute no traffic radius around Denver is the foothills and it's underbuilt for how heavily trafficked it is. The rest of the mountains are more of a general Colorado attraction than a Denver specific one.
The downtown is not one of the best in the US, it's decently good, but not great. Cleveland's is nicer. It's got all the arteries to make a good downtown, but at the street level it's fairly dirty and smelly, kind of edgy with the homeless, entirely paved over, and not an architectural showcase. After the sun goes down it's really not the most inviting or comfortable place to be.
Any city that has this on the lawn of their capitol cannot claim to have a best downtown.
I'd say Phoenix is probably the most unfair reputation on this list, but a lot of that comes from people either liking or not liking the desert environment of central AZ.
If I remember correctly, wasn’t that photo part of a protest and not the norm?
If I remember correctly, wasn’t that photo part of a protest and not the norm?
I'm not entirely sure why that one was taken, but that's how it looks normally. Civic center park over to the capital building is full of dozens of people with their carts and trash around, at least it was 3 months ago when I took that way home from work. There's not pics of the capitol building with homeless people, probably because the city of Denver doesn't want that broadcast.
Phoenix gets hate on here. I like Tempe, Scottsdale and parts of the Mesa area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125
I agree. to those anywhere close to familiar with it. Also I feel the "Honorable Mentions" of Baltimore, Miami and Detroit are probably far more suited than the initial options given.
Given the OP, I can't quite see how anyone who's lived here would think Orlando deserves those "accusations." It's quite the opposite from what you say, Kyle. Those anywhere close to familiar with it would be nothing short of ridiculous to call it a tourist trap.
There is a tourist section on the outskirts, far removed from town, and as described below, one can easily forget all about it by just not venturing South of the Turnpike -- a very easy feat to accomplish, unless wanting to go to theme parks.
Soulless? Depends where. I know you don't like the city, but how is Orlando itself (particularly Eola, Colonialtown, Delaney, Thornton, etc) and Winter Park "soulless? Sanford? Mount Dora? Soulless?
Unreal humidity: That's anywhere in Florida, and it's worse in the coastal cities.
Far from beaches: It's 45 minutes from most places in Orlando. I wouldn't call that "far."
Not a "real city:" What's it lacking, exactly, for a city of its size? I think it actually punches above its weight in most aspects, compared to other similarly-sized sunbelt cities.
It certainly has some glaring issues, particularly with massive sprawl and a propensity to attempt to solve everything by adding new, massive toll expressways.
Orlando Accusations: soulless, tourist-trap, unreal humidity, far from beaches, not a “real city” Refutation: Orlando exists as an entire world away from the theme parks. Most tourists and visitors go to International Drive and think that’s Orlando. What they don’t know is most residents don’t even step foot in the tourist area. They’re happy to let foreigners and Disney-freaks clog up south Orlando, while they enjoy the rest of the city, with its cool neighborhoods, great nightlife, and amazing diverse food. The actual city itself has tons of Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian, and European culture and influence. Downtown Orlando is beautiful, clean, walkable, and an hour from east coast beaches. Yes it’s hot from May to October but November to April ranges from warm to breezy to cool to cold.
Given the OP, I can't quite see how anyone who's lived here would think Orlando deserves those "accusations." It's quite the opposite from what you say, Kyle. Those anywhere close to familiar with it would be nothing short of ridiculous to call it a tourist trap.
There is a tourist section on the outskirts, far removed from town, and as described below, one can easily forget all about it by just not venturing South of the Turnpike -- a very easy feat to accomplish, unless wanting to go to theme parks.
Soulless? Depends where. I know you don't like the city, but how is Orlando itself (particularly Eola, Colonialtown, Delaney, Thornton, etc) and Winter Park "soulless? Sanford? Mount Dora? Soulless?
Unreal humidity: That's anywhere in Florida, and it's worse in the coastal cities.
Far from beaches: It's 45 minutes from most places in Orlando. I wouldn't call that "far."
Not a "real city:" What's it lacking, exactly, for a city of its size? I think it actually punches above its weight in most aspects, compared to other similarly-sized sunbelt cities.
It certainly has some glaring issues, particularly with massive sprawl and a propensity to attempt to solve everything by adding new, massive toll expressways.
Orlando Accusations: soulless, tourist-trap, unreal humidity, far from beaches, not a “real city” Refutation: Orlando exists as an entire world away from the theme parks. Most tourists and visitors go to International Drive and think that’s Orlando. What they don’t know is most residents don’t even step foot in the tourist area. They’re happy to let foreigners and Disney-freaks clog up south Orlando, while they enjoy the rest of the city, with its cool neighborhoods, great nightlife, and amazing diverse food. The actual city itself has tons of Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian, and European culture and influence. Downtown Orlando is beautiful, clean, walkable, and an hour from east coast beaches. Yes it’s hot from May to October but November to April ranges from warm to breezy to cool to cold.
I haven’t seen too many of Kyle’s posts but whenever Massachoisetts posts about Orlando, I completely ignore it. I lurked a lot last year and saw his posts about Orlando before I got relocated here in August and I was convinced I was gonna despise it. The complete opposite. I’m sad to be leaving this summer. From what I can tell, he had bad experiences in Orlando and NYC but loves Boston. Go figure. I grew up in Connecticut and always viewed Boston as dirty, crowded, and in NYC’s, Philly’s, and DC’s shadow.
I don't think Houston gets a bad rap on here. It's usually pretty accurate, it is a sprawling mess, weather is oppressively hot, etc. But it's still a fine city.
I've never heard of Denver being any bashing on a general sense on this site. I've been on here less these past years but Denver is always touted on this website. But Denvers downtown is nowhere near the best in the country. Its decent for a city of its size.
I’m looking at the phrase “unfair reputation” for what it is, and I frequently see certain cities being unfairly overpraised on CD. These cities have somehow managed to portray an image of being “booming”, “progressive”, even “second tier.” But in reality, they are no better than their peers, cities of similar size.
So I’m voting for Denver, because it has gotten plenty of undue praise— certainly more so than Houston, Orlando or Phoenix receive.
I’ve never found a part of Houston, Orlando, or Phoenix where I would actually want to live. There are leafy older single family home neighborhoods in the Denver city limits that are very nice. I’ve spent time around Washington Park. I could live there. So I vote Denver even though is has nasty sprawl and the downtown isn’t compelling at all.
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