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How about San Jose? I've only been to Sac town once, and the place seemed so dated.. San Jose seems a bit more modern. Denver's neighborhoods are much nicer than the ones I've seen in San Jose, though. Denver's quite pretty. And supposedly a lot of the tech companies are moving out there.
So if you want to understand why there's a lot of shade thrown from CO natives elsewhere on Denver, it's the list of priorities. There's a whole lot of people, particularly those moving to the city of Denver, that require a big metro with a full urban fabric first and foremost, with 2nd emphasis on the surroundings. For that, Denver is one of the few locations in the nation that fit the bill. For people like myself who didn't grow up in big cities and don't place high priority on it, CO is primarily about the outside environment, urban / city structure is down the list. With the latter priority arrangement, it seems like Denver is 4 steps up in congestion and cost and the city isn't THAT spectacular to compensate.
You don't give Denver enough credit. It easily punches above its weight in most urban amenities. To most people a city is much more than just its weather and natural environment.
Denver is just so different from other cities in the state.
In my opinion, the highlight of Colorado is the geographic scenery of the state. The mountains are just more open than other western states so the views in general seem to be unique in that regard.
There are some other western states that have mountains that are very impressive, but Colorado sort of have openness where people can see multiple interesting things just in one location because it is such open scenery that is unobstructed.
I do think in general Denver seems to have a bit of similarities to parts of Oakland also but feels quite a bit like Sacramento also even though all three cities have their differences.
Colorado Springs is very unique. Might sound odd but Ogden, Utah sort of reminded me of Colorado Springs for some reason except Colorado Springs is much larger.
Pertaining to Colorado, If someone were ask me an dense, urban envirinment I would have to recommend Denver only.
Boulder has the Pearl Street Mall and a University but doesn't really offer a big city atmosphere for those who like that.
Fort Collins is known for a nice downtown but the city is very quiet and the downtown is quaint except for a few hours on Friday and Saturday night when college is in session.
Colorado Springs is perfect for some people, others don't care for it at all but Colorado Springs is one of the last cities I would recommend for someone who enjoys big cities.
For people who are from and prefer to live an urban lifestyle that is pretty much what there is in Colorado.
I will say downtown Denver is much more crowded than downtown Sacramento. They have the similarities but downtown Denver in general is far busier than downtown Sacramento.
Totally agree. It's almost like people segregate out into smaller college town, urban experience, or suburb-land and that's why they are so different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kat949
How about San Jose? I've only been to Sac town once, and the place seemed so dated.. San Jose seems a bit more modern. Denver's neighborhoods are much nicer than the ones I've seen in San Jose, though. Denver's quite pretty. And supposedly a lot of the tech companies are moving out there.
The difference is is that San Jose isn't a regional capitol, it's just part of the greater Bay Area metro so Denver has a lot of stuff being a regional hub for a big big area that San Jose wouldn't have. I haven't heard anything good about San Jose from coworkers that live or traveled there besides the Asian food is good and nice weather... It's like the most overpriced so-so suburb that happens to have high paying jobs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkwensky
You don't give Denver enough credit. It easily punches above its weight in most urban amenities. To most people a city is much more than just its weather and natural environment.
Oh it does punch above it's weight for it's size on big ticket amenities, just the day to day livability and run of the mill stuff like parks and commuting and air pollution and rampant bike theft make the city subpar in that regard. To me, the big ticket stuff did not make up for the livability hit.
Oh it does punch above it's weight for it's size on big ticket amenities, just the day to day livability and run of the mill stuff like parks and commuting and air pollution and rampant bike theft make the city subpar in that regard. To me, the big ticket stuff did not make up for the livability hit.
This is almost laughable (no offense) because I grew up around guns and death so busy parks are actually a welcome sight. Commuting here is just as bad as Baton Rouge. Bike theft is alot better than running from gunfire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil P
So if you want to understand why there's a lot of shade thrown from CO natives elsewhere on Denver, it's the list of priorities. There's a whole lot of people, particularly those moving to the city of Denver, that require a big metro with a full urban fabric first and foremost, with 2nd emphasis on the surroundings. For that, Denver is one of the few locations in the nation that fit the bill. For people like myself who didn't grow up in big cities and don't place high priority on it, CO is primarily about the outside environment, urban / city structure is down the list. With the latter priority arrangement, it seems like Denver is 4 steps up in congestion and cost and the city isn't THAT spectacular to compensate.
Where did you grow up? Denver is about both environments from my perspective, which is why the inner city neighborhoods are thriving as well as the parks being absolutely packed. It's the reason why I love it as well as my 6 friends from the Baton Rouge area.
This is almost laughable (no offense) because I grew up around guns and death so busy parks are actually a welcome sight. Commuting here is just as bad as Baton Rouge. Bike theft is alot better than running from gunfire.
Where did you grow up? Denver is about both environments from my perspective, which is why the inner city neighborhoods are thriving as well as the parks being absolutely packed. It's the reason why I love it as well as my 6 friends from the Baton Rouge area.
Louisiana is a whole nother level of messed up and the crime rates there are through the roof, but that's taking the edge case of the US. Most of the US isn't as sketchy as that, so peaceful parks aren't necessarily a rarity, and most places are less packed with more green space per person.
I came from Black Forest, then went to Lakewood in 2015, then to Holly Hills, then to Wash Park area, then to Cherry Creek North, then back to Black Forest for now till things clarify up. Black Forest is like exurb / rural so it's going from one end to the other of the spectrum, but here it's so nice to be able to drive 10 minutes and be at several parks and trail systems and just wide open undeveloped space where it's just you and the turkeys / deer.
Louisiana is a whole nother level of messed up and the crime rates there are through the roof, but that's taking the edge case of the US. Most of the US isn't as sketchy as that, so peaceful parks aren't necessarily a rarity, and most places are less packed with more green space per person.
I came from Black Forest, then went to Lakewood in 2015, then to Holly Hills, then to Wash Park area, then to Cherry Creek North, then back to Black Forest for now till things clarify up.
If you think Denver's parks are too packed then you're probably just not a big city person. I visited on July 4th weekend last year and was surprised by how easy it was to find parking other space and how small the crowds are. But my reference points are Houston and New York.
Louisiana is a whole nother level of messed up and the crime rates there are through the roof, but that's taking the edge case of the US. Most of the US isn't as sketchy as that, so peaceful parks aren't necessarily a rarity, and most places are less packed with more green space per person.
I came from Black Forest, then went to Lakewood in 2015, then to Holly Hills, then to Wash Park area, then to Cherry Creek North, then back to Black Forest for now till things clarify up. Black Forest is like exurb / rural so it's going from one end to the other of the spectrum, but here it's so nice to be able to drive 10 minutes and be at several parks and trail systems and just wide open undeveloped space where it's just you and the turkeys / deer.
That's true, which is why I balked at your comments. Even for American standards, Denver has little to worry about and bike theft or traffic certainly is nothing to worry about compared to other cities.
You've lived in areas I could dream of seems like. Although RiNo is the nicest neighborhood I've lived in.
That's true, which is why I balked at your comments. Even for American standards, Denver has little to worry about and bike theft or traffic certainly is nothing to worry about compared to other cities.
You've lived in areas I could dream of seems like. Although RiNo is the nicest neighborhood I've lived in.
Well, the areas were nice, the living accommodations were less so, until the Cherry Creek one. BUT, my frustration came from increasingly realizing that ALL of these areas were simply out of reach for anything besides small condo ownership. I have a budget of around 400-500K max that I'd want to spend on a house, which is the fiscal responsible amount for a standard middle class person in America, and anything nice is just well beyond that. 450K is a LOT to dump on a house you'd be living in 6 years minimum as a starter home, not a final 'dreamish' home. The thing is, there's places, a lot of places actually, where 500K does get you the dream home. In Cleveland for instance, where you can get the nice home, nice neighborhood, transit for that.
Black Forest, where I grew up, went from the cheap edge of town with 2 bedroom modular style homes in the 70s to average sized 2500 sqft homes in the 90s to obscene 6000+ sqft $1M plus homes in the 2010s. I couldn't afford the home my parents have now in my budget, and that all happened since I went to school. So, seeing as there's now the possibility of not needing to go to an office to work, can you see why I don't really want to stay on the front range? I'd give up the city or the Colorado Rockies, but one or the other just gets you a better value.
Well, the areas were nice, the living accommodations were less so, until the Cherry Creek one. BUT, my frustration came from increasingly realizing that ALL of these areas were simply out of reach for anything besides small condo ownership. I have a budget of around 400-500K max that I'd want to spend on a house, which is the fiscal responsible amount for a standard middle class person in America, and anything nice is just well beyond that. 450K is a LOT to dump on a house you'd be living in 6 years minimum as a starter home, not a final 'dreamish' home. The thing is, there's places, a lot of places actually, where 500K does get you the dream home. In Cleveland for instance, where you can get the nice home, nice neighborhood, transit for that.
Black Forest, where I grew up, went from the cheap edge of town with 2 bedroom modular style homes in the 70s to average sized 2500 sqft homes in the 90s to obscene 6000+ sqft $1M plus homes in the 2010s. I couldn't afford the home my parents have now in my budget, and that all happened since I went to school. So, seeing as there's now the possibility of not needing to go to an office to work, can you see why I don't really want to stay on the front range? I'd give up the city or the Colorado Rockies, but one or the other just gets you a better value.
That's supply and demand, I'm more comfortable paying those prices here than to be in Cleveland with a bigger or better home.
Yeah I can understand that but I don't plan on leaving for a while. I prefer the value of Denver as opposed to Cleveland at the moment.
Ironically, despite much further proximity, Denver is further along in its transformation to a West Coast-style "best of both worlds" city with great urban amenities and proximity to nature and outdoor activities than Sacramento is. Sacramento has a nice and improving urban fabric but it's not on par with Denver in terms of scale especially.
I'm talking about cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and San Diego. Obviously, Denver has a long way to go before it reaches the urbanity of SF or even Seattle, but it's not too far off from Portland or San Diego. And the culture is reminiscent of these places. Denver just has much more of a West Coast flavor than you'd expect given that it's closer to the Midwest. The prices are beginning to reflect that as well.
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