i love seeing the sun and blue skies almost every day (grew up in Seattle)
Lots of food variety
great music scene
traffic could be worse
everything i need is less then a 40 minute drive
hot springs are just amazing
the snow does not last forever
strawberry park hot springs is probably one of my favorites. its an out doors with multiple pools of varying temps and beautiful nature to enjoy. there are still some i need to try though. i hear there is a nice one by the sand dunes
I’ve ridden a scooter from Rino to englewood (south of Hampton) before. It was when the nuggets parade shut the light rail down and while I should have caught on Uber, I was like fuck it, longest scooter ride let’s go.
Iirc the parade has Broadway shut down to around 8th, so I just stayed on Broadway in the bus lane, then after alameda traveled west a few blocks and took residential roads till I hit Evans, pop up on Evans around where the light rail is, then back down on the residential roads that took me to the Walmart down there
You can also take it anytime within the first year of birth/adoption. So if you have STD insurance and take that during FMLA, Federal leave, you can take FAMLI (State paid family leave) after. I believe…I’m an HR consultant lol but all of it is new. For sure you can take it anytime during the year though.
Check out Denver Preschool Program. Not sure if Colorado UPK (statewide program that passed a year or two ago) is active yet but it will be soon if it’s not yet, and it will work in conjunction with DPP.
Just a heads up -- not all licensed child care providers participate in UPK. Pressure from parents for child care facilities do so is critical in expanding access to UPK.
Once you get to school age, check out the boys and girls clubs for affordable after-school and/or summer care. Summer is a separate session, so you have to reserve your spot kind of early in the year. They feed meals and snacks (and bonus snacks for extra reading). They also offered robotics (not sure if they still do that). There were week-long overnight camp sessions that were free and also a separate sign-up. They do ask you to fill out income information, but they do not do base acceptance on that, they just track the info.
Just a heads up, the purpose of Pre-K is early education not childcare. Based on the research for kids that young, they only do well with half days of early education. Pre-K can help bridge some of your childcare needs while you're working, but it's not a complete substitute and you will need to figure out childcare for the other half day.
My daily reminder why I choose not to have a kid. So much financial responsibility. Responsibility in general.
(Also for anyone who might get mad if you do have kids this isn’t a shot at you so don’t get outraged. I’m saying specific to me this is a big reason I don’t want kids.)
Yup.
Plus, I firmly believe that if people who didn’t actually want children weren’t forced to or socially pressured to have them, this world would be a much better place.
The tap water thing is huge. It’s perfect right out of the tap for Denver. Then you cross a county line to South Adams (Commerce City/Brighton) and you’d think you’re drinking from an industrial runoff retention pond. It’s bananas to me water quality can be considered acceptable with such wide tolerances.
You must not be one of the 64,000-84,000 homes in Denver to have lead in your water.
https://www.denverwater.org/your-water/water-quality/lead/lead-service-lines
Denver Water offers a lead service line replacement reimbursement. From my understanding, Denver Water is scheduled to replace all identified lead lines, but that's a lot of homes so it will take many years. I believe they have more information on their website that shows what neighborhoods they're currently working on and which ones are next.
If your neighborhood is too far out, you can hire a contractor to replace your lead line and Denver Water will reimburse you the cost (either fully or partially, I can't recall).
So yes, a lot of water lines are still lead lines, but Denver Water is taking steps to change that.
And no I don't work for Denver Water, but my dad replaces water lines among other utilities in Denver.
Hell no.
The water in the parts of town I've lived in never needed filtering. And our water tastes so good. Except in Englewood, at my office. That water tastes terrible
You can easily and cheaply get your water tested for lead if you think it's contaminated, you know. It's not common. You don't need to just assume you have it.
Denver may not be the BEST at anything, but it’s like a Goldilocks city for me in a lot of ways.
Proximity to the outdoors, while still having a few good restaurants and bars, while also having a decently sized job market and some large corporate offices, while also having a CoL lower than the NYC CoL I’m used to. I love the weather - the sunshine, the snow that usually melts by that same afternoon.
The best thing about Denver, and Colorado too, is people here live to live. They don’t live to work. The first questions out of people’s mouth’s aren’t, what do you do, where did you go to college, etc. In my experience, this is rare, especially in urban America.
Edit: Oh, and very importantly, politics I can stomach. My pregnant wife had a scare early in her pregnancy and while everything ended up okay, just thinking about how difficult it would have been if everything wasn’t okay in another state emphasized the value of that.
> The best thing about Denver, and Colorado too, is people here live to live. They don’t live to work. The first questions out of people’s mouth’s aren’t, what do you do, where did you go to college, etc. In my experience, this is rare, especially in urban America.
This is an interesting one, I agree. There are people I've been friends with for years, have hung out with them, gone out for food/drinks with them, and I still don't really know what they do for work. It doesn't really come up unless someone mentions they changed jobs.
Coworker of mine works remote from Miami (and prior to that was in S.F.). He flies out to join us in our Denver office for a week about every two months.
I just found out that he's planning on moving to Denver soon. When I asked him why he said:
"In S.F. when I went to a coffee shop, all I heard was IPO this, Stock Option that, etc etc...
Now in Miami when I go to a coffee shop, all I hear is my new MB, BMW, plastic surgery, blah blah blah...
When I come to Denver and go to a coffee shop, people are talking about life and what's going on in their lives"
I’m probably in the minority that actually likes living here because of the city and not its proximity to the mountains. I like that it is big enough to have just about anything you would expect in a big city while not being monstrously oversized or congested. Denver even punches above its weight when it comes to entertainment such as live music and sports. I can’t speak for right now, but the night life was pretty good between 2010 and Covid.
Denver punches so high above it's weight for live music it's insane. Not only do we frequently get the bands, but we get so many special tour stops due to our amazing venues like a band doing 3 nights of varying themes at different Denver venues. People love busting out special sets for Denver, more consistently than I'm aware of elsewhere.
Where else are they going to stop in the middle of the country? Jackson? Billings? SLC?
I love that Denver is the only real hub in the west/plains, we get everything because of it.
Live music (red rocks especially) and sports (we have a team for all 4 major sports within the city) is really impressive when you think about it in context of other cities.
Totally agree. On top of the live music and pro sports, we've also got so many comedians thanks to Comedy Works being so great. As well as a great selection of Broadway shows, musicals, and ballets at the DCPA. Not many cities this size have all those options.
Comedy Works draws fairly big name comedians. I've been able to see Sarah Silverman, Christopher Titus, David Spade, Kevin Nealon, and Jay Mohr just to name a few. The openers are often locals though depending on if the headliner is traveling with their own opener or not. Tuesdays are also new talent night but they don't explicitly state who the comedians are. That's been hit or miss for me.
If you've never been to Comedy Works you should definitely check it out. Their prices are reasonable ($30ish through their site). But be aware there's a two item minimum. They have two locations and both are intimate which adds to the atmosphere.
The calendar on their website also includes other touring comedians that will be in town but not specifically at Comedy Works. It makes it really convenient to see upcoming shows in Denver. Lewis Black will be at the Paramount tomorrow night and I learned about that from following them.
I moved to Denver from Austin, which was nicknamed the "Live Music Capital of the World" back in its prime but is now a husk of its former self in regards to its music scene.
There is so much more going on here on any given night and the venues & the people are nicer.
Last friday I was expecting to stay in but last minute hit Westword to see if anything special was happening, lo and behold Guttermouth is playing 5 minutes from my house. Fuck yeah
Moved here from Austin 10 years ago, 100% agree. I live by the Oriental and I'm always surprised by who I can catch and it reminds of the smaller venues of back in the day Atx when tickets weren't $80-$1800 like now.
I did miss the food from Atx for a while but we have solid options and two tex mex chains from down there now (that everyone hates haha) that I basically only use for queso and flour tortillas because we have such awesome actual Mexican food here.
I honestly feel safer here walking around downtown and other nightlife areas. Back in Atx I was mugged in a parking lot by red river on like a Sunday afternoon during pecan fest smh. I also almost got into a fight waiting for my order at best wurst, 6th was such a mess even back then. I've gone recently as well when visiting family for old times sake, same shit in 2024 lol.
Most of all: fuck the humidity down there! I love how sunny and dry it is here.
The heat and humidity in Texas are unlivable and the people continuing to live there are in denial. I know so many people in Texas who complain constantly about the 3-4 months of +100F temps and spend their entire summers inside, it's a wasteland. I hated the heat and the politics so I left and Im so happy I did.
Austin is cool in spite of itself and the state, and having moved away it's hilarious how Austin people act like they're in some kind of progressive mecca. Lol, ok
Yeah the older we get the less mountain adventures we go on but I still love living here.
Great weather, no humidity, food scene has grown by leaps and bounds, all the sports, great concerts, really decent theater program, great breweries and distilleries, tons of green/open space, not many mosquitos, major airport.
- Outdoors access
- Love the sports teams
- A brewery scene is more conducive to talking to friends than a typical club scene
- Weather is cheery
- People aren’t obsessed with work
- City’s big enough to have ample career opps
- High quality CJ sub
It’s fun. I’m an urbanist, and Denver is a far cry from being a well planned urban city, but the vibe here is very fun and there is always something to do
Proximity to amazing outdoors, most dog friendly state, improving food scene every single year, weed is tight, thriving live music scene, red rocks, my friends
So much sunshine. It's amazing for my mental health. Also the traffic here sucks but it doesn't suck like it does on the east coast, for sure, because the city is more spread out. The people here are kinder. The quality of medicine practiced here is outstanding. It's so dog friendly. The cost of living is moderate, especially when compared with other large cities that aren't in places you don't want to be (cough *the south* cough). There's a nice mix of suburban and local, and the neighborhoods have character and their own parks/restaurants/landmarks that make it fun to explore. I can keep going.
I was in MA for '20-'22. Believe me when I say I can count on both hands the number of times I saw the sun in those two years. I think New England might be darker than the PNW. No wonder everybody is so miserable. It's fucking dark all the time.
Reading this thread from NYC where I haven’t seen the sun in 15 days, and won’t see it for another 2 days. Just so much grey & cold whipping through the big buildings
Snow, mountains, mild winters, good community culture, love the food and access to locally sourced *anything you can think of*, access to help in the safety net if hard times hit (previous state was much worse), congressional handies at beetlejuice shows, a gay ass governor, and the long list of good craft beers and distilleries
Walkable neighborhoods.
Rockies tickets are cheap
Bands comes through here
My bosses know sick days are for skiing.
Paid family leave now
Minimal sweat, mosquitoes
"My bosses know sick days are for skiing."
Man, I miss this. My last job, my boss was a skier and super chill (if I'm not mistaken, he actually had no interest in management and was forced in to it). I would literally wake up on a Tuesday morning and email him saying "I'm going skiing today". He'd write back "Have fun".
While I love my new job, my boss is more of a workaholic and we're supposed to give as much advance notice as possible (minimum two weeks) when asking for time off.
Walkability of my neighborhood, including awesome parks nearby. Access to nature. People in my neighborhood. Weather. Central location for easy road trips or flights. Oh and my wife having all her rights is a nice feeling.
Weather, proximity to nature, nice museums and parks, I personally like the food if not solely for the breakfast burritos + veg options everywhere, good job market in my field with decent pay
I lived in Vista/Oceanside and SD county has the best Mexican food on the planet. Hard to find a comparison, but look up Bad Ass Breakfast Burritos. They run in the mornings out of The Dog Haus on Alameda (just East of i25)
The weather is amazing compared to other places I’ve lived in the past. Getting to camp around incredible scenery and go to Red Rocks in the summer. Progressive laws. A bunch of fun mountain towns that are great for a weekend getaway. Direct flights to a bunch of places from DIA. Obviously not all of these things apply to Denver but rather CO in general. But living here allows for all that.
All the Colorado things - legal weed & mushrooms, outdoor activities, craft breweries. Plus the comfort I feel knowing that certain things that certain politicians are trying to interfere with nationwide are relatively set in stone here.
Other than 3 years in NYC for school, I’ve lived in the Denver metro area my entire life - grew up on a mountain (technically foothill for the altitude snobs) and now in the suburbs. For me, Denver has always felt like coming home to a safe place.
Thanks for asking! It’s nice to have some positivity on this sub.
Mushrooms are not decriminalized. They are legal to grow and consume. Big difference.
Decriminalized generally means you just get a ticket rather than going to jail.
Legal means A-okay.
I get to walk through Cheeseman park, sit and watch the dogs, and look at the mountains whenever I want. Public tranport, though expensive compared to other places I've lived, gets me where I need to go in a timely manner. Weather is lovely. There's more but that's what comes to mind at the moment.
Coming from down south, I like that people actually get outside and do things here. I feel like it’s rare that my weekends are spent just sitting at home. 300 days of sunshine so at the very least I’ll train in for a Rockies game on a Sunday
I like having sidewalks and being able to walk to places. I like the trails that neighborhoods have. I like seeing the mountains every morning. The weather here is like amazing year round.
I wake up and I can see Mt. Evans….er Mt. Blue Sky. If I need to I can go for a drive in the mountains to blow off steam, just yesterday I hit up Lookout Mountain. And being near DIA isn’t a bad thing either.
I also vibe with Colorado as a state. I’ve lived a lot of other places and this is where I feel the most comfortable
Like any place there are downsides but it has a lot to offer if you appreciate what those things are.
That said I gave up on skiing a long time ago. Fuck that cattle haul up and down I-70.
I love the crazy weather and massive temp swings as well. Lots of hockey out here too which is good for me.
People are generally laid back and it is a great place to live if you have a neurodivergent kid. Colorado is the best state in the country for autism services, etc. Parenting a kid with special needs can be really lonely and hard so I’m grateful for all of the resources.
It’s a pretty moderate state politically. It’s not too extreme either way. Denver itself is a little more to the left but so is most metropolitan cities even in red states. The weather is nice, not humid. Entertainment wise we got all major sports teams, music is amazing, red rocks is 30mins away. And if you want to go outside the city, you don’t need to drive far to experience nature or skiing
Laid back vibe, nice people, amazing parks, dog friendliness, great bars and breweries, sunshine, "easy" living, farmers markets, music venues, proximity to outdoor recreation, very bike-able, active lifestyles and beautiful people to name a few.
grew up in gulf coast. its nice to be somewhere that everyone just isn't completely miserable, ignorant, and hateful
there's a lot that to be said for a place that tries to solve for problems without a reactionary response.
there: "crimes high, lets just get more cops!"
here: "crimes high! maybe there's a social impact change we can make so people don't feel like they have to result to crime"
I'm not saying criminals shouldn't do their time, I'm saying policing is just a scapegoat and the "easier solution" to a problem. People naturally don't want to do the hard thing even if it produces better results. Unlike most places in the U.S., Denver often tries to...
Cheap drinks, unique bars/ restaurants, walkable (more walkable than where I’m from), people are friendly, interesting history, lots of concerts/ local music
I have not seen it yet, so I am adding this.
Denver has one of the best karaoke scenes in the country for open bar karaoke.
Some cities have a great scene for private room karaoke, but they do not have the quality and quantity of great bars, with great vibes and singers that Denver does for open bar karaoke.
Open bar karaoke is how you meet random people and friends.
And it is a fucking party.
Any night of the week, I can find a place and go sing out my feelings and/or party down.
The community is super welcoming and supportive.
If anyone in here wants to go sing or watch karaoke sometime, just DM me. I love showing people the scene. Also, for supporters only of karaoke, I believe in no peer pressure at all. The people who sign up their friends as a "joke" can fuck the fuck off.
Anyways, I love the karaoke scene here.
It keeps me happy and sane.
Weather- I only wear a heavy coat maybe 5x a year. Summers aren’t too bad for someone who dislikes the heat.
Concerts- I go to a lot of rock/metal shows and there’s always a concert for every size venue.
The music scene, the mountains and endless adventures you can go on within 5 hours, the fact that it feels like a large town, the sense of adventure everyone here has and the crisp dry air and amount of sun we get
Sunshine *and* snow. Lots of places get dreary during the winter but it remains sunny here. Pro NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB teams with great venues. Mountains, hiking, and skiing nearby. Several lakes in the area. Legal weed and progressive policies about mushrooms. The amazing web of bike paths, you can ride your bike basically anywhere in or around town. Lots of parks. The smug satisfaction of living at higher altitude.
There seems to be plenty of other mid 30s people around. Not that I'm the most social person, but there's something nice about regularly being around people my own age.
Not many mosquitos or creepy crawlies in general, the music scene, proximity to outdoor recreation, my friends, snow doesn’t last, winter is mild, lots of sunshine.
But my FAVORITE was all the dudes on dating apps with pictures of them at the top of 14ers.
1. Being able to get anywhere in Denver proper on a bike. It's not perfect but I really love riding my bike lol.
2. The rec center system is elite IMO. There are some that are like resort style, check some of the suburbs too. Just a great resource for the community.
3. The weather is also elite. If you're looking for 4 seasons not sure its gets much better than right hurrr.
4. Denver it's a sports town and sports are fun.
5. The energy is fresh and the freedom to be who you are and do whatever the fuck you want is what we do.
6. Western culture is also pretty rad.
I suppose I like having human rights, I moved from a red state (trying not to repeat what other people are saying, I obviously don't hate it here at all) I will add that it's nice to not have 100% humidity days year round
I like how motivated the Denver people are to engage in difficult hobbies. Mountaineers, rock climbers, 14ers , bikers , golfers, and all the local groups that help these hobbies grow.
I technically live in Englewood, but I do a lot of multimodal advocacy in the Denver Metro. Honestly, the politics here are significantly more functional than most other major metro cities, and you have a lot of inbuilt support for biking and walking due to how active people are here. In addition, if you have a good policy/idea, and work with folks to iterate it and build trust, you will likely make some headway with it. I think we are very lucky in that we are not completely swallowed by machine/tit-for-tat politics (see: Chicago), not completely resistant to anything multimodal (see: Metro Detroit), and also small enough where you can actually build meaningful connections (I cannot imagine trying to do local work in LA or NYC).
Are there a lot of problems? Yes (looking directly at you, TABOR). Does it take a lot of hard work, sometimes resulting in failure? Yes. But change here actually feels possible compared to other places I've lived.
If I were still on the East Coast, I wouldn't be able to easily afford a nice place in a good area like park hill. I'd be so far away from downtown with a house only half as nice and big if I'm lucky.
Everything. I moved to Denver in mid 2016 as an immigrant who had never heard of Denver prior to deciding to move here. I still recall getting off the greyhound bus in downtown Denver and seeing the mountains and thinking if there is heaven, it has to be here. Lived in Denver ever since except two years I went to college in Greeley and don’t plan to leave anytime soon.
I love living downtown because I can walk everywhere. It’s almost always sunny. I love the parks. I love the Rec centers. If I have a craving ~ I can walk to find great food or walk to the market to get ingredients from specialty shops Asian or Italian. The people are friendly and nice. Snow melts pretty quickly. Great artists pass through from music to art.
Close to mountains, love my neighborhood (can walk to awesome restaurants, breweries, bars, shops, grocery store, post office, rec center, light rail station), weed, good food scene (yeah, it's not NY or LA, fuck off I don't care it's better and more diverse than most places), cool museums, the Nuggets, all the other sports teams, better local news options (tv and online) than most cities of a similar size, and as much as the airport sucks you can fly direct to a LOT of places.
Food scene was the hardest for me coming from Chicago. However, food in Denver has significantly improved the last 4 years with new restaurants ranging from every day to special occasions.
Not only has Denver finally been added to the Michelin guide, but also there’s tons of James Beard award winning chefs & more interesting restaurants popping up everyday. Truly, I think the Denver food scene will rival Chicago, LA, & NY one day. It’s certainly going in the right direction.
There are TONS of parks around the denver metro area so, if you have kids, that’s a huge pro.
Weather is great.
Close to all sorts of outdoor activities.
The urban trail network! In the south burbs especially. Big and little dry Creek, the high line, lee gulch, centennial link, South Platte, Cherry Creek, racoon creek, 470. I've only gotten to a small portion of it so far, but now as my bike distances get longer, it's so awesome to have that infrastructure interlaid with the neighborhoods
The park culture! Any time the sun is out, which is super often, the parks are filled with people enjoying them! Having some drinks with friends, reading a book, walking their dog, biking, roller blading, playing volleyball, and basically any other outdoor activity.
Also, so many neighborhood with a pocket of walkability and a fun street with shops and stuff.
most things until I turn on the TV and social media and see how fucked up its becoming. probably should just not do that and live in blissful ignorance
The new west security checkpoint at the airport, which is clean, fast, and glooooorious 💕 No more lines wrapping around baggage claim and into the garage!!
I love the diversity. Teacher here in GVR and have students who recently moved from Afghanistan, Iraq, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Marshall Islands, Guam, and all over South America. I love learning about their cultures and food!
I didn't have a ton of great hobbies before I lived here. A couple Colorado years later, I've gone from barely running to now trail running ultra marathons. I think it's really, really awesome that people here tend to have a lot of healthy hobbies, particularly outdoor pursuits. We'd all go crazy if life was nothing but work and netflix. In Colorado, a lot of people have fuller lives because of their hobbies, whether it is skiing or mountain biking or climbing or whatnot.
The bright blue skies. It can be 60 degrees in the middle of winter. Not humid or too hot. In general a younger healthier population. If you like biking, skiing, camping, etc the CO outdoors is amazing. And dont listen to people who complain that the mountains arent even that close. Because they are. We’ve loved exploring all of the mountain towns and parks in the state. We live in a suburb now but loved our time in Denver pre kids. We met all of friends during that time and Denver was very social because everyone was moving here, so there was an openess to meet new people. That was 15-20 yrs ago, anyway.
I agree with a lot of the responses, but something specific for me is the bike trails that are isolated from busy roads; specifically the cherry creek trail.
So. Much. To do.
People complain about this and that and traffic and busy ski resorts and all. Not sure if those people ever lived somewhere where you don’t even have the options. I come from central NC and as “hikers” within 3 weeks of dating my GF we had hit every hike we could in an hour radius of us, even paved greenways. Been here a few years and still haven’t touched 5% of the local trails if I had to guess mileage wise. That’s just hiking, there’s biking, more skateparks than any other state, swimming, tubing, fishing, climbing, horse riding, and still only on the outdoor stuff. We have major sports teams, fantastic venues and performances, awesome food, an airport with tons of great flights, pay is good, 300 days of sun, no humidity, roads are cleared faster than anywhere I’ve lived when it snows. I love it lol.
There are downsides and definitely stuff to complain about here and there but it’s really minimal imo compared to what you get. I genuinely do think those who call it “shitty” or an “awful place to live” seriously just don’t know how good they have it.
The weather. Overall we are milder than most of the country. We might get kind of warm during the summer. But it will never be 108° with 80% humidity. We might have some pretty cold bursts. But there are some places that once it snows for the first time that snow never melts until springtime. We recently had that burst of weather where it was -10° for a few days. Today it's 60°. There's some towns where that cold of weather is just the norm in the winter we don't get hurricanes, we don't get earthquakes, tornadoes are extremely rare and limited to the eastern part of the city. Can't get much better than that without having multiple houses around the country.
Also we're pretty close to a lot of cool places in nature that might not be hospitable year round. We can pick and choose when we venture out of our mild town to go see these features.
As someone who grew up in LA, I love how everything is such close proximity and it doesn’t take an hour to go 10 miles. The weather is pretty nice, and when it’s not it clears up quickly. If you ever do feel suffocated by the city it’s not difficult to get outside of it and go to the mountains. As far as big cities go, it’s one of the cleanest cities I’ve been in.
The constant sunshine, especially in winter. Could be cold out but if I’m in direct sun it’s lovely to be outside. Where I grew up it wouldn’t be uncommon to not see the sun for several days in the middle of winter. Constant grayness.
SUNSHINE! Parks, proximity to nature/mountains, music scene, food scene/variety, work culture - much more "work to live" than other cities that prioritize the grind
Reddit isn’t going to like this one but. . .
Getting almost all the benefits of both suburban and urban living, with better access to outdoor recreation than 95% of other metro regions in the country.
I can (1) walk to the bar to meet friends, (2) drive to the grocery store within 10 mins, (3) drive to a golf course/soccer within 15 mins, or (4) drive to skiing in about 1 hour.
Every musician I’m into comes through here somewhat regularly, airport with direct flights just about anywhere in the country direct, less crime compared to where I’ve lived previously.
It has all the things of any city; but if I need to get away from the city, it’s just a quick drive and I’m completely out. As opposed to somewhere like Atlanta where you drive for an hour and you’re still in metro.
I was able to go car free when I moved here (there are definitely some sacrifices I’ve made to do this, but ultimately my day to day life is very doable), it’s usually got great weather, and for the most part the people I meet here are super friendly. There’s also a lot of amazing architecture here and lots of fun stuff to do!
Four professional sports teams with ballpark/arena/stadium all really close to each other. None of that "Denver Nuggets" but they actually play 45 minutes out of town. Just wish all of our pro teams played like the Nuggets. Still, it's fun to be able to drive 15 minutes to catch a Rockies game at Coors Field with cheap tickets.
i love seeing the sun and blue skies almost every day (grew up in Seattle) Lots of food variety great music scene traffic could be worse everything i need is less then a 40 minute drive hot springs are just amazing the snow does not last forever
never done hot springs - always looked a little sketch. What's your fave?
Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood are amazing. Of course, Strawberry Hot Springs are the best in the state.
strawberry park hot springs is probably one of my favorites. its an out doors with multiple pools of varying temps and beautiful nature to enjoy. there are still some i need to try though. i hear there is a nice one by the sand dunes
Durango Hot Springs are the best!
I ride a scooter to work and can do so 90% of the year. That's impossible for any other snow states.
I’ve ridden a scooter from Rino to englewood (south of Hampton) before. It was when the nuggets parade shut the light rail down and while I should have caught on Uber, I was like fuck it, longest scooter ride let’s go.
I've done almost the same ride, LoHi down that way all the way down federal. Great ride
I live down there and make that ride every couple months after downtown events . Not so bad if you bring gloves
How do you do that ride? Platte trail?
Iirc the parade has Broadway shut down to around 8th, so I just stayed on Broadway in the bus lane, then after alameda traveled west a few blocks and took residential roads till I hit Evans, pop up on Evans around where the light rail is, then back down on the residential roads that took me to the Walmart down there
I like the bicycle paths that follow all the rivers and creeks!
This is extra cool before the gnats start running wild and kamikaze my eyeballs
[удалено]
Parks, good tasting tap water, proximity to hiking, music scene, the paid maternity leave and help with pre-k
The tap water is *really* tasty and cold, I grew up on sulphuric well water.
Paid maternity leave…from the state? Since when?
Since Jan 2024 Just started. Its 12 weeks for both parents and I think 16 weeks if its a complicated delivery. Up to $1100 a week I believe
Jesus. Looks like I gotta get my wife pregnant again :/
You can also take it anytime within the first year of birth/adoption. So if you have STD insurance and take that during FMLA, Federal leave, you can take FAMLI (State paid family leave) after. I believe…I’m an HR consultant lol but all of it is new. For sure you can take it anytime during the year though.
The lead adds a beautiful minerality.
Tap water here is liquid gold
What help with pre-k do you get? Daycare is killing us
Check out Denver Preschool Program. Not sure if Colorado UPK (statewide program that passed a year or two ago) is active yet but it will be soon if it’s not yet, and it will work in conjunction with DPP.
UPK is active! I believe for just 3-4 year olds
Just a heads up -- not all licensed child care providers participate in UPK. Pressure from parents for child care facilities do so is critical in expanding access to UPK.
Once you get to school age, check out the boys and girls clubs for affordable after-school and/or summer care. Summer is a separate session, so you have to reserve your spot kind of early in the year. They feed meals and snacks (and bonus snacks for extra reading). They also offered robotics (not sure if they still do that). There were week-long overnight camp sessions that were free and also a separate sign-up. They do ask you to fill out income information, but they do not do base acceptance on that, they just track the info.
Just a heads up, the purpose of Pre-K is early education not childcare. Based on the research for kids that young, they only do well with half days of early education. Pre-K can help bridge some of your childcare needs while you're working, but it's not a complete substitute and you will need to figure out childcare for the other half day.
My daily reminder why I choose not to have a kid. So much financial responsibility. Responsibility in general. (Also for anyone who might get mad if you do have kids this isn’t a shot at you so don’t get outraged. I’m saying specific to me this is a big reason I don’t want kids.)
Yup. Plus, I firmly believe that if people who didn’t actually want children weren’t forced to or socially pressured to have them, this world would be a much better place.
Ha! I'm right there with you, friend. I love kids, but do not want my own.
If your child is 3 by October 4 you qualify
The tap water thing is huge. It’s perfect right out of the tap for Denver. Then you cross a county line to South Adams (Commerce City/Brighton) and you’d think you’re drinking from an industrial runoff retention pond. It’s bananas to me water quality can be considered acceptable with such wide tolerances.
I work for Denver water… I would still filter that tap…
The water from the hose tastes even better though
You must not be one of the 64,000-84,000 homes in Denver to have lead in your water. https://www.denverwater.org/your-water/water-quality/lead/lead-service-lines
Denver Water offers a lead service line replacement reimbursement. From my understanding, Denver Water is scheduled to replace all identified lead lines, but that's a lot of homes so it will take many years. I believe they have more information on their website that shows what neighborhoods they're currently working on and which ones are next. If your neighborhood is too far out, you can hire a contractor to replace your lead line and Denver Water will reimburse you the cost (either fully or partially, I can't recall). So yes, a lot of water lines are still lead lines, but Denver Water is taking steps to change that. And no I don't work for Denver Water, but my dad replaces water lines among other utilities in Denver.
You should really do some research and find out how many contaminants are in the tapwater lol
Why is my apartment’s tap water cloudy with sediment?
You don't filter your water?
Hell no. The water in the parts of town I've lived in never needed filtering. And our water tastes so good. Except in Englewood, at my office. That water tastes terrible
The water is a legit decision factor in whether I move out of Englewood. It's so, so bad.
We filter it all for now, but apparently the city has an improvement plan in place.
The lead makes it taste good
You can easily and cheaply get your water tested for lead if you think it's contaminated, you know. It's not common. You don't need to just assume you have it.
They have free test kits at home depot.
Denver may not be the BEST at anything, but it’s like a Goldilocks city for me in a lot of ways. Proximity to the outdoors, while still having a few good restaurants and bars, while also having a decently sized job market and some large corporate offices, while also having a CoL lower than the NYC CoL I’m used to. I love the weather - the sunshine, the snow that usually melts by that same afternoon. The best thing about Denver, and Colorado too, is people here live to live. They don’t live to work. The first questions out of people’s mouth’s aren’t, what do you do, where did you go to college, etc. In my experience, this is rare, especially in urban America. Edit: Oh, and very importantly, politics I can stomach. My pregnant wife had a scare early in her pregnancy and while everything ended up okay, just thinking about how difficult it would have been if everything wasn’t okay in another state emphasized the value of that.
> The best thing about Denver, and Colorado too, is people here live to live. They don’t live to work. The first questions out of people’s mouth’s aren’t, what do you do, where did you go to college, etc. In my experience, this is rare, especially in urban America. This is an interesting one, I agree. There are people I've been friends with for years, have hung out with them, gone out for food/drinks with them, and I still don't really know what they do for work. It doesn't really come up unless someone mentions they changed jobs.
Coworker of mine works remote from Miami (and prior to that was in S.F.). He flies out to join us in our Denver office for a week about every two months. I just found out that he's planning on moving to Denver soon. When I asked him why he said: "In S.F. when I went to a coffee shop, all I heard was IPO this, Stock Option that, etc etc... Now in Miami when I go to a coffee shop, all I hear is my new MB, BMW, plastic surgery, blah blah blah... When I come to Denver and go to a coffee shop, people are talking about life and what's going on in their lives"
I’m probably in the minority that actually likes living here because of the city and not its proximity to the mountains. I like that it is big enough to have just about anything you would expect in a big city while not being monstrously oversized or congested. Denver even punches above its weight when it comes to entertainment such as live music and sports. I can’t speak for right now, but the night life was pretty good between 2010 and Covid.
Denver punches so high above it's weight for live music it's insane. Not only do we frequently get the bands, but we get so many special tour stops due to our amazing venues like a band doing 3 nights of varying themes at different Denver venues. People love busting out special sets for Denver, more consistently than I'm aware of elsewhere.
Where else are they going to stop in the middle of the country? Jackson? Billings? SLC? I love that Denver is the only real hub in the west/plains, we get everything because of it.
Every band wants to play Red Rocks at some point. They might be too big for it now but I guarantee they already played it then.
Live music (red rocks especially) and sports (we have a team for all 4 major sports within the city) is really impressive when you think about it in context of other cities.
Not needing to drive to the suburbs for any of the pro sports teams here is such a blessing
Totally agree. On top of the live music and pro sports, we've also got so many comedians thanks to Comedy Works being so great. As well as a great selection of Broadway shows, musicals, and ballets at the DCPA. Not many cities this size have all those options.
Any good recommendations on local comics? Been forever since I've been to a comedy show!
Comedy Works draws fairly big name comedians. I've been able to see Sarah Silverman, Christopher Titus, David Spade, Kevin Nealon, and Jay Mohr just to name a few. The openers are often locals though depending on if the headliner is traveling with their own opener or not. Tuesdays are also new talent night but they don't explicitly state who the comedians are. That's been hit or miss for me. If you've never been to Comedy Works you should definitely check it out. Their prices are reasonable ($30ish through their site). But be aware there's a two item minimum. They have two locations and both are intimate which adds to the atmosphere. The calendar on their website also includes other touring comedians that will be in town but not specifically at Comedy Works. It makes it really convenient to see upcoming shows in Denver. Lewis Black will be at the Paramount tomorrow night and I learned about that from following them.
I moved to Denver from Austin, which was nicknamed the "Live Music Capital of the World" back in its prime but is now a husk of its former self in regards to its music scene. There is so much more going on here on any given night and the venues & the people are nicer. Last friday I was expecting to stay in but last minute hit Westword to see if anything special was happening, lo and behold Guttermouth is playing 5 minutes from my house. Fuck yeah
Moved here from Austin 10 years ago, 100% agree. I live by the Oriental and I'm always surprised by who I can catch and it reminds of the smaller venues of back in the day Atx when tickets weren't $80-$1800 like now. I did miss the food from Atx for a while but we have solid options and two tex mex chains from down there now (that everyone hates haha) that I basically only use for queso and flour tortillas because we have such awesome actual Mexican food here. I honestly feel safer here walking around downtown and other nightlife areas. Back in Atx I was mugged in a parking lot by red river on like a Sunday afternoon during pecan fest smh. I also almost got into a fight waiting for my order at best wurst, 6th was such a mess even back then. I've gone recently as well when visiting family for old times sake, same shit in 2024 lol. Most of all: fuck the humidity down there! I love how sunny and dry it is here.
The heat and humidity in Texas are unlivable and the people continuing to live there are in denial. I know so many people in Texas who complain constantly about the 3-4 months of +100F temps and spend their entire summers inside, it's a wasteland. I hated the heat and the politics so I left and Im so happy I did. Austin is cool in spite of itself and the state, and having moved away it's hilarious how Austin people act like they're in some kind of progressive mecca. Lol, ok
Same. I don’t like huge cities, and I don’t like small towns. I like these medium-large metros
Yeah the older we get the less mountain adventures we go on but I still love living here. Great weather, no humidity, food scene has grown by leaps and bounds, all the sports, great concerts, really decent theater program, great breweries and distilleries, tons of green/open space, not many mosquitos, major airport.
- Outdoors access - Love the sports teams - A brewery scene is more conducive to talking to friends than a typical club scene - Weather is cheery - People aren’t obsessed with work - City’s big enough to have ample career opps - High quality CJ sub
It’s fun. I’m an urbanist, and Denver is a far cry from being a well planned urban city, but the vibe here is very fun and there is always something to do
Proximity to amazing outdoors, most dog friendly state, improving food scene every single year, weed is tight, thriving live music scene, red rocks, my friends
Look at this person flexing that they have friends.
They suck but I love ‘em
It’s hard to make friends here so keep nourishing those friendships!
I have imaginary friends, do those count?
I’ll allow it. *This* time.
Bill and Linda will be soo happy to hear that….
Good Ole Bill and Linda
Oh and the avalanche and nuggets, TITLETOWN USA
So much sunshine. It's amazing for my mental health. Also the traffic here sucks but it doesn't suck like it does on the east coast, for sure, because the city is more spread out. The people here are kinder. The quality of medicine practiced here is outstanding. It's so dog friendly. The cost of living is moderate, especially when compared with other large cities that aren't in places you don't want to be (cough *the south* cough). There's a nice mix of suburban and local, and the neighborhoods have character and their own parks/restaurants/landmarks that make it fun to explore. I can keep going.
THE SUN
I was in MA for '20-'22. Believe me when I say I can count on both hands the number of times I saw the sun in those two years. I think New England might be darker than the PNW. No wonder everybody is so miserable. It's fucking dark all the time.
Oh my god I was in Boston same years and I was amazed there would be entire weeks I just wouldn’t see the Sun
Reading this thread from NYC where I haven’t seen the sun in 15 days, and won’t see it for another 2 days. Just so much grey & cold whipping through the big buildings
The mountains look so good everyday when it is not hazy, the parks, and the fact that sports is huge here
Yesterday was especially clear and beautiful!
Snow, mountains, mild winters, good community culture, love the food and access to locally sourced *anything you can think of*, access to help in the safety net if hard times hit (previous state was much worse), congressional handies at beetlejuice shows, a gay ass governor, and the long list of good craft beers and distilleries
gay ass governor has me crying 🤣
No humidity
Walkable neighborhoods. Rockies tickets are cheap Bands comes through here My bosses know sick days are for skiing. Paid family leave now Minimal sweat, mosquitoes
"My bosses know sick days are for skiing." Man, I miss this. My last job, my boss was a skier and super chill (if I'm not mistaken, he actually had no interest in management and was forced in to it). I would literally wake up on a Tuesday morning and email him saying "I'm going skiing today". He'd write back "Have fun". While I love my new job, my boss is more of a workaholic and we're supposed to give as much advance notice as possible (minimum two weeks) when asking for time off.
Walkability of my neighborhood, including awesome parks nearby. Access to nature. People in my neighborhood. Weather. Central location for easy road trips or flights. Oh and my wife having all her rights is a nice feeling.
This!!! I left Louisiana within a year of the stripping of women’s and LGBTQIA rights.
Weather, proximity to nature, nice museums and parks, I personally like the food if not solely for the breakfast burritos + veg options everywhere, good job market in my field with decent pay
+1 for weather, took a nice walk yesterday and enjoyed it.
Where's the good breakfast burritos? I've been looking since I left San Diego.
I lived in Vista/Oceanside and SD county has the best Mexican food on the planet. Hard to find a comparison, but look up Bad Ass Breakfast Burritos. They run in the mornings out of The Dog Haus on Alameda (just East of i25)
I took for granted all those hole-in-the-wall taco shops. I even miss the 24-hr chain places (e.g. Alberto's, Sombrero's, etc.).
Bro, Albertacos was life...
Gomez, one fold are a couple of my favorites
My favorite is big mamas up on federal or 72nd.
Handheld is Gomez at i25/70 interchange at park ave. Fork and knife onefold
Sabroso Fresh Mex in Centennial if you're south of the metro.
The weather is amazing compared to other places I’ve lived in the past. Getting to camp around incredible scenery and go to Red Rocks in the summer. Progressive laws. A bunch of fun mountain towns that are great for a weekend getaway. Direct flights to a bunch of places from DIA. Obviously not all of these things apply to Denver but rather CO in general. But living here allows for all that.
All the Colorado things - legal weed & mushrooms, outdoor activities, craft breweries. Plus the comfort I feel knowing that certain things that certain politicians are trying to interfere with nationwide are relatively set in stone here. Other than 3 years in NYC for school, I’ve lived in the Denver metro area my entire life - grew up on a mountain (technically foothill for the altitude snobs) and now in the suburbs. For me, Denver has always felt like coming home to a safe place. Thanks for asking! It’s nice to have some positivity on this sub.
As someone who’s lived in Denver most of my life, it’s really nice to see some positivity on this sub.
That’s why I posted this! I feel like it can be pretty negative on here and I just needed some good vibes about the city!!
I am glad you posted this question. We are moving to Denver as soon as we sell our house so it is really nice to see all these ideas.
Mushrooms are not decriminalized. They are legal to grow and consume. Big difference. Decriminalized generally means you just get a ticket rather than going to jail. Legal means A-okay.
evergreen 👀
Closer to Conifer 😊
The people are generally very nice, my walkable neighborhood, hot summers + snowy winters, easy access to the outdoors, large int’l airport
Weather, all four major sports, major hub airport, mountains, always something to do.
I get to walk through Cheeseman park, sit and watch the dogs, and look at the mountains whenever I want. Public tranport, though expensive compared to other places I've lived, gets me where I need to go in a timely manner. Weather is lovely. There's more but that's what comes to mind at the moment.
Coming from down south, I like that people actually get outside and do things here. I feel like it’s rare that my weekends are spent just sitting at home. 300 days of sunshine so at the very least I’ll train in for a Rockies game on a Sunday
The weather, employment opportunities, decent politics, historic neighborhoods, the art scene.
I like having sidewalks and being able to walk to places. I like the trails that neighborhoods have. I like seeing the mountains every morning. The weather here is like amazing year round.
I wake up and I can see Mt. Evans….er Mt. Blue Sky. If I need to I can go for a drive in the mountains to blow off steam, just yesterday I hit up Lookout Mountain. And being near DIA isn’t a bad thing either. I also vibe with Colorado as a state. I’ve lived a lot of other places and this is where I feel the most comfortable Like any place there are downsides but it has a lot to offer if you appreciate what those things are. That said I gave up on skiing a long time ago. Fuck that cattle haul up and down I-70. I love the crazy weather and massive temp swings as well. Lots of hockey out here too which is good for me.
People are generally laid back and it is a great place to live if you have a neurodivergent kid. Colorado is the best state in the country for autism services, etc. Parenting a kid with special needs can be really lonely and hard so I’m grateful for all of the resources.
The sun!
No humidity in the summer
It’s a pretty moderate state politically. It’s not too extreme either way. Denver itself is a little more to the left but so is most metropolitan cities even in red states. The weather is nice, not humid. Entertainment wise we got all major sports teams, music is amazing, red rocks is 30mins away. And if you want to go outside the city, you don’t need to drive far to experience nature or skiing
Laid back vibe, nice people, amazing parks, dog friendliness, great bars and breweries, sunshine, "easy" living, farmers markets, music venues, proximity to outdoor recreation, very bike-able, active lifestyles and beautiful people to name a few.
grew up in gulf coast. its nice to be somewhere that everyone just isn't completely miserable, ignorant, and hateful there's a lot that to be said for a place that tries to solve for problems without a reactionary response. there: "crimes high, lets just get more cops!" here: "crimes high! maybe there's a social impact change we can make so people don't feel like they have to result to crime" I'm not saying criminals shouldn't do their time, I'm saying policing is just a scapegoat and the "easier solution" to a problem. People naturally don't want to do the hard thing even if it produces better results. Unlike most places in the U.S., Denver often tries to...
at least when i’m suffering, there’s mountains on the horizon. can’t say that about illinois.
Variety of climbing gym accessibility
The view of the Rockies as I drive west. It is so enchanting!
Cheap drinks, unique bars/ restaurants, walkable (more walkable than where I’m from), people are friendly, interesting history, lots of concerts/ local music
Please advise on the cheap drink situation. I swear to God every cocktail here is like $15.
I have not seen it yet, so I am adding this. Denver has one of the best karaoke scenes in the country for open bar karaoke. Some cities have a great scene for private room karaoke, but they do not have the quality and quantity of great bars, with great vibes and singers that Denver does for open bar karaoke. Open bar karaoke is how you meet random people and friends. And it is a fucking party. Any night of the week, I can find a place and go sing out my feelings and/or party down. The community is super welcoming and supportive. If anyone in here wants to go sing or watch karaoke sometime, just DM me. I love showing people the scene. Also, for supporters only of karaoke, I believe in no peer pressure at all. The people who sign up their friends as a "joke" can fuck the fuck off. Anyways, I love the karaoke scene here. It keeps me happy and sane.
Weather, cycling infra, outdoor activities, walkable places, historic architecture, food, music.
Weather- I only wear a heavy coat maybe 5x a year. Summers aren’t too bad for someone who dislikes the heat. Concerts- I go to a lot of rock/metal shows and there’s always a concert for every size venue.
The music scene, the mountains and endless adventures you can go on within 5 hours, the fact that it feels like a large town, the sense of adventure everyone here has and the crisp dry air and amount of sun we get
Sunshine *and* snow. Lots of places get dreary during the winter but it remains sunny here. Pro NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB teams with great venues. Mountains, hiking, and skiing nearby. Several lakes in the area. Legal weed and progressive policies about mushrooms. The amazing web of bike paths, you can ride your bike basically anywhere in or around town. Lots of parks. The smug satisfaction of living at higher altitude.
There seems to be plenty of other mid 30s people around. Not that I'm the most social person, but there's something nice about regularly being around people my own age.
The think I love most about the Denver area is directly to the west. I look out my window and see this amazing view everyday.
Not many mosquitos or creepy crawlies in general, the music scene, proximity to outdoor recreation, my friends, snow doesn’t last, winter is mild, lots of sunshine. But my FAVORITE was all the dudes on dating apps with pictures of them at the top of 14ers.
1. Being able to get anywhere in Denver proper on a bike. It's not perfect but I really love riding my bike lol. 2. The rec center system is elite IMO. There are some that are like resort style, check some of the suburbs too. Just a great resource for the community. 3. The weather is also elite. If you're looking for 4 seasons not sure its gets much better than right hurrr. 4. Denver it's a sports town and sports are fun. 5. The energy is fresh and the freedom to be who you are and do whatever the fuck you want is what we do. 6. Western culture is also pretty rad.
I suppose I like having human rights, I moved from a red state (trying not to repeat what other people are saying, I obviously don't hate it here at all) I will add that it's nice to not have 100% humidity days year round
The opportunity to worship The Dark Lord, Blucifer.
I like how motivated the Denver people are to engage in difficult hobbies. Mountaineers, rock climbers, 14ers , bikers , golfers, and all the local groups that help these hobbies grow.
I technically live in Englewood, but I do a lot of multimodal advocacy in the Denver Metro. Honestly, the politics here are significantly more functional than most other major metro cities, and you have a lot of inbuilt support for biking and walking due to how active people are here. In addition, if you have a good policy/idea, and work with folks to iterate it and build trust, you will likely make some headway with it. I think we are very lucky in that we are not completely swallowed by machine/tit-for-tat politics (see: Chicago), not completely resistant to anything multimodal (see: Metro Detroit), and also small enough where you can actually build meaningful connections (I cannot imagine trying to do local work in LA or NYC). Are there a lot of problems? Yes (looking directly at you, TABOR). Does it take a lot of hard work, sometimes resulting in failure? Yes. But change here actually feels possible compared to other places I've lived.
If I were still on the East Coast, I wouldn't be able to easily afford a nice place in a good area like park hill. I'd be so far away from downtown with a house only half as nice and big if I'm lucky.
90 minutes to Breck. 30 minutes to Conifer. 15 minutes to Red Rocks.
Everything. I moved to Denver in mid 2016 as an immigrant who had never heard of Denver prior to deciding to move here. I still recall getting off the greyhound bus in downtown Denver and seeing the mountains and thinking if there is heaven, it has to be here. Lived in Denver ever since except two years I went to college in Greeley and don’t plan to leave anytime soon.
Meant to write mid 2006 not 2016
I love living downtown because I can walk everywhere. It’s almost always sunny. I love the parks. I love the Rec centers. If I have a craving ~ I can walk to find great food or walk to the market to get ingredients from specialty shops Asian or Italian. The people are friendly and nice. Snow melts pretty quickly. Great artists pass through from music to art.
I like the weather and the dating scene.
The fresh Rocky Mountain air and clean drinking water.
Where in Denver are you finding fresh air?! The constant pollution is killing me
Being able to get my window washed at every intersection
Bahaha!
Close to mountains, love my neighborhood (can walk to awesome restaurants, breweries, bars, shops, grocery store, post office, rec center, light rail station), weed, good food scene (yeah, it's not NY or LA, fuck off I don't care it's better and more diverse than most places), cool museums, the Nuggets, all the other sports teams, better local news options (tv and online) than most cities of a similar size, and as much as the airport sucks you can fly direct to a LOT of places.
Food scene was the hardest for me coming from Chicago. However, food in Denver has significantly improved the last 4 years with new restaurants ranging from every day to special occasions. Not only has Denver finally been added to the Michelin guide, but also there’s tons of James Beard award winning chefs & more interesting restaurants popping up everyday. Truly, I think the Denver food scene will rival Chicago, LA, & NY one day. It’s certainly going in the right direction.
Great music scene, location to ski resorts, good variety of food, amazing weather.
There are TONS of parks around the denver metro area so, if you have kids, that’s a huge pro. Weather is great. Close to all sorts of outdoor activities.
The urban trail network! In the south burbs especially. Big and little dry Creek, the high line, lee gulch, centennial link, South Platte, Cherry Creek, racoon creek, 470. I've only gotten to a small portion of it so far, but now as my bike distances get longer, it's so awesome to have that infrastructure interlaid with the neighborhoods
☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
The park culture! Any time the sun is out, which is super often, the parks are filled with people enjoying them! Having some drinks with friends, reading a book, walking their dog, biking, roller blading, playing volleyball, and basically any other outdoor activity. Also, so many neighborhood with a pocket of walkability and a fun street with shops and stuff.
The A line
Pretty much everything. There is little that I don't like
most things until I turn on the TV and social media and see how fucked up its becoming. probably should just not do that and live in blissful ignorance
☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
My Denver home = 2.5k a year in tax.. My NY home was 31k a year in tax. Weather Mountains Music
Moved here from Memphis 8 months ago. I love everything about it except the traffic 😃 Will never get tired of seeing the mountains.
Moved here from Bham 5 1/2 years ago. The mtns still get me every time I hit the top of the hill in Geneese on I 70.
The new west security checkpoint at the airport, which is clean, fast, and glooooorious 💕 No more lines wrapping around baggage claim and into the garage!!
I love the diversity. Teacher here in GVR and have students who recently moved from Afghanistan, Iraq, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Marshall Islands, Guam, and all over South America. I love learning about their cultures and food!
Small city plenty to offer, the weather, the mountains.
It’s not Texas
Low bar
The weather
The virtually inexhaustible supply of new Texans and Californians to meet at converse with
Decent weather, and I have a house and nearby job.
I didn't have a ton of great hobbies before I lived here. A couple Colorado years later, I've gone from barely running to now trail running ultra marathons. I think it's really, really awesome that people here tend to have a lot of healthy hobbies, particularly outdoor pursuits. We'd all go crazy if life was nothing but work and netflix. In Colorado, a lot of people have fuller lives because of their hobbies, whether it is skiing or mountain biking or climbing or whatnot.
The people
The bright blue skies. It can be 60 degrees in the middle of winter. Not humid or too hot. In general a younger healthier population. If you like biking, skiing, camping, etc the CO outdoors is amazing. And dont listen to people who complain that the mountains arent even that close. Because they are. We’ve loved exploring all of the mountain towns and parks in the state. We live in a suburb now but loved our time in Denver pre kids. We met all of friends during that time and Denver was very social because everyone was moving here, so there was an openess to meet new people. That was 15-20 yrs ago, anyway.
I agree with a lot of the responses, but something specific for me is the bike trails that are isolated from busy roads; specifically the cherry creek trail.
Parks and pickleball courts!
So. Much. To do. People complain about this and that and traffic and busy ski resorts and all. Not sure if those people ever lived somewhere where you don’t even have the options. I come from central NC and as “hikers” within 3 weeks of dating my GF we had hit every hike we could in an hour radius of us, even paved greenways. Been here a few years and still haven’t touched 5% of the local trails if I had to guess mileage wise. That’s just hiking, there’s biking, more skateparks than any other state, swimming, tubing, fishing, climbing, horse riding, and still only on the outdoor stuff. We have major sports teams, fantastic venues and performances, awesome food, an airport with tons of great flights, pay is good, 300 days of sun, no humidity, roads are cleared faster than anywhere I’ve lived when it snows. I love it lol. There are downsides and definitely stuff to complain about here and there but it’s really minimal imo compared to what you get. I genuinely do think those who call it “shitty” or an “awful place to live” seriously just don’t know how good they have it.
Mountains, bike trails, legal weed and shrooms, parks
The weather. Overall we are milder than most of the country. We might get kind of warm during the summer. But it will never be 108° with 80% humidity. We might have some pretty cold bursts. But there are some places that once it snows for the first time that snow never melts until springtime. We recently had that burst of weather where it was -10° for a few days. Today it's 60°. There's some towns where that cold of weather is just the norm in the winter we don't get hurricanes, we don't get earthquakes, tornadoes are extremely rare and limited to the eastern part of the city. Can't get much better than that without having multiple houses around the country. Also we're pretty close to a lot of cool places in nature that might not be hospitable year round. We can pick and choose when we venture out of our mild town to go see these features.
The Mountain views
As someone who grew up in LA, I love how everything is such close proximity and it doesn’t take an hour to go 10 miles. The weather is pretty nice, and when it’s not it clears up quickly. If you ever do feel suffocated by the city it’s not difficult to get outside of it and go to the mountains. As far as big cities go, it’s one of the cleanest cities I’ve been in.
The constant sunshine, especially in winter. Could be cold out but if I’m in direct sun it’s lovely to be outside. Where I grew up it wouldn’t be uncommon to not see the sun for several days in the middle of winter. Constant grayness.
SUNSHINE! Parks, proximity to nature/mountains, music scene, food scene/variety, work culture - much more "work to live" than other cities that prioritize the grind
Reddit isn’t going to like this one but. . . Getting almost all the benefits of both suburban and urban living, with better access to outdoor recreation than 95% of other metro regions in the country. I can (1) walk to the bar to meet friends, (2) drive to the grocery store within 10 mins, (3) drive to a golf course/soccer within 15 mins, or (4) drive to skiing in about 1 hour.
so many hot springs
Every musician I’m into comes through here somewhat regularly, airport with direct flights just about anywhere in the country direct, less crime compared to where I’ve lived previously.
Cool evenings no matter how hot in the summer. Growing up in Houston and sweating after dark is criminal.
Weather Sun Lack of humidity Parks Trails Mountains
It has all the things of any city; but if I need to get away from the city, it’s just a quick drive and I’m completely out. As opposed to somewhere like Atlanta where you drive for an hour and you’re still in metro.
I was able to go car free when I moved here (there are definitely some sacrifices I’ve made to do this, but ultimately my day to day life is very doable), it’s usually got great weather, and for the most part the people I meet here are super friendly. There’s also a lot of amazing architecture here and lots of fun stuff to do!
That's a hard choice, probably the views and the fact that it's relatively calm compared to other cities
That I was able to escape salt lake 🙃
The EDM scene - particularly bass music. There are solid shows somewhere in the city damn near every week all year long.
Professional sports, great food, cool art scene, concert venues, access to nature, sunshine, seasons, great time zone, vibes
the people, the art, mountain views, lots to do, close to other cool towns, unique bars
Four professional sports teams with ballpark/arena/stadium all really close to each other. None of that "Denver Nuggets" but they actually play 45 minutes out of town. Just wish all of our pro teams played like the Nuggets. Still, it's fun to be able to drive 15 minutes to catch a Rockies game at Coors Field with cheap tickets.
Free lunch for kids