Overrated, mediocre, dry (not just climate)
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3/13/2022
Obviously, there are exceptions, and this is just my subjective personal feel of the city.
Climate: dry, semi desert environment, almost year-round drought. The entire Metro Area looks brownish to yellow, barren, lackluster for 6-8 months out of year. Spring is nice, but then by August everything is burnt and dry. Whatever tiny Zeroscape backyards people have here look dead most of the time. Year-round dust, boogers and nose bleeds are a norm. You can’t take a humidifier with you outside.
Contrary to the popular belief, Denver is not very outdoorsy, meaning you won’t spend the majority of time outside walking, gardening, sitting on porch with drink. There are no beautiful outdoor patios or beer gardens.
Food: since not much grows in CO, most produce and everything else needs to be transported here. As a result, food is overpriced and not fresh. There are good restaurants to fill your belly, but it’s almost impossible to find great yummy places. Food just tastes bland and slightly off, not sure if it’s altitude, lack of fresh ingredients, or just general lack of cooking culture. There are some good craft beers, but so what. Other cities have good beer too.
Housing: overpriced and incredibly dull unless you buy 1 million+ property in older neighborhoods. Cheap looking tract communities surround Denver with mind numbing design, cheap vinyl siding, no trees, or flowers. Prices have doubled in the last 4 years, yet no major company moved its HQ to Denver. Coors Beer actually left CO. There is a great dissonance between housing costs and job opportunities. Get used to Zeroscape as water becomes an issue in many municipalities.
Infrastructure: a ton of potholes/cracks on the roads due to constantly changing temperatures. Traffic is getting worse. Tons of trash along the roads.
People: generally nice but in some strange, fake way, not genuinely nice. A lot of passive aggressive folks.
Recreation: Denver has the Highline Canal - a nice bike system connecting most metro area, but it is getting taken over by homeless who set up tents along Cherry Creek. Parks on the other hand are dull, have few trees and are usually covered with goose poop all the time. For any decent hiking prepare to spend time in traffic and again it’s good for only a portion of the year.
Vibe: Denver always felt “dry” as a city as far culture, people interactions. It feels like a cult when everyone keeps saying how amazing it is and if you criticize it, they get offended.
Overall: OK but lacks vibrancy and “flavor.” It has potential though.
Mike | Denver, CO