Set for a big fall.
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3/16/2021
I was born downtown, and raised in the suburbs. I have lived in Denver as an adult off and on for 30 years, including for the last year. I think it geographically is the most beautiful city in the US, with the best climate. Older intact parts of the city contain some of the best architecture in the country. But the trends aren't good.
It was the very best place to grow up in the '70-80s. It used to have the best museums, a great zoo, relatively peaceful diversity while maintaining social cohesion, and every amenity you could want. I'd say it was truly cool in the late 1990s. That was the peak. It was still affordable, and crime was limited. There has been unbelievable and uncontrolled expansion since then, especially in the last decade, and leftist rioting in the last year caused much of the downtown to board up, there is graffiti everywhere now, and the homeless problem is out. of. control. Before BLM/Antifa took over Denver, like most other cities, the police here would clear out the homeless camps in front of the capitol building and elsewhere. Once they started saying they were "protesters" the problem got worse than ever - thousands of homeless pitching their tents all over downtown. They finally fenced off the utterly destroyed parks in front of the capitol building so no one can enter them. But they allowed BLM to paint a mural on the street there, the entire city is a sea of Biden/Harris/BLM signs and rainbow flags, and homeless are everywhere, just sprawling in the streets, taking drugs, and leaving dumps.
I was a big fan of the legal weed decision years back, but it sure hasn't made anyone smarter or more moral, attracted the best and brightest, or created a more beautiful city. The housing prices are infamously INSANE, and the newer construction is all hideous. The response to the COVID thing has been predictably retarded state wide, worst in Denver, and only slightly saner than dumb blue states/cities on the coasts. If you'd like to move somewhere and see firsthand how Portland became the mess it is today, move here, and buckle up. It's set to get a whole lot worse.
Matt | Denver, CO