My City
Posted on | November 27, 2007 at 11:38 pm | 7 Comments
I’ve lived in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado since I came here from Rockford, Illinois 37 [Edit: Not 27 like I originally posted] years ago when I was 10 years old. I can’t imagine living any place else. Oh, there are other places that are nice. I love to visit San Francisco, for example, but can’t really see myself living there. The cost of living, the traffic, the lack of snow, the earthquake potential – that would all get to me. This area just really seems to have it all for me. Here are a few of the things that keep me glued here:
The Climate and The Weather. Even though I really like rainy weather, I’m sure I would get tired of it if I moved to the Northwest. The Denver metro area usually has a couple of rainy weeks in the summer, but other than that, there’s not a lot of rain. But everything else about the weather, I like. There’s abundant sunshine, anywhere from 300 – 330 days a year, depending on who you believe. (How is that measured? If a day has one hour of sun and eleven hours of clouds, is it counted as a sunny day? But I digress.) I like that there are not a lot of things in the air that activate my allergies, like there were in Illinois. I like that even during the hottest days of summer, it’s dry enough that it usually doesn’t feel that hot. I like that even though we get some really cold days in the winter, most winter days are pretty mild. I like that (excepting last winter) we don’t get a lot of extended snow storms or blizzards. I like that we do get snow – even though it can be annoying and dangerous, there’s still something wondrous and magical about it to me. I like that we have actual seasons (even if there really are just two – summer and the rest of the year). I like snuggling up on cold nights and running the A/C on hot ones. I like that we don’t usually have to worry about tornadoes, hurricanes, mudslides, floods, or earthquakes. The most severe weather we get is windstorms and hailstorms, very occasional blizzards, and some wildfires in the surrounding environs.
The Lack of Insects. There just aren’t any. Really. Maybe it’s because of all the spiders. (Kidding.)
The Food. The Denver area boasts some of the finest restaurants in the country – ask any critic who has spent any time out here. Not only that, but I think I heard there are more eateries per capita than any other city in the country. And it’s a wonderfully diverse selection. Name any type of cuisine, and I can name scads of good restaurants that serve it. There’s even a few top notch Ethiopian places around. There’s especially many fine Tex-Mex, Mexican, Thai, Indian, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese joints within easy reach of anywhere in the city.
The Beautiful Women. Not surprising, since Colorado is consistently ranked as the fittest state in the nation. You guys in other states who have never been here would just not believe how gorgeous the babes here are. California Girls, bah. Colorado has the hottest, coolest chicks (of all ages) around.
The Driving. Yes, other cities have better mass transit, but the Denver area is working to become better in that area with the constant expansion of the light rail and bus lines. But in Denver, you’re basically stuck driving most of the time to get anywhere, and usually it’s not a bad thing. The streets are intelligently laid out in an easy to understand alphabetical (east/west) and numerical (north/south) street naming grid system. (The exception is downtown, which is a bit confusing because the streets are parallel to the 45° river, rather than being straight N/S/E/W.)
All streets, even the small ones, are clearly marked with large signs at every intersection. You can usually (except in rush hour) get from anywhere in the metro area to anywhere else in a maximum of 35 minutes (including the airport, 10 miles out of town). My one quibble is that there’s no real north/south highway on the west side of town, so I have to take regular streets to go directly north. And, also Denver drivers are not always the best (too wimpy), and our rush hours are getting pretty bad. Although the T-Rex project to widen I-25 and expand the light rail helped a lot with that, and was a model of a transportation project done right.
The Parking. There’s always plenty of free parking no matter where you go. The one exception is the downtown area. But even there, it’s usually pretty easy to find a spot in a parking garage or surface lot if you don’t mind paying $4-$8 for the evening. That goes up during major sporting events.
The Cost of Living. According to Forbes “Best Cities for Singles” poll, the Denver area is tied for first in the cost of living category. Yeah, the real estate market is a bit high lately, but everything else balances it out. And a million dollar house in the Bay Area would cost you probably $300K in the Denver area.
The Big Outdoors. I’m a bit claustrophobic, even though I like staying inside a lot, so I can appreciate the wide open spaces. The mountains are not really a big attraction for me, other than visually. That’s probably because I don’t ski. But they are a big draw for a lot of people, and I do like getting up there occasionally. I especially like the abundance of wildlife, which I don’t even really need to go to the mountains for. I see foxes, rabbits, hawks, and deer near my house all the time. I’m right up against the foothills, and I’ve got some spectacular views of both the mountains and the city. For those who like to stay in the city and still get a taste of the outdoors, there are lots of parks around.
The People. Most people here are very friendly while still being respectful of your space. The population is very ethnically diverse.
The Culture. Okay, yeah, Denver is still a cowtown in some respects, but that’s getting better all the time. More and more bands consider it an essential stop instead of just some place to land between Chicago and Salt Lake City. We’ve got a world class art museum (recently expanded and renovated), a wonderful nature & science museum, a great zoo, a big new performing arts center and convention center (complete with a large blue bear peeking in the window), a huge modern library. and much more. There are bars with live music and tons of theaters (for both movies and plays). The zoo and museums have many free-to-the-public days, thanks to the SFCD. There’s always something to do around here.
And that’s just scratching the surface. Let me know if you any of you out-of-towners have any questions about the area.
Oh, and please don’t move here.
Hey, let me know what you like best about your city!
(This post was not commissioned by the Denver tourism industry.)
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 30°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Skip Divided” (Thom Yorke)
- “Booby Trap” (The Dickies)
- “Volumes” (The Church)
- “Music of America” (Poster Children)
- “Dancin’ in the Ruins” (Blue Öyster Cult)
- “Feeling Lazy” (The Lightning Seeds)
Today’s Weight: 164.4 lbs
Lunch Yesterday: Homemade sandwich with roast beef and leftover turkey.
Pet Peeve of the Day: Trying to post my daily NaBloPoMo blog entry very late in the day and my website being down! Panic!
Latre.
Comments
7 Responses to “My City”
November 28th, 2007 @ 1:58 am
Agreed on all points. Denver rocks, and I’ve been to 48 states and half a dozen foreign countries. You forgot to mention that Denver is the third-biggest hightech market (after SF and Boston) and just about the world capital of telecom/television network companies, being the place where cable TV was pretty much invented. It’s also got an unrivaled bike/jogging path network, which is made all the easier by the fractionally lower gravity at 1 mile above sea level…
I moved away 4 years ago but Denver is still “my city”. No shame on Melbourne, it’s got a lot going for it too – but there’s a decided lack of “no bugs” here!
November 28th, 2007 @ 7:52 pm
I’m sold. Except for the cold weather and the high altitude. I saw so many people biking out there and it is soooo hilly. You’d have to be fit.
November 28th, 2007 @ 9:42 pm
I’m sold. Except for the cold weather and the high altitude. I saw so many people biking out there and it is soooo hilly. You’d have to be fit.
It does take some getting used to, with there being less oxygen and all. But your body does adjust after awhile. And then when you go back down to lower altitudes, you can really go to town!
November 28th, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
Hey…I seem to recall the “cute woman chowing down on turkey leg” was from Europe or sompn. Cheat!
Attractive people are drawn to Denver from all over the world!
November 28th, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Hey…I seem to recall the “cute woman chowing down on turkey leg” was from Europe or sompn. Cheat!
November 28th, 2007 @ 9:17 pm
You make me want to cry! I agree with all of the above, although I’m required to say that NY state has mountains, lakes (real lakes) and gobs of history. Especially since I already mentioned this post, and my comments will likely be checked! :-/
November 28th, 2007 @ 9:50 pm
Oh, yeah – forgot to mention that blue Colorado sky. When I was back there last week I just soaked up the sun (even though it was cold out), and the vast expansive view. I get very claustrophobic out here in the woodlands.