Denver, Colorado

Denver was one of the cities I identified at the start of my trip as a city I would inspect as a possible new place to live.  So I'll start this post with an apology to Asheville, NC, for bumping it out of the leading spot and into second place.  Because I really liked Denver.

First, a quick rundown about my method for checking it out:  I spent three nights in the suburb of Westminster where my friend Tom lives.  He's a friend from North Carolina who I've seen a few times since moving away from there, but not many.  So I was delighted that he was in Denver and that he was happy to see and host me.  Then I spent two nights in a cheap motel in the suburb of Lakewood, which I picked because of its location, not the fact that I grew up in a different Lakewood.

As in the other cities, I checked out several local businesses, places to eat, etc.  I spent time driving around town, including getting out of the car to stroll around neighborhoods.  And in more than any other city, I found people to talk to.  Some were in the course of doing business, like adding more minutes to my cell phone plan.  And some were accidentally social, like when I found myself in a sports bar to watch a football game and it was completely full, so I asked a couple at a table if I could share with them, and they were really nice and happy to talk about Denver (they love it).

They saved me from the horrors of standing around a crowded sports bar all alone!

When I arrived in the area, I'd originally planned to spend about half my time in Denver and half in Boulder, about 50 minutes away.  But due to a number of factors, I spent only my first evening in Boulder.  It seemed like a pretty nice place, but maybe a little bit... oh, I dunno... twee? for me.  Maybe a little too granola and hippy.  With a few too many college students asking for money.  I wouldn't avoid the place; in fact, I'd go back just to eat at one of the best italian restaurants I've ever tried.  But I felt early like it wouldn't be quite for me.

That man in blue -- cooks great meals and takes photographs!

So I spent more of my time in Denver, which was good because I got to see a lot of it.  So let's see... I did my usual stop at the public library (whose hours are way too short but it is a good library), toured downtown, saw the area around the ballpark, toured the following neighborhoods:  Sun Valley, Sunnyside, Clayton, Park Hill, Montclair, Washington Park & Baker.  In many of these, I saw little homes or apartments I could imagine making a home in.  There were shops I would frequent (like the co-op used bookstore, coffee shops, and consignment shops) and shops I would rarely frequent, but would show off to visitors (like the erotic bakery -- possibly NSFW photo!).  A lot of the older neighborhoods are just my style: walkable, plenty of parking, interesting smaller homes, etc.

The Park Hill neighborhood

The Baker neighborhood.  Or is that Washington Park?  /scratches head

And mostly, as noted above, I was really impressed with the people I met.  When I looked lost, people offered to give me directions.  Doing business was efficient without being brisk, and I was never made to feel like I was taking up someone's time by daring to be a customer.  One day, I locked myself out of the car at a gas station (a situation I've been dreading since the day I left Ohio!) and the fellow at the service shop next door got me back into my car with no charge!  (I bought him a pop to say thanks.)  (Oh, and my internal monologue when I realized that I'd just locked my keys in the car went something like: OMGOMGwhatthehelldidIjustdofuckfuckfuckityfuck. Ah.... Shit!)

Ok, so what didn't I like about Denver?  It was so much bigger than I expected.  Driving around was really a drag.  Not as bad as Philadelphia, but worse than any other contending cities I've seen so far.  And it's not that the distances are so very great; there are just too many cars on the main roads.  The neighborhoods in between all the main roads are really easy to navigate:  Not crowded and plenty of parking.  But getting from one neighborhood to the next looks like it would be a constant irritant.  I didn't get a chance to see what the public transportation is like there.  A few people talked about it as if it is really good, but it's all buses, so they'll have to deal with the same traffic hassles as the cars.  And sadly, when times get lean, bus service is a lot easier to cut than subway service, so I can't always count on there being great bus service.

The 16th Street Pedestrian Mall

But the flip side is that, there are cool neighborhoods, so if I managed to find a neighborhood that suited me (and I suspect I could) and found a way to make the daily grinds not so terrible, Denver might suit me really well.

Oh, and something I want to note, but am not sure if it will matter to my decision-making...  I've always preferred cloudy days to rainy days.  A ratio of 5 cloudy to 2 sunny days would be just about right.  But everyone in Denver tried to sell me on the city by talking about how great the weather is, not knowing that the sun bothers me and I'd prefer a little less of it.  Maybe a lot less.  (Kind of funny, I know.  Who doesn't like the sun, right?)  Would 300+ days of sunlight get on my nerves?  It might.

But the flip side of that is, the good weather attracts a lot of people who really like the outdoors (another big typical selling point of the city).  I'm somewhere in between being an "indoor person" and an "outdoor person."  But I do appreciate that all those outdoor people come with a culture of health and fitness.  So exercise opportunities will be plentiful, and tasty yet healthy food will be easy to find.

Apparently, pot is easy to find, too.

Biggest downside of Denver:  It is so far away from almost everyone I care about.  If were 27 instead of 37, I might not be reluctant to be so far away from people I know.  But as I get older, I appreciate more and more being close to people I love, and Denver is just not that close (although direct flights to most major cities will remedy that downside somewhat).