What is Denver Like?

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I might have to go there and don't know anything about the place, has anyone been there?

― Davel (Davel), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Ooh ooh ooh I have! I really like it - it's the ideal small but big enough Amercian city with a neat central district, interesting and diverse residential areas, nice coffee shops, good restaurants, just enough second hand clothes and record shops, and it's location is fantastic if you like mountains, and who doesn't. I am sad I won't be going back.

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I was surprised at how laid-back it felt. I was also surprised at how flat the town was. I guess you still have to drive a few more miles to the west to get any hill action. LoDO, Lower Downtown, was pretty cool. Lots of good-looking girls wearing sweatshirts and shorts with no make-up. From what I could gather, there isn't really that much of a good music scene being that Denver is so isolated from everyone else (the next biggest town would be Salt Lake City, 750 miles away.) But overall, really cool. I could live there if I had to.

That's just me. Let a real Denverite fill you in.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

All the accounts I've heard from friends was "nothing.. there's nothing in Denver... Nothing. Just... don't". Boulder and Aspen, on the other hand...

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 18:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I lived there in the early 90s - I love Denver.

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 18:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Denver is like... wo.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Get into the cowtowns of the high HIGH Rockies if you can. Oh man.

God's country

― ModJ (ModJ), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I lived there when I was little. The coolest thing is the horizon--blue mountains.

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

The luggage carousels at the Denver airport just have to be seen to be believed.

― Aimless, Tuesday, 13 January 2004 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't even start about the Denver airport. The Masons will have this board shut down before you know it.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

It was a shithole in the 80's. Maybe it's better now?

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

the place spawned Slim Cessna's Auto Club and Sixteen Horsepower...

― Kingfishee (Kingfish), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't believe donut bitch just insinuated aspen and boulder are cool. die, hippy, die.

― Mandee (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 21:06 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.egoplanet.com/ego/images/hippie.gif

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 21:31 (twenty-two years ago)

OW MY EYES

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 21:47 (twenty-two years ago)

They have a whole new Denver airport since the 80's, akmonday...I think they built it in the early 90's.

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 22:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't believe there's all this talk about Denver's airport and no one has mentioned THE MASONIC CONCENTRATION CAMP that is buried deep beneath it. I hesitate to bring it up in fear that the Masons will close ILX DOWN!

"Guerrilla-cam" shots of Denver International.
The cover-up.
Conspiracy message forum about strange murals at DI.

It goes on and on and on and on.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 22:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Dead and f'ugly.

http://www.aspenhistory.org/images/jd.jpg

― may pang (maypang), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 22:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Well I've got something to do next time I'm stuck at the airport.

I've lived in Denver for about 9 years and there are honestly only a couple other places I'd consider living.

The Good: weather, mexican food, mountains, great old neighborhoods, good sports teams, laid back, City politics are moderately liberal (but nothing really goofy like Boulder).

The Bad: isolated (but at 2.1 million people and growing its big enough to mitigate this to some extent), because its isolated it is often skipped by many tours, suburban sprawl is really out of control (since I live 2 miles from downtown and work downtown this doesn't affect me too much), the cost of living is quite high. State politics are very conservative.

― David Beckhouse (David Beckhouse), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:09 (twenty-two years ago)

What about public transportation?

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:27 (twenty-two years ago)

the altitude'll getcha

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

nah, it's not that high. never bothered me and i'm from Chicago.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I went to a little bar that had a fantastic house jazz combo, and a weeknight (?) jam session. Can't remember the name unfortunately.

It seemed like a very clean city.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

the airport is somewhat inconveniently located halfway to nebraska

― dan (dan), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Every time I've been to Denver I couldn't wait to get out. Bad city sprawl, downtown roads perpetually under construction, lots of traffic. Boulder not much better, but ok if you had to live there (good Spanish restaurant in central Boulder)

Unofficial city mottos:
Denver: "welcome to Denver, you can't get there from here"
Boulder: "power to the people! can I charge this tie-dye?"

Denver's saving grace is one of the best bookstores on the continent.

Colorado Springs I liked a lot however.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah yes! The Tattered Cover rules. Biggest indie store in the country.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

but Elvis 'The Springs' is sprawl central and getting uglier day by day. I have family that live there: the place is virtually unrecognizable from when I went there less than 20 years ago.
I'd still move there in a heartbeat, though.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 23:51 (twenty-two years ago)

but Elvis 'The Springs' is sprawl central and getting uglier day by day.

Yeah, there's a sprawl in Colorado Springs that was migrating north to Denver like a property seeking amoeba, but the central downtown area was relatively nice and untouched - as if the city went supernova and threw all it's citizens out into the periphery while leaving a relatively empty central core.

The last time I was there was a couple years ago. No idea how much it's changed in the meantime, but I'm sure there's an "old town Colorado Springs" redevelopment plan that's going to fuck it up.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 01:26 (twenty-two years ago)

The Denver airport owns this thread.

― Aimless, Wednesday, 14 January 2004 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Beckhouse OTM. I've been here 13 years, and I didn't come here intending to stay. It's a very good place to live, especially if you like to be outside. It's not my idea of a tourist destination. The museums are good, the restaurants, if you search them out, are good. I don't think Denver is particularly remarkable to visit.

Boulder- er, full of attitude, yuppies, hippies, frat boys. BAD traffic. It's so scenic, it's like a magnet for obnoxious people.

― Hunter (Hunter), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 04:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Public Transit, is good by Sunbelt standards but could still use improvement. Its my field.

― David Beckhouse (David Beckhouse), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 05:20 (twenty-two years ago)

My sis lived there and her sentiments match donut b's exactly. However she now lives in Asheville NC and loves it (HIPPY!!)

― Aaron A., Wednesday, 14 January 2004 07:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Five Great Things About Denver:
1) The Watercourse Restaurant!
2) The Tattered Cover (but also Ichabod's Second-Hand Books on South Broadway)!
3) Casa Bonita!
4) Blue skies, all the time!
5) Frank Kogan!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 07:41 (twenty-two years ago)

You have seriously confused Denver with Portland.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 08:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Ichabod Books seconded! Also, snow!

― Markelby (Mark C), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 11:31 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

So ya told me which book shops to hit, but what about record stores? Anything with lots of second hand vinyl? Or anywhere with a large experimental/noise section? Any dollar bins at all? I love dollar bins.

I'll be out there mid-July for my mom's birthday.

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Sunday, 27 June 2004 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

record stores here-um, i suppose for vinyl you can go to wax trax, i think it is on 13th and washington? or somewhere near there. i always forget. twist and shout on alameda and logan has a vinyl store across the street from their main store too.

for some reason there are a lot of good indian restaurants here.
also it's been unseasonably cool for most of june. nice. mountains still topped with snow.

not sure about sprawl but then i am from detroit where you can drive 50 miles in every direction and not leave the 'city'. denver is actually pretty tiny. well you can't go east 50 miles without ending up in lake st clair.

the airport is only 20 minutes away, not sure how this puts it in nebraska, you should try driving to romulus from anywhere in the detroit metro area.

the yellow lights here are very short, why is this? and speed limits are all set about 10 miles per hour too low.

they are building light rail down the center of the new freeway, it's a colossal waste of money but i guess people in denver like to think of themselves as concerned about nature.
we are in a drought, you can't water your lawn and you're supposed to shower with your dirty dishes or something.

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 27 June 2004 04:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I moved there after living ten years in Memphis. From one of the dirtiest (yet coolest) cities in America to one of the cleanest (and cool too, yet strangely lacking in spirit to this southerner). But I liked it a lot, and Twist and Shout is a great record store, and of course, as mentioned above, the Tattered Cover. In Boulder the Boulder Bookshop downtown is nice, one of the better fiction sections for a store its size. We also lived in Boulder a year--well, it's one of the more pretentious college towns in the country. But it's nice, if completely clogged with traffic. Boulder, Denver, Louisville and surrounding 'burbs are one big conurbation at this point; I certainly preferred it to Ft. Collins and the odious Colorado Springs. Lots of great parks; good cheap Mexican food; some pretty nice restraurants, and for the most part very nice people. It's a self-consciously modern city and there are many things to recommend it; good film festivals and a decent enough music scene. If you're like me and like being outdoors, it's heaven. And to this southerner the weather is pretty fantastic--now that I'm back in the south I don't like the humidity too much. Denver Botanical Gardens is a great place to visit as well. I believe Kansas City is the closest big city, not Salt Lake City. The thing I found about Colorado in general is how self-conscious they all are about their state, which is indeed beautiful; it's just that Denver to my mind is sort of the tail-end of the midwest and the start of the west, so there's a weird kind of split in its personality. Expensive as all get-out for what you get, and the downtown could be more happening. But all in all a really nice city.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Sunday, 27 June 2004 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)

And yeah, the airport is a fucking long way out of town, but actually I'd say it's no farther from downtown Denver to airport than from the Loop to O'Hare, or from "downtown" Atlanta to their airport. And hey, it's a nice airport indeed. Just that, to show the difference between Memphis and almost any place else, I lived in Midtown Memphis and could be INSIDE the airport and parked within, like 12 minutes...

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Sunday, 27 June 2004 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Forgot--the section down on Broadway around Alameda is crammed with good second-hand stores and pretty cool bars.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Sunday, 27 June 2004 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Hello Ian. I haven't much to add that these dudes above haven't covered. Whereabouts does your mom live? I recommend visiting U.S. Toy out on dry creek and quebec ( i think). Fuck record shopping, it's all about hamburger key chains in bulk.

Oh and the other thing I have to add is that I wouldn't count on meeting keith m as he's mysterious.

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Sunday, 27 June 2004 23:22 (twenty-one years ago)

She doesn't live there, but she travels there on business a lot, and is going to be out there during her birthday and wants me to come visit.

Thanks for all yr help guys :)

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Monday, 28 June 2004 00:27 (twenty-one years ago)

twist and shout is not a great record store.
nor is wax trax. denver folks become well acquainted with mail order.

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 28 June 2004 01:29 (twenty-one years ago)

also the number one tourist spot here is columbine high school, it's at pierce and bowles in the southwest part of town.

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 28 June 2004 01:31 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe twist & shout and wax trax (which i never go to, granted) aren't good enough for those of us looking for king of luxembourg albums, but i'm sure for most of us both stores are fine (nothing fantastic i'll admit).

also ian must go to casa bonita. go for the food, stay for the fun.

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Monday, 28 June 2004 01:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Springs < Denver < PUEBLO

― nabiscothingy, Monday, 28 June 2004 01:51 (twenty-one years ago)

springs is crap.

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Monday, 28 June 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

no forest fires yet, this is a plus. i've never been to casa bonita, i like blue bonnet. yeah, the springs is lame. never been to pueblo but other than getting one of those government catalogues i am not sure what the point of going there would be.

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 28 June 2004 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

www.casabonitadenver.com

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Monday, 28 June 2004 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

♥

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Monday, 28 June 2004 02:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I was sort of kidding, but then I find it hard to see a "point" in heading to any of those cities, really. It's just, Coloradan front-range cities: they're less tourist destinations and more just nice places to live. You don't find much in them that you don't find in other cities of similar size, but the land is lovely and the pace and the people are laid-back and friendly; you go hang out, buy some books, have a nice dinner, take the occasional drive up to the mountains or down toward New Mexico. The sunsets are beautiful and the Mexican food is shockingly delicious. It's all good.

I haven't been back to Pueblo in years; it probably sucks now. But the Mexican gets better as you head south, and I was raised to like that southern prairie a bit more than the northern plain.

― nabiscothingy, Monday, 28 June 2004 02:01 (twenty-one years ago)

(I still have a bit of a southern-Colorado "mountains, schmountains" attitude going, and I snap at people when I say I grew up there and they ask me if I ski.)

― nabiscothingy, Monday, 28 June 2004 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

it's always 100 in pueblo

― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 28 June 2004 02:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Trivia: I was born in New Mexico!

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Monday, 28 June 2004 02:29 (twenty-one years ago)

if i go to denver i'm not leaving until i get to see the keith m.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 28 June 2004 03:13 (twenty-one years ago)

you might have to camp out on his front lawn, hazel.

and nitsuh, i do the same thing when asked if I ski. i've actually never even been skiing before.

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Monday, 28 June 2004 03:25 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a lot of good Vietnamese on S. Federal. Real good. New Saigon gets all the glory but there's tons more. DOn't know if the chef is still there, but for a while Da Lat was very good.

Then there's like 8 billion yuppie Thai bistro fusion joints that will be glad to empty yr pockets.

If you want to spend, check out Domo on 13th, billed as "country Japanese." It is still good despite some recent slippage. It's attached to an aikido dojo. It's the nabemono you want. Sit in the garden if you can, beware thunderstorms which right now just go on all day for some reason.

Margaritas at the Morrison Inn on a warm evening can be good too. Or after brunch for that matter. Hike around Red Rocks for a while first, or go up Mt. Falcon (home of the ruins of an aborted Summer White House from 1910 or so) if you're feeling energetic, both are very nearby. Or you can do some bouldering on the hogback above town if you're into climbing. Er, there's also drag racing around the corner at Bandimere if you're into nitro powered whatever.

i'm not leaving until i get to see the keith m.

Myth, like sasquatch.

― Hunter (Hunter), Monday, 28 June 2004 03:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Myth, like sasquatch.

he lives! i've been tracking the wily keith m. for over ten years now.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 28 June 2004 04:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I spent the night in Denver on my great train migration from DC to SF several years ago. The Man and I got a great deal in a very fancy old hotel that was built by the local business men in order to tempt the train people to stop there. It was a beautiful building. I don't think they got many foreign visitors in there.

A guy I know claims to be from a really rough part of Denver and says that there's a lot of gang activity and it can be a bit tough once you get outside the downtown, nice-coffee-shop areas. Is this true? He's the first person I ever heard mention this.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Monday, 28 June 2004 11:42 (twenty-one years ago)

the roughest area here is actually probably north aurora(park hill), but it's a relative thing as i grew up in detroit.

i don't have a lawn.

― keith m (keithmcl), Tuesday, 29 June 2004 01:01 (twenty-one years ago)

however, if you do visit please come at the end of july when i am moving and then you can carry some boxes and marvel at the lack of humidity.

― keith m (keithmcl), Tuesday, 29 June 2004 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

My mom's folks settled there. My cousin went to Columbine. It's higher than you think. The grass is sturdy and the whole place is littered with imported trees.

― hexxxyAnswers, Tuesday, 29 June 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

ips engraver beetle and mountain pine bark beetle are gonna kill all of the evergreens so we'll be left with lindens and aspens and honey locusts. leafy spurge is taking over the city too.

― keith m (keithmcl), Wednesday, 30 June 2004 03:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it true Denver Water is gonna let the Highline go dry and that the cottonwoods will die? I thought I read that somewhere, but there was water in the ditch last week. The cottonwoods are my favorite thing in the neighborhood. I guess they "waste" water incredibly. Now lawns and golf courses, that's how you use water wisely.

― Hunter (Hunter), Wednesday, 30 June 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

cottonwoods smell, especially when being cut. Denver water eased the water restrictions today because they need the money. it keeps raining, it's lovely. grass is a huge sink for carbon and drops temps in urban settings, go grass! most golf courses have gone to non-potable sources. to save water they should remove all russian olives from the state.

― keith m (keithmcl), Thursday, 1 July 2004 00:10 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

TELL ME ABOUT DENVER, PLEASE.

― tehresa, Sunday, 20 March 2011 16:11 (fifteen years ago)

fuckin blows

― kurt schwitters, Sunday, 20 March 2011 16:12 (fifteen years ago)

elaborate.

― tehresa, Sunday, 20 March 2011 16:16 (fifteen years ago)

it was windy yesterday

― keythhtyek, Sunday, 20 March 2011 16:18 (fifteen years ago)

Protect your kitty treats when you visit Denver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ISzf2pryI

― StanM, Sunday, 20 March 2011 16:19 (fifteen years ago)

Wind was absolutely nuts yesterday... but isn't like that usually.

If ur ~*musically inclined*~ you oughta come to Rhinoceropolis tonight, which is a DIY garage venue thing (google it). Only $5, which is actually optional anyway. The bands are obscure2deth but it's fun-fun if nothing else interests you on a Sunday eve.

― yeah (kelpolaris), Sunday, 20 March 2011 17:56 (fifteen years ago)

it's hip as fuk

― yeah (kelpolaris), Sunday, 20 March 2011 17:56 (fifteen years ago)

A guy I know claims to be from a really rough part of Denver and says that there's a lot of gang activity and it can be a bit tough once you get outside the downtown, nice-coffee-shop areas. Is this true? He's the first person I ever heard mention this.
― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Monday, June 28, 2004 5:42 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark

This is kind of bullshit. I've been in Denver since 2001 and it's really not something you'll ever, ever encounter. There are definitely ~hoodz~ but I've known plenty of kids w/ homes in the worst parts of town (Five Points, N. Parkhill, Montbello) who've never seen any sort of activity with gangs and such. I mean I can't deny it's existence, but there is absolutely nothing about Denver that allots it to be prolific. This is a very yuppie-dominated town.

― yeah (kelpolaris), Sunday, 20 March 2011 18:04 (fifteen years ago)

TZA ARE YOU COMING HERE?

― homosexual II, Sunday, 20 March 2011 18:38 (fifteen years ago)

is it really hip as fuk?

― homosexual II, Sunday, 20 March 2011 18:39 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah it's a pretty young crowd... a lot of tumblr-types, mid-20's kids. PBR is actually the drink of choice.

it's p much hipster-epitomized in some cases, but there are a fair amount of norms... one of the music crits for Westword is a regular, and i suspect dudes from the AV Club frequent as it gets a fair amount of rep in the night-life pages (like with this latest show tonight)

It's still fairly fun tho, and lots of up & coming bands I've seen there before finding them mentioned in Spin/P4k/Altered Zones/etc,etc,etc. This is the main act playing tonight:
http://alteredzones.com/posts/1033/vitamins-no-notion-anything-only-whatever-what/

whom actually opened for Flaming Lips up in Aspen.

― yeah (kelpolaris), Sunday, 20 March 2011 19:07 (fifteen years ago)

Oh I have been to rhino tons of times

― homosexual II, Sunday, 20 March 2011 19:23 (fifteen years ago)

wtf is a "tumblr type"?

― dell (del), Sunday, 20 March 2011 19:27 (fifteen years ago)

kelpolaris, there were some now-defunct DIY music venues before Rhino that were pretty great, too. Monkey Mania, Hipster Youth Halfway House, Lost Lake. All gone now, so I appreciate Rhino for keeping the torch aglow. Hope you have fun at the show tonight!

― homosexual II, Sunday, 20 March 2011 19:30 (fifteen years ago)

Mandee, I am half trying to convince the bf that I should just stay @ job til june 30 then take my severance and run. Obv my first choice is seattle but he lovvved denver so I'd probably have a better chance convincing him to go there if I could somehow make 2 jobs materialize. Lonnnnnnng shot.

― tehresa, Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:16 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0aTPc66lfk&feature=related

― it's not in the Wu-Tang Manual (latebloomer), Sunday, 20 March 2011 22:47 (fifteen years ago)

westword is hipster? i figured them for vegans.

― keythhtyek, Monday, 21 March 2011 02:45 (fifteen years ago)

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