Ask Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men Edition the Seventh

Monday, July 4, 2011
Today's question comes from anissa_roy, who asks,
What are the best and worst parts of living in Colorado? What advice would you give to someone considering a trip there versus someone planning a move? Why yes, I am something of a travel geek.
I grew up here in Colorado, and then left for twelve years for warmer parts of the country. I've been back for fifteen years, and yet I'm still wracking my brain to figure out how to answer your question.

I guess the best indicator as to whether or not someone would enjoy living in or visiting Colorado is to answer a simple question: Do you enjoy being outdoors? If the answer is "yes," then pack your bags - you're going to love it here. If the answer is "no," then make plans for some other locale.

Most of the activities that keep people entertained here are based in the great outdoors. In the winter, there's skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, sledding, tubing, snowmobiling, and dog-sledding. In the summer, there's hiking, camping, trail riding, hunting, fishing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, golf, cycling.

If you don't like to be outdoors, the pickings are bit slimmer. Don't get me wrong - there are regional attractions such as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Denver Art Museum, mountain casinos, music festivals, and professional sports in the areas of football, baseball, basketball, hockey, lacrosse and soccer. But Denver's heritage is one of a cow town, and it shows. The big draw here is BEING OUTSIDE - there are 300 sunny days a year here, and the landscape of the place pretty much guarantees an active, athletic population. If you're the kind of person who really likes to be inside, who thrives only on cultural events, then Denver and surrounds probably isn't the right place for you.

The local communities do make an effort, though. There are local performing arts and cultural events centers in most areas that draw some decent shows. In fact, there's one opening this fall two blocks from the Big Yellow House, and we're really looking forward to seeing the Vienna Boys Choir and other high quality acts there.

As for living here, I'd say the cost of living is a bit high - about 103 on a comparative scale. That's nothing compared to New York City or San Francisco, of course (167 and 207, respectively), but it's high enough. The median asking price for a home in Denver is $274,900.00, and the median household income is $56,993.00. Unemployment is currently at 8.8%. Culturally, I have to say it's kind of...white. 81.3% white, in fact, according to the 2010 census. That makes the place a bit homogeneous for my preference, but the Latino population is increasing steadily, which will help in the long term.

Overall, I have to say that the reason I continue to live here doesn't really have anything to do with Colorado as a place, but everything to do with who else lives here. My very large, very strange family is here, including my Hot Daughter, my Hot Mom, and various and sundry other folks, and I spent enough time away from an extended support system that I'm not really interested in doing so again. Given my druthers and unlimited funds, I would probably move someplace where the weather was a bit more mild, and the cultural events were a bit more dense. But my family didn't settle in San Francisco, so here I am.

Thanks for your question, anissa_roy, and feel free to ask more specific questions in the comments if I missed something you wanted me to cover.

5 comments:

mom in northern said...

Included all of music festival that happen all over the state for all kinds of music...

Anne C. said...

I agree with "mom". The outdoor and culture realms meld really well with outdoor concerts and music festivals.

Barael's Blade said...

Can't stress the "must love the outdoors to live here" more. Its certainly why I moved here from the S.F. area. Mountains were too far away and cost of living was WAY too high. I do miss the cultural things about the Bay Area though.

One of the things I missed when I moved here that I didn't realize I loved when I was living in CA was the diversity. In Denver it wasn't so bad but when I moved to the burbs the culture (or lack thereof) shock was a little hard to get used to. My family has ancestry all over northern Europe and I might be the blackest thing in my neighborhood :) Yikes! I told my wife we have to move to the mountains or back to the city.

Barael's Blade said...

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that we have Red Rocks. Best place in the world to see live music and its outside. Very Colorado!

Janiece said...

Welcome, Barael's Blade.

I love the Amphitheater, too. We've seen many fine concerts up there.