Square State Colorado

Is Denver Overrated

This isn’t the first time that I’ve seen posts where people ask the question “Is Denver Overrated?” What’s interesting about this discourse, especially on Twitter, is that it feels like people had one really bad experience here…typically during the earlier part of COVID and now that’s what defines Denver to them until the end of time. It’s 2024 we’re 6 months away from 2025 and I have some thoughts about this weird cognitive dissonance that I’m observing around the idea that Denver is or isn’t a good place to be. I have some thoughts that I’ve been marinating on for awhile now.

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Listen to the Episode

When I Edited the Episode

As I was editing this episode of Square State Colorado, I noticed a few things. I noticed that I didn’t talk about the night life-we don’t really have a concentrated entertainment district like we did in previous years. But, I don’t go out in the same way as I used to. I didn’t talk about our restaurants until the end. And I didn’t talk about the traffic-it legit sucks. Instead, I’m struck by the fact that I focused heavily on two areas of frequent conversation here in town-the downtown business corridor and the unhoused crisis and how people are experiencing it. The first impression stuff that sticks with people who don’t know a city beyond what they see.

When I think of the question is something “Mid” or low-key mediocre or overrated when talking about a city there are so many things to consider when answering that question. I’ve had the good fortune to visit 45 states and numerous other countries. The idea of a place being “mid” or overrated is so subjective.

If you feel that Denver is overrated-then, for you it is. For me, Denver is my hometown and there are so many beautiful things about it. I love the people-they’re truly really nice. I love when I’m on the bus and some person randomly says “Hey, can someone help pay for my fare?” And people do. I love when folks tell me about a cool resource, program or space. I love going to the mountains and hiking. Or, watching a Broadway show, enjoying live music or one of the many professional sports teams that we have. I love that it often feels like anything is possible here.

People are pretty open to what you dream about. But those things aren’t obvious. I also didn’t talk about how Denver is one of the best coffee towns in the US, incredible sports, one of the best places to enjoy theater in the country. If you love live music-Denver, in my view, is the #5 city in the United States for enjoying live music. I’m told the beer scene is pretty good (I don’t drink beer) You can meet people easily here, but we are low-key a little flaky. Ultimately, Denver is a city that has its good and bad aspects to it-just like every other city. While I don’t believe it’s overrated I do believe that not every place is for every body. Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter Cowtonw Denver to gain more insights into the city.

Cowtown Denver

COVID and Denver

Let’s be very candid about the fact that the beginning of COVID (2020) until about early 2023 was a rough time to be in Denver. ROUGH. However, I would argue that many cities across the United States and the world had the unfortunate amplification of societal problems coming to light during that time. In the case of Denver, we really saw how bad our unhoused population and problem had gotten.

Conversations around affordability, safety, cleanliness, mental health and drug usage had to be had. We couldn’t pretend anymore. Not when there were encampments everywhere. To add insult to injury some of our Western cultural quirks also made it difficult for us to address the issue. Should we “live and let live” the situation and not intervene? What’s the best way to intervene? How can we be humane in our support of our neighbors who were and are in pain. Because surely being unhoused during a global crisis is a painful experience. In October of 2020, I even recorded a podcast episode entitled “Denver, You’re Getting a Little Sloppy” where I talked about how I was experiencing the city.

So, when I see some of the critiques and criticisms of the city-I get it. But, it’s now 2024 almost 2025 and I think it’s time to talk about what it feels like to hear people:

• Put down the city of Denver

• Act like things are still the same.

• Bitch about issues that are actively being worked on.

I have some thoughts about the current level of vitriol that I see on almost a daily basis about Denver. By the way, it’s not the first time I’ve seen and experienced this and I have some feedback because I’m so over it.

Maybe Your Time Here is Done

I often feel like people cling to places, people and moments in time. If a place, person or space no longer serves you-maybe it’s time to leave. Maybe, just maybe Denver isn’t right for you anymore. In fact, part of why I continue to love Denver-is because I’ve left more than once. It doesn’t matter if you’re a third generation Coloradan, a person who moved here during the pandemic or someone who’s lived here most of your adult life.

I want to address some of the things that I see on Twitter specifically. On the day that I’m working on this podcast.

• Homeless people and encampments were everywhere-During 2020-2022, I would argue that this is how it felt and there’s no push back on this point of view. One thing that has been interesting to experience in 2024 is having older women say to me “I’ve noticed that things feel safer. I’m not seeing as many homeless in the downtown area.” In fact, I’ve had both Black and White women say this to me, unsolicited. I’d even noticed it and I’m downtown weekly on purpose. I can work from wherever and I enjoy heading downtown. I love going to events, Basecamp, Union Station (looking forward to when they complete the remodel in a couple of weeks) I love heading to Civic Center park and enjoying Civic Center Eats. I had a great time at The Outside Festival and really loved experiencing one of the 16th Street Mall blocks that has been completed. It’s beautiful.

• Downtown is in a death spiral-This is really important conversation to be had. But, I want to share it from a long-time resident experience which is this is not the first downturn that downtown Denver has had. And after every downturn, there has been a boom. One thing that is notable specific to this downturn is that we had several things happen at once:
  • COVID shut down business and safety related issues during that time
  • Work From Home-In Denver (or hybrid) is not going to go away. It’s a very attractive part of living here.
  • The 16th Street Mall Reno
  • Larimer Square Reno
  • Lingering negative perceptions of downtown post COVID
  • Lack of perspective about the fact that downtown Denver (and Denver) have had very sharp boom bust cycles through out its history.
  • What is going on with Denver Pavilions post the 16th Mall Construction project. What are they doing to fill up that space in 2025??

• The other day, I was walking through downtown and in recent months I have been struck by the following.
  • How many people were downtown-You, the person perpetually bitching about downtown might not be coming into the city. You may have come down in 2021 and saw someone smoking meth and thought I’m not coming back. And I get that. I had that experience. However, things are definitely better since then. People clearly are spending time there. Not just tourists. I actually enjoy spending time downtown.
  • All of the events-From theater (Frozen is coming soon) Zach Bryan at Empower Field/Mile High, festivals at Civic Center Park-things are activated and active. I had an incredible time in Five Points at the Juneteenth Festival-it was absolutely a massive celebration.
  • All of the new businesses slowly reopening specifically towards the western half of the mall/west of the Clocktower. Which shouldn’t surprise you because those are the blocks that are almost done being renovated.

• The wild idea that business wouldn’t come back once the 16th Street Mall renovation is done is absolutely ridiculous. For business owners who are good at negotiating a lease, have a unique idea-it’s clear that by next summer more business will back into that corridor.

And for those of you who are like “You’re not from here” Because someone made that assumption on a recent Facebook post I interacted on, likely because I’m Black. To be clear, I grew up here. I’m GenX, I have lived perspective. And a lot of cities across the US are about to be hit with large infrastructure projects that the city of Denver dealt with during a really difficult time. It has been painful, like living in a giant home reno project. However, I do think in the long run having these projects completed in the next year or so will benefit us.

Experiencing Denver Now

I love seeing that new bike lane on Broadway and people using it. The entire time they were working on it was painful. Blocks of the city shut down as they reworked the infrastructure. Now there are people zipping down the street. I love seeing all of the people enjoying roof top bars, patios and watching the cars go by from Burn Down-an immensely popular new music and bar venue.

• While I wish Larimer street remained shut down in Five Points, every time I’m over there it’s busy.

• I love heading over to Confluence Park and watching people ride the waves as I head over to take the Trolley or enjoy some time sitting in Centennial Gardens.

• Participating in the Denver Nuggets victory parade and being in community with the greatest basketball fans in the country.

• Sitting quietly after hanging out with people and reading a book during a Silent Book Club meetup.

• Taking the Bustang up I-70 (because that drive sucks) and enjoying exploring different mountain towns.

• Watching hordes of people come down to watch a baseball game at Coors Field.

• Enjoying the people watching at the different farmers markets around town. Please bring back freshly roasted chiles and pinon nuts. I miss that.

What We Need to Do Better

Here’s the thing, no one is saying Denver is 100% ok. How could it be? But, I’m 100% convinced of the following:

• Many of the people who are complaining about the city…stopped enjoying the city of Denver years ago and would be better served by moving.

• We need to bring the cost of living down. Things are too expensive.

• Many of the people who are complaining about certain aspects of the city have a right to be concerned about the problems and make those complaints. We should not pretend like there aren’t problems happening in the city. Denver is no longer a small city. It has big city issues that we must address and there has to be continued conversation, aggressive action and focus on moving things forward.

• People are being disingenuous about the idea that downtown Denver, in particular, is never going to come back, blah, blah, blah. Downtown Denver stays coming back. Don’t believe me…here are few noteable moments. I’m sure I’m missing a few.
  • Gold bust
  • Silver bust
  • The Great Depression
  • The Oil Bust in the 1980’s
  • At & T/Ma Bell Breakup
  • Dot Com Bust
  • 9/11 impact on international students
    • Bird Flu-Losing business/students from Korea
  • 2008-2010 (housing)
  • 2020-2023 COVID

The Truth Is…

• There are changes happening in Denver that I don’t like. I don’t like having a Governor of another state sending people to my city to potentially freeze to death. I don’t like having people come up to my car and try to clean it, it scares me. I also don’t like treating people badly who are in bad situations.

• There has to be a middle ground. We’re not hearing each other. It’s important to critique place that we live. It’s also important to candid about the fact that the last time you went to downtown Denver was January 2021 and you didn’t return.

I Ask the Following Questions:

• How can Denver rebuild trust with people both in the city and beyond that it’s a great place to visit?

• How can all of us be heard as we share what our vision of the city should and could be?

• Why is it so hard to get people to believe (this time) what people are saying about our current lived experiences in town?

• If you have to record videos of people in distress…maybe, live somewhere else where you don’t have to do that. Or, maybe share local business to support instead?

Life is short. No one wants you to be miserable and if being in Denver is so god awful, it’s time to go. Just like with any city. It might just be time for you to go and that’s ok.

I’m so tired of people’s bitching because it’s not doing anything. It’s not like people are saying “Hey, how can we get the Governor of Texas to stop sending bus loads of people to Denver.” Or, here’s how we propose growing revenue in Denver by bringing in XYZ businesses.” Or, “here’s how I spent locally at Denver small businesses this week.” I don’t hear that from you, so move on you’ll be happier and so will we.

It’s jarring to feel like we’re living in a completely different city than the one that we keep hearing constant complaints about. It’s likely that the truth of the experience of Denver is somewhere in the middle of what we keep sharing.

Finally, Denver (finally) has a solid food scene and I’m tired of people eating at In and Out and saying that it doesn’t.

That’s a different podcast episode.