You’re Thinking About Moving to Denver-What You Need to Know (By a Local)
I continue to be amazed by the interest in Denver. Not because it isn’t a great place to live, it is. But, because I remember how it was before. I remember the contempt that people from other cities and states had for the Queen City of the Plains and how it was unironically considered fly over country. Why on earth would anyone stop here? What was there to do?
Throughout the years though, there was a lot of thoughtful planning and development that coincided with California and New York becoming expensive and having citizens explore other similar living options elsewhere. Denver became one of those cities. And if you’ve landed on this podcast episode and post, I thought I would share some to consider before you pack up your car and make your way here.
I’ve decided to do a good/bad approach to this list and conversation by sharing good things and the following up with issues that aren’t so good.
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Before moving to Denver (or any city anywhere) ideally you should visit a couple of times to get a feel for it. I recommend doing one or two scouting trips. One during the warmer months and a scouting trip during the colder months.
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Denver is Expensive
The cost of living is high in Denver. No pun intended. It is not cheap here. Specifically, the cost of housing. Yes, housing affordability has become a flashpoint topic across the United States, but the Western states in particular aren’t cheap to live in anymore. Housing and the types of policies needed to address the issue are at a stalemate, stalling out or just being NIMBIED into oblivion.
In the case Denver, a recent initiative didn’t pass that would have allegedly created some affordable housing. Conversations around housing density and zoning are being had on a daily basis. I personally am hoping that we start changing zoning so that we can increase population density.
In fact, unhoused Denverites has become an area of tension in general and key talking point and policy conversation during the 2023 Mayoral conversation. Denverites are really struggling with how to compassionately support those in our community who are struggling and it’s going to be interesting to see how our new mayor approaches this issue from a policy perspective.
This is an issue playing out across the United States and while I’m of the opinion that we’re now at the point where this is a Federal level issue, I’m curious to see how local policy will continue to help or harm unhoused Denverites.
Great Quality of Life
Once you get past the fact that Denver is expensive, I will say that the quality of life is really good (as long as you can afford it). People work to live vs. living to work, we have 300+ days of sunshine a year and access to the outdoors. And there are so many freaking activities to enjoy in Denver and things to do throughout the year. It seems like Denverites enjoy any reason to party and enjoy life in general.
We have crazy number of free and paid festivals, concerts, sporting events and other activities that well-designed cities should have. There’s a huge art scene ranging from murals, galleries and experiences such as First Fridays. Locals spend time in the mountains when able or just enjoying the outdoors in general.
I love that we continue to fund the SCFD. Its tagline “We Fund Culture” because of this funding Denver county and 6 other counties have funding for programming and access to free days at the Denver Zoo, Denver Art Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and more.
There’s nothing better than enjoying The Chalk Art Festival, Cinco de Mayo Festivities and Juneteenth. People participate in and support Bike to Work days and buy delicious locally grown food at farmers markets around town. Volunteering is “a thing” and live music is everywhere.
You’ll find people enjoy working hard and playing hard. It’s more common to ask what people do in reference to the activities that they enjoy versus asking about what people do for work.
I find that people are pretty easy going, they are very nice and incredibly generous with their time, energy and money.
Public Transit is Both Good and Bad
Depending on who you ask, Denver’s public transit is either pretty solid or really bad. I personally think that it’s pretty solid, but I also have used Denver’s public transit since I was a kid. It has definitely improved. That said, there’s room for improvement.
- RTD is too expensive-I actually think this is the #1 reason why people aren’t using it more. I’ll never forget taking the train from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport and it only costing $4 dollars. The ride was almost an hour. For perspective, Denver’s Train to the Plane costs $10.50 and takes 37 minutes. Yes, you can use that pass for 24 hours, but damn….that’s a big difference.
- Perception of safety-If you’re using public transit, the public will be riding it with you. While I find transit in Denver to be relatively safe-I do feel that just like with anything in any city you DO need to pay attention to your surroundings and the people riding transit with you. It’s common sense. If something doesn’t feel right, trust your gut and be proactive vs. reactive.
- Routes and Services Consistency-This is a constant area of frustration, focus and debate here in town. There’s nothing worse than needing to take a bus or train and it just doesn’t show up, is delayed or there’s a complicated connection process from one bus or train, to another.
I also truly love the Eco-Pass program that allows companies to partner with RTD to provide discounted or “Free” access to transit. I’m sure a fee was paid by the employee on the backend. All I know is that I loved tapping my id as I boarded the bus and made my way to wherever I was going.
There’s also (finally) increasing access to the mountain corridor with newer services Bustang and Pegasus. I have complained for years about the lack of access to the mountains if you don’t own a car. In fact, it was not unusual to meet people who lived in Denver and had never visited the mountains. Similar to people who grew up here and learned how to ski as adults.
There is always room for improvement. That said I feel like RTD and other agencies are still emerging through the hell that was COVID. The impact on services, revenue and
Denver Will (Likely) Never Be a Food City
I’m not saying that Denver won’t ever be a solid food city. I’m just saying that Denver won’t be a food destination. Stop expecting it to be a NYC, LA or New Orleans. Don’t get me wrong, there are good foods here and the food scene has consistently has gotten better since I was kid.
In fact, in recent years Colorado based Chefs have notably received numerous nods for James Beard Foundation Awards. Denverites work out too much to enjoy all of the butter, gluten and salt that makes a lot of food great. Also, the street culture is different based on city density. Here are some foods trends that I’m loving and experiencing in Denver this year.
- Deepening support of African-American owned restaurants via a group called “Black in Denver” Gentrification has impacted black owned restaurants and bars in Denver. I love that “Black in Denver” a group with over 10,000+ members routinely shares locally owned restaurants to support and shout out. This support saves these businesses from having to do ad spend-huge when you think about the earnings margins that most restaurants are dealing with.
- Foods across the Asian Diaspora-I belong to a Facebook group called “Crazy Hungry Asians of Colorado” I am not Asian, but I’m a huge fan of Asian food. And allies are welcome in the group. There is an incredible amount of energy, excitement and food spaces opening up across the metro area. I have a ridiculously long-list of places to check out because of this group.
- Farmers Markets-I love seeing what food makers are creating and incubating in my favorite farmers markets across town.
- Hot Sauces-We love hot sauce and variations of it. I know that I will find 3-5 options at any place that I eat at. This is a relief to me.
- Vegan Foods-I am not a vegan. But, I was a vegetarian for 5 years. I frequently eat at vegan restaurants because the quality is so good. In fact, in terms of vegan options Denver is becoming competitive with Portland.
- Colorado Lamb-A bit jarring that I mention this after vegan options. But, Colorado Lamb is so damn good.
- Colorado Bison-Ditto.
One last thing to mention is that a surprising number of food concepts have come out of Denver/Colorado. These include, but aren’t limited to the following:
- Chipotle
- Qdoba
- Noodles and CO.
- Tokyo Joes
- Snooze
- Quiznos
- Noosa
- Bhakti Chai
- Chocolove
If you’re deeply passionate about food, you can have good food here. BUT, there are certain ingredients that you’re going to pay more for such as seafood and items that aren’t native to Colorado. We have to fly in many of those ingredients or source them in such a way that increases the price.
Denver and Colorado Policy or Resources That May Be of Interest
I am sure that there are people who are looking to move to Colorado and Denver in particular because they are leaving their old cities or states because of policies. I thought I would share a few that may be of interest or may surprise you.
- Abortion Rights-Laws protecting the right to access abortion and other types of health care that is being legislated against across the United States. Colorado has also passed protections in 2023 to protect out of state patients who access that care. Check here for more information.
- FAMLI-Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. This program should go “live” in 2024. It’s a paid leave program that self-employed individuals or small business folks can opt-in and pay into. PAID LEAVE! I’ve begun to learn more about it so that I can sign up in January 2024.
- Proposition FF Passed in 2022-What is it? Children will have access to breakfast and lunch at school regardless of income. Food is free. Apparently 55% of Colorado voters voted “yes” for this policy. I am one of those voters.
- Colorado Secured Savings Program-This went “live” April 2023. Basically, it’s a retirement savings program for accessible to self-employed workers or work places that opt-in to the program.
- The Crown Act-Colorado was passed in 2020. The goal of this act is to prohibit discrimination based on how someone’s hair naturally is.
- Colorado was the first US state to legalize cannabis in 2012.
I’m sure there are a few other policies that I’ve missed. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to the news that a proposed assault rifle ban lost by one vote. People are pretty upset and really frustrated. Remember, for a very long time Colorado was a Red state, then Purple and even though it is currently solidly “blue” there are still some things that come up around Right to Carry-even from Democrats. IYKYK. We’re in the West.
Vote By Mail
I’m surprised by how few of these “You want to Live in Denver” or “You Want to Live in Colorado” posts don’t share the very important lived experience of voting in Colorado. In fact, access to voting is consider the A standard here in Colorado. I will always have Colorado as my United States home base because of it. Voting in Colorado is GLORIOUS. Here’s a podcast episode about “What it’s Like to Vote in Colorado.”
One thing that I do want to share is that vote by mail confuses most people. We receive our ballots BY MAIL. But, the majority of voters will return their ballots by ballot box. Colorado voters are constantly educated on what to expect, what to do and how to deal with issues if they come up. Here are some important details:
- For registered voters, ballots are sent to our homes.
- You can register to vote up until Election Day.
- We also receive Ballot Information Booklet (Blue books) before we receive our ballots. We then have time to learn about what we’re voting on Pros/Cons and then it’s easier to fill out our ballots. You’ll see people carrying these around town and studying the information.
- I did not know that this wasn’t a common resource across the United States.
- If you’re an Independent voter you’ll receive a Republican and Democratic ballot. You may only return ONE.
- We have early voting
- Colorado voters are told when to expect our actual ballot to arrive.
- We can check and see when our ballot is processed.
- Though we have fewer voting days that’s not an issue because we have greater access to BALLOT BOXES. Some perspective:
- Colorado has over 400 ballot boxes. Around 1 for every 10,000-15,000 citizens. These are secured and monitored 24 hours a day during Election season. We have almost 6 million citizens in the state.
- Texas has around 30 million citizens. They have 1 ballot box per county, a recent change made by their current governor.
Most importantly, Colorado doesn’t have voting lines. These do not exist here. Why? Because we drop off our ballots into ballot boxes, people don’t have to line up to vote in person. If they are voting in person, they already know what they’re voting on vs. learning about what they are voting on in line=saving time. And typically these lines are pretty short….because people dropped off their ballot.
Denver Lifestyle and The People
Denver is a pretty fun place to live and I feel like Colorado is also a great state to age in as well.The lifestyle is very reflective of the underlying culture “Live and Let Live” especially in Denver.
Positives:
- People are pretty nice here.
- People enjoy their lives.
- Folks are always up for having fun. No one is going to say a thing about you going snowboarding on Wednesday. As long as your work is done-who cares?!
- A lot of innovation and resources
- Come as you are.
- Easy to meet people…but….
- Great place to age.
- Focus on fitness and healthy lifestyle
- So many personal and professional opportunities.
- So many people wanting to live in Denver and bringing energy, excitement and cool things to do, eat, experience.
Negatives
- So many people wanting to live in Denver and not being emotionally connected to the city.
- Sometimes I wish we dressed up more (not always…on occasion)
- Denver lacks diversity though many of the ethnic groups that live here are within the statistical ranges of representation within the United States.
- Aurora is one of the most diverse cities in the US oddly enough. I believe it (this is a positive)
- Cost of activities-You could go broke just having fun.
- We can be a little noncommittal
- Focus on fitness and healthy lifestyle. I’m considered Colorado Fat and Colorado skinny. In Colorado I would be considered fat. Outside of Colorado I’m considered skinny. Basically, pressure to be thin can be unhealthy.
- Dating can be weirdly challenging-I’ve heard this from many people and have experienced it personally.
Just like any place the experience of living in Denver is a complex experience. Ultimately, Denver won’t be for everyone and that’s ok. Don’t forget to schedule your scouting trip to Denver and spend time in the Mile High City before moving.