denver: a review
A partial mea culpa
I am someone who has a lot of strongly held opinions and those opinions become an extension of my personality. I previously examined one of these pillars back in my 2021 post outdoor cat activities where I tried to moderate my view on outdoor activities (e.g. hiking). This post feels related.
One of my long-held beliefs is that Denver is not good. It has become somewhat of a bit at this point, but it is true that given a list of American cities and asked to rank them I would put Denver at the bottom, and this is without having ever visited. This past weekend I visited Denver for a long weekend and have to re-evaluate my take and give the city a proper review.
Let’s start out with how I came to harbor this feeling towards a city I had never visited; it all started when I moved to Chicago. Growing up in the midwest, Chicago had always been the mecca. Sure, there is New York; but that was culturally different — Chicago had the midwest sensibilities with coastal benefits. After moving there it felt like the center of the universe. Many of my classmates moved there it seemed like anybody who was part of my high-achieving cohort had either moved to Chicago or New York (this is a broad generalization) — but as the years progressed people began to get new jobs and start moving across the country.
When people announced these moves it was often framed as “escaping” or “finally getting out”, descriptions that put down the city that I loved and had chosen to stay in. It made me resentful. Then there were people, coworkers and friends, who dreamed openly of moving out of the city and used the same language.
The time frame we are talking about was 2018 till early 2020, a time when Denver was one of the hottest locations for young professionals. This combined with my general unhappiness with work (those first years of banking are not the happiest) made for a relationship with that city that was adversarial. I didn’t really know anything about the city, but I knew it was leeching from Chicago.
Then add-on my general cynicism toward outdoor activities (addressed in my prior post) and some events in my personal life led to what could fairly be called a hatred. 100% unfair but felt.
It’s been years now I’ve developed more personal confidence in my hometown and am no longer so affected by what other people choose to do — and then there’s that tiny item of actually visiting the city. So, I’ve examined why I historically felt this way, and now it’s time to give my review on the city.
What I Did Not Like
Downtown. The city center of Denver is packed with high-rises, but much like the downtowns of smaller metro hubs like Minneapolis or Milwaukee, its sidewalks are empty, and its roads are wide. There are a few areas which are designed for humans to enjoy (I’m thinking the Union Station area, which we’ll get to later) — but much of downtown is made for commuting and parking. In addition to the empty feeling and car domination, the design of the roads is horrendous1. Maybe I’m just spoiled with Chicago’s nearly perfect grid system, but Denver has this stretch of curvy and angled roads that create odd stop-light patterns, and intersections back-ups that I encountered multiple times (odd for a long weekend trip in my opinion).
Finally, on the downtown piece, it does not seem like this is all by accident. Since Denver is a city of sprawl, most of the interesting nightlife and restaurants are out in the neighborhoods, or God forbid, the suburbs. This city is designed to work downtown and provides limited opportunities to play2.
Walkability. If there’s one thing people think about when Denver is mentioned, it’s the outdoor activities. I summarize it as the REI-athletes, since it’s hiking, skiing, cycling, kayaking, etc… but Denver the city is not super conducive to exploring on foot. Exploring on a bike? My very rough feeling is that there is 1+ miles of distance between interesting commercial districts with restaurants, cafes, and shops. While 1 mile is not exceptionally bad in and of itself, but that 1 mile is accentuated by the deep canyons carved into the city by the interstate highways that break up the neighborhoods.
All of this said, if you had a bicycle this feels like a much easier commute; but then begs the question how people can go out and have a good evening (drink, smoke, etc…) and get home without the use of an Uber?
Food. I looked for a lot of reservations in the city and tried to find the best places to eat while I was here, it was hard to find. For my trip I leveraged this guide from the New York Times, and it provided a good recommendation. But aside from the Tavernetta and Casa Bonita, the dining availability in the city was sub-par. I had some good meals, but I wouldn’t consider Denver a foodie paradise.
What I Liked
Weather. 300 days of sun? 70 in the city and snow in the mountains? Ok — it has nothing on summertime Chi, but during the winter, spring, and fall I’m giving an edge to Denver.
Neighborhoods. While I have my critiques on downtown, the neighborhoods (e.g. Platt Park, Highlands) are quite walkable and resemble the shopping density of a Chicago neighborhood (good). Once you’ve driven and found parking, which is something I don’t miss, these areas have a plethora of cafes, shops, and restaurants to enjoy. The lack of housing density is an issue (the living situation in these neighborhoods largely are made up of sprawling single-family homes) but that’s the city.
Proximity to Nature. Holy shit. I did not appreciate how close the city was to the mountains. 60-90 minutes to real, unadulterated nature. It’s hard to imagine living in Chicago and who’s spent their entire life in the midwest. Very cool.
Art. I visited two art museums while I was in Denver and they were both excellent, I was truly impressed. My first visit was to the Kirkland Museum of Find & Decorative Art and the Clyfford Still Museum in the golden triangle neighborhood. Both excellent and have exhibits I would go back to check out.
Public Transit. The structure of the city is not conducive to tourists. Without a rental car the city is difficult to navigate. There is a wonderful and well-designed bike lane network; but to a tourist it is difficult to get a bike that is worthy of this exploration. One transportation-item I was surprised with was the existence of a commuter train line, the RTD. Full disclosure I did not use this, but after speaking with some locals it seems that its use is expanding, but mostly for daily work commuting to the city center.
Red Rocks. Best venue I’ve ever been to. I will be coming back to Denver if for no other reason than to see another show here.
On balance I’m putting Denver in my top 10 and officially removing it from my hate list. Congratulations!
Some people might cite this reference and claim that it’s actually not this bad. Experience over statistics, it was not good.
This is a distinct complaint from the Loop in Chicago. The Loop is primarily a business district, but it has many bars and restaurants to service business lunches, dinners, and happy hours.