I like your take on Denver, it's still got a lot of good but we gotta bring it back. Can't believe Denver got a C- on housing. Higher than expected. When the median house costs almost 650K for a pile of hot garbage, and you gotta invest heavily on security systems, cameras, and still have 'van life!' homeless people parked outside your house 24/7, sleeping with one eye open, somethings broken. Niche grades on diversity, but not "unhoused newcomers". Bet they see it as one in the same.
I feel that people that complain about "how bad" it is to live in Denver, have never lived outside of Colorado. Or haven't lived somewhere else for a decade or longer. I've lived all over the midwest. Spent 8 years in Houston. Here's the thing - all big cities are growing and facing those issues. Denver isn't growing as fast as places like big cities in Texas. Friends all around country have the same complaints we face here after moving - high home prices, more traffic, etc. etc. You want to see traffic, homelessness, bad air, dirty city, high property taxes, and awful transportation - go to Houston. Yet somehow a bunch of people seem to think it's a great place to be moving to.
Born and raised in Denver Metro. Grew up just off Colfax and Havana. Family is still there so I go visit often. I always go visit the old neighborhood, and it looks like trash. I understand the neighborhood, but it didn't look like trash when I grew up. Even up north is getting pretty trashy as of my last trip 2 weeks ago
I was very surprised to see Taco Bell in Guatemala City. I bought some for some street kids because it was the only thing open at the time. They loved it.
Your mind is warped in just the right way to make the most of the social media space you do so well in. I love it. As we were driving to church in downtown Denver, I believe we were on Colfax Avenue, this Sunday it was sad to see some homeless but it's nothing like the propaganda you see on many RUclips channels. Denver is not overrun with homeless or immigrants. That's a complete myth. I have seen homeless everywhere I have lived or visited. I saw them in Atlanta growing up, I saw them walking to work from the parking garage in downtown Jacksonville. I have seen them in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. You think Denver is over priced, try Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida or South Florida. Homeless people gravitate to places with nice weather and money where they can comfortably live on the streets, find things to eat.... By the way, it's not just a city thing either. Take state roads and in South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Appalachia and you will see conditions that make city encampments look posh. Everyone focuses on the things that support the story they want to tell. I have never seen homeless encampments in Denver like the ones I have seen in Seattle. That homelessness is all driven by highly paid tech workers pricing people out of the housing market. The same is true for San Francisco. It if was true that no one wanted to live in those cities, there wouldn't be a homelessness problem there. Remember capitalism? High demand items have high prices. Traffic on I-25 and I-70 isn't great. I am glad I don't have to commute to work but it's nothing compared to Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Miami, Northern Virginia. It's comparable to Jacksonville Florida and Jacksonville Florida traffic isn't that bad. Most of the drivers here are chill. I think that's the default but there are a few maniacs sprinkled in. Impatience with people in the right lane has surprised me. However, that happens in Atlanta too. The great part is there are options to avoid all that. For example I take the 6 out past Golden and use 470 to avoid I-25 and I-70. I take 121 to avoid Santa Fe/85. I won't share my favorite route to the mountains. :-) Despite the overpriced tolls 470 is a great way to get to the airport. As for cost of living, sales tax where we live now is around half of what we paid in Florida. It's like everything on Amazon went on sale by 4%. My whole family is midwestern, Ohio and Michigan. People are great here. Way better than especially South Florida. Night and day compared to LA. Our cousins moved from LA and they love how much nicer people are here. They love that people are less work obsessed here. We do too. You should take that "critique" of Denver as a compliment. The food scene here is awesome! Boston and New York are better but Denver is easily top 10% in the country. There's also a ton of diversity in sexual orientation, politics, ethnicity.... There's an especially large and diverse Asian population (Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Burmese...). Tons of Latin Americans with wonderful culture and food. Mexican Americans with roots back to the time when the whole Southwest was part of Mexico. There are not a ton of African Americans but I grew in Atlanta. Very few cities compare to the vibrant African American culture you can find in Atlanta. We have never had any problems with car break-ins or heard of anyone who has. We have parked at hotels by the airport and downtown. Of course, we have learned from experiences in other cities to not leave anything in sight that might tempt someone. Parking hasn't been an issue either. We only paid once in Denver when we went to a museum. Paying for parking is more common in Boulder, Breckenridge... but it's usually easily handled by an app. For those who claim things are better in the south, wait until they survive a summer and they figure out what people really mean when they bless your heart. Seriously, I am 100% with you that no where is right for everyone. Florida isn't bad but we didn't value the things people go there for. We do value what Denver offers. We were happy to sell our house to someone who would appreciate it more. I love the adventure of trying new places. After we have made the most of what Denver has to offer we may be up for a new adventure some where else. A pro that I haven't heard mentioned often is Denver's location. You are a 3 hour flight from anywhere in the continental US and it's easy to get a direct flight. That's huge. You can reasonably have a weekend getaway anywhere you want. Our kids regularly fly on weekends. I forgot to mention trails, trails and more trails. My friends in other areas drool when they see our trail network. As an aside, I totally got the Tokyo reference. It still has that place in my mind too but things have changed. Houses are inexpensive in Tokyo now. Mortgage rates there are 2% or less. I tried to sell my wife on going there but she wasn't having it. 🙂
Agreed. Buckmeister has gotten a great understanding of the city in a very short time. The relatively central flight location is an underrated perk that I just recently noticed.
New to the channel - was just binge watching all the food videos. Would love to see some new ones! Some possible categories could be cheap eats, best happy hour for food and drinks, best pastry/dessert place, etc. so many possibilities…
Where are your clients moving from that they think Denver or the people in Denver are “nice”? I’ve lived all over the world (military). I was born in Denver and grew up in Green Mountain (Denver suburb) and I’m constantly shocked at how “rude” Denver is.
Resident here for 10 years. I'd give it 3 stars, where when I first moved here I'd give it 4.5. It's all the same stuff most people are saying. We've gotten a lot more people over this time. We've struggled to keep up with the demand for housing, but are making improvements that may help offset the rising costs. I'm seeing lots of development for housing in once empty lots on just about every corner. Remember the corridor along I25 and Speer exist at the highlands when there weren't so many buildings hugging the highway, or 10th/Sheridan along the gulch? So that's good that we are building to support the inflow. Fentanyl use is rampant. Petty crime is dependent on the neighborhood. I've had had a car stolen, a catalytic converter sawn off, neighbors garages broken into, and fentanyl use outside my door in the interior hallways of my condo. It was a condo I could afford to buy in 2020 when mortgage rates were rock bottom, so I think it's just a balance between affordability and neighborhood woes. But that said, we're still close to the mountains, summers are great, winters aren't too bad. There are plenty of activities to do, sports, nightlife, Red Rocks concerts, restaurants, and all the parks and open space are just great to get out and quickly get some solace amidst the city without leaving it. We may need to implement mental institutions again for those on the streets. We are a society. We have productive citizens that are adding value and those that aren't contributing to it at all. We are mixing the two on the streets, and that's causing complaints. Take the good with the bad. It's not like it was 10 years ago, not like it was pre-covid, and the last few years have been particularly tough for the city. Surround yourself with the good people that you enjoy being around, think similarly, and you'll have a good time. Focus on the good things. Really appreciate your channel, I just discovered it. Cheers! Edit: Some other things I'll add re: outdoors stuff. Yes, it's changed in 10 years. We all would rather not deal with many people when being outdoors in the mountains with our activities. I don't know the numbers, but I make the assumption that in the additional inflow of residents, many like to do outdoor things. Thus, traffic on I70 any weekend will be hellish. Trailhead parking lots will fill up earlier. There are more people on the trails. etc. More infrastructure has gone in from Vail Resorts to capitalize on this, i.e. ticket prices are much much higher. Local passes are now swallowed up by big corps, leaving less options. It used to be that we could leave around 7am on a Saturday and get decent parking in the lots (even first chair), maybe only hit mild traffic at certain cruxes of I70. But now, you've got to plan at least an additional hour or more to account for these changes and hope you get decent parking. Even small resorts are now experiencing the issues since more people are overflowing out of the bigger ones to avoid these issues and going to smaller resorts instead. You used to be able to hit up a trailhead close on the front range on a weekend morning and not have overflow lots and people every few minutes on the trail. Weekdays have always been less busy, but you can notice these changes then as well. Nothing against people wanting to be outside! That's what's great about living on the front range, access to this beautiful nature so closely! However, I have to bring this up, as it's certainly a side effect of what has changed over the last 10 years. Some objective food for thought, I think any of us that live here and spend time outdoors here could agree with this sentiment. This contributes to my d
![The 25 Best Neighborhoods in Denver, Ranked [2024]](/img/1.gif)
I like your take on Denver, it's still got a lot of good but we gotta bring it back.
Can't believe Denver got a C- on housing. Higher than expected. When the median house costs almost 650K for a pile of hot garbage, and you gotta invest heavily on security systems, cameras, and still have 'van life!' homeless people parked outside your house 24/7, sleeping with one eye open, somethings broken.
Niche grades on diversity, but not "unhoused newcomers". Bet they see it as one in the same.
I really appreciate this analysis. Giving me a lot of information before visiting and what to expect.
It's like Chicago but with a pretty mountain veiw
I feel that people that complain about "how bad" it is to live in Denver, have never lived outside of Colorado. Or haven't lived somewhere else for a decade or longer. I've lived all over the midwest. Spent 8 years in Houston. Here's the thing - all big cities are growing and facing those issues. Denver isn't growing as fast as places like big cities in Texas. Friends all around country have the same complaints we face here after moving - high home prices, more traffic, etc. etc. You want to see traffic, homelessness, bad air, dirty city, high property taxes, and awful transportation - go to Houston. Yet somehow a bunch of people seem to think it's a great place to be moving to.
Born and raised in Denver Metro. Grew up just off Colfax and Havana. Family is still there so I go visit often. I always go visit the old neighborhood, and it looks like trash. I understand the neighborhood, but it didn't look like trash when I grew up. Even up north is getting pretty trashy as of my last trip 2 weeks ago
As a New Mexican, Chipotle can stay in Colorado. Real burritos put them to shame.
You act like we don't eat fast food or convenient food. Just because we're mexican doesnt mean we don't go to taco bell and Chipotle lol
I was very surprised to see Taco Bell in Guatemala City. I bought some for some street kids because it was the only thing open at the time. They loved it.
Your mind is warped in just the right way to make the most of the social media space you do so well in. I love it.
As we were driving to church in downtown Denver, I believe we were on Colfax Avenue, this Sunday it was sad to see some homeless but it's nothing like the propaganda you see on many RUclips channels. Denver is not overrun with homeless or immigrants. That's a complete myth. I have seen homeless everywhere I have lived or visited. I saw them in Atlanta growing up, I saw them walking to work from the parking garage in downtown Jacksonville. I have seen them in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. You think Denver is over priced, try Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida or South Florida. Homeless people gravitate to places with nice weather and money where they can comfortably live on the streets, find things to eat.... By the way, it's not just a city thing either. Take state roads and in South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Appalachia and you will see conditions that make city encampments look posh. Everyone focuses on the things that support the story they want to tell. I have never seen homeless encampments in Denver like the ones I have seen in Seattle. That homelessness is all driven by highly paid tech workers pricing people out of the housing market. The same is true for San Francisco. It if was true that no one wanted to live in those cities, there wouldn't be a homelessness problem there. Remember capitalism? High demand items have high prices.
Traffic on I-25 and I-70 isn't great. I am glad I don't have to commute to work but it's nothing compared to Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Miami, Northern Virginia. It's comparable to Jacksonville Florida and Jacksonville Florida traffic isn't that bad. Most of the drivers here are chill. I think that's the default but there are a few maniacs sprinkled in. Impatience with people in the right lane has surprised me. However, that happens in Atlanta too. The great part is there are options to avoid all that. For example I take the 6 out past Golden and use 470 to avoid I-25 and I-70. I take 121 to avoid Santa Fe/85. I won't share my favorite route to the mountains. :-) Despite the overpriced tolls 470 is a great way to get to the airport.
As for cost of living, sales tax where we live now is around half of what we paid in Florida. It's like everything on Amazon went on sale by 4%.
My whole family is midwestern, Ohio and Michigan. People are great here. Way better than especially South Florida. Night and day compared to LA. Our cousins moved from LA and they love how much nicer people are here. They love that people are less work obsessed here. We do too. You should take that "critique" of Denver as a compliment.
The food scene here is awesome! Boston and New York are better but Denver is easily top 10% in the country.
There's also a ton of diversity in sexual orientation, politics, ethnicity.... There's an especially large and diverse Asian population (Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Burmese...). Tons of Latin Americans with wonderful culture and food. Mexican Americans with roots back to the time when the whole Southwest was part of Mexico. There are not a ton of African Americans but I grew in Atlanta. Very few cities compare to the vibrant African American culture you can find in Atlanta.
We have never had any problems with car break-ins or heard of anyone who has. We have parked at hotels by the airport and downtown. Of course, we have learned from experiences in other cities to not leave anything in sight that might tempt someone. Parking hasn't been an issue either. We only paid once in Denver when we went to a museum. Paying for parking is more common in Boulder, Breckenridge... but it's usually easily handled by an app.
For those who claim things are better in the south, wait until they survive a summer and they figure out what people really mean when they bless your heart. Seriously, I am 100% with you that no where is right for everyone. Florida isn't bad but we didn't value the things people go there for. We do value what Denver offers. We were happy to sell our house to someone who would appreciate it more. I love the adventure of trying new places. After we have made the most of what Denver has to offer we may be up for a new adventure some where else.
A pro that I haven't heard mentioned often is Denver's location. You are a 3 hour flight from anywhere in the continental US and it's easy to get a direct flight. That's huge. You can reasonably have a weekend getaway anywhere you want. Our kids regularly fly on weekends.
I forgot to mention trails, trails and more trails. My friends in other areas drool when they see our trail network.
As an aside, I totally got the Tokyo reference. It still has that place in my mind too but things have changed. Houses are inexpensive in Tokyo now. Mortgage rates there are 2% or less. I tried to sell my wife on going there but she wasn't having it. 🙂
I appreciate you writing this well thought out take on the city. I couldn’t agree more!
Agreed. Buckmeister has gotten a great understanding of the city in a very short time. The relatively central flight location is an underrated perk that I just recently noticed.
New to the channel - was just binge watching all the food videos. Would love to see some new ones! Some possible categories could be cheap eats, best happy hour for food and drinks, best pastry/dessert place, etc. so many possibilities…
Happy hour and steak are definitely next on the list-but I need to do JUST a little more research. 😃
Where are your clients moving from that they think Denver or the people in Denver are “nice”? I’ve lived all over the world (military). I was born in Denver and grew up in Green Mountain (Denver suburb) and I’m constantly shocked at how “rude” Denver is.
Diversity of people 😂
Resident here for 10 years. I'd give it 3 stars, where when I first moved here I'd give it 4.5.
It's all the same stuff most people are saying. We've gotten a lot more people over this time. We've struggled to keep up with the demand for housing, but are making improvements that may help offset the rising costs. I'm seeing lots of development for housing in once empty lots on just about every corner. Remember the corridor along I25 and Speer exist at the highlands when there weren't so many buildings hugging the highway, or 10th/Sheridan along the gulch? So that's good that we are building to support the inflow.
Fentanyl use is rampant. Petty crime is dependent on the neighborhood. I've had had a car stolen, a catalytic converter sawn off, neighbors garages broken into, and fentanyl use outside my door in the interior hallways of my condo. It was a condo I could afford to buy in 2020 when mortgage rates were rock bottom, so I think it's just a balance between affordability and neighborhood woes.
But that said, we're still close to the mountains, summers are great, winters aren't too bad. There are plenty of activities to do, sports, nightlife, Red Rocks concerts, restaurants, and all the parks and open space are just great to get out and quickly get some solace amidst the city without leaving it.
We may need to implement mental institutions again for those on the streets. We are a society. We have productive citizens that are adding value and those that aren't contributing to it at all. We are mixing the two on the streets, and that's causing complaints.
Take the good with the bad. It's not like it was 10 years ago, not like it was pre-covid, and the last few years have been particularly tough for the city.
Surround yourself with the good people that you enjoy being around, think similarly, and you'll have a good time. Focus on the good things.
Really appreciate your channel, I just discovered it. Cheers!
Edit: Some other things I'll add re: outdoors stuff.
Yes, it's changed in 10 years. We all would rather not deal with many people when being outdoors in the mountains with our activities. I don't know the numbers, but I make the assumption that in the additional inflow of residents, many like to do outdoor things. Thus, traffic on I70 any weekend will be hellish. Trailhead parking lots will fill up earlier. There are more people on the trails. etc.
More infrastructure has gone in from Vail Resorts to capitalize on this, i.e. ticket prices are much much higher. Local passes are now swallowed up by big corps, leaving less options. It used to be that we could leave around 7am on a Saturday and get decent parking in the lots (even first chair), maybe only hit mild traffic at certain cruxes of I70. But now, you've got to plan at least an additional hour or more to account for these changes and hope you get decent parking. Even small resorts are now experiencing the issues since more people are overflowing out of the bigger ones to avoid these issues and going to smaller resorts instead. You used to be able to hit up a trailhead close on the front range on a weekend morning and not have overflow lots and people every few minutes on the trail. Weekdays have always been less busy, but you can notice these changes then as well.
Nothing against people wanting to be outside! That's what's great about living on the front range, access to this beautiful nature so closely!
However, I have to bring this up, as it's certainly a side effect of what has changed over the last 10 years. Some objective food for thought, I think any of us that live here and spend time outdoors here could agree with this sentiment.
This contributes to my d