I'm moving to Denver, from California, any words of advice?

Question

I know it snows and never lived in it, but I'm looking forward to it. I have a sports car (RX-8) so please express your thoughts about gettin around town in the winter. (snow tires enough? Chains? Get a second vehicle?) I heard the public transportation was good there, can I just use that in the winter time? So if you live in the Denver area, then say hello, leave a comment, tell me your favorite spots, favorite activities, things to do, places not to live (that would be REALLY helpful). Since on a map it all looks kosher. Thanks for your thoughts. I've got wow, so I'm not afraid of being snowed-in. :).

Answer 1

I'm a Denverite -- born and raised -- so let me weigh in.
Snow tires in the winter are a must...sports car or no. RTD, our mass transit, is good but with a good set of tires, you can use your car.
Places not to live: Denver, and the entire metro area, is very different from the coastal states. Our hoods are not half as hoodish (even though NWA wasn't lyin when they said "Denver is just like Compton."). First, Denver proper: If you don't want to live in the dead of the hood, stay away from the Five Points Area, that is west of York, north of Colfax, east of Broadway (really want to give you street names since you're looking on a map). Park Hill is nice but has its spots (Park Hill is east of Colorado Blvd to Syracuse from about 1st ave to 40th -- MLK Blvd is 32, as with every other city, the neighborhood right around there tends to be very seedy). Stapleton is a great newer/est development. It's got a rather East Coast feel, not a lot of land, houses very close together, etc. West Denver tends to be the Barrio. Downtown, itself, the Capitol Hill area (the neighborhoods around the Capitol bldg, etc) are overpriced and, in my opinion, seedy.
The Metro Area: Old Aurora, those neighborhoods closest to Denver, west of Montview Blvd, between 6th and 25th, is extreme middle-class, family oriented. The Hispanic population there is growing quickly. Mid-Aurora (use to be South Aurora) is nicer this is generally the area around Mississippi, Alameda, the Aurora Mall, etc. There are a couple of great condos just north of the Mall behind the Target shopping center that are very well done and roomy (one of my exes lived there when they first opened). The area around Alameda and Havana is very nicely priced, with the cutest townhouses. The second area is rather family oriented but not typical suburbia by far.
Green Valley Ranch, Parker and the rest of those developments are, to me, unimpressive and way over priced.
Castle Rock is good, but if you're working in Denver, you'll quickly grow to detest that I25 commute. Still, the shopping there is very nice. The Denver Tech Center area tends to have very nice apartments and houses; its also a pretty trendy neighborhood.
My fav. spots: Denver's night life leaves a lot to be desired. BUT The Purple Martini on Fri. nights is fun and tends to not be objectionable (many of our athletes tend to hang out there in the off-season). But that's me. My sis is much more into the Denver night scene. The Arts community is plentiful. When you get to down, check out the Westword newspaper. It tends to have all the goings-on.

I really hope that helped. If you need more, feel free to e-mail me.

Answer 2

Regarding your car, not sure if it's front wheel or rear wheel but you should be fine. I drive a VW beetle and only have problems when the snow is too deep, then everyone pretty much as the same problem. Just have a back up plan and do plan to take some time to learn to drive in snow and ice conditions because they do exist. Last winter Denver has had more snow then I have seen in the 20 years of living here. It snows one day and is melted within 1-2 days. It's a semi-arid climate. Public trans is pretty good and that is the focus for the city and suburbs right now so it is always improving.
I would recommend living on the south or west side of town if you are planning for the suburbs, do not live in Aurora, Thornton, Northglenn, Commerce City, Montbello. Nice burbs, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Littleton, Wheat Ridge, Arvada. If planning to live in Denver, I recommend the Washington Park neighborhood.
Lo-do (Lower downtown) is the club/bar scene. This is a very fit conscious city, hiking, biking and sports.

Answer 3

I know the feeling of moving from a warm-winter free place. I moved from Orlando two years ago.
Denver is nice, not as big a California but still fun...There are great bar and restaurants in down town, a lot of outdoor activitives (for winter and summer time). If you have a sport car that is enough, with chains in the bad storms. Last winter was a bad winter but usually are managable. The one before that was pretty mild. You don't have to take public transportation during the winter months, eventhough it is pretty good.
The first months here are going to be a little hard, because you will have to make new friends, have to get use to the driness of the air..but you will like it...There nice shopping areas...No as nice as Florida but nice, a lot of variety.
New developements within Denver city limits are Green Valley Ranch and Parkfield. There are very close to the airport about 10 min, not to far from downtown and not congested and not noisy at all. (East Denver).There are building a lot of things around that area and home prices are affordable there. If you are looking for something more upscale, that will be the west side of town.
Favorite places: If you have kids, Cherry Creek mall have a nice playground and nice stores but very few dining options, Flat Iron mall and Colorado Mills-outlets stores are nice too.
I really like Brekenridge, is a ski town about 45 min from Denver, nice shops and restaurants Silverthorne has oulets also. If you like beers this is definitely your dream city. There tons of local brewries...My husband favorite is Rockbottom and Wynkoop in down town.
There are tons of Mexican people, shops, restaurants, if that is something of your interest.
The art museum was just recently expand by the same architec that is building the Freedom tower is NY, and the design is really amazing. (you must check it out).
Good luck in your moving trip...

Answer 4

You can only belong to a credit union if you work for certain companies. Go with a savings bank. Commercial banks are for businesses, and do not cater to the needs of the single investor. I bank at First Bank. All the features I need. Checking is cheap. Savings is varied. When you get your first checking account they almost always give you a gift of some sort...$50.00 or a toaster, you know the routine. I think Key bank is good, too. I don't really know, but they were my bank many years ago, in another state, when I was in College. There are a number of good banks. Go with one that has a lot of branches, since you aren't sure where you're going to live. We have our mortgage with Wells Fargo, too. It's been good so far. I, too, have had my share of bad experiences...went down wit Silverado many years ago. Sucked.

Answer 5

you'll be fine with your Mazda, It's about the same size of my Ford Focus. Just get some good all season tires. Denvers roads are dry 85% of the time. When it snows the roads are usually clear and dry by the next day.,because of the dry climate and intense sun (300+days a year ). In Denver there's the light rail and good bus service. I have friends at church who moved here last year from LA and love it. I live 30 min. south of Denver http://www.townofcastlerock.org
I'm from the other coast, Love it here, see you soon

Answer 6

Live close to where you work. The traffic out here is California-style.

Real snow tires will be OK, but get four. Marked with a snowflake and a mountain on the sidewall, example Bridgestone Blizzaks. The bus is less of a hassle than the car in winter.

Favorite thing to do - get out to the mountains.

Answer 7

Change cars. Snow tires are not worth a dam on ice. I used to get stuck in flat parking lots with my sports car. Now drive a Jeep.

Answer 8

hi, i moved to denver from the valley as a kid, so i can kind of relate to you..... sort of lol. don't worry about the snow, you don't need any special tires or anything (Atleast we didn't get any). the nice places to live are around denver like lodo, cherry creek, but if you want more of a suburban life then littleton, highlands ranch (lots of californians), broomfield, boulder (lots of californians). avoid aurora (hate that place). hope you like denver!!

Answer 9

Your Mazda should be fine. I drive a Nissan and while my ride is vastly superior to yours, yours shouldn't get stuck too often. Just get a big a$$ spoiler and some chromed out spinners to hide some of that ugly.

Your buddy.
NutZ

Answer 10

well i live in denver and i go to elitch's or visit garden of the gods or other places during the summer

snow tires are good enough ~ you can go swimming and sometimes when i am bored i go to 16th street mall

my friend moved here from cali and she doesn't really like it but its all right