You're going to take a trip to Denver!

[inSaeculaSaeculorum]

I know absolutely nothing about Denver really. So if you booked me a week long trip to Denver, I'd honestly rent a car and head for the Rockies, take a road trip and visit places like Aspen, Silverton, Ouray, Leadville, RMNP, great sand dunes, mesa verde, etc. and winding back up in Denver to fly out.

But as someone interested in transit I would probably like to spend a day or two riding the light rail without any particular agenda or itinerary. Based on the pictures posted in the op, Denver seems quite pleasant.

[AaronPGH]

My last six years of trips to Denver has been mostly being completely wasted at techno parties, making out with guys, eating good food and an occasional ski trip.

I love Denver.

[pdxtex]

^^^denver's techno scene was an eye opener for me in all the best ways possible. outdoor parties, abandoned airport parties, base of mountain parties, under crappy viaducts in c.h.u.d. part of town parties, old chinese movie theater parties, out in the foothills at the base of some giant transmission tower with gas generator parties. and all that great west coast house. awesome #$%^.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

^^^denver's techno scene was an eye opener for me in all the best ways possible. outdoor parties, abandoned airport parties, base of mountain parties, under crappy viaducts in c.h.u.d. part of town parties, old chinese movie theater parties, out in the foothills at the base of some giant transmission tower with gas generator parties. and all that great west coast house. awesome #$%^.

They do it right, for sure. I blame the isolation.

[Scottk]

hahahaha techno parties??? Are you guys my parents or something???



Yes, Denver does actually have a great electronic dance music scene. Red Rocks has some of the best electronic acts in the nation, almost constantly.... and Beta Nightclub was ranked by DJ Magazine as the #1 Club in North America for electronic music.

Interesting to hear out of staters bring up Denver's dance/electronic scene... I did not know that it was well known outside of denver.

[pdxtex]

^^its a midwest thing. nobody calls raves, "raves" and electronica is always techno. its like southerners calling all carbonated sugary drinks "coke". but its all the same shit. and yeah, denver is great for getting down. id love to go back.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Scottk

hahahaha techno parties??? Are you guys my parents or something???



Yes, Denver does actually have a great electronic dance music scene. Red Rocks has some of the best electronic acts in the nation, almost constantly.... and Beta Nightclub was ranked by DJ Magazine as the #1 Club in North America for electronic music.

Interesting to hear out of staters bring up Denver's dance/electronic scene... I did not know that it was well known outside of denver.

To be fair, I am pretty entrenched in the music, doing a lot of talent buying and party bookings here. PGH's techno scene (proper techno) is kind of the sister scene to Denver's. We're all one big family that got to know each other from a joint message board years ago.

Denver's scene may still be under the radar for most of the states. But I will say that people who know music and travel *do* generally know it. Beatport being headquartered there helps.

[mind field]

I love Denver! It would be a great base for exploring the Springs, Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, and not sure how far some decent whitewater rafting is, but I'd like to try that too. I am a big foodie, especially local foods, and farm to table stuff, so I'd like to try new restaurants. I'd rent a bike and ride on the Platte River trail and the Cherry creek trail. Might visit the amusement park in town, if admission was reasonable. I would tour the happenings around Union Station. Not sure what other "bucket list" attractions there are in town, but there always seems to be something fun and different happening in Denver. I would definitely see what was playing at Red Rocks too.

[LouisVanDerWright]

I am leaving for Denver on Friday for my third week of skiing of the year. I always have a similar itinerary:

- Drive into Denver and stay at a friends house between downtown and City Park.
- Spend a day in the city acclimating and exploring my friends favorite haunts
- Up I-70 to Vail to a condo rented by some extended family.
- Ski and enjoy the recent legalization
- Back down to the city for a day of relaxation.

I have been spending a lot of time there the past few years and am becoming pretty accustomed to the landmarks (nothing like spending a day in City Park or at the zoo when it is 60 degrees and sunny in January) and as a result have been branching off into the edges of the city more recently. Last time I was there I spent half a day at Cherry Creek which is a surprisingly cool retail mall/district that is somewhat reminiscent of a modern version of Kansas City's Plaza. Definitely an awesome city and getting awesomer by the day. The amount of construction and rising land values there are unreal.

[untitledreality]

Having lived in Boulder from 2003-2007, and from my visits to Denver during that time frame, I have to say... just go to Boulder.

[pdxtex]

boulder is good for stunning beauty and outdoor junk, and pearl street mall. but its still just a college town. albeit, a college town surround by the rocky mountains! i lived there for a few years but im sad i didnt explore denver more.

[mr1138]

Yeah, I'd say disregard that idea. I've lived in Boulder since I was born, and sometime in high school I discovered Denver (probably something to do with the new driver's license...). Now I'm basically counting the days until I can move there. I love my hometown and everything... it has a beautiful setting, interesting culture, and a lot to offer in the realm of bicycle design and making things feel "quaint." But it is hopelessly stuck in an anti-growth, anti-urban mentality that makes it more of a rich-kid, college-hippie theme park than the kind of urban experience that I (and I get the sense many people on this site) really love.

Denver, on the other hand, is a diverse and sometimes gritty urban experience that aspires to be as grand as the market is willing to make it. It embraces growth, density, tall buildings, transit, and actually acknowledges it has suburbs that need to be partnered with.

Boulder is certainly worth a visit when coming to Colorado from out-of-state; but is in no way a place to spend the entire trip.

[Derek]

tl;dr





Weed. Lots of weed.

[middeljohn]

Like hell I will!

[(four 0 four)]

Originally Posted by untitledreality

I have to say... just go to Boulder.

Boulderdash: [bohl-der-dash] noun: senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing about not spending time in Denver when visiting Colorado.

A few years ago I visited a friend who lives in the Capital Hill area and would recommend a similar itinerary, especially if you have an interest in architecture photography.
State Capital, stunning with Colorado Rose Onyx.
Library designed by Michael Graves
Libeskind designed Denver Art Museum
Brown Palace Hotel, beautiful atrium
Downtown has plenty of histortic structures, one of the more unique ones is The Gas & Electric Building (I'm sorry I didn't see this at night)
Cheesman Park, great views
Botanical Gardens
Capital Hill for great homes and older apartment buildings
Confluence Park on Sunday evening
Definitely do a road trip to Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks

[AaronPGH]

Denver blows Boulder out of the water. I felt like I was trapped in a giant, neverending REI. And I think I only saw one non-white person.

[pdxtex]

boulder is an advanced college town at the base of a beautiful mountain range. the social and political climate is not different than madison, ann arbor, santa cruz, eugene or (insert college town with regional outdoor bent). not to say its not awesome (it is), but if you go to CU its easy to get caught up the REI-ness you speak of. people go there for that very reason in fact....and some nevvver leave *ominous voice*.....boulder is just the doo-goody npr neighbor with the lab and volvo and arguably the center of american snowboarding and maybe mountain biking (vancouver will dispute this)....buuuuuuut denver! thats the meat and potatoes.

[RyanD]

Thank you everyone so much for your responses so far! It's been very entertaining to see what everyone is saying. I grew up in Denver so it's hard to think outside of the box and see what people would go do when they visit. Day trips, and / or spending a couple days in the mountains is totally worth it whether it's in the winter for skiing / snowboarding or camping in the summer.

I will say the EDM scene here is absolutely incredible both in the city and in the mountains. It's cool that topic was picked up on. I have had many many fun nights that involve shows at BETA, in warehouses in Commerce City, on the base of a ski mountain, etc.

I also lived in Boulder for a year to go to CU and I couldn't stand it. I missed Denver way too much and I was seeing someone in Denver so I would travel down there 2-3 times a week. However, when I told my friends I was going to Denver for the night / weekend, I would get this blank stare and a why? They do call it the Republic of Boulder for many reasons! GREAT town to visit, I would never live there again though.

Denver, on the other hand, is a fantastic place to live. It shows that people want to live here too because we have a ton of construction going on downtown that's all housing, and we can't keep up. Pretty cool to live and experience something like this!

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by (four 0 four)

Boulderdash: [bohl-der-dash] noun: senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing about not spending time in Denver when visiting Colorado.

I am sorry my opinion differs from yours (and others), but I found Denver to be painfully uninspired during my time in Colorado. It felt like a city attempting to be something more, but unable to put everything together... as if it were having an identity crisis. It was not unique, it was not special, but it was not terrible.

Maybe a lot has changed in the past 6 years, I do have friends in the Capitol Hill, Highlands, and City Park West neighborhoods who have nothing but good things to say, but until I head back, I will simply have to take their word for it.

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by untitledreality

I am sorry my opinion differs from yours (and others), but I found Denver to be painfully uninspired during my time in Colorado. It felt like a city attempting to be something more, but unable to put everything together... as if it were having an identity crisis. It was not unique, it was not special, but it was not terrible.

In a 21st Century World full of megacities and leading edge thinking, Denver does not standout. Rather, the town remains a "cow town"

And, Denver is an aspiring city which wants to be "world class," but remains "provincial" with it's shortsighted billionaire(s), it's parochial upper class property developers, and it's unimaginative planning.

But, that's what gives the City much of it's charm: it's very quirky light rail, it's rah rah relationship with the Broncos, it's dying newspaper trying so hard to be locally relevant, it's TV stations that have twenty ways to communicate nothing, etc.

Denver's historical isolation has given the metro area it's stubbornness, it's very strong desire to prove itself without spending much money and it's curious mix of ultra-conservatism and social tolerance.

The city is very cool, actually. Besides having marvelous weather most of the time, the restaurants can be good, the entertainment a good value, the cultural venues rather surprising, and, the people- once one scrapes through their Midwestern standoffishness, very friendly.

Oh yes, the pompousness of the place gets many locals down, too. The intellectuals here are light years ahead of the cronies that run things, much in the manner that such people are in Omaha, and Des Moines. But, while very little of what the intelligentsia wants here gets accomplished, the intelligentsia, regardless, is bright, and, articulate, though few in number.

Lodo is worth visiting for a couple of days. The Rockies games are a lot of fun, because we drink beer and know they will never win. The Denver Art Museum has a mind bending building and enough art to see in a vigorous 1 day tour. Ride the unique light rail for a couple of hours (longer if you are a transportation hound where you will learn a lot about what not to do). Look at the Denver Union Station development and check out the Tattered Cover bookstore. Pick up a copy of Westword- a free magazine- and sample local entertainment.

Then go to the mountains: after a few days of skiing or backbacking, you will be so tired you will just want to get to that airport out in the middle of nowhere and fly to where the oxygen is thicker.

EDIT: I forget to mention that the microbrew scene in Denver is almost world class. Whew! If you are into beer, and, do not want to drive, Lower Downtown has a few great places. Check the internet for details.