Denver Observations

[pharmer]

Just got back from visiting family in the Denver area. It's so different from Colorado Springs. The good:

Everyone is so polite it makes a cynic (me) suspicious.
The food is outstanding, had a brisket to die for.
"Green spaces" are everywhere; parks and trails well maintained.
Lotsa jobs, our hotel was filled over the weekend with work trucks; "XXX pipeline company, DDD construction company, XYZ logistics. They were quiet, well mannered and clear speakers.

The bad:
Traffic is horrendous, any time any day. I25& I70 are bumper to bumper for miles.
Every off-ramp of said hiways along with lesser has "People warehouses" apartment buildings with at least 1,000 units six stories high.
Home prices are through the roof. My son moved there in 2013, looked at a house for $225,000. It was nice. Moved to the Springs for several years and moved back. That house just sold for a little under $700K.
"OG's" who have been in the area for generations hate everybody else and will let you know, politely.

Oddities:
No bags at the KingSoopers or WalMart. My daughter in law gave us 2 large "Eco-sacks" so we could carry our stuff. In Florida I could put every item in it's own bag up the street.
There are folks that resemble aliens, not one aspect of their appearance occurs in nature. And they work at it.
We went to the "Butterfly Pavilion" as a birthday treat for my granddaughter. Parking lot was full by 9am so we had to park at the Westin hotel.
On the way in I noticed a field between the hotel and an off ramp. Lotsa holes. After having a hundred butterflies land on everybody, walking back to the cars, dozens of dogs were out running around like a circus act. Completely unfazed by traffic, folks walking, walk right up to you. I guess some numbskulls feed 'em. I would have but I didn't have bags to carry prariedog snacks in. Joe

 

[LVSteve]

Comparing with Vegas:-

Lotsa jobs? What's going on out there? I'm still trying to reconcile our population increase when tourism is down 11% and the hospitality industry has been slashing jobs for years. It's not like somebody opened a major factory or industry here.

Heard all about home prices from my buddy whose son lives there. I think the lad was married not long ago, and I think the couple are planning to move elsewhere because of the home prices. No point in them coming to Vegas as home prices are stupid here too.

The apartment malaise sounds similar to what we have here in Vegas on a slightly smaller scale. I've not seen anything over four stories here.

Seems like Denver is like Las Vegas where the road infrastructure is way behind the curve for the increasing population.

Didn't CO do whole "ban the plastic bag thing" a few years back?

Tame Prairie Dogs? We get Ground Squirrels here. There is a park nearby where the idiots obviously feed them as they come running up giving you the whole "got snacks" routine, especially in the winter. Their population probably means the park crawls with Bullsnakes in the spring.