Denver was an interesting place to visit. One moment I would look around and say, “I hate Denver,” the next something would catch my eye and I would think “I love Denver.” Still, as I write this, I am trying to reconcile my opinion about this area. As a travel writer I think it is important to show both the positives and negatives of the places you are discussing. Too many times writers will only highlight the upside and ignore the not so pleasant aspects of a city. There were both pros and cons of Denver, like any city, but in Denver they felt more exaggerated. There were certainly negatives about the city that turned me off.
This is not to say that I did not love Denver in some ways, I did. Under the right circumstances I believe Denver would be a great place to live. The cities in this country are becoming almost uninhabitable. The city policies are to blame, making travel to these areas undesirable.
As a tourist, this is coming from an outsider, who just visited the city for three days. My eyes are peeled when I travel to get a feel for what to write about. I will
I may say something that a local will disagree with and I respect that. Here are my pros and cons of Denver as seen through the eyes of a tourist.
Five Reasons Why I Love Denver
I figured I would start on a positive note and give the reasons why I love Denver. These are in no particular order; they highlight the good things that stood out to me. The below list highlights the pros and cons of Denver, starting with the pros.
#1 Reason I Love Denver: The Food
The reason I lover Denver is the food. Anyone who reads my site knows all I talk about is eating, Denver had great things to eat, especially meats. I love game and it was plentiful throughout the city. buffalo, rabbit, elk, yak, rattlesnake (not sure if this is game) are available in various forms throughout the city. When a restaurant knows how to do wild game right, the “gamey” flavor that could be off putting is not as pronounced. The most popular spot for game is the historic Buckhorn Exchange, I had a wonderful buffalo steak in this establishment and some not so wonderful bull testicles.
Game is not the only thing that Denver is great at, I cannot mention the pros and cons of Denver without discussing the on point Mexican scene. I mentioned this in my last post here, but it bears repeating. Denver produces some amazing Mexican food, especially while using green chiles in its dishes. I may just be hungry as I am writing this, but the city is worth visiting for the green chiles alone. If you visit Denver, hit as many Mexican spots as possible. Food, (especially Mexican and Game meats) is one of the main reasons I love Denver.
#2 Reason I Love Denver: Nature
Denver is a city located extremely close to plains and mountains. This gives the area a beautiful look and feel. Surrounding the city, the mountains provide a gorgeous backdrop, they are exactly what I want to look at when I enjoy a beer. I love nature, where I am currently living in Charlotte there is not the same type of environment. Denver on the other hand is surrounded by it. In a 15-minute drive from the center of the city you can get to the foothills. In an hour and a half drive you can visit the Rocky Mountain National Park, it looks extraordinary, full disclosure I did not visit it this last trip, but I will go back just to experience it. Hiking, biking, exploring are all simply better when you are this close to nature. Call me a tree hugger, but I love the outdoors (love to eat what lives in the outdoors as well, hence my obsession with game meat).
# 3 Reason I Love Denver: The Denver Zoo
Man, I must have lost my mind, talking about a zoo as to why I love this city. Let me tell you two things, first there is nothing wrong with a 44-year-old man walking around a zoo by himself. Especially at 9:15 am with a beer in his hand. That is not creepy at all, so all you highfalutin parents out there can kiss my…. Secondly, this zoo is amazing. I usually do not like zoos, I hate seeing animals in cages. This zoo gave the creatures plenty of places to roam, which made me feel a little better for them. The variation of animals was great (I know that is the point of a zoo, but this place had everything).
Hippos, lions, gorillas, spider monkeys they were all there, I felt like a child again. Of course, children do not drink before 10am, but I digress. To make things even better they had Dole Whip which is tasty. It is like the Denver zoo was making up for the trips I lost due to the virus that shall not be named. I was supposed to go to Disney, where Dole Whip is everywhere and South Africa where they have terrifying animals. Yes, it was not the same as either, but at least I got a taste of what I missed. The Denver zoo was one of the highlights of my trip and is highly recommended.
# 4 Reason Why I Love Denver: Plenty of Ways to Get Intoxicated
Maybe this is both a pro and con of Denver, but who does not like to chemically forget the world when traveling, I know I do. Denver has a lot of legal ways to do so, the three they are famous for are beer, whiskey, and Pot. Let me start with beer. Denver is consistently ranked as one of the best beer cities in the country, I included a link if you want to read more. If you desire a hoppy IPA (since that is all American breweries make) Denver is the place to go. If whiskey is your thing than I would recommend Stranahan’s whiskey. Spend the $30 and take the hour-long tour, you will find it is well worth your money.
The real advantage of Denver is that it is one of the few states to legalize pot (for fun). Walking into a pot dispensary was wonderful. I felt like Charlie walking into Willy Wonka’s shop, if Charlie loved being baked. The variety was not as huge as I would have liked, I do not smoke, so I settled on an edible. It put me in a great place, they said it helped with energy, but the only fuel it gave me was enough juice to destroy a burger in under 3-minutes. I know the legalization will make its way throughout the country, but as of now, us residence of southern states, need to travel.
# 5 Reason Why I Love Denver: Indie Shops/Areas
When discussing pros and cons of Denver, a pro is their love for independent places. I do not know if Indie is the right word, it is those hipster spots that pop up in every city. Denver has great ones. First there was the Tattered Cover bookstore. An independent establishment that somehow survived (and thrived in) the Amazon apocolypse. I found the store charming, but they were not fully open because of “the disease”. There is also the RINO arts district in the northern part of the city. I really liked this area as well, although it felt like the most hipster place in one of the most hipster cities I have visited.
My inner bohemian came out, because I enjoyed the art on the buildings and the feel of the neighborhood. This is where the Denver Central Market is located as well, and I am a sucker for food halls. I am not saying this was an amazing food market, but it did the trick. The only place I ate at in this market was the High Point Creamery, do to circumstances that shall not be named, they were only seating people outside. Since it was 90 degrees, I opted for ice cream to go.
Those are my five pros, when measuring the pros and cons of Denver. As you can see, I did love Denver in some ways. Unfortunately, the city rubbed me the wrong way in others. I will continue with my pros and cons of Denver and discuss some of the cons, and why I hate Denver (but not really).
Five Reasons Why I Hate Denver
The great food and indie atmosphere of this city was counterbalanced by some negative things. I would not say I absolutely hated Denver, but there were certainly things that I did not like about this city. What is so frustrating much of it could be avoided with a competent government. Below are the five reasons I hate Denver (or more accurately, things I did not like about the city),
#1 Reason I Hate Denver: The Homeless Problem
Maybe I sound cold hearted, but there is a threshold of how far you should let the problem of homelessness get out of control. I do not hate homeless people and understand most of them are going through bad times or mental illness. The way Denver allowed them to take over their city is harmful to both the residents and homeless themselves, not to mention the tourists.
You pay good tax money for a park and cannot bring your children because they are doing drugs in the middle of the day. Trying to walk down the street is a treat. Who allows entire tent cities to be formed on sidewalks? Most of the homeless are either mentally impaired or abusing substances. You can smell the pot as you walk by their tents. I saw three fights between them, I was also screamed at and told to go back to Mexico (for the record I am Italian).
A city should not allow its taxpayers to fear for their safety because they are trying to be “woke”. If you allow homelessness to run rampant, you will lose both your tax base and tourism. In terms of pros and cons of Denver, homelessness is certainly a con.
#2 Reason I Hate Denver: Destruction of Property
Another con on the pros and cons of Denver list is Denver allowed looting and destruction of property. Part of Denver looked like a war zone. Protesting is fine (although I do not think most of the people give a damn about the cause, they care about looking virtuous). What is not fine is trashing your own city. It is not fine to pull down every statue around the capitol building and smash random windows, what point are you trying to make?
Buildings were trashed, windows boarded up and statues torn down. The city officials did nothing to stop this, at least it seemed like they did not. Who wants to visit a city that has been ransacked? The events were not political protests; this was criminal behavior. Unfortunately, the same is going on throughout the United States, but I did not realize it was so prevalent in Denver.
#3 Reason I Hate Denver: Thin Air
Ok, moving off my soap box for this pros and cons of Denver article, onto something that cannot be prevented. I certainly had trouble with the air. It was nothing major, but two factors contributed to this problem being exacerbated. First, I walked everywhere and although I am in good shape, when you walk 35K steps a day a difference in the air will have an influence on you. Secondly, we are in strange times where we are to wear masks whenever entering a building. The thin air plus mask usage led to a lot of discomfort for me.
There were times when I was excessively thirsty, in addition I got tired way sooner than I usually do when traveling. My sleep was disturbed, which is a symptom of altitude sickness. It was nothing major and I am sure after some time my body would adjust, but it played a factor in my energy levels. To prevent any side effects, make sure you are hydrated and have some Aleve on hand.
#4 Reason I Hate Denver: Punk Hipster Kids
Alright back to my crotchety old man mindset. Denver is a young city, population wise. I was told the average age was around 36, making me the town elder. This partially explains why they had such terrible riots. I do not have a problem with young people, it is just the blatant rudeness they showed on my trip. Three times I am walking and someone with a scooter almost crashes into me. Once I dove out of the way. Did I get an apology? Of course not, not one of them even stopped to look if I was ok. I like scooters, but they are being driven by kids with no consideration for other people.
Then I had the truck full of kids with a flag on their car just lapping the city blasting their music. All they wanted was attention, it was sad. I could not sit outside and enjoy a beer because every 10-minutes they would ride by. Of course, there was also the smell of pot drifting in the air. Not just in some places, it was everywhere. There are edibles for sale people, you do not need to smoke at 8:30am, keep the air clean. Most of these people just do not have consideration for those around them.
#5 Reason I Hate Denver: Strange Weather
Weather can be either a pro or con of Denver, depending on your experience. Another nitpick, and I am sure I did not spend enough time in the city to get a good feel for it, but the weather in Denver is odd. I went in the middle of September, coming from Charlotte I was looking forward to the cooler temperatures. Especially since the city received a snowstorm a week earlier. Well, to my disdain it was 90 degrees every day. Walking was already somewhat difficult because of the thin air, add to that the heat, it was bothersome.
The thing that really annoyed me was the wild temperature swings. It would be 55 degrees in the morning then jet up to 90 in the afternoon. Yes, it was a dry heat, I am not sure why people say a dry heat is better, it never is. Like I said this is probably more my experience than others, but it something that irked me when I was there.
Conclusion: Pros and Cons of Denver
Those are my pros and cons of Denver; my goal was to give an honest assessment of my trip. Would I go back to Denver? Certainly, most likely I may spend more time in the surrounding parks than the center of the city, but I would return. It is my hope that the city gets cleaned up a bit. If you are a local from Denver, let me know what I got right and wrong on this list.
