KC or Denver? Where Would You Rather Live?

[Donger]

And why? I'd appreciate most the opinions of those who've lived in both locations.

Thanks.

[Rain Man]

I haven't lived in Kansas City, but I've lived in St. Louis and Austin, Texas, and I strongly prefer Denver over either.

I'll admit that my experiences are probably colored by my life stages at the time, but I lived in St. Louis (burbs) for five years and never found a home. Nothing ever felt right about it. I used to describe it as Soviet Louis, because it seemed very bland to me. Things may have changed, but back then you just didn't go downtown or to any areas that might have had "personality."

I then moved to Austin, and like it much better. Again, in part that could've been life stage since I was in grad school, which was more or less a two-year vacation. While I liked Austin, though, I wasn't that interested in staying after graduation. In part, it seemed like a city to me that is so geared to students that a "real adult" was a little out of place.

Then I moved to Denver, and it really spoke to me. I love Denver as a city. It has real neighborhoods with great architecture. It's got an interesting history. It's got a western horizon that's way cool. The city is big enough to have lots of culture, but small enough that it's not overwhelming. There are no neighborhoods that scare me. Yeah, there's the football team and the Cult of Elway, and that's sad, but it's just a pimple on a supermodel. You can overlook that.

The weather here is superb, too. Typically, you can take the temperatures in Missouri and subtract two degrees, and that's what you've got in Colorado. In the summer, though, our high desert climate means that, even if we have a 95 degree day, it'll cool down into the 50s at night. On the hottest days this summer, I tried to sleep out on our back deck, but came in each night because it got too cold. Try that in Missouri, and you'll just get eaten by bugs as you drown in your sweat. My house, in fact, had no cooling of any kind until we added a swamp cooler a few years back. And the snow in the winter? No big deal. A lot of our snow disappears quickly because it arrives on the cool nights and disappears the next day. Our climate is our best-kept secret.

Speaking of bugs, we don't have them here. It's too dry for fleas to survive, so my pets don't have to worry about them. I've heard people talk about roaches, but in 13 years here I've never seen one. The dry climate really controls the insect population. I can eat dinner outside here and not get swarmed like I would back in Missouri. It's amazing.

It may be a simple fact that the nature of Denver worked for me at the stage of life that I was in when I moved here. Or it may be that I would've always been happy here. I don't know. I can say, though, that as much as I enjoy the process of moving to a new place and recreating myself, I don't see a place I'd rather be than Denver.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by BuckinKaeding

Ive never been to either place but the answer is simple. KC has great Barbeque, Denver has snow and is colder than shit (while KC is just as cold as shit). KC gets my vote.

I'm not so sure about that. Denver doesn't get as warm as Kansas City in the summer (at least not over such an extended time), but I'm not sure it's much colder than KC in the winter.

Denver has more sunny days than KC.

All in all, I prefer Denver's weather over Kansas City's. Even when it does snow, the sun often comes out the next day and melts it away (unless it was a four foot snowfall or something crazy like that).

[Donger]

Originally Posted by KC Jones

Exactly, people think its cold here because they think of the snow-capped mountains or winter storms, but once you live here you realize its a much more moderate climate than KC. Colorarado beats the **** out of KC for weather.

Summer time - while it may get into the 90's from time to time, it's not as humid and you can live without AC (I do anyway) plus the 30 degree temp drop each night helps a ton for keeping the house cool with an attic fan.

Winter - higher daily high temps plus tons of sunshine and low humidity makes winter quite a bit more mild. I've only lived here for 2 years now, but winter in KC is quite a bit harsher and colder.

Spring and Fall - Its warmer, plus the low rainfall amounts mean you have pleasant sunny weather most of the time. If you want to be outdoors a lot enjoying the weather this is much better than KC. I find it's a lot easier to hike, bike, run etc here because you can generally count on good weather.

Now it's not exactly San Diego in terms of being 75 year round, but this is great weather with rarely and overcast day, and you still get to experience all of the seasons.

Nice synopsis.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I haven't lived in Kansas City, but I've lived in St. Louis and Austin, Texas, and I strongly prefer Denver over either.

I'll admit that my experiences are probably colored by my life stages at the time, but I lived in St. Louis (burbs) for five years and never found a home. Nothing ever felt right about it. I used to describe it as Soviet Louis, because it seemed very bland to me. Things may have changed, but back then you just didn't go downtown or to any areas that might have had "personality."

I then moved to Austin, and like it much better. Again, in part that could've been life stage since I was in grad school, which was more or less a two-year vacation. While I liked Austin, though, I wasn't that interested in staying after graduation. In part, it seemed like a city to me that is so geared to students that a "real adult" was a little out of place.

Then I moved to Denver, and it really spoke to me. I love Denver as a city. It has real neighborhoods with great architecture. It's got an interesting history. It's got a western horizon that's way cool. The city is big enough to have lots of culture, but small enough that it's not overwhelming. There are no neighborhoods that scare me. Yeah, there's the football team and the Cult of Elway, and that's sad, but it's just a pimple on a supermodel. You can overlook that.

It may be a simple fact that the nature of Denver worked for me at the stage of life that I was in when I moved here. Or it may be that I would've always been happy here. I don't know. I can say, though, that as much as I enjoy the process of moving to a new place and recreating myself, I don't see a place I'd rather be than Denver.

It really is a nice place, except for all the Broncos fans. I'm in KC this week, and this is the first time that I've been back that this hasn't felt like home.

[Brock]

Denver, for sure. I like the weather a lot better, the 20 minute drive to the mountains, the downtown district equals Westport, the roads are better, they even have better radio stations. JMO

[patteeu]

My answer to the OP question is Denver.

Denver has better weather, better outdoor recreation (both summer and winter), more business opportunity (at least in the high tech sector) and it's further from Kansas. Kansas City has a better football team, less traffic and a bigger river.

I live in KC now because that's where family is, but I really liked living in Denver for the 9 months I was out there.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by patteeu

My answer to the OP question is Denver.

Denver has better weather, better outdoor recreation (both summer and winter), more business opportunity (at least in the high tech sector) and it's further from Kansas. Kansas City has a better football team, less traffic and a bigger river.

I live in KC now because that's where family is, but I really liked living in Denver for the 9 months I was out there.

Lockheed Martin?

[Hoover]

Denver hands down. Its a great city.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by KC Jones

KC has 2-4 weeks of great weather every year. The rest of the time its either too hot, too cold, or raining. The only things I miss weather wise are huge vast sunsets and the massive thunderstorms you can watch spreading out across the plains.

Yes, I forgot about the thunderstorms. They are the only good thing about KC weather besides the fact that we don't have hurricanes.

[KC Jones]

Here's what KC has over Denver:
history
deeper cultural ties
better traffic
lower cost of living
established architecture and neighborhoods (unfortunately much of it is in run down areas)
* and possibly food


* I haven't had the chance to explore Denver enough on this topic, and have had trouble replacing the good restaurants I knew about in KC.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Donger

Lockheed Martin?

No, I was a consultant at a cable company at the time (MediaOne).

[Donger]

Originally Posted by patteeu

No, I was a consultant at a cable company at the time (MediaOne).

Ah.

[Rain Man]

I'll admit that I haven't explored KC in any depth, but I'd be surprised if KC beats Denver in architecture. My part of town has lots of great old houses that are very nice neighborhoods, punctuated by some amazing old mansions. The silver and mining barons had a lot of money back around the turn of the previous century.

[alanm]

Originally Posted by BuckinKaeding

Ive never been to either place but the answer is simple. KC has great Barbeque, Denver has snow and is colder than shit (while KC is just as cold as shit). KC gets my vote.

Denver gets a lot more snow but it's gone just as fast. I've lived close to Denver for 10yrs and the winters here are like a long fall. Most days the temp is in the 40's and 50's. Not like KC or Omaha where the weather can get REALLY cold in the winters.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'll admit that I haven't explored KC in any depth, but I'd be surprised if KC beats Denver in architecture. My part of town has lots of great old houses that are very nice neighborhoods, punctuated by some amazing old mansions. The silver and mining barons had a lot of money back around the turn of the previous century.

Yeah, I'm not sure where people are getting the idea that KC has more culture or history than Denver. I've seen plenty of both every time I've been there. There are a lot of fantastic turn of the century houses up there that I like to look at as I drive around.