Is Denver Chill?

Travel Info
So im considering moving to Denver and I was wondering if it's a cool city to live in? Is it gay frendly? Apparently it's weed friendly. lol. Let me know!

Travel Tips

Well, you asked and as a proud Denverite I really have to be honest with you. I don't think you're getting the real perspectives from other people on this site. I love Denver and I think it's a great place. But you would absolutely hate it.

Here's why...

Colorado recently passed a Marriage Protection Amendment that banned gay marriage. At the same time we overwhelmingly failed a domestic partnership initiative that would have provided rights to gay couples. In 1992 we also passed the famous Amendment 2 that barred any laws against gay discrimination in the workplace. That earned us the nickname of "hate state." We are also a quite conservative state. Even our state Democrats are more conservative than the Democrats you are familiar with. This year we failed, even more overwhelmingly, an initiative to legalize under an ounce of pot. Sound goood to you?

To be fair, the 500,000 person city and county of Denver voted the way you probably would. There are gays in Denver and pot is even legal there. But you cannot look just at the City and County (which makes up about 20% of the total metro area and oonly 12% of the total state population). You have to look at a metro area as a whole--you can't see urban Denver in a vacuum. That means that even the more liberal city of Denver is still greatly affected by the very conservative politics of the suburbs and state. A urban area cannot isolate itself from the surrounding areas and so it is with Denver. Focus on the Family, located about an hour south of Denver, exerts a tremendous influence on Denver politics.

Denver, I tell people, is mostly a good place to raise a family. Most people in metro Denver are church-going, family-loving folks. That's why the nightlife is so lame outside of the small strip of downtown called "Lodo." The most hopping places on weekends aren't the bars--they are the megachurches lining the city. There are many evangelicals in Colorado.

Let me be clear: people here are very friendly and if you decided to move here--as a homosexual--you would be respected and tolerated. You would not be attacked or anything. But this is still a conservative place that you may find stifling if you're fairly liberal.

Is it chill here? Oh yes! Absolutely! It got down to about 12 degrees last night. Very chill. But if you are asking how "chill" it is meaning hip and urbane you are definately coming to the wrong place. The Real World probably made us look like the latest, greatest place to be seen. It's not. That was pure deception. This town, like I said, caters mainly to families--thus for urban cool-seekers like yourself it would be terribly boring.

Here's a quote from the Yahoo Travel summary of Denver:

"These days, Denver is a welcoming and enjoyable, though conservative city. Tourism is based on getting out into the wide open spaces rather than on sightseeing in town, but somehow its isolation, a good six hundred miles from any conurbation of even vaguely similar size, gives its two-million population a refreshing friendliness; and in a city which is used to providing its own entertainment there always seems to be something going on."

That pretty much sums it up.

My advice: You sound like you'd enjoy LA or NY or Miami or maybe even Houston a lot more than you'd like Denver. You would survive here but I'm pretty sure you'd be gone after a year.

Good luck!

Others
Depends where you're coming from. I'm from Ottawa and I hate it here!!! Would much prefer a warmer place like LA, in the words of Borat "Very Nice" ;)
it is pretty chilly in the fall light jacket,it's sort of hot in the summer probably capris,in the spring it is about the same temperture in fall,and it is really cold in the winter.almost 3 ft. in 2006-2007.
it is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there are lots of fun things 2 do!! i not sure if it gay friendly but i not sure. the weather is great- about 80s-90s in the summer and the winter is really cool. (if u like snow). it not warm and it snows alot and is AWESOME for skiing and boarding if u do that. i have lived here since i was born(12 years) it is the best city ever!!!!!!!!!
Dood, so you are gay whatever. Not me. I went up for the summer concert series and it was just the best. Everyone, I mean everyone, goes to these shows at RedRocks and has an experience. Peace and harmony, I saw String Cheese. Best show in years for me. If you move up there be ready to freak on the mountain scenery. Its just out of this world. And Denver is so freakin big, you could live there a year and just barely have time to adjust to your side of town. Go to Fort Collins and tour the Bud factory. They serve you two to three virgin beer. I mean born in mouth type, buzzed right away.
Denver is very chill! Also, I think Denver extremely gay friendly. We don't have many gay bars though. I have a couple of gay friends and they have never been discriminated against. Ever! Yeah we have a lot of stoners here. Not my thing, so it's kinda annoying when the pizza guy asks if you want to blaze...
yeah, we CHILL,gay freindly and weed freindly