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Is it just me? For most of my life it has been said and written that the people of Denver are wonderful. Friendly, polite, helpful, although some time in the 1980s that was amended somewhat to note that that did not apply when they were behind the wheel. Perhaps it was naive of me to believe that always would be the case.
I think I am in a unique position to observe. In 1996 my second ex-wife's heart condition was causing her to have breathing difficulties at Denver's altitude and it was hoped that a move to a lower altitude would help. We chose Seattle, in large part due to its similarities to Denver, although there are mountains to both the east as well as the west in Seattle and the city is basically an island. Yet Coors field and Safeco, where the Mariners play are identical and Seattle even has an old building that looks exactly like the D&F Tower that was also the tallest building in town for most of its history.
But one of the things I really missed in Seattle was what I had remembered as Denver's personality. People in Seattle are exceeding polite, to the point that there is a problem with what is referred to as passive aggressive driving, but nowhere near as warm or friendly as I had remembered Denver people being.
In fact, Seattle people are often referred to as cold, something that is changing gradually as more and more Californians move north. Californians are certainly more hot-blooded, but polite? Forget it.
In 2005, my second wife moved to San Francisco and divorced me. With nothing for me left in Seattle, except great fishing, I took the opportunity to return to Colorado, looking forward both to reconnecting with friends and family but also the great city where the people make you feel instantly at home.
I was surprised, however, both by what had changed as well as by what had not. Some places seemed timeless. Downtown Morrison, for example, and Idaho Springs, didn't seem to have changed anymore than the face of Long's Peak. I was not surprised that there was a new City and County in the State. What was surprising was that it was Broomfield not Aurora. Of course the growth during that time had been breathtaking. In 1996 the metro areas population was estimated at 1.1 million. In 2005 it was 2.9 million, more than doubled and nearly tripled. Of course, a big part of that was the fact that Highlands Ranch was no longer the place I used to hike to find petrified wood and occasional prairie rattlers, it was now a huge and upscale suburb. It had even become a verb to some, as in Highland's Ranch trophy wife, etc.
The biggest shock, however, was how dramatically the city's personality had changed. Once friendly and fearless Denver, had become occasionally friendly and sometimes suspicious and downright unfriendly Denver. I first noticed the change while hiking the Highline Canal trail. Back in the day, everyone said hi and sometimes complete strangers engaged you in extensive, sometimes welcome, sometimes barely tolerable, conversation. These days it felt like walking in Central Park in New York where if someone greets you it is assumed that they either want something from you, in the best case, or have criminal intent in the worst. Later I noticed the same phenomenon downtown, on the 16th Street Mall, Washington Park and so on.
Part of the blame is undoubtedly the large population growth. Growth increases as rapid as Denver's will definitely disorient a city. It also means that most residents are fairly new residents. There are also the experiments done by social scientists over the years where rats are put in increasingly crowded situations and, predictably, begin to exhibit increasingly sociopathic behaviors. Unfortunately that would seem to suggest that the worst is yet to come for area.
Perhaps the time has come for city leaders to stop "imagining a great city," and start reimagining a friendly city.
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Has Denver become an unfriendly city?
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