My wife and I are originally from Denver, we both grew up there and went to University the state before moving on to live in NYC and now SF.
All of the negatives you mention are really negatives about the people that live currently live there, not the geographic location itself.
The Denver of 20 years ago didn't have those things, one could buy a nice home within 30 minutes of your work for 200k, good schools and medicine, not terrible weather.
It's since been Californicated, and now my wife and I live in SF for a similar coat of living ad it would cost to live in one of the hipper neighborhoods of Denver. I agree, that changes the math, it's why we live here.
The Denver metro area of 20+ years ago was a hidden gem. You could really buy a very nice home as an average income earner, it was idyllic.
+1 on this. I grew up in Denver and around 2015, things just started to become super Californicated. Most of my friends from Denver now live essentially on the outskirts of Denver (Lafayette, Brighton, etc.) because it's the only places they can afford.
Maybe I'm getting older but I personally would only move somewhere in the mountains if I wanted to live in Colorado. Denver and Boulder downtown areas just doesn't interest me anymore.
All of the negatives you mention are really negatives about the people that live currently live there, not the geographic location itself.
The Denver of 20 years ago didn't have those things, one could buy a nice home within 30 minutes of your work for 200k, good schools and medicine, not terrible weather.
It's since been Californicated, and now my wife and I live in SF for a similar coat of living ad it would cost to live in one of the hipper neighborhoods of Denver. I agree, that changes the math, it's why we live here.
The Denver metro area of 20+ years ago was a hidden gem. You could really buy a very nice home as an average income earner, it was idyllic.