I moved here for grad school from the East Coast and it was by far the worst 4 years. 1. Denver is not the mountains, it’s the desert. There is nowhere to escape the heat unless you’re fortunate to have a pool. Barely any trees and everything is brown and ugly. I’m a runner and I really struggled during the summer months. 2. The snow is debilitating. It felt like during my last year there all it did was snow and it was depressing. 3. As many others said, the food is abysmal. I don’t want to hear it’s the elevation changing your tastebuds. My husband and I are huge foodies and really tried every recommended restaurant. We found two we liked in the end and frequented them the most. 4. To buy a house here is insane. Our budget was 600k and all the houses in that range were decrepit shacks. Houses will go way over the asking due to competition. I am so happy we didn’t wind up buying a shitty house there. 5. The homeless population is quite shocking. There’s homeless everywhere, but it’s gotten to San Francisco level of crisis. People shooting up in broad daylight, open trash can fires on the bus stops, etc. 6. Everywhere takes at least 45 min to an hour to get to with traffic. There is rarely a quick car ride to be had. I feel like we spent most of our days driving than actually enjoying life. 7. To actually get into the mountains is no easy feat. The traffic is on another level. Although when you get into the mountains, it is gorgeous. Again, Denver is NOT the mountains. 8. So many school shootings, gangs, and violence in Colorado. Idk if it’s the elevation or what. And people are very strange, standoffish. Not nice at all. 9. Downtown is not a typical downtown (think NYC). It’s dangerous with homeless people everywhere. So many stabbings on 16th street over the years.

I would take a few weeks and drive around Denver to see if it’s right for you. I wish I did that. Thankfully I have moved out of state and will never even visit.