On the note of crime/gangs I would have to say that this seems pretty small to me.
There is no area of Denver that I would feel particularly unsafe walking around at say 3am.
For a major city that says a lot, I remember when I used to live in St Louis, and that there where places you could not go due to the crime.
As far as the traffic is concerned, bad compared to what?
Aside from a little gridlock on the freeways during rush hour I've never encountered any major problems.
If you think Denver traffic is bad, I would highly recommend taking a drive through Queens NY.
during rush hour.
I did that one once and thus far I'd say it was the worst traffic I've ever experienced.
From my perspective here are a few pro's and cons about Denver.
Good things about Denver;
It's generally pretty liberal politically and socially.
It's much safer then many other cities of it's size.
The whether is great, sure it gets cold and as well hot as hell but you also get probably two months or so out of the year of perfect days, 72 degrees and sunny.
The mountains are really close and make for a great and cheap way to get away from the daily grind.
There are a lot of really great open jams about town, if you like blues there are quite a few places that cater to that.
There are also some very good jazz clubs in town that feature some truly amazing talent.
If you smoke pot it is plentiful and pretty dam close to being outright legal.
There is a crap ton of Colorado bassists here on talk bass.
If you like Mexican food there are lots of great places to eat out here.
Bad things about Denver;
If you're a night owl you'll be hard pressed to find anything open passed 10pm with the exception of bars and clubs open till 2pm.
Denver is a cow town, to me it falls somewhere in between a big city and a small town lifestyle.
There is no white castle, mello yello or stake&shake in Colorado.
West cost vr. east cost social mentality, for example if I bomb a gig most people will lie and tell me they loved it, where as if I bombed a gig back east people would be more likely to tell me why they thought I sucked.
There is a huge Spanish speaking population out here, it can be great if you're bilingual not so great if you're not.
The health code restrictions on restaurants are not great, if you like to eat out a lot this can pose a problem for awile until you find some places you like.
It is dry as hell out here, you'll spend extra money on lotion, conditioner, chapstick and all moisturizing products.
Re - dry as hell be prepared to make some truss rod adjustments.
Pot holes on the road after winter the last few years haven't been too bad but when we get a lot of snow in the winter it reeks havoc on the roadways in the form of lots of pot holes.
Hope this helps,
Samantha.
