High Altitude vs. Low Altitude (neighborhoods, pros and cons, living in)
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Living in Denver, the high altitude brings low humidity, few bugs, and strong sun in the winter that melts snow fast and makes a sunny 50 degree day feel nice.
The negatives: Sometimes the dryness in winter can be annoying (although it makes the cold temps feel better than low altitude humid cold), the sun will burn you fast from March to November (you need sunblock daily if you're out in the sun), people with breathing issues can need oxygen.
What are the pros and cons of living in a high altitude town versus a low altitude town? And vice versa?
I have noticed a lot of people ask for one or the other and I wonder why.
There are a lot of articles about this and it would probably be better to get this kind of scientific / medical information from some reputable sources instead of inquiring on c-d-f.
Just sayin'.
I spend quite a bit of time above 7K ft. and, once i acclimate (which can be a challenge if a person isn't in good cardiovascular health), i feel great and high altitude living tends to strengthen me. Even just a month or two at really high elevation (and especially in winter with very cold temps) makes me stronger. And then being back at the coast revitalizes.
Someone told me once how good it is to go back and forth from sea level to high altitude but i can't remember why. Anyway, if it's true, that's good for me.
What about cooking? Doesn't that take longer? Do you need to adjust the amount of ingredients?
It's no big deal. I learned to adjust my bread baking by thumb. Everything else is pretty much the same except you may add a couple TBSs of extra water to rice and similar things that absorb water to cook.
It is really no big deal, at least not at a mile above sea level.
I meant to post a poll with this but I forgot to. Whoops.
To be fair Denver shares some of those same qualities with the low altitude desert Southwest like Phoenix and Tucson. Unless Phoenix and Tucson are suddenly high altitude. There are probably other low altitude Western cities that share those traits as well. But I'm sure Denver has a plethora of high altitude traits that can't be shared with the rest of the west except SLC... Like the cooking thing.
I meant to post a poll with this but I forgot to. Whoops.
To be fair Denver shares some of those same qualities with the low altitude desert Southwest like Phoenix and Tucson. Unless Phoenix and Tucson are suddenly high altitude. There are probably other low altitude Western cities that share those traits as well. But I'm sure Denver has a plethora of high altitude traits that can't be shared with the rest of the west except SLC... Like the cooking thing.
What the what?
Salt Lake is just a bit over 4000 feet.
In Denver the altitude ranges from 5,130 to 5,690 in the city.
What are you talking about re; Denver sharing certain traits of high altitude only with Salt Lake City?
Unless i'm missing something, what you're saying makes no sense.
What the what?
Salt Lake is just a bit over 4000 feet. In Denver the altitude ranges from 5,130 to 5,690 in the city.
What are you talking about re; Denver sharing certain traits of high altitude only with Salt Lake City?
Unless i'm missing something, what you're saying makes no sense.
Denver proper, yup, but where I live in Aurora is 6089 feet. Just throwin' that out there.
ETA: When we moved back to Denver from Dallas my wife struggled mightily with baking. At first she forgot to follow the high altitude directions then she had problems with baked goods sticking to the pan. Now she adds Baker's Joy to the pans and voila we're all good.
Last edited by bluescreen73; 03-24-2016 at 04:41 PM..
For the record, Albuquerque is officially at 5,312 feet above sea level. That is at the airport where all official measurements for the city are taken. The airport sits on the southern end of the east mesa, three miles southeast of downtown. The vast majority of the city is at higher altitudes than Downtown and the immediate Rio Grande valley. The Northeast Heights makes up the majority of the city and it is on the northern end of the east mesa. The altitude in the city ranges from about 4,900 feet along the Rio Grande to over 6,300 feet in the foothills neighborhoods at the eastern edge of the city next to the Sandia Mountains, which have a pinnacle height of 10,678 feet.
Santa Fe is a high-altitude city. It sits at 7,198 feet above sea level.
Colorado Springs is also a high-altitude city. It is at 6,035 feet above sea level.
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