Yet another scouting Denver post... (Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: rental car, rentals, low crime)

[TheLoneGMan]

From Miami, live in D.C. currently but pretty sick of the East Coast so I wanted to see what the fuss about Denver/Colorado was about with a trip. Had a couple of questions for the ever resourceful people at city-data.

1) I want to travel during the snowiest month to see if I can handle the weather. This would be March, correct?
2) Right now I see the flights are about $80 cheaper heading into Colorado Springs, then Denver. Is it advisable to just fly into Denver or can I go into C Springs and catch a bus or shuttle or taxi up the highway?
3) I know how to drive but haven't owned a car in years. Is the public transit in Denver enough for a quick 5 day trip? Will I be able to see enough the city or should I plan for the inevitability of buying a car.

Thanks for any help you've got!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by TheLoneGMan

From Miami, live in D.C. currently but pretty sick of the East Coast so I wanted to see what the fuss about Denver/Colorado was about with a trip. Had a couple of questions for the ever resourceful people at city-data.

1) I want to travel during the snowiest month to see if I can handle the weather. This would be March, correct?
2) Right now I see the flights are about $80 cheaper heading into Colorado Springs, then Denver. Is it advisable to just fly into Denver or can I go into C Springs and catch a bus or shuttle or taxi up the highway?
3) I know how to drive but haven't owned a car in years. Is the public transit in Denver enough for a quick 5 day trip? Will I be able to see enough the city or should I plan for the inevitability of buying a car.

Thanks for any help you've got!

1. March is it, but so far this has been a drier winter and you could come here in March and get no snow. Most snowfall is up in the mountains, not in Denver, which is on the far western edge of the Great Plains, i.e., when you get off the airplane at DIA you'll see brown short-grass prairie.

2. Any money you save flying via COS will cost you more in shuttle and time, so fly into Denver. Some Denver hotels operate free shuttles. Some folks say that picking up a rental car in-town is far cheaper than doing it at DIA. Others say to use priceline.com to get a rental at rates YOU want to pay.

3. Most people have cars, though it is possible to live in Denver w/out one. Look in the Index of threads for "car free living in Denver" to read all about it.

[davebarnes]

While March is technically the snowiest month in Denver, it is not the month to use to judge whether or not you can handle snow and winter.

March is month when we get an 8-inch snowfall which the sun melts away (completely) in a few days.

You should come at the Winter Solstice. Then, if we have snow, it hangs around for awhile.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

While March is technically the snowiest month in Denver, it is not the month to use to judge whether or not you can handle snow and winter.

March is month when we get an 8-inch snowfall which the sun melts away (completely) in a few days.

You should come at the Winter Solstice. Then, if we have snow, it hangs around for awhile.

Agreed. March is snowy, but not cold (well for a Floridian it will be cold). March snow is wet and heavy because the temperatures are typically in the high 30s - low 40s before and after the storm and in the low 30s during the storm. I hate the March wind much more than the March snow.

From mid-December to mid-February it is pretty darn cold with or without the snow. While temps can be in the 60s (like it was last week), they can just as easily be below zero (as happened last February when schools closed for a couple of days because it was too cold for kids to be waiting at bus stops or walking to school).

[cowboyxjon]

It's possible to live in Denver and not own a car, but I'd recommend buying a car, especially if you have a job out in the suburbs where the bus service isn't as frequent. Most of the light rail stops generally require a transfer to a bus to get to where you want to go, at least in the Tech Center area. And the US 36 Corridor is similar; it doesn't have light rail, but it does have express bus service, but the bus stops are along the highway and usually a transfer is required to get to where you need to go.

Also, if you fly to Colorado Springs, just be sure to check to see if the FREX buses are running. I don't think they operate on weekends, for instance, and I'm not sure that they serve the airport directly, anyway. I'd pay the extra $ to fly to Denver unless you want to see Colorado Springs, too.

Hope this helps!

[TheLoneGMan]

This forum, as always, is a beacon on the wasteland that is the internet. Thanks for the good info all!

[80skeys]

If you move to Denver, I'd highly recommend having a car. It's a very spread-out city and public transportation isn't going to conveniently get you everywhere you need or want.

As for the fuss about Denver, well it's certainly a desirable destination due to good weather, relatively low crime for a large city, and access to scenery and nature. I personally put it high on my list of desirable places to live in the U.S.

Deal-breakers for most people would fall into one of following categories:
* can't handle the dry weather
* can't handle the altitude
* dislike not being close to the ocean
* lacking in diversity and culture of the type you find in really large cities like Chicago, New York

I myself spent five years living and working in the D.C. area and between Denver and DC I choose Denver without second thought: less dreary winters, more laid back, easy access to the Rocky mountains all the way from New Mexico up to Idaho. The only thing that DC has that I find appealing, and unfortunately Denver doesn't have, is the urban culture you find in places like Dupont Circle and Georgtown. In Denver you find a sort of scaled-down, diluted approximation of this in places like Capital Hill.

[odie91]

Yikes really?! The DIA rates are some of the cheapest I've found anywhere, ever. Can't imagine how ridiculously low it would be in-town then =)

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Some folks say that picking up a rental car in-town is far cheaper than doing it at DIA.

[livecontent]

I applaud you for not owning a car. The Denver area has an excellent public transit system. You can easily live in Denver and many areas of the suburbs if you choose wisely. It has been said that public transportation is not going to get you to everywhere you need or want. So, change your needs and wants to other needs, wants and desire that fits the lifestyle of the carfree or carless person.

Of course you cannot go everywhere--so do not go everywhere. Of course, sometimes it will take longer--so take longer and relax. You would already know all that because you have not owned a car in years.

Yes, a job location is a difficult issue to adjust for a carfree lifestyle but you obviously do it now.Denver is considered one of the top cities in the United States where jobs are accessible by public transit.
Denver among best U.S. cities for linking transit and jobs, says Brookings study - Denver Business Journal
I assume if you are seeking a job in Denver and desire to remain carfree, then you have consider that issue. Of course, instead of fitting to the job, you make the job location fit to you.

You can read about car free living in Denver by one of the most active supporters of that lifestyle on this forum--which is yours truly!
https://www.city-data.com/forum/denve...ng-denver.html

Do you need a car to look around--yes, no, perhaps. How is that for an answer.

I would first explore the system http://www.rtd-denver.com/. When you get here, get a day pass or a five day pass http://www.rtd-denver.com/Passes_Ticketbooks.shtml

Go around the city by the rail or other easily convenient buses and see if the system meets your requirements. Pay attention to living where there are multiple buse or rail and buses that come together for good transportation options http://www.rtd-denver.com/TransitCenters.shtm (broken link) Explore other areas by the transit.

Perhaps stay in Downtown and take the FREE shuttle through downtown http://www.rtd-denver.com/FreeMallRideSchedules.shtml (broken link) that will connect you to bus stations on the line and the light rail system. Go to Boulder for quick and fast trip by public transit from downtown--Market Street Station, this regional route http://www3.rtd-denver.com/schedules...=12&routeId=BV

Then if so needed, rent a car for a shorter period or you can use the rentals bikes http://denver.bcycle.com/ and explore the expansive parks, trails and bike trails in our area.

Livecontent

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by TheLoneGMan

2) Right now I see the flights are about $80 cheaper heading into Colorado Springs, then Denver. Is it advisable to just fly into Denver or can I go into C Springs and catch a bus or shuttle or taxi up the highway?

No, that's not even a consideration. Colorado Springs has very few direct flights anywhere. A lot of the flights there have a stop in Denver anyway. Transportation between Colorado Springs and Denver is very limited. You should be able to find plenty of nonstop flights from one of the DC area airports to DEN. When you look at the big picture it will be much cheaper to fly into Denver. However, Colorado Springs still might be worth checking out for a day. There's a lot to see and do there and it's a beautiful small city. I'd also see Boulder, maybe go to Fort Collins and check out some breweries, spend a day or two in the mountains, go skiing, etc. Personally I'd be bored out of my mind spending 5 whole days on a vacation just in Denver itself. If you were a tourist from Nebraska or Iowa seeing Denver might make your eyes light up, but you being from DC, Denver itself has nothing special that you can't get on the east coast. You can see pretty much everything you need to see in the downtown/central core part of Denver in a day and a half. It's the location and the nearby mountains that make it unique. I'd rent a car and really explore.