I have no idea where New York City got the reputation of being a dangerous place. Or should I say, the "comparative" reputation. Sure when we were growing up people would steal your shoes and throw rocks at your (or both), but when I walked through downtown Denver I was in for a real shock.
Central Denver, skyscrapers and all.
Denver Town Hall peeking out from some buildings.
Firstly I know Denver must have many great attractions, and this is not to be construed as some sort of attack or insult on the city. Rather this is entirely a judgment of my one specific experience in the downtown area. How did I choose this locale, forsaking the many museums, gardens, parks, and cultural events this city has to offer?
Metal.
Coors Stadium in Denver. I was pointed here on numerous occasions as a place with fun bars and activities.
I needed to find metal cd's in Denver, and one result that kept popping up online was a place called "Twist and Shout." Touted to have every obscure artist, be it some feeble indie outfit or the long lost demo of some Scandinavian band whose members were long ago incarcerated, this looked like the place I was looking for.
Twist & Shout in downtown Denver. Obscure music, dvd's, and toys: yes.
"Twist and Shout" was located in downtown Denver. This store had everything that was promised, and more. Though the used metal collection paled in comparison to something like Generation Records, all the main "underground" players were here for the taking. I picked up a copy of the newest albums from Whitechapel and Cryptopsy (yes, reviews soon to come!)
A street in downtown Denver.
The downtown Denver area is a mix between NYC's Village and perhaps, NYC's Harlem. Trendy new-age shops appear on almost every corner, including independent bookstores, tattoo parlors, and some place called "Purple Haze." Amidst these are placed local eateries and diners, many run by immigrants. But where it really gets interesting is Denver's sidewalks.
Paintings on the side of an apartment building in downtown Denver, a sight appropriate to this distinctively "artsy" area.
On these sidewalks one can see a parade of interesting characters that would cause even a lifetime New Yorker to pause. Bikers, punks, grunge-esc individuals, people with tattoos on their entire bodies, attitude-laden construction workers, immigrants from every part of the globe, and town drunks. Unfortunately the town drunks really took the cake here. It seemed impossible to walk down one block without seeing someone swaying over from some sort of internal chemical/biological reaction which we could only guess at (though a drug test would probably help).
Statues watching over the entrance to City Park in downtown Denver. Possibly, they are here to warn anyone wearing a colonial-era dress that downtown isn't the safest place for them.
Sculpture outside a building central Denver.
Another cool sculpture. Art is prominent in the business and downtown districts.
Another interesting thing I noticed about the areas around Denver was the number of strip malls and malls. Even though the entire state of Colorado is only about the population of NYC, there are more malls here on one block than in all of Brooklyn. Not that this is a criticism, in fact it makes me wonder where everyone does their shopping back home.
"Deer" running around Colorado's many strip malls.
Building with interesting architecture that makes it look like a satellite.
The sheer choices when it comes to fast food is astounding. Each Mexican "restaurant" I went to was great, offering everything from overstuffed tacos to overstuffed quesadillas. There was also a "New York" style pizza restaurant that I just had to enjoy. Sounds like a dumb idea on the surface considering my position, but if 50% of your diet was made up of pizza, you too would be itching for a fix after so many days. So many days away from beautiful, tasty pizza...
Only one more to go: my epic trek up a 14,000 foot mountain in the Rockies! Stay tuned.
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