Notes on an excursion upward and westward:
1. Asking people in Denver about the “bad part of town” will either confuse or entertain the people being asked.
Because there isn’t one, or at least none that I could find. To be sure, there are plenty of strange things, plenty of crime, plenty of weirdos, and plenty of the general unease that comes with any major American city. But Denver, for whatever reason, does not compartmentalize things like “rich” and “poor” and “I, tourist, really ought to get back to where I came from,” instead building the kind of city in which a person walking down a major street—let’s say Colfax—on any given day—let’s say a Friday—may pass, in order: new condominium building, famous restaurant, dive bar, crack house, upscale grocery store, liquor store, and a bar that looks like the kind of place pro athletes go to get arrested. And then a park because, you know, they like that kind of outdoorsy thing. Which, if you think about it, is kind of a cool way to live.
2. Boulder may contain the least self-aware population on Earth.
Boulderite: “Chicago? What are you doing in Boulder of all places?”
Me: “Are you kidding? This place is paradise. More like ‘what took me so long?’.”
Boulderian: “Well, don’t tell anyone back in Chicago about this place.”
Me: “Everyone already knows. How do you think I ended up here?”
Boulderer: “You’ve heard of this place even all the way in Chicago?”
Me: “Why wouldn’t we have? Or anyone?”
Boulderander: “Well, I mean, when I was growing up in Texas I knew about this place, but that’s different.”
3. When given a chance, always climb the mountain.
And make sure to drink plenty of water. Seriously.
Thank you as always for reading,
AMR
Denver, CO, Boulder, CO, & Chicago, IL / July 31 – August 18, 2011