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16 Questions People From Denver Are Sick of Hearing

Student Work
by Janice Schultze Oct 29, 2015

1. “What’s a LoDo?”

LoDo is short for Lo(wer) Do(wntown). It’s a rather spendy and trendy former skid row that sprang up when Coors Field opened in 1995, where free parking doesn’t exist anywhere but expensive food does.

2. “Do you smoke marijuana all the time?”

Not really.

3. “Where are the mountains?”

OK, if you glance west a little way past the really tall buildings in downtown, you’ll view some hilly bumps off into the distance. If you’re lucky, you might notice some snow on top. That’s the Rockies!

4. “How about those Broncos and…who are your other teams?”

We definitely love our football, but Denver is one of the few U.S. cities with a complete slate of major league teams. By the way, they’re the MLB Rockies, NHL Avalanche, NBA Nuggets and MLS Rapids.

5. “Where are the cows on the streets?”

The cattle parade that takes place every January to open the National Western Stock Show is just one day of cow dominance, not a daily one.

6. “Why is DIA out in the middle of nowhere?”

Some 1980’s glad-handing with the city and few of the surrounding rural counties created this place, which might as well be called Fort Hays International.

7. “Why do you have so many shootings?”

Just because two state senators got kicked out for proposing modest gun control reform in 2013 to change our mass shooting rep, we still get unfairly painted with this broad gun-loving brush. But we’ve had just two of them — Columbine in 1999 and Aurora in 2012 — which is obviously still two too many.

8. “How do you breathe here?”

It’s the altitude, cupcake. A mile high above sea level equals lower levels of oxygen here. Give it some time and drink more water. Stay away from the booze for a bit. Once your head stops spinning, go ahead and imbibe.

9. “Why do you all wear North Face and Columbia clothes all the time?”

You just never know when the moment will strike to leave work early and head up to the mountains for an impromptu hike, rock climb or mountain bike ride.

10. “Where’s the ‘Mork and Mindy’ house?”

This one’s cropped a lot since Robin Williams’ premature passing last year. But we can’t take credit for that one — it’s in Boulder, a whole other universe of a city northwest of Denver.

11. “Why do you have as much traffic as LA?”

It was a nightmare called T-REX (aka the Transportation Expansion) that started the whole mess. The state still keeps finding more ways to muck up driving around here.

12. “What’s with all the bicycles?”

Frankly, we just look great in Spandex, so we wear it every chance we get.

13. “Where’s Coors?”

Want to learn how beer is produced in oil refinery-sized quantities? Then this place is for you. But please, please, avail yourself to some of our awesome craft brews, too, like Breckenridge, Great Divide and Denver Beer Co.

14. “Don’t you have any good restaurants around here?”

While Denver may not quite be in the same gourmet league as New York or San Francisco, we hold our own and go beyond burgers and green chile joints. Try dining at Rioja, Mizuna, Euclid Hall, Colt & Gray, Table 6, or ChoLon.

15. “Why are you all so Jesus-freaky?”

Denver is fairly close to Colorado Springs, the unofficial evangelical capital of the country. But overall, we’re pretty diverse and not monolithically Christian.

16. “Why don’t I see where all those Westerns were filmed?”

Because most of those movies were filmed at least a half a day’s worth drive from the metro area. You’re not going to have a lot of wide open spaces and tumbleweed here.

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