When your only means of travel is bad, your whole system is bad.

I'm glad that you've found a solution that works for you. I've had the misfortune to be subjected to public transport as a daily necessity, so I'm not as enthusiastic as you are about it.

Also, I work just off of 70, and my wife works in DTC. So there really aren't any good compromises for living that give us both decent commute time.

I understand that the whole vibe in the metro is built for the more hipster-ish living style. I just don't really fit into that, so what fundamentally matters to me is not great, and that colors my perceptions I guess.

I go to CO for vacation semi-regularly, what am I missing as a tourist? Because I actually praise the roads in CO and their road crews frequently.

From what I've seen, they are several magnitudes better compared to most other places that I've been to or lived in... and I'm from a military brat family and a road tripper.

There are essentially only two (!) real roadways: I-70 and I-25. If you're willing to pay the few hundred $/mo, you can also drive on 470 to bypass the traffic. Once you get away from these two (three), it's a mire of unconnected and unplanned roads.

On top of this - especially highlighted by the snow this past weekend - there is no regular maintenance of the roads other than 25 and 70.

At the end of January I was in a car accident and am waiting for repairs, so I've gotten a glimpse of the public transportation system also. What used to take me ~20 mins to drive now takes over an hour, and unless your complete list of destinations is along the I-25 corridor, that's pretty typical.

Now, maybe I just have a sour taste for CO. I am definitely looking to GTFO - that's why I was looking in this thread in the first place - but this has been my experience with the city/state for the last ~5 years. Take it how you will.