Denver

Denver is a thriving city with a plethora of tourist attractions, as well as a varied assortment of neighborhoods that may serve as attractions in and of themselves. Numerous older neighborhoods in Denver are ideal for exploring; you’ll discover an intriguing mix of apartments and single-family houses with blooming front gardens, wide cobblestone pathways, brilliant green lawns, and large, shaded trees. Capitol Hill, Highlands, Baker, Berkeley, Uptown, Sloan’s Lake, Cheesman, Washington, City, and Congress Parks are just a few of the lively areas.

Denver is home to several lovely parks filled with vibrant gardens, winding walks, crystal clear lakes, plentiful animals, and recreational activities. The city has a storied pioneer heritage, and there are several museums dedicated to it. It is also a particularly ecologically concerned city, featuring one of the nation’s first municipal “Green Fleets,” public transportation vehicles that run on hybrid and alternative fuels, as well as a city-wide tree-planting campaign. Take a green bus, rent a bike, or just stroll around to learn about Denver.

In Denver, late spring and early fall are good seasons for outdoor activities. Apart from the many beautiful green parks across the city, there are several outdoor events, sports, and gondola rides. (Yes, there are gondola trips.) Winter is the ideal season to visit Denver’s famed breweries or check out the downtown arts scene, thanks to the snow-capped mountains in the background and the crisp air on your cheeks.

Denver inhabitants enjoy a temperate environment and the third most sunlight of any state in the United States, as well as four distinct seasons.

Between October and March, heavy snowfalls are common, often followed by days with high temperatures and sunlight. A snowfall of exceeding a couple feet happens around once a year. Winter also brings a phenomena known as the “Chinook” to the Denver region. That is when air travels westward over the mountains and heats up on the leeward (eastern) slopes of the foothills. This results in a substantial increase in air temperature, which may last several days. If you’re visiting Denver in the winter, be prepared with complete winter clothing in case of inclement weather, but also bring a light sweater and T-shirt; the weather is often sunny and moderate.

Spring in Denver is nice, though rather short. By late March, trees have begun to budding and are in full leaf by mid April to mid May. March is often the snowiest month in Denver.

Denver’s summer season begins in June. Temperatures often begin to increase in earnest around this time period, with the majority of heat waves starting in mid-June and lasting into July, which is normally Denver’s warmest month, with highs in the high 80s to mid-90s. The southwest monsoon begins in late July. In August, thunderstorms occur in brief bursts around three to four days each week. By late August, temperatures had begun to fall, with a distinct contrast between day and nighttime temperatures. Through September and October, as the days become shorter, daytime temperatures fall to the upper 50s to mid-60s. Apply sunscreen liberally throughout the summer; the rays are intense and the air is dry, with temperatures often reaching the high 90s in July and August.

Autumn is a tranquil season to visit, with temperate temperatures, few major storms, and plenty of that famed beautiful blue sky. You’ll get to view the trees in their autumn hues, which typically peak in the highlands around mid-September and in the city around October. October often provides Denver’s first snowfall of the season, albeit a modest dusting. By November, it’s obvious that winter is approaching, with lots of clouds, a dusting of snow, and much lower temperatures.

Denver is situated in the Front Range Urban Corridor, sandwiched between the Rocky Mountains and the High Plains. The geography of Denver is characterized by plains in the city center and mountainous hills to the north, west, and south. The city has a total area of 155 square miles (401 km2), of which 153 square miles (396 km2) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2) is water (1.1 percent). Denver is bordered by three counties: Adams to the north and east, Arapahoe to the south and east, and Jefferson to the west.

Although Denver is nicknamed the “Mile-High City” due to its official height of one mile above sea level, as measured by the location of a landmark on the steps of the State Capitol building, the city’s elevation fluctuates between 5,130 and 5,690 feet (1,560 to 1,730 m). According to the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and the National Elevation Dataset, the city’s elevation is 5,278 feet (1,609 m), as indicated on several websites, including the National Weather Service’s.

The Denver MSA’s gross metropolitan product was $157.6 billion in 2010, ranking it as the country’s 18th biggest metro economy. Denver’s economy is primarily reliant on its physical location and proximity to many of the country’s main transportation networks. As the biggest city within 500 miles (800 kilometers), Denver has developed into a natural site for warehousing and distribution of products and services to the Mountain States, Southwest states, and all western states. Another advantage of Denver’s distribution is its proximity to major cities in the Midwest, such as Chicago and St. Louis, as well as certain major cities on the West Coast, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Denver has also been home to numerous significant firms in the central United States throughout the years, making it a vital commercial hub for the nation. Numerous well-known organizations have their roots in Denver or have migrated there. The Denver Instrument Company was founded in 1895 by William Ainsworth to manufacture analytical balances for gold assayers. Its plant has been relocated to Arvada. AIMCO (NYSE: AIV) is the nation’s biggest owner and operator of apartment complexes, with roughly 870 properties totaling almost 136,000 units in 44 states. The company is based in Denver and employs around 3,500 employees. Additionally, Samsonite Corp., the world’s biggest luggage maker, originated in Denver in 1910 as Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company. However, Samsonite shuttered its NE Denver facility in 2001 and relocated its headquarters to Massachusetts in 2006 after a change in ownership. Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company, formed in 1911 in Denver, is currently a subsidiary of CenturyLink.

The Denver Post was acquired by MediaNews Group in 1987; the corporation is headquartered in Denver. In 1919, the Gates Corporation, the world’s biggest manufacturer of automobile belts and hoses, was founded in South Denver. Russell Stover Candies Inc. began operations in Denver in 1923 before relocating to Kansas City in 1969. Since 1925, the Wright & McGill Company has been manufacturing fishing gear under the Eagle Claw name in NE Denver. Frontier Airlines started operations in 1950 at Denver’s former Stapleton International Airport. Frontier was reborn in 1994 at DIA. Since 1954, Scott’s Liquid Gold, Inc. has been manufacturing furniture polish in Denver. Village Inn restaurants originated in 1958 in Denver as a single pancake house. Big O Tires, LLC, headquartered in Centennial, launched its first franchise location in Denver in 1962. The Shane Company initially marketed diamond jewelry in Denver in 1971. Johns Manville Corp., an insulation and roofing product maker, transferred its headquarters from New York to Denver in 1972. In 1980, CH2M HILL Inc., an engineering and construction corporation based in Oregon, moved to the Denver Technological Center. In the 1990s, the Ball Corporation sold its glass operations in Indiana and relocated to suburban Broomfield. Ball has multiple locations in the greater Denver area.

In 2005, the Molson Coors Brewing Company established its headquarters in the United States in Denver. Coors Distributing Company, the company’s subsidiary and regional wholesale distributor, is located in northwest Denver. The Newmont Mining Corporation is located in Denver. It is the second biggest gold producer in North America and one of the largest in the world.

Lockheed Martin Corp., United Airlines, Kroger Co., and Xcel Energy, Inc. are among the large Denver-area firms with headquarters located elsewhere. MapQuest, an online provider of maps, directions, and business listings, is based in Denver’s LODO neighborhood.

Denver’s geographic location also enables it to have a sizable government presence, with a number of federal agencies headquartered in or with locations in the Denver metro region. Along with government agencies, the city attracts several enterprises involved in US military and space initiatives, and the city attracts additional employment as the state capital. The Rocky Flats old nuclear weapons complex, the Denver Federal Center, the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and United States Courthouse, the Denver Mint, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are all located in the Denver region.

The Colorado Convention Center had a $310.7 million renovation in 2005, tripling its size. The expectation was that expanding the center will raise the city to one of the top ten conference destinations in the country.

Denver’s proximity to the mineral-rich Rocky Mountains prompted the establishment of mining and energy enterprises in the region. In the city’s early years, gold and silver booms and busts were critical to the city’s economic prosperity. During the 1970s and early 1980s, America’s energy crisis and associated high oil prices fueled an energy boom in Denver, which was immortalized in the soap opera Dynasty. Denver expanded significantly during this time period, with the addition of several new downtown buildings. When oil prices fell from $34 per barrel in 1981 to $9 per barrel in 1986, the Denver economy suffered, leaving nearly 15,000 oil industry workers unemployed (including former mayor and current Governor John Hickenlooper, a former geologist), and the city with the highest office vacancy rate in the country (30 percent ). Since then, the sector has recovered, and 700 petroleum engineers remain working in the area. Hydraulic fracturing advancements have transformed Colorado’s DJ Basin into an accessible and profitable oil play. Energy and mining continue to play a key role in Denver’s economy today, with corporations like as EnCana, Halliburton, Smith International, Rio Tinto Group, Newmont Mining, Noble Energy, and Anadarko based or operating in the region.

Denver’s west-central geographic position in the Mountain Time Zone (UTC 7) further advantages the telecommunications sector by allowing for simultaneous contact with both North American coasts, South America, Europe, and Asia. Denver’s elevation of almost one mile (1.6 kilometers) on the 105th meridian also permits it to be the biggest city in the United States to deliver a “one-bounce” real-time satellite uplink to six continents on the same working day. Qwest Communications, Dish Network Corporation, Starz-Encore, DIRECTV, and Comcast are just a handful of the several telecommunications firms based in the Denver metropolitan region. These and other high-tech firms thrived in Denver from the mid-1990s through the late-1990s. Denver has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country in October 2007, at 3.8 percent. As of April 2015, the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield MSA’s unemployment rate is 4.2 percent. The Downtown area has experienced a rise in real estate investment, with numerous new towers scheduled to open between 2010 and 2013.

Denver has also been a pioneer in the fast casual restaurant sector, with a number of notable national chain restaurants developed and headquartered in the city. Denver is where Chipotle Mexican Grill, Quizno’s, and Smashburger were formed and have their headquarters. Qdoba Mexican Grill, Noodles & Company, and Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard all began in Denver but have since relocated to Wheat Ridge, Broomfield, and Golden.

Denver was named first on Forbes’ 2015 ranking of the Best Cities for Business and Careers.