The story hit home with one reader, who notes that he lives in the Capitol Hill apartment building pictured in the piece (above), "and I am moving out this weekend because rent is going way up!" Says another reader, "I got the same story: $450 in 2014 is now $1,100."
But in their comments, other readers quickly moved from specific rent issues to concerns about the city in general. Says Chris:
Denver is nice but not that nice! I mean, seriously. Why are people here? There is not an ocean. The mountains are kinda far. Traffic sucks. It's expensive. There are not gardens everywhere. It's kinda brown, actually. Plenty of IT jobs in cheaper cities. Makes little sense.Daniel replies:
Lived here for a long time, and it makes me smile when I hear hipster trash wants to leave because the city is not edgy enough. It was better before all you pussy little artists, photographers came. Bye and take your quinoa Danish on your way out.Responds Nick:
It's not even worth it. At least in cities like LA and NYC, you are getting a lot for what you're paying. Denver seems like a lame attempt at a city that gets old after a year. Just my two cents, but if you're going to pay too much for rent, make it in a place that is awesome. Denver isn't awesome, beer gets boring, sports are lame, and I have hardly met anyone who likes doing anything in the mountains because the people are lame and flakey...one more year and I'm outta here.Then there's this from Alicia:
For the record, I am from Miami and have lived in Seattle and Boston. I know big cities and high rent. I pay $710 including all utilities for a studio in Cap Hill. I've been in Denver for nine years; it's still the most beautiful place I have lived. All of the good bands come here, constantly, we have a venue like freaking Red Rocks, the beer IS good, the nightlife is varied and awesome, and sometimes, even if you don't often venture into them, the mountains make for a stunning view from just about goddamn anywhere.Concludes Deanna:
Denver is pretty freakin rad.
As my husband says, all the big city hassle, none of the big city fun.As we reported in "Denver Rent Up 48 Percent Since 2010, Only the Bay Area Is Worse," a recent report from RealPage.com, a property-management software firm, offered an analysis of rent growth in the United States over the past seven years. And prices in Denver went up 48.3 percent from 2010 through the end of 2017.
The increase is the fourth-highest in the United States during that period, behind only three cities in California's Bay Area: San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco took top honors, in that order.
How much has your rent gone up in the past few years? Is living in Denver worth paying the price?
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