Having moved to Denver from Phoenix two months and two days ago, I have noticed a lot of major differences. First of all, before I forget, I have to give some major props to the residents of Denver for the way you treat Halloween. I spent my Halloween in downtown and while I was waiting for my buddy to start his DJ gig, I was just wandering around. Now granted, I was in downtown and I’m sure there were a lot of hosted events going on but I’ll be honest, between walking around and taking the Mall Shuttle down 16th, I would estimate that about 70-80% of the people I saw were dressed up. I have never seen such numbers. In Phoenix, you’ll see the random group of adults dressed up or, if you spend time on Mill Ave in Tempe (near ASU campus), perhaps about 30-40% of the people are in costume. Point is, I might as well have been naked. Best I could say was that I was dressed up as the college dropout who just moved to a new city. So, kudos, Denver.

I’ve also noticed that, unlike Phoenix, Denver is definitely not a land full of parking lots. I have never walked so much in my life and I’m loving it. This concept of driving somewhere, parking on the side of the road and then walking everywhere you need to go is incredible to me. If you have to walk a half mile down the road, that’s normal. In Phoenix, that’s grounds for a rental car. I guess that’s part of why Denver is the fittest city in the country. Oh, for the record, I apologize for bringing that statistic down a touch and I assure you, I’m working on getting in shape so I don’t make you all look bad.

Finally, there’s so much to do in Denver and I’m quite sure I haven’t even scratched the surface. Pretty much on any given night, if there’s something that interests me, it’s going on somewhere. People tend to get stuck in a routine in Phoenix and they’ll end up doing the same thing every night of the week. “Oh, it’s Tuesday? guess we’re heading down to the weekly drum and bass night.” It becomes a scenario where they feel there is no alternative and many times, there is none.

All that said, I’m so happy to be here. I feel like I’m home. I’ll never stop wearing my Cardinals jersey, never stop cheering for the D-Backs, Suns or Coyotes. ASU will always be my team. But aside from sports, Denver has won my heart in a short two months. It’s exciting to see what else I’ll experience from here on out.