[Sam Hill]

People of Denver's suburbs tend to have Denver pride and tell people, when they travel, that they're from Denver. I've lived in and traveled to many places, and have often heard comments along the lines of, "I've noticed people from Denver's suburbs often say they're from Denver instead of saying where they're actually from." So I guess that's a thing? It makes no sense to me. I mean, if you're from Westminster but actually in Denver, you would say you're from Westminster - but if you're hundreds or thousands of miles away, you would say you're from Denver, because there's no way anyone would know what the hell Westminster is. Do people from the suburbs of say, Seattle, or Boston, or Chicago, not say they're from Seattle, or Boston, or Chicago when they're traveling?

People from Denver's suburbs also tend to refer to virtually the entire city of Denver as, "downtown." I've lived in neighborhoods several miles from downtown that my family would still refer to as "downtown." For instance, I was once at a dinner party at my sister's house (in the burbs) and when someone asked where I lived, she said, "he lives downtown." I tried to explain, "actually I live in City Park West." But then my sister had to clarify: "Oh he lives downtown. Trust me, I've been there; you can't even find a place to park." Her friend's reply was quick, and along the lines of, "Oh, City Park? Yeah, that's downtown."

It's not downtown.

There are some cultural divides within the Metro. The northeast part of suburbia is sort of the redneck gateway to the city. It used to be blue-collar liberal but has recently been trending blue-collar Trump. I've noticed some people from that corner of suburbia - places like Henderson and Brighton - have recently lost some of their Denver pride, and have begun to disassociate themselves from Denver.

There's also a divide between the south side of the Front Range and the north side. The north side, for the most part, is more liberal and secular, while the south side is more conservative and religious. The vague, smeared dividing line between the two would lie somewhere in Douglas County, in Denver's south suburbs.

Another trend I've noticed recently, is some people in far-flung parts of the Front Range refer to the city of Denver as "the city" - especially when they're attempting to refer to the city itself as opposed to the entire metropolis which also calls itself "Denver." This is definitely something new. Will it stick? I suspect not. I suspect these people are from the East Coast or something, where they're used to referring to some nearby core city as "The City." It's not a very Colorado thing to do.

One interesting thing that differentiates Denver from its suburbs, is geography. Denver is down in a pit. It tends to be about 5 degrees warmer down here, but it also tends to be very polluted. When you're out on the south, west, or north side of town looking down into the pit, you're often looking down into the infamous Brown Cloud. It's thick and nasty. Denver's pollution problem seemed to be getting under control for a couple decades there, but for whatever reason, it has gotten out of control the last few years. It's starting to remind me of what it used to be like back in the late 80s and early 90s, when I was a kid. I think it's partially an illusion. People from the suburbs wonder how we Denverites can live down in that polluted basin, but I suspect the entire Front Range is basically just as polluted. The pollution just has a greater visual impact when you're looking down into a valley at it and seeing the skyscrapers seemingly poke out from it.