Louisville, CO

Louisville, Colorado is about 30 minutes north of Denver, although I heard that can really increase during rush hour. It's a small town, only about 20,000 residents, and the first place we visited without any preexisting knowledge nor any local friends to give us the low-down. 

Starting from the drive there I was pleasantly surprised. Once we were within 15 minutes of town, it felt like we had left the big city and were now in agricultural land. The whole time we continued to move closer to the mountains, which remained in view from town. The public library was really nice, and situated in downtown, which gave me easy walking access once I finished my work tasks. 

I walked along the (surprisingly long) Main Street, and then continued through a neighborhood to Louisville Community Park. From there I followed the Coal Creek Trail for a while before deciding to pop off into a neighborhood. I continued to string along parks and neighborhood streets until I looped back into downtown. Had I wanted to, it would have been quite easy to continue for many miles on well-kept walking and biking trails. We finished the evening with a meal at the cute-but-pricey Por Wine House.

The Good

• Feels distinct from Denver and is close to the mountains (I found a handful of trails within a 15 minute drive).
• Cute and quiet, but not sleepy, downtown with lots of dining options.
• Very friendly; almost everyone I passed shared a wave or a friendly "hello."
• Lots of kids on bikes, on rollerblades, playing soccer, or hanging out sans-adults in the numerous parks.
• Seems safe; I saw a number of over-stuffed mailboxes which made me think people aren't worried about their property being stollen.
• Good size; it felt like one cohesive community.
• Unlike Littleton and Crested Butte, Louisville felt natural. It seemed like the town had grown organically and it just happened to be in a pleasant way.

The Bad

• The surrounding agricultural land is not my ideal town-backdrop.
• Limited housing available. 
• Everyone was white. The only person of color I saw was doing pest control work. 

The Verdict

Sure. You might think from the good-to-bad ratio Louisville would be a whole-hearted "yes!" It was, until it was time to leave the Denver area for good. I-70 is the main road connecting all of the Denver suburbs to the main skiing and other outdoorsy activities, and on a Friday mid-morning it was already very slow traffic to get into the mountains. I realized Denver has nothing appealing to me, and that if I'm going to live in a suburb, then Denver is not the city I want to be near. If I had a reason to be near Denver, I would really love Louisville, but until that day I think I am going to avoid Denver at all costs.

This is how most of Littleton's downtown looked: cute store fronts with ample outdoor seating.

Perhaps my favorite thing in town was this impromptu art. Inside was a spinning flower that played music.

The parks were varied: some were grassy fields, others had bocce ball pits and playgrounds, and this one had a nice picnic space.

Some spots that were marked as green space on the map were actually just private agricultural land. That was a little discouraging until I discovered the expansive public trail system.

One of many trail options. This was less than 10 minutes walk from downtown.

There were little free libraries like this one all over town.