DENVER – The Mile High City officially received 2.8 inches of snow from the latest storm this week.
To many who were born and raised in the Mile High City, it may seem like a typical winter snow day, but it was enough to delay classes, cause almost 200 crashes in Denver alone and get people fired up about road conditions on Facebook.
“I think people are getting more cautious,” Dr. Tom Noel, a University of Colorado Denver history professor who’s also known as Dr. Colorado.
“I think a lot of newcomers here aren’t used to the snow,” Dr. Noel said. “So for them, it’s a big deal.”
The Denver area certainly has had a population boom.
Metro Denver’s population grew by roughly 40,000 people between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018, according to Census data. An estimated 2,932,415 people now call greater Denver home.
According to the Denver Regional Council of Governments, many of those people are from places that do not regularly receive snow, like cities in California and Texas. Others are from cities like Chicago and New York, where more people use public transportation than in Denver.
“I’m a recovering Chicagoan,” said Sam Bailey, who moved to Colorado 13 years ago. “I think the perception is Colorado’s under a blanket of snow. But in reality, the sun shines and it melts away. Where I’m from, that snow stays.”
Now, Bailey works for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and tries to lure businesses here.
“We never talk about weather in recruitment,” Bailey said. “We let them experience our sunshine and our mountains.”