(1) What neighborhood/suburb do you live in?
Just bought our first house in Virginia Village. Just moved from Wash Park West. Have also lived in LoHi.
(2) What do you like/dislike about it?
I like: being near the mountains, the craft beer scene, the cycling scene, the mild winters compared to my Midwest hometown, and the casual work & dining scenes.
I do not like: the traffic that I really don't have to deal with anyway, increasing COL.
(3) Comment where you can about COL, public transport, public library, city services....
COL has been increasing because young people like me are moving into Denver and want to live near downtown but there are more people coming in than houses being built. Damn us. Rent has been up and so have housing prices. This is especially true in neighborhoods near downtown (LoHi, RiNo, Wash Park, Capitol Hill, etc.). If you're willing to be a bit out of downtown, housing prices are obviously lower and it's less competitive. If you're looking to buy, the housing market is very competitive. If you're savvy about it and like to bike, you can choose a neighborhood that isn't in one of those close expensive close to downtown areas but you can still ride. My ride is 8 mi each way to downtown, and about 7 of that is on a trail.
The public transit is mediocre. Buses are subject to the same bad traffic as everyone else and the light rail only serves some areas. This is improving as more light rail stations are being added, including to the airport. Bike infrastructure is decent. There are two main arteries for bike traffic that lead downtown (Cherry Creek Trail and Platte Trail) with other bike lanes/routes scattered throughout.
Public library is just fine. One large branch near downtown with plenty of smaller branches scattered out.
I have no issue with city services other than all of the parking tickets they give out. Seriously...so much parking enforcement. Worse than other cities I've been to. Property taxes are comparatively low compared to many parts of the country, so that's cool too.
I love living here. The positives are numerous. The negatives are mostly avoidable. I can't imagine leaving.