These city ranking things (see current DP article: here) always crack me up. Denver has always had a kind of complex about playing second fiddle to other cities, especially when it comes to lifestyle and fitness. “Least Obese in the Nation!” is a badge Coloradans love to flaunt. So it should come as no surprise when Mile High folks take umbrage at being named #8. Especially when the reasons have more to do with “bowling costs” and “proximity to the beach” than with waistlines and exercise habits of local residents.
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I’ve been to most of the 100 places named in this list. <Notable exceptions include Honolulu (#1), Anchorage (#62) and Laredo (#71).> I’ve lived for a time in a bunch of them, including Chicago (#2), Denver (#8), Sacramento (#16), Los Angeles (#25) and Colorado Springs (#33). <And we won’t even mention the 12 weeks I spent in Plano (#68) back in the late 80’s, okay?>
Bottom line, any ranking is dependent on the ranking’s methodology. At least the authors of this one (WalletHub) spell theirs out in detail, here, so you can draw your own conclusions. Or, as one DP commentator put it so pithily:
F*** it dude, let’s go bowling.