For people who seek healthy living and an active lifestyle, it’s really tough to beat the city of Denver, Colorado.
After living in Denver for the last 13 years, I have seen some really fantastic updates to the city and culture. Since Denver is home to many transplants who moved here just like I did, we’ve received the benefit of having been influenced from other great places — this seems to coincide remarkably well with the historic western roots of the city. Friends ask me all the time if I still like living here and my answer is unequivocally “yes!”.
Denver is truly a great city and Colorado is an awesome state. I’m not just saying that. If you live here already or if you come out to visit, you’ll probably feel the same way. It’s often that people come out to visit and after spending only a few days, they start looking into moving here.
There are many reasons why Denver is a great place. I’m going to talk through some of those reasons and will sincerely hope that the residents don’t get upset that I’m spilling some of the secrets!
Fun Facts About Denver
Denver is ranked 6th on the list of sunniest cities in the United States (69% of days are sunshine according to NOAA classifications) — Denver claims that over 300 days per year receive at least some sunshine. After living here for over a decade, I can honestly say that there are more mornings with a crystal clear sky then there are with heavy cloud cover. It’s nearly sunny every day here and due to the semi-arid climate, it’s easy to look forward to the rain. We get so much sunshine here that we celebrate the rain, how awesome is that? Let’s not even mention being at the ski resorts and having a hot, sunny day…
Denver is a sports capital. We have the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLS, and MLB (that’s hockey, basketball, football, soccer, and baseball respectively). If that wasn’t enough for sports, we also have professional lacrosse, rugby, arena football, arena soccer, and Australian rules football. Not to mention it is a top training spot for competitive cyclists from around the world and is only an hour or two away from some of the best skiing and mountain sports in the country.
Denver frequently makes the best beer city list while also ranking in the leanest people in America list. Denver is home to Coors, hosts the Great American Beer Festival, and has numerous award winning microbreweries. Denver also brews the most beer per capita. In regards to being a lean and fit place to live — according to Gallup Polls, Denver is the 10th leanest city in the United States. On top of that, Fort Collins, Boulder, and Colorado Springs ranked #1, #2, and #4 on the lean list.
Besides brewing more beer per capita than any other city and ranking in the top 10 for leanest cities, Denver is was also recognized as the best city for singles for the third year in a row.
Like parks? Denver has a huge city park system, with over 200 parks in city limits and 20,000 acres of parks in the nearby mountains. Denver’s City Park is the largest in Denver with a whopping 314 acres. However, parks like Washington Park and Cheesman Park tend to be the most popular parks for people to gather in.
From a culture standpoint, Denver is home to internationally recognized museums such as the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. In addition, the Denver Performing Arts Complex is the country’s second largest performing arts center next to Lincoln Center in New York City. Denver is also home to one of the select mints throughout the country that prints U.S. currency.
For those who always ask about the Mile High…Denver is a mile high (exactly). The steps of the State Capitol building are exactly 5,280 feet above sea level.
And just in case there isn’t enough to do in the Denver area, there are other great cities in the state of Colorado such as Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Breckenridge, Vail, Aspen, Grand Junction, Telluride, Steamboat Springs, the list goes on and on…
So whether you are a native or a transplant, if you haven’t already figured it out, you are living in one of the best cities in America. So get out there and enjoy every bit of it and if you feel so inclined to write about your adventures, contact StyleDenver.com and we would love to share it with other Denverites.
