Colorado Springs Gazette: Once again, Colorado Springs is the most desirable city

For the fourth straight year, Colorado Springs ranks 1st among all metro areas for “desirability” in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of Best Places to Live — the premier ranking index for cities.

Of five ranking categories in determining the best places, “desirability” is beyond dispute the most important. The other four are “value,” “job market,” “quality of life” and “net migration.” All four are important, but “desirability” goes directly to which city most people would live in if given the choice to pick from them all.

Think of it this way. Vehicles are rated by consumers and their advocates for comfort, safety, performance, value and other detailed factors. Most important is which vehicle most consumers desire after assessing the above. Among all cities, Colorado Springs emerges as the Ford F-150 — the best-selling vehicle in the country for more than 40 years. We are strong, reliable, fashionable, functional, and highly valued by consumers.

In a less market-driven analysis — one in which experts crunch numbers — Colorado Springs ranks an impressive #2 on the U.S. News list of Best Place to Live. It ranks second to Huntsville, Alabama, which by most accounts is an impressive city with a robust arts and cultural scene.

Though we won’t complain about the second-place ranking, consumers considering where to live should contemplate the irony of what boosted Huntsville. It beats Colorado Springs by almost three points in “value.” That’s because housing prices and other costs of living are lower in Huntsville.

The costs of living are lower in Huntsville because the market puts a low value on the community. We don’t know why. It is merely a fact. The U.S. News survey ranked Huntsville only 4.9 for “desirability” — the category that matters more than the others combined. That ranking means most people don’t want to live there.

By contrast, Colorado Springs scores a 10 in “desirability” — which no other city achieved. For that reason, housing costs are high which makes our “value” rating low. It is a simple matter of supply and demand. F-150s start at a whopping $71,454 this year because lots of people want them and the manufacturer can’t keep up. The demand to live in Colorado Springs is so high — a pure indicator of success — the construction and development sectors cannot produce housing fast enough for the people who want it.

Sadly, our neighbor up the road — once glitzy, glamorous and always attractive Denver — fell from last year’s ranking as 14th among Best Places to a disturbing 54th. The magazine’s description of Denver indicates why.

“After Colorado residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, Denver has seen a surge in cannabis-related commerce, from dispensaries to magazines to high-tech paraphernalia like vaporizers, rolling papers, lotions and storage containers — and the industry continues to gain speed," U.S. news explains.

Denver is no longer known nationally for beautiful parks, trails, safe spaces, and a friendly, safe, cosmopolitan downtown. It is increasingly known for drugs, paraphernalia, vaping, rolling papers, Big Marijuana and all that goes with an urban scene of hedonistic vice. It is an image good leaders of families and businesses find unappealing. It is more sordid than fashionably progressive or hip. As such, the city’s “desirability” ranking is 6.2 —nearly four points lower than the rating for Colorado Springs an hour to the south where they don't push recreational drugs.

At number 54, largely due to a low “desirability” rating, Denver falls below the likes of Pittsburgh; Cincinnati; Peoria, Illinois; Dayton, Ohio: Omaha, Nebraska; and other places that for generations have not been in league with Denver.

Every aspect of the U.S. News Best Places report tells Colorado Springs leaders and residents they are on the right track. Four years as the most desirable metro makes Olympic City U.S.A the hands-down valedictorian of cities. It means don’t follow Denver and encourage drug abuse. It means keep funding the police and hiring the best public servants. It means do more of the same and build more housing with alacrity. Let’s make the country’s most attractive city among the more affordable.

Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board