Over the past week, I was in Denver visiting some family. Now I haven’t been to Denver in over 15 years, so obviously a lot has changed. Much of it for the better, at least per Newsweek who as recently as last year ranked Denver as the #1 city in America. This was a mantle previously owned by Seattle, which has recently moved down the list due to traffic and housing cost concerns.

Anyway, I did a little recon mission in Denver to see how ‘great’ this city is. Below is my comparisons between the Emerald City and the Mile High City:

• Overall look: Denver is in the mountains. Seattle is near the water. And has a mountain. Advantage: Seattle

• Transportation: Denver has a light rail coming from all 4 directions. A bit pricey, but very well constructed. Seattle has one light rail which is cheaper, but goes on;y one way. Denver freeway system is much wider than Seattle. Advantage: Denver

• Stadiums: Mile High Stadium is a palace. The Pepsi Center is nice. Coors Field is pretty as well. They are all around downtown within 3 miles of each other, connected by said light rail. Century Link is a great place, but this Mile High Stadium is awesome. Safeco looks the same as Coors, but overlooks my condo from across the water, so that’s a plus. Not until Seattle finally erects their state-of-the-art arena near the Space Needle, Denver wins this race. Advantage: Denver

• Sports Talk Shows: Denver has 3 24 hour sports stations. One is called ‘Orange and Blue’, all Broncos all the time. None of these stations acknowledge they have a MLB playoff team in their backyard. Seattle has 3 stations as well. And they find time to talk about baseball. Better hosts as well. Advantage: Seattle

• Homeless: Not even close. Advantage: Denver

• Scary White Trash Supremacists Who Wear Hunting Gear in the City: Not even close. Advantage: Seattle

• Landmarks: Denver has a mint. Seattle has the Space Needle. Advantage: Seattle

• Craft Beer: Denver has New Belgium along with some other dandies. Seattle has more than you can count. Advantage: Seattle

• Music: Denver has John Denver. Seattle doesn’t have John Denver. Advantage: Seattle

• Affordability: Denver is a bit pricey, but their renting/housing is manageable. Seattle…..not so much and is going the wrong way. Advantage: Denver

• Pot: Way too much for each city. But Denver has fewer ads for their stores. Advantage: Denver

• Sitcoms: Mork and Mindy for Denver/Boulder. Seattle, well, Frasier. Advantage: Seattle

• Pretentiousness: God, Seattle can be so exhausting with their ‘causes’ and their righteousness. Advantage: Denver

• Rich People: Gates/Bezos cannot be beat. Advantage: Seattle

• Businesses: Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, Boeing, Alaskan Air versus….well…Chipotle. Advantage: Seattle

• City Colors: Seattle is all blue/green; ocean and sky. Denver has some brown, orange, and other mining-ish colors. Advantage: Seattle

• Downtown: Denver has a lot of cool stuff there, but it is a bit corporate. Seattle has the ocean and Pike’s Market. Advantage: Seattle

• City Council: Well, Denver has 4 teams to Seattle’s 2. And their downtown, although not as good, is organized by the city better, with free buses and areas blocked off from normal traffic. Seattle is a mess downtown because the City is too lazy to fix things. Advantage: Denver

Final Score: Seattle-11, Denver-7

Unlike Super Bowl XLVIII, this one went to the wire. Denver is a great city and is very similar to Seattle in more ways than not. someday soon I will journey back. But home is sweet, and home is here. So huzzah Emerald City, you are the winner!!

It’s hard to top this place.