Cortez was ranked No. 8 in a Top 10 list of the worst places to live in Colorado, according to Durham, N.C.-based “infotainment” Roadsnacks.net.
The website, which claims it “used science to determine which cities in Colorado are the real pits,” ranked Pueblo as the worst, followed by Delta, Alamosa, Montrose, Trinidad, Grand Junction, Stratmoor, Cortez, La Junta and Greeley.
Roadsnacks analyzed 103 cities in Colorado with a population over 5,000, using census data, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sperling’s Best Places and FBI data. The site then analyzed population density, unemployment, home values, adjusted median income and education to rank the cities.
The author cited 6.8 percent unemployment and $34,000 median income as two compelling reasons to list Cortez.
“Cortez has a Walmart Supercenter and an airport, but that’s where the excitement level ends. It’s out in the middle of nowhere in southwest Colorado. So even if Cortez residents had disposable incomes, there wouldn’t be much for them to spend their money on. Except weed maybe?” wrote the author, Nick Johnson.
The post raised the ire of several online commenters who bashed its “scientific” methodology and wrote that the data don’t paint the whole picture.
“Cortez CO my home for the last 20+ years. Yes, rural, but a slice of heaven. ... We are home to Mesa Verde National Park, Canyon of the Ancients. We are very rich with our cultural area that draws people from all over the world. A short drive from downtown Cortez, you can be high on the top of mountains or go a short in a different direction and you are in the desert southwest,” said one.
The site named Stonegate, Columbine, Highlands Ranch, Castle Pines, Louisville, Superior, Ken Caryl, Erie, Parker and Eagle as the best places to live.
“Western Colorado is uniquely Western Colorado, and I don’t think you can compare this region to the metropolitan areas to our east,” said Kinsey Ertel, president of Cortez Chamber of Commerce board.
“Cortez holds many treasures for those that are lured to the outdoors; we don’t have traffic issues, and Cortez is a safe place to live and raise a family,” Ertel said. “The joys of living here are a simple, easy and less stress-filled life. There’s no place I’d rather live.”
To view the rankings, visit: roadsnacks.net/worst-places-to-live-in-colorado/
