Awards & Rankings

• No. 1 - U.S. News & World Report, "Most Desirable Place to Live"
• No. 1 - Money, "Big Cities to Live In"
• No. 1 - Outside Magazine, "Best Town"
• No. 1 - Forbes, "America's Most Pet-Friendly City"
• No. 1 - Men's Health, "Best Cities for Dogs"
• No. 1 - Knowzen.com, "Most Caring City"
• No. 1 - Zillow.com, "Santa's Top 10 Favorite Cities"
• No. 2 - Livability, “Pet Cities”
• No. 2 - Men's Fitness, "Fittest City in America"
• No. 2 - Women's Health, "The Best Places to Live for Women"
• No. 2 - MSN.com, “Cities of Convention Wisdom”
• No. 2 - Livability, “Cities for Veterans”
• No. 2 - InsuranceProviders.com, “Safest City in the United States”
• No. 3 - Hellawella, “Fitness-Focused Cities”
• No. 3 - Men's Fitness, "Top Sports Town"
• No. 3 - Earth Day Network, “Best Places to Live”
• No. 3 - Car and Driver, "Top 10 Best Drivers' Cities"
• No. 3 - FedSmith, "Best Southwest City for Defense Jobs"
• No. 4 - Thumbtack, "Most Business-Friendly City"
• No. 4 - Mint.com, "Most Affordable City"
• No. 4 - Frommer's Travel Guide, "Cities Ranked and Rated"
• No. 5 - U.S. News & World Report, "Top Places to Live" 
• No. 5 - Kiplinger's Personal Finance, "Best Cities to Live, Work and Play"
• No. 5 - Kiplinger, “Great City for Young Adults”
• No. 5 - MSNBC, "Best Cities to Live, Work and Play"
• No. 6 - U.S. News & World Report, “Best Weekend Getaway”
• No. 6 - Forbes, "America's Most Wired Cities"
• No. 6 - SustainLane, "Top Ten Alternative Fueled City Fleets"
• No. 7 - American Lung Association, “Cleanest U.S. Cities”
• No. 7 - Backpacker Magazine, "Best Places to Raise an Outdoor Kid"
• No. 8 - Business Week, "Best Places to Start Over"
• No. 8 - Sunset Magazine, “Fittest City in the West”
• No. 9 - Forbes, "America's Best Bang-for-the-Buck Cities"
• No. 10 - Forbes, "Best Places for Business and Careers"
• Top 10 - Livability.com. "Top Downtowns"
• Top 10 - Outside Magazine, "Best Big Cities for Active Families"
• Top 10 - Fox News, “Least Obese Metro Areas”
• Top 10 - Kiplinger, "Great Cities for College Grads"
• Top 10 - U.S. News and World Report, "Green Places to Retire"
• Top 10 - AARP, "Top Fall Vacations for Baby Boomers"
• Top 10 - Men's Health, "Best Teeth"
• Top 10 - Budget Travel, "The 10 Coolest Small Towns" (Manitou Springs)
• No. 10 - GALLUP - 2012 Least Obese Metro Area
• No. 11 - University of Toronto, "Best Places to be a Kid on Christmas Morning"
• No. 11 - ERC & Primacy Relocation, "Best Places to Relocate"
• No. 11 - The Boyd Company, "Best Places to Build a Data Center"
• No. 11 - Resonance, "America's 50 Best Small Cities"
• No. 13 - The Advocate "Gayest City"
• No. 12 - Cooking Light Magazine, "America's Healthiest Cities"
• No. 15 - Portfolio Magazine, "America's Top 25 Smartest Cities"
• No. 15 - Partenting.com, “Best City for Families”
• No. 17 - Farmer Insurance Group, “Most Secure Places to Live”
• No. 17 - RelocateAmerica, "Top 100 Places to Live"
• No. 18 - Bicycling Magazine, "America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities"
• No. 18 - TripAdvisor, Travelers' Choice 2010 "The Best Destinations"
• Top 25 - American Style, "Mid-Sized U.S. City Art Destination"
• No. 27 - USA Today, “Most Literate City”
• Silver Award - League of American Bicyclists, "Bicycle Friendly Community Award"