Denver's dismal dating scene: "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."
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Horrendous. Unhinged. Hilarious. Horrific. Big red flags.
What's happening: These are just some of the ways local singles describe dating in Denver, which ranks near the bottom — at 72nd out of 100 — when it comes to cities where Cupid's love arrow is most likely to hit its mark.
- Dating apps, including Tinder — Colorado's platform of choice with more than 38,000 average monthly searches, according to Google data — aren't helping much.
What they're saying: "I'm a single-ish girl in the city with more than 6,000 matches on Tinder, which is impossible to sift through," Gemma B. tells us.
- "The guys here really seem to be married to their hobbies," laments Sarah G., who's in her 30s. "It just seems like the only way to meet a guy here is if I break a couple bones learning to snowboard."
- "All the good ones are married already, and the single ones are immature or never want to grow up," says Braeden M.
- "I think there's something to the saying that in Denver: 'The odds are good, but the goods are odd,'" 72-year-old Cathy B. tells us.
Zoom in: Some of the "horror" stories we heard range from someone unabashedly letting their foot fetish flag fly on the first date to shaming someone for eating a second slice of pizza.
- While on a first date at Panera Bread, one guy told Carrie B., who was wearing flip-flops on a hot day, that she couldn't wear them anymore if they continued dating.
- "After I pick my jaw up off the floor at the audacity of this dude, I ask him if he's serious. He says yes. He tells me that me wearing flip-flops on our date is akin to him wearing a surf shirt with holes and gravy stains on it," she recounts.
The other side: Denver's dating rollercoaster might have a few loops, but it's not all downhill.
- Take it from Heather M., 57, who has spent the past two years conducting a "social experiment" to go on 100 first dates — or as many as it takes — to meet her match. At long last she met lucky No. 79 last fall, and he appears to be a keeper.
Of note: At least one study even ranks Denver as the third-best city to be single.
The intrigue: Dating success can also be scored out of state.
- Our colleagues in the Twin Cities talked to professional matchmaker Kailen Rosenberg, who suggested Denver guys look for love with Minnesota women.
- "No joking. Like we're kind of mismatched," she said.
The bottom line: Finding love isn't easy in the Mile High City, but all hope isn't lost for those who keep looking.
- And when all else fails, turn to your friends — like the third of Denverites who prioritize their pals over potential partners on Valentine's Day, according to Bumble.