It was an ugly Sunday morning at the Las Vegas airport, with lines stretching for hours and a flood of overbookings after Saturday's torrential downpour had washed away flights. The fellow at the far bar on the D concourse was holding his head and his wallet, having just shelled out a couple hundred bucks to make sure he would get on his standby flight. But still, the news that I was heading to Denver had him raise his head...slightly. "Menver? That's what my friends call it. They say not to come there, because there are too many men."
Never mind that this man would be trading New Jersey for Colorado, which is a guaranteed win. The fact is, the numbers don't support the Menver myth -- although the rumor persists.
Google "menver," and a June 1 Usounds interview with Snow Patrol offers this: "Did you know that Denver is nicknamed Menver because there are supposedly assloads of single dudes there? What would you tell the people of Menver to expect from your live show?" But just ahead of that item is a reference to the May 11 Off Limits, in which we debunked the gender gap. According to U.S. Census projections for 2006, in the 20-to-39-year-old age group, the ratio is 53 percent male, 47 percent female in Denver County. Throw in the other six counties in the metro area, and the sexes are even more equal: about 52 percent male, 48 percent female.
Even by Vegas standards, those are pretty even odds. Everyone's a winner in Menver! -- Patricia Calhoun
