Traffic in Denver might seem like a nightmare, but spend some time on Madison Avenue in New York City and you'll be begging for Colorado Boulevard at 5 p.m. on a Friday. The same argument could be applied to rent prices: Spending $1,360 a month on a one-bedroom — the average in Denver in January — might seem outrageous, but a one-bedroom in San Francisco averages $3,500. (And none of that malarkey about getting what you pay for: San Francisco's a great city, but swimming in the frigid Pacific Ocean in Northern California sucks even in the summer, whereas our mountains are usable year-round.)

In other words, most of what we gripe about is subjective. Some context is in order.

Sparefoot.com has analyzed Denver's population density — which can cause all kinds of problems for a metropolitan area, from traffic congestion to pollution — and compared it to other cities. Denver's most recent population count of 682,545 people living within 153 square miles means that the city has a density of 4,461 people per square mile. (Brad Buchanan, executive director of Denver Community Planning and Development, has noted that this city's population was more dense in the ’50s, when it had less land.) With the help of sparefoot.com, we've corralled the ten most interesting comparisons to the Mile High below.

If Denver had Jacksonville's density, it would be almost four times its size.

sparefoot.com

10. Jacksonville, Florida
Population: 868,031
Area: 747 square miles
Density: 1,162 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as Portland, it would cover 144 square miles, or about 94 percent of its size.

sparefoot.com

9. Portland, Oregon
Population: 632,309
Area: 133.4 square miles
Density: 4,740 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as L.A., it would take up 80 square miles, or about half of its size.

sparefoot.com

8. Los Angeles
Population: 3,971,883
Area: 468.7 square miles
Density: 8,474 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as Amsterdam, it would take up 68 square miles, or 44 percent of its actual size.

sparefoot.com

7. Amsterdam
Population: 844,667
Area: 84.6 square miles
Density: 9,975 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as Chicago, it would cover 57 square miles, or 37 percent of its size.

sparefoot.com

6. Chicago
Population: 2,720,546
Area: 227.6 square miles
Density: 11,953 people per square mile

Keep reading for more dense cities.

If Denver were as dense as Boston, it would take up 49 square miles, or 32 percent of its current size.

sparefoot.com

5. Boston
Population: 667,137
Area: 48.3 square miles
Density: 13,812 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as San Francisco, it would take up 37 square miles, or 24 percent of its current size.

sparefoot.com

4. San Francisco
Population: 864,816
Area: 46.9 square miles
Density: 18,440 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as New York City, the population would only cover 24 square miles, or about 16 percent of its size.

sparefoot.com

3. New York
Population: 8,550,405
Area: 302.6 square miles
Density: 28,256 people per square mile

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If Denver were as dense as Paris, it would cover twelve square miles, or 8 percent of its size.

sparefoot.com

2. Paris
Population: 2,229,621
Area: 40.7 square miles
Density: 55,000 people per square mile

If Denver were as dense as Manila, it would only cover 4 percent of its size.

sparefoot.com

1. Manila, Philippines
Population: 1,780,148
Area: 16.5 square miles
Density: 107,497 people per square mile

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