The WSJ, not to be outdone by pubs like Money/CNN, Outside Magazine and others, have printed a list of the Next Youth Magnet Cities. I wondered, while reading the list: Do people really use these guides when conducting their relocation research? Are they helpful, or do they just sell papers? I’ve asked the same question when the college polls are published, especially when I was lured to to GQ’s rundown of America’s 25 Douchiest Colleges.  (Looks like GQ took a page out of the of The Onion playbook.)

In any case, the folks who put their heads together and opined for the sake of rankings put Seattle in first place in a tie with Washington DC.  Denver and Raleigh-Durhum tie for seventh.  Here you can read what one of the judges/contributors, Richard Florida, had to say about the major Front Range town at his blog, Creative Class.

Just as a side note, I think it’s interesting that Richard put these two cities into the same slot.  However you feel about the Boulder v. Denver debate, I think a lot of locals would agree that, while the two places are close in geography, their independent flavors are as far apart as possible.

How do you consider Boulder vs. Denver? Just another symptom of sprawl, or two distinct cities with different styles?