Colorado Springs Is the Worst City for Dating. Now What?
- Feb 10
- 3 min read
The ConsumerAffairs Research Team recently analyzed the 110 largest U.S. cities to determine the best cities for dating. They looked at things like dating opportunities, cost of living, quality of life and dating interest.
Guess where Colorado Springs ended up? Yep. 110.
Regardless of whether you agree with this assessment or what you think about Colorado Springs, we can all agree that being rated the “worst” at anything isn’t great.
There is another way to look at it, however. This might be less of an indictment about Colorado Springs and more indicative of a larger cultural phenomenon…
The state of dating these days.
Dating in 2026 is not for the faint of heart.
Dating apps have become social quagmires. In the U.S. there are more than 2,500 online dating services, with 1,000 new online dating services opening every year.¹ Considering the ubiquity, you’d think the rates of finding love online would be correspondingly high. But interestingly, the sheer number of choices an online dater is faced with can lead to decision paralysis.²
Social media has stolen the mystery. The internet has made it easy to research someone and virtually “get to know” them before you ever meet them, allowing you to make snap judgments and a decision about someone based entirely on a highly curated — and also likely inaccurate or at the very least, incomplete — profile.
AI is complicating things. It’s getting more and more difficult to tell real from fake, making catfishing a common occurrence. A 2022 Pew Research poll on online dating said that 52% of those using dating sites and apps say they have come across someone they think was trying to scam them.³
No one goes to work anymore. Okay, not no one. But since the Covid pandemic of 2020, more people than ever are working remotely. As of March of 2025, 23% of the U.S. workforce works remotely.⁴ In other words, more than a quarter of people don’t see their coworkers face to face. There are no more chance encounters in the break room or flirtations by the copy machine.
“Our society has created such a dependence on phones that people are desperate to get off of them, but fear what that'd look like. We have the convenience of finding a partner at our fingertips, yet lack real connections.”⁵
So what is a single in the “worst city in the country for dating” to do?
Enter Back to the Basics … a new old-fashioned way to meet.
2 hours. 16 people. 7 minutes. A matchcard.
No screens. No swiping. Just a series of face to face conversations. Yes, you will have to make a little small talk. Or impress them with your unusual talent. Or make them laugh with your favorite joke. Or your best celebrity impression.
But the reason speed dating works is because it’s real. It’s honest. There’s no hiding behind a curated profile or a 10 year old picture. You’re sitting 18 inches from someone and you’re able to not just see what they look like, but get their vibe. You’ll see how they dress. How they carry themselves. How they interact with others. If they are lighthearted or serious. If they smell good. You know … the things that matter in deciding whether you want to spend more time together.
These are the things you can only know in person.
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