Sunday, October 26, 2008

Flying to Denver

We have been getting ready to fly out early in the morning for Denver. Our flight is at 7:45. We will be returning on Saturday around 9:00 pm. Neither the elementary school or high school routes were happy about me being gone all week. The last time I was out for just a day and one of my High Schoolers got suspended from the bus. I hope after 5 days I still have someone to pick up when I get back.
I found some interesting facts about Denver. Here are a few of them:
  • Demographics: The City & County of Denver has a diverse ethnic population including 11.1% African American; 31.7% Hispanic; 2.8% Asian and 1.3% Native American. Metro Denver has an ethnic population of 5% Black; 18% Hispanic; 3% Asian; 1% Native American and 3% multi-racial.
  • Highest Educated City: Denver is the most educated city in the U.S. Denver has the greatest percentage of high school and college graduates of any major metropolitan area in the U.S.; 92.1% of the population in the metro area have high school diplomas and 35% have at least a bachelor’s degree, according to the U.S. Census. The national average is 81.7% for high school diplomas and 23% with a college degree.
  • Baby Boomer Capital: Denver also is the nation’s baby boomer capital, with the highest percentage of boomers of any major city, according to the 1998 U.S. Census. One third of the city is between age 35 and 54. Including small cities, only two had a higher percentage than Denver -- Santa Fe and Anchorage. Among major cities, percentage of boomers is: Denver 32.8%; Seattle 31.5%; Atlanta 31.4%; Washington 31.4%; Portland OR 31.4%; San Francisco 30.8%.
  • Healthy City: Denver is also the “thinnest” city in America, and Colorado is tied as the “thinnest” state with Hawaii. A federal report in late 1996 declared that half of American adults have a weight problem, but Colorado is the exception with less than 20% of Colorado adults being overweight. The active lifestyle in Denver, the great weather, the abundance of recreational opportunities and the high education level are credited for this fact.
  • Denver really is a mile high. There's a spot on the west steps of the State Capitol building that is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level.

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