By: Sean Kirkpatrick

Fort Collins, Colo.- Solitary confinement: a punishment that denies misbehaving prisoners from any modicum of social contact, yet social deprivation is shown to actually worsen the situation. It may then be troubling and slightly paradoxical to know that in our modern way of life in densely populated cities, 72% of us report feeling lonely.

I can personally attest to this reality. By the time I got home from high school in the late afternoon, the most alluring destination on Earth was my living room’s weathered couch, with its lonely feelings and all.

Extrapolate this behavioral pattern—of coming home to our own private lives devoid of conviviality—to the rest of America, and it is clear to see what is fueling the loneliness epidemic in America.

In the recently acclaimed book Happy City, urbanist Charles Montgomery states, “the most important psychological effect of the city is the way in which it moderates our relationships with other people.” For me and millions of other Americans, our cities fail to get us out of the house.

But when I moved to Fort Collins this year, it felt like the entire loneliness paradigm had been flipped on its head. In a peer-reviewed article by Aleksandra Kaźmierczak, she states that parks “contribute to the development of new social ties and strengthen existing contacts.”

Indeed, according to the 2021 Fort Collins ReCreate: Parks and Recreation Master Plan, 79% of Fort Collins residents felt that their neighborhoods had enough public spaces and parks within a walkable distance—this is on top of Fort Collins consistently being ranked among the top happiest cities. To show a quick comparison: Fort Collins has 54.3 sq mi of land, 169,810 residents, and is home to 50 parks, while similarly sized Hampton, Virginia, has 51 sq mi of land, 137,148 residents, and only around 10 parks. With a history rooted in the City Beautiful movement of the late 1800s, it makes sense Fort Collins jumps ahead in this regard.

Moving to a city with more public spaces helped me feel happier, and I would strongly recommend other Americans to do the same.

Roland Moore Park in the Fall. Photo by: City of Fort Collins

A celebration of Old Town’s holiday lighting. Photo by: City of Fort Collins, 2014