<p>Hey, I live in Denver (not really considering DU though) but I live about 2 minutes away. I do not know much about University of Portland, but DU's Daniels School of Business is far and away its best program (just built a new building for it)...I really can not imagine Portland's being better. It is always ranked among the best business schools (top 50) in the nation. The student body seems to be pretty homogenous (white) and rich. It is slowly easing away from this, but in the past DU has been a hub for rich and snobby kids (obviously a generlization, but it defiantly has that reputation in the area). Denver is a great city, love living here, great weather (most days of sunshine of any major city in the country...its true, look it up, nobody believes us). Winters are not bad at all, despite what people think, much warmer than Chicago and the northeast. About an hour and half away from world class skiing (Vail, Aspen, ect) and other great outdoor activities. DU itself is in a suburban area about 15 minutes out of downtown. DU Hockey is huge here. In Denver we have all the major sports teams (NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, MLS), so DU may not draw many people from the city itself with so many other options, but I have been to a few games and they are all sold out. Hockey, and now lax, are really the only two sports the school has going for it, so the students gravitate to it. So, I would say if you are looking for people who get excited over a team, you can not go wrong with DU hockey. For your last question, I have never been to Portland, but having lived in Denver my whole life (I am only 17, looking into schools myself), I think it is great. It is much larger than Portland, as it is one of 20 largest cities in the country, and has had kind of a boom in culture in the past 20 years. Boasts the largest center for the performing arts in the country, great museums, large downtown, any professional sport you could think of from lacrosse, indoor lacrosse, arena football, and of course NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, MLS. It is a misconception that Denver is in the mountains...it is not, do not think it is. Denver is flat, as flat as Kansas BUUUTTTT the western edge of Denver begins the foothills and we are only about a 30 minute drive away from being in the foothills and an hour drive away from the first ski area and a bit further for some of the bigger name areas...but do not worry, you can defiantly see the mountains from Denver, there is no missing them (we ARE a mile high, but the only thing you will realize from that is that you will not be able to breath all that well at first due to the thin air, but you will get used to it). The people here are generally nice, but what you will realize with people in Denver is they are all basically transplants from other cities. Huge Californian and east coast population and that can be seen in other aspects of the city. Any other Denver questions feel free to ask.</p>