Like so many of you, I enjoy hearing of yet another “first” heaped on the Pikes Peak region’s collective shoulders. Over the years, the area has been celebrated for “best place to live,” “top location for millennials,” “best place for dog walking” and dozens more.

What I’d like the region to be known for though is how nice we are to each other and visitors. It wouldn’t be easy to measure. If there were such a contest and a group of impartial judges secretly came to town, what might they find?

If they read Nextdoor? Gazette letters to the editor? Attend some of our public meetings?

I would argue that since the start of the pandemic there has been a marked increase in ”mean” and a decrease of “nice.” We could forgive some of that. When COVID struck, we were bewildered and conflicted. People who we knew became sick, and some died. Some who survived still haven’t completely recovered.

But that was four years ago. How do we bring civility back to public discourse? How did constructive, productive dialogue become degenerative, emotional and irrational arguments?

The approach that seems to have become more common is, if you don’t agree with a plan for a park, open space or nature center, make up facts to support your argument. If you don’t like a trail detour, scream insults at the person hired to keep you safe. If you think a trail is taking too long to get official approval, build it yourself.

There has always been a percentage of residents who believe facts and rules are optional. Is that percentage growing or are those folks simply getting bolder and louder? How do we turn this around?

We start by questioning facts. “Can you share where you got your information?” is a fair question. And if you have fact-based information, take the time to share it. All voices deserve to be heard, but it’s reasonable to expect all voices to speak the truth.

If we allow this vitriol to continue, we run the risk of becoming even more divided, apathetic and angry. Such attitudes are counterproductive. Worthy ideas and projects that could improve the community might never be developed, or they might find more hospitable territory elsewhere.

We don’t need a national publication to tell us we live in a great city and county. But what we say and do will have a direct impact on how long this region remains a great place to live.

Davies is the executive director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition.