YOUR AD HERE »

Denver well-positioned for future growth and diversity

Burt Hubbard
The Denver Post
Vail, CO Colorado
042210_QWEST_CFW-Qwest Building at 1801 California Street, Denver, CO. Denver-based Qwest Communications, the third-largest local phone service provider in the country, is getting acquired by CenturyTel, a smaller rural operator, in a $10.6 billion stock swap. The deal ends months of speculation about the future of Qwest, one of the largest and most visible employers in Colorado. The company has struggled in recent years with landline losses as customers replace home phone lines with cellphones or Internet phone service. (Craig F. Walker / The Denver Post)
dp | The Denver Post

The Denver area is poised to emerge in the coming decade as a model for economic growth, while avoiding much of the conflict and upheaval facing other metropolitan areas, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

That does not mean the metro area is without its share of problems – including one of the country’s largest educational attainment gaps between Latinos and whites and a growing disparity between its lowest and highest wage earners, the study found.

“I think Denver has real reason to be hopeful in the future,” said Alan Berube, research director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.



“The real question is around those underlying education and economic disparities,”

The downtown Denver skyline, as seen in a December 2009 file photo. (Bloomberg | Matthew Staver)

Support Local Journalism



he said.

The Washington, D.C.-based think tank used census data from 2000 to 2008 to look at demographic trends in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

The study labels the Denver area as one of nine “Next Frontier” metro areas that are in the best shape to handle a more diverse, growing U.S.

For more of this Denver Post story: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15051912


Support Local Journalism