Riding out the recession.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: REAL ESTATE - Brief article

Colorado's resilience in the economic downturn recently caught the attention of the New York Times in a story that used the example of the Spire, a 42-story condo and retail tower under construction in downtown Denver by the Nichols Partnership, as evidence the city still has growth on its mind.

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"A number of elements are cited as keeping this region afloat as other areas founder: investments in public transportation, aggressive economic development and, most significant, a two-decade campaign to diversify the region's economic base from oil and gas to alternative energy, aerospace, technology and telecommunications," the Times said.

Perfect fodder for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., which spread the word about the story in an e-mail blast. (Tom Clark, the EDC's vice president, was interviewed for the story.)

The Times didn't quite get it all right, however, getting the birth of the region's aerospace industry off by a few decades...