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My daughter is among the coveted "creative class," the socio-economic group of young professionals, artists and intellectuals defined by their mobility and knowledge-intensive work by social scientist Richard Florida.

Her Downtown Denver apartment is in a multistory complex of renovated buildings with stores, coffee shops and restaurants on the ground floor. It abuts the South Platte River park system.

It's a quick walk to the Regional Transportation District's Free MallRide, buses that zip around the mile-long stretch of shops, restaurants and office buildings of Downtown's 16th Street Mall.

Light rail links Downtown and neighborhoods, the University of Denver and suburban communities. Classic, upscale neighborhoods such as Washington Park and Cherry Creek and sleek modern subdivisions thrive with distinct character.

Denver is one of our region's 10 economic-development competitors.

During the Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities annual luncheon Thursday at the Hilton El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, the group gave a mixed, often unflattering, assessment of our region and its economic-development prowess in five focus areas — high-skilled/high-wage jobs, educational excellence, livable communities, collaborative governance and stewardship and urban renaissance.

On the downside, for example, wages, personal income and median family income lag the other communities, and families with a median income are priced out of about 60 percent of the housing market.

On the upside, average ACT scores and high-school graduation rates are strong and exceed the competitive cities.

And a big boon — in addition to climate — is the average commute of 27.5 minutes, which was favorable in contrast to the other communities.

The overarching theme of the luncheon was the need to attract and keep a talent base of skilled workers. Urban renaissance, rejuvenating Downtown, is integral to that goal.

"Downtown must succeed," University of Arizona President Robert Shelton said during his presentation of the analysis the UA conducted.

TREO board member Daisy Jenkins, vice president for human resources at Raytheon Missile Systems, said TREO's emphasis this year will be urban renaissance and improving education.

Denver is a model of urban renaissance.

There are significant differences between Denver and Tucson — beyond extreme winter and summer weather.

Denver is the state capital, the center of government interaction, and its airport is a hub. The city and county of Denver have a population of about 588,000 and the five-county regional area has about 2.5 million people. Tucson's population is roughly 542,000. and the regional metropolitan area population crossed the 1 million mar on Nov. 12, 2006.

Denver's urban core is energized and its urban renaissance extends to suburban areas and neighborhoods.

TREO identified 10 "quality-growth zones," which include the airport area, Sahuarita, Marana, Oro Valley and the Interstate-10 corridor in Southeastern Tucson. These are each distinctive and integral to the region. Downtown's development should not be to the detriment of other neighborhoods or areas.

Denver has been developing its Downtown for more than 20 years and it is still a work in progress. However, our region can learn from Denver's success and adapt those lessons.