organizations employ 7,700 people in
the metro Denver area, and cultural
institutions constitute the sixth largest
non-governmental employer in the area.
Denver’s Performing Arts Complex is
known as the cultural capitol of the
Rocky Mountain region. Housing ten
performance spaces on its four-block,
12-acre site, it is the largest performing
arts complex under one roof, and includes
opera and ballet companies regularly
staging traditional and modern works.
Originally built in 1974 to create a permanent home for the Denver Symphony
Orchestra, the Denver Performing Arts
Complex’s success over the subsequent
decades has grown greater each year.
Additionally, Denver’s museums include
a brand new history museum, a science
museum with an IMAX, and several
art museums, including the Denver Art
Museum, which regularly offers travelling
exhibits from around the world.
Metro Denver is also a sports city, with the
fans and facilities to prove it. The region
boasts seven major sports teams and three
state-of-the-art stadiums. Denver’s spectator sports include hockey (Colorado
Avalanche); lacrosse (Colorado Mammoth
and Denver Outlaws); soccer (Colorado
Rapids); baseball (Colorado Rockies);
football (Denver Broncos); and basketball
(Denver Nuggets). Sports fans have countless opportunities year-round to watch
their favorite teams. From football and
baseball to basketball, hockey, and soccer
games, 6 million Denverites cheer on their
teams each year.
In 1991, the Metro Denver Sports Commission was formed to attract the world’s top
sporting events to the city. Thanks in part to
the commission’s work, Denver has hosted
several major sporting events, including the
2007 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Western
Regional Tournament and the 2008 NCAA
Frozen Four Hockey Tournament. You won’t
get bored with these many teams to root on.
SHOPPING AND DINING
Shopping opportunities of all kinds abound
throughout metro Denver’s seven-county
area. From large malls with dozens of
your favorite chain stores to unique, locally
owned boutiques, there are plenty of
options to satisfy all shopping tastes.
Located just minutes from downtown,
the Cherry Creek Shopping Center is the
Rocky Mountain region’s premier shopping
center with more than 160 shops. Many of
the stores in the mall are exclusive to the
area, including Neiman Marcus, Tiffany &
Co., Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Anthropologie. Denver’s most famous shopping
area runs 1. 25 miles along 16th Street
in downtown, from Wewatta Street to
Broadway. This pedestrian and transit mall
includes the Denver Pavilions and about
300 other retail shops, residential and office
buildings, and hotels.
Downtown Boulder has upwards of
1,000 businesses ( 85 percent of which are
locally owned and operated). A nice mix
of popular chain stores and locally owned
shops and restaurants dot the Pearl Street
Mall, an outdoor pedestrian mall with the
best people watching in the region. About
two-dozen restaurants downtown offer a
full lunch for $5 or less, and many other
restaurants provide elegant dining options.
Denver’s innovative and thriving restaurant scene may take visitors by surprise.
It’s one of the region’s best kept—but
rapidly disappearing—secrets! From classic
American comfort food and steakhouses,
to endless Ethnic options from around the
world, it’s an exciting time to be immersed
in Denver’s dining scene. In recent years, a
large number of Denver’s chefs have been
recognized at the national and even international level.
BUSINESS SUCCESS
Business opportunities are plentiful in metro
Denver. The same qualities that make people
want to live in Denver also create an ideal
environment for the growth of all kinds of
businesses and industries. Employers have
no trouble drawing top employees to work at
their businesses in the Denver metro region.
Denver attracts companies both large and
small, representing a healthy cross section
