New York Times: Denver is the new Chicago

Denver must have done a good job of slathering on the world-class charm during the Democratic National Convention last month, because The New York Times has named the Mile High City the next Chicago.

In an article in this week’s Times magazine, Denver is listed alongside Portland, Ore., Houston, Baltimore and Minneapolis/St. Paul as a second-tier city on the rise now that big players like New York, Los Angeles and Miami have become virtually unaffordable to many in the creative class.

Denver is the “new Chicago,” reads the story, “chefy and musical with serious eco-cred and zero attitude.” That the city is loaded with “environmental capitalists dropping dollars” in downtown’s hip restaurants shouldn’t come as news to anyone who has spent a split second listening to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter spout about the “new energy economy.”

But who knew that Denver’s big culinary selling point is a cheese platter? The article extols the cheese plate at Fruition, a 6th Avenue restaurant.