Great young minds think alike: Denver

A census study confirms that Denver rocks.

In the national competition to attract highly educated young adults like Shepard, Denver ranks among the top "brain gain" cities, according to demographers studying U.S. census data.

Despite the high-tech recession of the past two years, they count Denver among the lucky cities with the natural environment, cultural life and education-dependent industries to continue attracting an elite workforce.

The benefits of this migration, they say, range from the urban vitality that comes with diversity and worldliness to the chicken-and- egg phenomenon of educated newcomers bringing expertise that in turn creates new jobs.