Maybe I missed it. In Denver last week (my first time) for theannual ULI conference, and while the city was pretty it didn’tstack up to the Oz-like promises people made about what I couldexpect there. (And forget that airport. How unmanageable it will bewhen the so-called aerotropolis is completed one can onlyfear.)

Maybe it has something to do with attending a conference, whereyou spend most of your time shuttling between hotel and conferencecenter and the best flavor you get of the city is when you reelfrom cocktail reception to cocktail reception (not a bad pastime,as pastimes go).

But I can report on the mood of the conference and the crowds atthose receptions and it was definitely upbeat (even for those whoweren’t standing by the bar). We’re at a strange point in a strangerecovery. It’s not likely that we’ll slip back into recession butnothing is definite. Which way the European economic winds blow isone factor, as is our own economic stability, and S&P recentlylaid 25% odds that we could double-dip.