Two-dimensional unsteady flows in complex geometries that are characterized by simple (low-dimensional) dynamical behavior are considered. Detailed spectral element simulations are performed, and the proper orthogonal decomposition or POD (also called method of empirical eigenfunctions) is applied to the resulting data for two examples: the flow in a periodically grooved channel and the wake of an isolated circular cylinder. Low-dimensional dynamical models for these systems are obtained using the empirically derived global eigenfunctions in the spectrally discretized Navier-Stokes equations. The short- and long-term accuracy of the models is studied through simulation, continuation, and bifurcation analysis. Their ability to mimic the full simulations for Reynolds numbers (Re) beyond the values used for eigenfunction extraction is evaluated. In the case of the grooved channel, where the primary horizontal wave number of the flow is imposed from the channel periodicity and so remains unchanged with Re, the models extrapolate reasonably well over a range of Re values. In the case of the cylinder wake, however, due to the significant spatial wave number changes of the flow with the Re, the models are only valid in a small neighborhood of the decompositional Reynolds number.