Can someone help me understand Louisville? (Denver, Fort Collins: fit in, homes, neighborhood)

[coloradobound?]

My wife and I are seriously considering moving our family and recently took a trip to a few of the cities that are at the top of our list. I really wanted to love Louisville and see it as our future home, but after 2 days driving around with a realtor I am having a very hard time figuring out what makes it the best place in America to raise a family. Can anyone help me? What I saw was a town that has a lot of developments where everyone has essentially the same house, and shopping centers with all the same chain-store tenants (Panera Bread Co. anyone?). To me it was very similar to many other suburbs around the US and I just don't see the allure. I really want to make this place work. My wife is Asian-American and we lived in Japan for years so Asian food is very important (actually all food. We are big restaurant people). We ate at Spice China which I thought was awful but is highly rated on Yelp.

At the same time, we need some balance. We have different political views so Boulder is out of the question but we also don't want to be surrounded by hard-core right wingers. We are not very religious. I also would like some acreage. I checked into Evergreen and loved the homes, setting, and open space there but I am worried that we won't fit in. I have heard that status is important in Evergreen and am wondering if having mixed race kids will be an issue at what is basically an all white school. I also am wondering if Ft. Collins is an option (we both work from home).

If anyone can enlighten me I would be grateful. I understand there are great schools, etc. but I honestly can get that many places. What makes Louisville the place where I will want to raise a family and make lots of friends? We make a very good living and can afford most anyplace in the Denver metro area. Thanks for any help you can give!

[DressageRider]

Originally Posted by coloradobound?

What makes Louisville the place where I will want to raise a family and make lots of friends?

It sounds like it is not the place for you. Just because it ranks highly on those (rather dubious) lists of best places to raise a family, doesn't mean it is for every family. I'm not crazy about Louisville myself! But lots of people love Louisville and I think a huge part of the allure is that it is a stone's throw from Boulder. But you don't like Boulder.

I don't know much about Evergreen. Well, actually I did have family there and they LOVED it and they are not big status people. They were sad to leave. But someone else might have a better feel for it. If you liked the feel of the town, it is definitely worth investigating further.

[coloradobound?]

Thanks very much Dressage Rider. Very helpful. Also, it's not that I don't like Boulder. I just don't want to live there. I am not looking to be next door to Sarah Palin, but a town that was 85% for Obama is a bit much for me. I can definitely see us going out to eat frequently in Boulder and Denver.

Thanks again!

[qfrost]

Evergreen has more acreage available and beautiful mountain-ish settings. We saw some newer, more expensive housing, but having spoken to a coworker who grew up there, Evergreen has a lot going for it, and a lot of larger lots and more mature (older, built out) communities once you get past the McMansions built by divorced dot-commers and retirees (according to her). Not sure about the fine dining choices. It sounds like you might want to live near Denver proper for that.

[coloradobound?]

Thanks qfrost. I should probably also clarify that I heard what I heard about Evergeen through a few random, possibly non-representative posts on a few of theses forums. It just be one or two outliers.

Thanks again.

[mom2grace]

We kind of looked into Louisville, as well, as my husband works in Boulder. I didn't get the "feel" for it either. Don't know much about Evergreen.

We are new to Colorado, formally from Bay Area, CA. We're living in Longmont now and like it. We'll probably stay here because of the affordable housing, we're also looking for some acreage, and its proximity to Boulder.

If you're game, I would definitely look more in the Fort Collins area. We have been up there quite a few times in the 6 months that we have been here and I would move up there in a heartbeat! It's got a great downtown, great college town feel and very family friendly! Haven't been to any of the Asian restuarants up there yet, but there was this great looking Japanese restaurant we walked by in downtown that I swore we would try next time we are there. We are big into eating Asian food as well, like I said before we are from the Bay Area so we are used to eating exceptional Asian food!

Good luck on your search!

[coloradobound?]

Thanks mom2grace. I am probably going to make a second trip and am going to include the Ft. Collins area on my list. I am also from the Bay Area (Walnut Creek) and could use a little more space and better cost of living.

[mom2grace]

Oh yes, know the area well! We are from Livermore, but lived in Pleasanton! Hubby used to work in Richmond, after we got married we lived in Walnut Creek for about 11 months, but after baby #1 came we moved to Pleasanton to be a little closer to family, but still keep my husband on 680 to get to work. Baby #1 was also born at Kaiser there!

Good luck! My husband and I both agree that this was the best move that we could have made for our family and couldn't be happier!

[Katarina Witt]

What makes Louisville the place where I will want to raise a family and make lots of friends? We make a very good living and can afford most anyplace in the Denver metro area. Thanks for any help you can give!

I have lived in Louisville for 28 years. We actually moved out of state and then moved back to Louisville, although into a different neighborhood.

First of all, there is no Panera Bread in Louisville; it is in Superior. I think there used to be one, but frankly, I don't really keep that good of track of these places.

There are a lot of independent restaurants in downtown Louisville, such as the Waterloo Ice House, the Alley Cat, The Huckleberry, the Old Louisvile Inn, and the old faithful, The Blue Parrot (which is overrated, IMO, but not bad).

Yes, it's suburban. You'll find a lot of what you will find in every suburb in metro Denver. What distinguishes Louisville, IMO, is a sense of community that you don't find everywhere. You also can't pick up on that in a couple of days of sightseeing. Coming up this weekend is the Fall Festival, with the second largest Labor Day parade in Colorado. In December, there is the Parade of Lights. There is usually a neat 4th of July festival, but this year it was cancelled due to lack of funds (so the city council says). All summer long, there was a Friday night concert and street fair, put on by the chamber of commerce. There were also four "Concerts in the Park", put on by the cultural council. These concerts are free. The Friday night thing is downtown and gets GREAT attendance, as do the concerts in the park. There is an outdoor skating rink in the winter in the downtown area; it's kind of "Norman Rockwellish" to go there.

Yes, the schools are good. Most people who have been on this forum a while know I'm not one for checking "Best Schools" and such to pick out schools for their kids, but I'll say I was happy with the Louisville schools from K-12 for two kids.

There is no doubt you can find some of these things in other suburbs as well. You might puruse this website a bit.

City of Louisville, Colorado - Home

[coloradobound?]

Thanks very much Katiana. This is all good to know. My wife and I will likely make another trip back in the next month or so to do a final evaluation of the places at the top of the list.