Louisville - scouting trip on 3/7 (Denver, Westminster: rental car, transplants, rental)

[ILgeminipair]

Hi all,

I'm a long time lurker on this forum and have been reviewing Denver, Boulder and Louisville extensively info for about a year. Husband and I are doing a quick 1 day trip to take a closer look at Louisville/Boulder on 3/7. We are targeting to move in late summer this year. House budget is 900K.

Objective is to zero in or out of Louisville or Boulder. My gut tells me Louisville is a good fit for us. I did a prior trip last May in Denver. Husband works from home and needs to be near airport. I work part time but will probably keep my job and work remote or take some time off. Consistently good public schools, good views, and proximity to DIA have led me to consider Boulder/Louisville area over Denver burbs. I also didn't care for the Highlands Ranch area that so many people love.

Info about us:

Current live in close west burb of Chicago. We have elementary/high schools, health club, restaurants, grocery store, park, and library all within 1/2 mile of us. Our neighborhood is filled with 50+ year unique homes most of which have been remodeled or homeowners tore down and started over. I like living in a neighborhood where not every house is the same.

We have 3 elementary age kids who will be in 2nd, 5th, and 6th grade in the fall. They know nothing of the move and will NOT be thrilled. I need to find a community with lots of kids where they can play around the neighborhood or quickly get involved. Going to attempt to do a drive by at Monarch K-8 to observe and maybe engage a parent or two as it would be nice to have all in one school and avoid school changes for my 5th grader the next year. We'll also look at sports complex as my 10 year old son is crazy into sports and does travel soccer, travel basketball, and travel baseball. I'll need to figure that all out later on.

We'll be meeting with a realtor in the afternoon to see Louisville and Boulder and will do some driving around for Broomfield and Superior. Besides seeing the schools, rec center, downtown Louisville and area near golf course, what should I see? Neighborhoods you suggest? Coal Creek seems to appeal.

Move is strictly driven by us. I'm grew up in NM and would like to get out of Midwest. I really enjoy the sunshine and am a big outside runner (even in the freezing temps). My family is in NM and all of hubby's in Chicago area.

Any tips would be great!

[Katarina Witt]

^^Hmm. The old houses in Louisville are in "Old Town" and are not, for the most part, large stately homes. There are a few newer, larger homes in that area. There is an elementary school and a middle school in Old Town. A grocery store is supposedly going in to the old Safeway site, which is walking distance to Old Town. There is a large park there with an outdoor pool. It's walking distance to the library and the restaurants on Main St. It's not too far to the rec center.

[Bradburn1]

I love Louisville, but housing options in walking distance of their downtown (which is awesome) are a bit limited. Still, worth a look in my opinion.

You might come have a look at my neighborhood, Bradburn Village in Westminster. It's a walkable new urbanist neighborhood with our own downtown on the Broomfield/Westminster border (south of 120th ave between Sheridan and Lowell--15 minutes from Louisville and 20-25 from Boulder). We have a mix of housing styles and colors (not all beige) to prevent the cookie cutter look. Architectural styles are mostly neotraditional including farmhouse, craftsman, gothic Victorian, and Prairie style.

Bradburn has great home schools and access to a variety of great charter magnet schools including arts, gifted, and a STEM school. TONS of kids, especially in the elementary ranges. Neighborhood is super social with many neighborhood events--you will know your neighbors here. Airport is 40 minute drive (DIA).

Bradburn has everything you have in your current neighborhood within 1/2 mile (except an elementary school, we have a 7-12 in walking distance though) and quite a bit more in close walking distance. I made a list recently on another thread, but note I forgot to include the organic grocer Sprouts which is an 8 minute walk from Bradburn:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/bould...ect-new-2.html

Great sports programs close at both Westminster city Rec and the Broomfield Paul Derda rec. you can walk to soccer fields and baseball fields from Bradburn in 15-20 min or a quick bike ride. Lots of older Bradburn kids ride bikes together to go play on soccer teams at a nearby park.

To note: Bradburn's homes are close together and have smaller yards than other developments in the area. This is due to the walkable design.

Feel free to send me a private message if you have specific questions about Bradburn. Good luck with house hunt!

[Bradburn1]

Also OP, if you happen to see this post before you get to downtown Louisville and are looking for a place to eat, highly recommend Lucky Pie (pizza), is awesome. As is the ice cream place next door, Sweet Cow.

[scrapper105]

We've been scouting NW Denver for a while as well - you can look at my posts on the topic in the Denver thread.

There is another K-8 school in Broomfield called Aspen something. The houses around there are a mix of older ranches and newer stately homes in the 500s. Out of my price range, but I thought the community and school were great and very close proximity to the Broomfield sports rec complex center thing.

One thing I learned about the Louisville area is that it is adjacent to Lafayette where there is more new construction and some older neighborhoods. Maybe one of the Louisville regulars can chime in on the specific location of that new development, but I didn't see any discernable difference between Louisville and Lafayette. The houses that are within .5 mile to downtown Louisville are not at all stately - they are sort of run down looking.

Both my husband and I will also travel for work, so we are looking for quick easy access to the toll road. We figure once we are on the toll road we won't mind the extra 15 minutes of such a pleasant and easy drive.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by scrapper105

We've been scouting NW Denver for a while as well - you can look at my posts on the topic in the Denver thread.

There is another K-8 school in Broomfield called Aspen something. The houses around there are a mix of older ranches and newer stately homes in the 500s. Out of my price range, but I thought the community and school were great and very close proximity to the Broomfield sports rec complex center thing.

One thing I learned about the Louisville area is that it is adjacent to Lafayette where there is more new construction and some older neighborhoods. Maybe one of the Louisville regulars can chime in on the specific location of that new development, but I didn't see any discernable difference between Louisville and Lafayette. The houses that are within .5 mile to downtown Louisville are not at all stately - they are sort of run down looking.

Both my husband and I will also travel for work, so we are looking for quick easy access to the toll road. We figure once we are on the toll road we won't mind the extra 15 minutes of such a pleasant and easy drive.

See the area on McKinley Park Lane, between McKinley and Lincoln Aves, to the west and north a bit of downtown. There's also the West Spruce area on Spruce St. west of downtown, but still within walking distance. Those are the newer areas downtown. Much of south and west Louisville is "new" as in within the last 20 years or less. There is also Steel Ranch on N. 95th St. (Highway 42), south of Baseline, which is currently under construction.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Louis...en&sa=N&tab=wl

[ILgeminipair]

I wanted to thank everyone that posted and provide a few quick detail on what we saw and thought!

Commute from aiport:
Outrageously quick. It took about 30 minutes leaving at 8:45pm and felt like 2am traffic in Chicago with nobody on the roads!

Housing:
A little bit of a let down. Market is very tight. Downtown Louisville is what everyone posted. Not really quaint and rundown in spots. Not the uniformity and care of ownership in all areas. Cars parked on street and more of a city feel with smaller houses in disrepair. We viewed a house for $715K that you couldn't pay me to live in. I really liked the McKinley Park Lane but agent said that is more like 1.5M and houses don't go up that often in that area. Coal Creek and Harper Lake areas and many others were nice, but not didn't knock our socks off in driving around. We want a view if were are moving out west. I felt like we'd be paying 100K or more than we really need to and not really finding a house we love. We didn't look at Superior or Lafayette on the trip.

Downtown:
Very charming, a little smaller than I expected. Our town is 40K and this is 18K. We ate at Waterloo (great nachos) and had coffee and egg sandwiches at Bittersweet. All very cute. The non-chain area is a big draw. Too bad the housing around it doesn't mirror the retail. Library was nice as was the Rec Center but we weren't bowled over.

People we encountered all over were great! I met 2-3 Chicago transplants in just that 1 day. It was shocking how nice rental car agents, fast food staff, bus staff, and waiters were.

Overall, the trip was good and I can see the appeal of the town. For us for right now, we are going to look more closely at Denver burbs again. I think we might find more luck with house and benefit from a similar commute but just in a different direction.

[brown_dog_us]

Thanks for the follow up post. It is very helpful!

[AceShopper]

Originally Posted by ILgeminipair

House budget is 900K.

also didn't care for the Highlands Ranch area that so many people love.

I like living in a neighborhood where not every house is the same.

We want a view if were are moving out west.

If you want to stick to the northwest suburbs, I would suggest:
- Broomfield (North of Midway Blvd and West of Sheridian)
- Superior (North of Coalton and West of Rock Creek Pkwy)
- Superior (South of Coalton - along Torreys Peak & SnowMass Cir addresses)

Housing is very tight right now - at least in the Rock Creek area in Superior. Also, if you decide on Superior and get a home with a full mountain view, be sure to check how the wind hits it ! If your bedroom faces West, you could be awake for several nights in winter

[reed303]

If your price range is 900K, and mt views are a priority,, check out the Country Estates area of Broomfield. It sits on a ridge with open views to the west, like this listing
231 Himalaya Ave, Broomfield, CO 80020 - Zillow

Area is north and west of 136 & Main in Broomfield.