Living in Lafayette, Louisville, Gunbarrel or Longmont (or somewhere else)? (Denver: 2014, school district)

[Meowen]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Stick with Gunbarrel and Louisville, Longmont can be a crap shoot I owned a home there and it was a huge mistake. (and you have further to commute to Boulder / Denver). Neighborhoods are very welcoming and well served.

Boulder is nicer to visit than to live. IMHO, for new family.
Denver... I see no reason to go there (YM/ interest MV)

Rent, get a locale where family can be outdoors A LOT (you will be amazed at how much time you will spend outdoors). With a toddler, I would get a spot on a greenbelt (away from traffic), later get good biking terrain. As a rural Colorado youth, I wore out many bikes (and horses / motorcycles, and guns) . Wish I would have been a homeschooler (More time outside!! less time stuck indoors). I rode my bike to work everyday but 3, the last yr I lived in Colorado.

Backpacking / Bike camping / touring will be fun for your family. I still use this bike trailer, as I did 30 yrs ago with my toddlers. (very stable, very robust, tows great!)
https://www.google.com/search?q=blue...w=1501&bih=665

Too bad you can no longer get the great camping / biking gear from Frostline (Boulder, circa 1970) Today I am wearing a Frostline Vest I made while in Jr High (1960's). When you can find them on eBay and NoCo garage sales. It is golden!
Frostline Kits were based in Eastern Colorado for many years ...

Where was your house in longmont that was a huge mistake? It's quite a sweeping generalization to say not to buy a house in Longmont based on your own experience. I bought a house 2.5 years ago in southwest longmont and it's gone up in value about 80k since then. Louisville and Gunbarrel (boring) will be much more expensive.

Also, no reason to go to Denver? you lost all credibility with that statement.

[jessiker]

He is 2 years old. We are hoping that he will start pre-school at least part-time in the fall, but he wouldn't start kindergarten until 2018. Please tell me your candid thoughts about these places. Erie is less desirable because we are really not looking for a bedroom community, but I can see the appeal of the prices. As I understand it, some of the schools are in the BVSD while others are St. Vrain. How are the various schools?
Thanks!

[jessiker]

We also really love Denver, but we are daunted by the school situation. One of the reasons we are leaving NYC is the sheer craziness of trying to get your kid into a "good" public school. We are drawn to the Boulder area for that reason.

[mic111]

While I don't know why Erie is less desirable for other people I am not impressed with the decisions their city council makes like allowing fracking right next to the elementary schools and allowing Vista Ridge to be built on/next to a landfill. I would not buy there because I wouldn't want to live with some of the decisions they make.

[OhioToCO]

I live in Gunbarrel, I like it.
It is lacking some of what you are craving, though. It is very much a bedroom community. An outdoor mall is being built, though, and a lot of activity, in general is sprouting - several new apartment complexes etc. I think someone just realized that Gunbarrel is a great location, and the land is still way cheaper than in Boulder, so let's get busy.

What I like about Gunbarrel:
1) Quiet and safe. My son bikes to school every day.
2) You are perfectly situated between Boulder and Longmont, so if jobs have any potential to be in either of the cities, this is the place to live. Of course, Gunbarrel has a few business offices as well, and, in general, was started as a bedroom community for IBMers.
3) You are 15-20 minutes drive from anything in Boulder, but you don't have to deal with some of the Boulder craziness.
4) Schools are great. I know OPs son is very young, but it's hard to find a better place in BVSD when looking for a high school. You get to choose between Boulder High and Fairview, and your kid is bussed to either.
5) I live in Heatherwood, which is the eastern part of Gunbarrel. We are located on a hill, and I am willing to bet we have THE BEST view of Flatirons in the entire Boulder County . Just can't beat the view.


Things I don't like about Gunbarrel.
1) You drive everywhere. The community is not big enough to have a rec center or a library, although I still hope for a tiny library brunch in that new mall.
2) If you need to go to Denver, you are arguably 20 minutes further away than most places in Boulder county, except, maybe, North Boulder (from there it's about the same time and distance). It takes me at least 45 minutes to drive to downtown Denver outside of rush hour. During rush hour I take a bus
3) It's unincorporated Boulder county, which sometimes brings it's own degree of craziness from our county commissioners. Guess you can never fully expect having sane elected officials.

Neutral.

There is an RTD bus - 205 - that goes from Gunbarrel to Boulder. It's not bad, it takes about 35 minutes to get from Heatherwood to Transit center on 14th and Walnut. The schedule is much improved of late, it used to be ridiculous with this trip taking much longer in the off peak hours.

Now, if I could choose between Gunbarrel or Louisville, Louisville would win by a narrow margin. I haven't looked at the prices lately, but something tells me real estate is a tad more expensive in Louisville.

[OhioToCO]

Forgot to add - we are out in the open next to open space, in fact, surrounded by open space. Lots of trails leading from doorsteps.

This, however, can potentially have a downside: there is an oil well in an open space not far from my house. So far, Boulder county has a moratorium on fracking permits until 2016, but who knows what happens if they will start issuing them? I very much doubt that particular well will get fracked since it's very close to a school, and I just can't imagine the public ire should fracking be approved in general, and within 1000 yard of a school specifically. Still, wanted to give you an honest assessment

[jessiker]

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I appreciate it!

[mmd0001]

What about Broomfield? We live in NJ and are thinking of relocating -we looked at the Broomfield High School and loved it. The home pricing is a lot more affordable and the rents are better too.

[Meowen]

Originally Posted by mmd0001

What about Broomfield? We live in NJ and are thinking of relocating -we looked at the Broomfield High School and loved it. The home pricing is a lot more affordable and the rents are better too.

IMO the best thing about Broomfield is it's location. It is right between Boulder and Denver so you can go either direction ~20 mins and get to either. What I don't like about it is that it feels more like a bedroom community/suburb to me with a lack of identity than towns like Boulder/Louisville/Longmont and a couple others which feel more self-contained with an identity. It is very safe though, and I think the schools are good but not as good as Boulder County schools and St Vrain which is partially in Longmont.

[OhioToCO]

Originally Posted by Meowen

IMO the best thing about Broomfield is it's location. It is right between Boulder and Denver so you can go either direction ~20 mins and get to either. What I don't like about it is that it feels more like a bedroom community/suburb to me with a lack of identity than towns like Boulder/Louisville/Longmont and a couple others which feel more self-contained with an identity. It is very safe though, and I think the schools are good but not as good as Boulder County schools and St Vrain which is partially in Longmont.

Broomfield High School is part of Boulder Valley School District.
OP, Broomfield is only partially in the BVSD, so look closely if you are aiming for a specific High School/district. For example, Legacy HS, also serving Broomfield, is in Adams 12 SD.
I don't have any experience with either of these Highs Schools, but I see plenty of kids living in Broomfield HS attendance area open enrolled at Fairview (one of the high schools in Boulder).