Boulder/Denver area vs. Phoenix? (university, living in, donated)

[frogandtoad]

Stevetogo,
Maybe I'll buy one $400K house and have the rest "left over." Who knows. I was just asking for help and like I've said a bunch of times, I will not be spending my limit if I can find a really nice place with what I'm looking for, for less. It sounds like I have a good chance of spending way below my limit, so I will. Believe me, I'm not looking to spend my absolute limit on a house unless I really cannot find what I am looking for. There seem to be a lot of great options in the Boulder area so that is good news. My initial impression was that I would need to spend almost my limit to live in Boulder, and maybe that's still true, but I've been learning about a lot of options just outside Boulder for much less and would prefer to go that route so we are not totally stretching financially.

I appreciate all the help I've had on this board, particularly from people who haven't tried to negatively judge me, which is most people.

VegasPilgram,
I agree. I 've stopped following the Phoenix board after the comments posted there. There were some nice people but even I know some were way off on their assessments of Boulder/Denver! I believe every place has pros and cons, and it's certainly not as black and white as those posters were making it sound! If it were, the decision would have been made from day one!

[sandycat]

No, Boulder isn't very diverse, that is true. And I believe that Mesa's music teacher has won so many awards for her teaching. But I'm not sure why Whittier is chaotic. I think the teachers at Whittier are as a whole, great. The kids also come from diverse backgrounds, and the school prides itself on having like 17 languages being spoken by the students. I'm sorry if I hijacked this thread and made it about schools. It sounds like the OP will likely choose a private school, but I just had to comment on the Whittier thing. People who send their kids to BCSIS are happy. I like their philosophy and I think it works for a lot of families. But private schools like BCD and Dawson are far from being unique and non-traditional. I don't know anything about Bixby.

[Katarina Witt]

All of the above being said, most of which I agree with, if you send your kids to private schools, it will be hard to avoid the "snobbishness" you seem to want to avoid. If you want a down-to-earth elementary school, try one of the schools in Lafayette or Broomfield.

[TropicanaRose]

Originally Posted by sandycat

No, Boulder isn't very diverse, that is true. And I believe that Mesa's music teacher has won so many awards for her teaching. But I'm not sure why Whittier is chaotic. I think the teachers at Whittier are as a whole, great. The kids also come from diverse backgrounds, and the school prides itself on having like 17 languages being spoken by the students. I'm sorry if I hijacked this thread and made it about schools. It sounds like the OP will likely choose a private school, but I just had to comment on the Whittier thing. People who send their kids to BCSIS are happy. I like their philosophy and I think it works for a lot of families. But private schools like BCD and Dawson are far from being unique and non-traditional. I don't know anything about Bixby.

I didn't tell her to send the kids to BCD or Dawson. They are the best known private schools in the area, and I mentioned that Bixby was less expensive, that's all.

As for chaos at Whittier, one of my best friends tried very hard to send her youngest to Whittier. They believe in the idea of neighborhood schools and are pretty relaxed. The lack of organization and general chaos became absolutely intolerable. Fortunately they were able to open enroll to another school (not Mesa or Bear Creek!). It's all a matter of opinion and preference. For example, I too have encountered many happy parents of BCSIS students, but I'd get hives sending my kids there! Good on Katiana for linking to their page and correcting me about their curriculum focus!

In another thread OP mentioned that her children are very different- maybe she should look at sending one to BCSIS and the other to High Peaks since they share a building Actually, Bixby sounds great for them.

It actually sounds like Bixby may suit the OP.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by frogandtoad

Stevetogo,
Maybe I'll buy one $400K house and have the rest "left over." Who knows. I was just asking for help and like I've said a bunch of times, I will not be spending my limit if I can find a really nice place with what I'm looking for, for less. It sounds like I have a good chance of spending way below my limit, so I will. Believe me, I'm not looking to spend my absolute limit on a house unless I really cannot find what I am looking for. There seem to be a lot of great options in the Boulder area so that is good news. My initial impression was that I would need to spend almost my limit to live in Boulder, and maybe that's still true, but I've been learning about a lot of options just outside Boulder for much less and would prefer to go that route so we are not totally stretching financially.

I forgot where it is you are living now, but the truth is, there is no need to spend anywhere near a million dollars just to live in a nice place in a liberal neighborhood. I remember a year ago touring a house in Denver's historic Congress Park neighborhood that was a totally renovated 100-year old Craftsman house, and the asking price was $450k. $450k, especially in today's buyer's market, is all you need to spend to put yourself in a solid upper-middle class neighborhood in the Denver area without going over the top with extravagances. This isn't New York City, and this isn't LA. It's also not necessary to put your kids in private schools/ there are many great public school districts in Denver and Boulder too. In fact if you really wanted to budget and spent a lot of time researching, you could find humble, liveable houses in the $200's that are located in diverse neighborhoods with good schools. Spending a million bucks on a home in the Front Range is way, way, WAY more than is necessary to spend in order to live the good life.

[frogandtoad]

Thought I'd chime in on schools here since there has been some discussion. I would probably opt for a non-traditional private school (although my children are currently in public and I am happy with it, there are 2 wonderful non-traditional private schools near us. Not snobby parents at all btw who send their kids there. Not everyone with money is snobby (!) especially at more of the non-traditional schools!).

Anyway...I think we will end up public b/c we have missed all the application deadlines, and we don't want to move there and have our kids in public for a year and then move them. It's hard enough for them to move, so I don't want to move their school twice. But I do want to look at all options.

In case anyone notices that I wrote my 2 in school are very different, and then see I referenced 3 children earlier, we have 3 but my youngest is still in preschool. He's easy-going and I'm sure he'll be fine wherever the other 2 end up!

Bixby does looking interesting btw. I'm hoping to get some feedback on it--I started a thread asking about it.

[SheridanL]

frogandtoad,

I do understand where you are coming from, as well as others too.

I completely see where you have a limit (but it's just that, a LIMIT!)
The fact that you DON'T want your family to be in the "snobby" side is, admirable (even though you could).

Here's a weird kind of comparison: I lived in Canon for 4 years with my youngest son. My oldest was already off on his own, Anyway, we lived in Canon City and I had bought a home in the middle-ish part of town.

I met and married my DH (he was only 1 block away from me).

We then (after 5 months) bought in an area called "snob hill or pill hill" ..because of all of the doctors here. Our home was owned by a doctor.

Anyway, everyone (being here for years longer than us) said..."You will be on the OTHER side,...no one will want to come there and visit your son, it's just too different". WHAT???? He (and US) are STILL the same people for gosh sakes..we just have a different address, right?? WRONG!! They were soooo right. How strange and sad. I heard more excuses from his so called friends as to why they wouldn't come over/spend the night, etc. He was in 7th grade at the time.

He made new friends, had to, or be alone.
His girlriend was a different story, thank gosh. Poor and sweet. Not that we are rich mind you, just had to move to a different place.

My son is in the Navy now, a cryptologist stationed in Hawaii.
We are still in the same home and wonder why! We are on 2 acres with our own private tennnis court. It is huge but, I don't want to live in any other area. Snobs, NO!! Maybe our neighbors are ( I don't know because I don't know them). I love my home. I could go smaller but, I don't want to.

You go wherever you feel comfortable. Wherever you feel your children will thrive (you too).
by the way,.......my home in Boulder,or Denver, would probably go for about 6 million and, obviously I couldn't afford the curb.
It's all geography isn't it? Kinda like Jazzlover always says!!!!!!!!

Don't explain your reasoning, you don't have to. Just find your families space. And, yes....it's better here than Phoenix, IMO!HA!

[Candy Kid]

As in Phoenix and Tucson (where I lived 10 years) and in the Denver Metro area which basically includes anyplace within 30 miles from Denver there are gangs and everything you are hoping to avoid. The best thing about the Denver Metro area is the number of outside days compared to the number of outside days in Tucson. The snow melts fast the roads are maintained in the winter and I understand the skiing is great, some ski areas were open until mid may this year.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by Candy Kid

As in Phoenix and Tucson (where I lived 10 years) and in the Denver Metro area which basically includes anyplace within 30 miles from Denver there are gangs and everything you are hoping to avoid...

This is wrong, absolutely wrong. Gangs anyplace within 30 miles of Denver---Gee, that would even include Boulder and most of the metropolitan area with Denver in the Center, including Lonetree, Cherry Hills Village, Arvada etc.

We all know this is not true, Why do you state such nonsense??? Are you one of the Boulder types who never leave Boulder???? You need to get out from your isolation and see the rest of the community.

Most of Denver, by far, does not have any problems with Gangs--your statement is just wrong.

Livecontent

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by frogandtoad

Thanks for this post. If the more expensive housing correlates pretty closely with snobby people in this area, then we may reduce what we want to spend. This is what I was trying to find out. And I'll look into Smoky Hill--sounds interesting. We have 3 children--two are white and one is black, so we certainly value diversity and there is no way I'll ever live in a McMansion. That's as far from what we're seeking as you can get!! Complete waste of space, resources, etc.

Very strange, folks, because back in Seattle and the Pacific N.W., rich people in mansions are friendly, not snobbish, and are involved in philanthropic activities (i.e. Priscilla Bullitt, Dorothy Bullitt, Ed Hume).

In Flagstaff and Santa Fe, rich people in mansions are snobbish.

Sounds like people in the southwest, from Boulder to Denver to Arizona and New Mexico, really have some serious personality issues.

If "keeping up with the Jones" (as was alluded to in an earlier post) is what it's really like over there in Boulder/Denver, I say no way. I hate places like that with all my heart and soul.

Why? I thought that Rich Liberals in Colorado, Flagstaff, and New Mexico were "liberal." Sounds like a bunch of hypocrites.