Evergreen vs. Boulder (Denver, Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch: homes, neighborhood, theater)

[7ofus]

Originally Posted by Mr.Black

Is Evergreen liberal or conservative?

How is the drive to DIA from Evergreen? Time "normally" and on bad weather days? Thanks!

[whoisjongalt]

You'd probably really like Evergreen. I think it's the most beautiful area in the Denver area that is still a relatively easy commute to town plus there are some great deals on houses there right now (I'm moving there in a few months from downtown Denver). Boulder real estate is a lot more expensive. There are some nice houses in Evergreen for $300,000 but that wouldn't buy you a tiny run down place in Boulder. You might also check out the Lookout Mountain area and Genesee just west of Evergreen...very nice and even closer to Denver.

[qfrost]

I've been through Evergreen recently - we went down toward the lake and the very old, run-down section - is that the center of Evergreen? We thought of living there for the same reasons HighAltitude mentioned - but four things turned us off - no central, modern town (bookstores, hospitals, range of shopping options), no sense of 'neighborhoods', number of unkempt houses, and concerns over the quality of the schools, compared to those around Boulder.

[whoisjongalt]

If you want suburbia, you won't like Evergreen. If you want a beautiful mountain town with character you will. I asked my realtor to contact the owners of some of those "unkempt" houses thinking they might want to sell and I could get a deal. The only one that was interested was appraised around $500K.

[qfrost]

I don't want suburbia - we want a beautiful mountain town with character, with modern amenities fairly close, an excellent school system, all within commutable range of Denver and the ski resorts. And while we're at it, a newer home with a 'mountain lodge' or timberframe appearance, all at a price that doesn't break the modest bank. And my wife wants neighbors closer than rural for community, but not an arm's reach from any given window. Since that scenario doesn't exist, we're judging what's worth compromising to be in Colorado, which in the end is really all that matters. I have no doubt those homes can be worth 500K for their location. But most of the ones we saw were built in the 70s, and would need to be torn down and rebuilt.

[Katarina Witt]

Just curious, qfrost, what concerns you about the schools? They are part of Jefferson County schools, the largest district in Colorado. Since test scores generally follow parental SES, one would think the Evergreen schools would "rate" highly.

In regards to a hospital, I hate to sound snide, but what do you expect? Evergreen is an unicorporated community of 9200 people in the foothills. It is a fairly short drive to Lutheran Medical Center from Evergreen (30 min. or less).

[qfrost]

Hey Katiana-

That's good to know then, we hadn't heard anyone speaking to the quality of Evergreen's schools here (and perhaps because this isn't the right forum for the mountain towns). True enough on the hospital issue. My wife had breast cancer a few years ago, and so tends to be sensitive to proximity to doctors, etc. Moreso than I would be.

[Katarina Witt]

^^^As Evergreen has grown, so has the availablity of services there. There are some docs up there; also I believe some Denver area docs who have office hours there once a week or so, and plenty of docs in the western suburbs of Denver that are a fairly short drive. It is a fact of life that when you live there, you drive more than if you lived in a "normal" suburb.

[whoisjongalt]

Originally Posted by qfrost

I don't want suburbia - we want a beautiful mountain town with character, with modern amenities fairly close, an excellent school system, all within commutable range of Denver and the ski resorts. And while we're at it, a newer home with a 'mountain lodge' or timberframe appearance, all at a price that doesn't break the modest bank. And my wife wants neighbors closer than rural for community, but not an arm's reach from any given window. Since that scenario doesn't exist, we're judging what's worth compromising to be in Colorado, which in the end is really all that matters. I have no doubt those homes can be worth 500K for their location. But most of the ones we saw were built in the 70s, and would need to be torn down and rebuilt.

I don't know what your budget is but you're probably not going to find a newer "mountain lodge" style house in Evergreen for less that $450-500K. There are some pretty nice older houses in the $275-400K range.

[qfrost]

Thanks. I don't know what the original poster was wanting, but that does seem to be the lowest threshold for most newer, 4 bd 2 bath homes everywhere around Boulder county (excluding Boulder prices, of course).