Relocating with Elementary Age Child - Boulder Area Neighborhoods? (Westminster: real estate, rentals)

[gretagirl]

Hello,
We are relocating from Minneapolis to Boulder in the next few months. We have an elementary age child and have been blessed to live in a neighborhood with lots and lots of children and our school in walking distance.

We prefer to live in Boulder to be closer to family currently living there.
Can anyone suggest great areas within Boulder for a family with elementary kids? We are anticipating a very modest home costing $500-$700K. Our biggest concern is finding a neighborhood with a good school and lots of kids.

We have considered Louisville and Superior but really prefer to stay within the Boulder city limits.

Thanks so much!

[Neditate]

The Whittier neighborhood is wonderful for families with young children. I lived there for 8 years, just down the street from Whittier Elementary school: Whittier Elementary, Boulder, CO, an International Baccalaureate School
Walking distance to school, quiet tree-lined streets with little hidden parks. Just a lovely area.
I haven't kept up with real estate prices but a quick search showed that there are homes in your price range... but "modest" is key.
Perhaps these websites will help:
Whittier Neighborhood Boulder CO | Boulder Real Estate
(btw, I don't know the realtor, just thought he had a nice video presentation on his site)
Boulder CO neighborhood information by Realasave.com >> Whittier Neighborhood

Best of luck to you with your move!

[missncr]

Check out the Heatherwood area in Gunbarrel.

[Bradburn1]

Boulder is great, I love it. But, if you want to get more house for your money and still fit your requirements, take a look at my neighborhood, Bradburn Village in Westminster. Is a 20 minute drive to Boulder but is a walkable, new urbanist neighborhood (you can walk to tons of shops/restaurants/services/organic grocery store), has great schools (a K-12 charter in walking distance) and FILLED with kids. Neighborhood is super, super social--everyone knows each other and we have tons of neighborhood events. Most people here are couples with young kids (under 10). Your kids will have tons and tons of playmates, BUT if you don't really want to know your neighbors, it's not a good fit.

In your price range, you could get a 2800-3500 sq foot custom home in a neo traditional style (craftsman, farmhouse, victorian, etc..), many of the homes in here feature solar photovoltaic arrays (very nice to have in CO with all our sun!). Or a builder home in that range from 2800-4000 sq feet.

[gretagirl]

Thanks so much for all of the feedback! I will be checking out all of the suggestions. We are excited to be closer to family and would love to be IN Boulder. However, we know it may be tough to find a kid friendly, family neighborhood within our price range. We are so used to having 20 kids running around the 'hood all playing together and going to school together!

Thanks again

[Candycandy]

Hi Greta,

Based on your preferences, I suggest the following neighborhoods:
Newlands, Dakota Ridge, Whittier, Pinebrook Hills, and Table Mesa. And if you want to look at real estate listings categorized by neighborhood elementary school, try COhomefinder | Top Boulder Colorado Real Estate
Best of luck!
Candy

[Brain Drain]

While $500K-$700K will buy you a wonderful house in most places in the US, especially in the middle of this housing downturn, Boulder so far has emerged relatively unscathed by the depreciation gripping most of the country. This means you won't have as many choices as you'd like. There's just starting to be pricing pressure on the "lower end" homes in Boulder (under $700K), so perhaps you should rent in the area where you'd consider buying. It's hard to judge neighborhoods when you're just coming through for a visit.

Here are some neighborhoods that come to mind that fit your criteria:

Four Mile Creek -- This may be right up your alley. In some ways, it's a little Highlands Ranch in the NE corner of Boulder. This means houses are relatively modern and large (4000 sq ft is not uncommon), garages are wide, lots are small, families are big, and ceilings are vaulted. The number of children running around this neighborhood is remarkable considering Boulder does not have huge concentrations of kids in most areas. Schools are good - Crest View, Centennial, and Boulder HS. Supposedly the school district needs to send two empty school buses going to Centennial just to accommodate all of the kids.

Table Mesa Area - Families here are attracted to the beautiful vistas, quiet atmosphere (almost suburban), good recreational access, and outstanding schools. Bear Creek and Mesa Elementary Schools have great reps as does Community Montessori (focus school), Southern Hills MS and Fairview HS are also excellent. You need to be content mostly with ranches here -- albeit many are fixed up quite nicely. When looking at $700K, you'll probably get into nicer two-story homes.

Dakota Ridge Village -- Many newer homes here built in the early 90s and later. Houses start here at about $500K and go up to the millions. Foothill ES, Centennial MS, and Boulder HS are well regarded. Recreation access is good and there's a burgeoning restaurant/coffee shop scene up here with Protos, Amante, and others. You are in the far NW corner of Boulder, so you're a good 10 mins from downtown and perhaps 20 mins from Table Mesa.

Newlands -- There are a lot of kids here and the schools are good, but $700K won't go as far as other neighborhoods. This is one of the priciest areas in the city. You may get lucky and pick up a nice house here.

Periwinkle Drive -- Tiny little neighborhood near Lucky's Market in Boulder. Homes are modern and Halloween is a mob scene. They have the same schools as 4 mile creek. Lots are small but houses seem more individualized than in 4 mile. Easy walk to Crest View ES.

Louisville, Superior, Lafayette, and SW Longmont -- You said Boulder proper, but you'll get more house for your dollar in these places. It seems Boulderites go to these places to spawn! They're all about 20 minutes or less from Boulder.

[Katiana]

If you're looking for a neighborhood with, as you say, 20 kids within walking distance, I don't think you'll find it in most parts of Boulder. Virtually all the Boulder neighborhoods have significant student influence, except the most high-end, and those aren't really the areas where people with kids can afford to buy, either.

I'm not familiar with Four Mile Creek, but from the description, it sounds like your best bet in Boulder. Table Mesa has a lot of student rentals, meaning many of your neighbors will be college students moving in and out every few months. The houses are older ranches, '60s style, and many that aren't rentals still have their original owners. The neighborhood elementary school, Majestic Hts, was closed down years ago and is now the home of Summit Charter Middle School, an open-enrollment school. In fact, a number of ele schools in Boulder have been closed over the recent years, which should give you an idea that elementary-school aged kids are not in super abundance in Bo.

I'd go with Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, SW Longmont myself. I actually live in Louisville, and it is full of kids. Superior is even more kid-centric.