Considering a Job in SW Longmont -- Where to Live?

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by nickbradley

1. Looking for Good schools: Boulder County, Broomfield, and Superior

3. Kid-friendly neighborhood

3. Firestone seems out in the middle of nowhere. Too prarie for me.

4. I want to be near amenities and recreation

5. Longmont is out of the question because my wife will look for a job eventually and will probably work South in Denver or in Boulder. Also, I don't want to live way up in Longmont if I have to look for a new job in the future -- the nice part of Longmont is Northwest -- too far to commute to Denver in the future.

6. Optimally, I would like to stay between $300k and $375k -- but I can go up to $425k. I'd like a decent sized lot at least (7500sf).

There is no such thing as the "Boulder County School District". BC is serviced by two districts: Boulder Valley School District in souther Boulder County, and St. Vrain Valley School District in the northern county. The boundary is roughly Lookout Road. Parts of Broomfield are in BVSD, and parts are in several other districts. The Superior schools are in BVSD. The Longmont schools are in SVVSD, as well as Niwot, some of Erie (also partly in BVSD), Frederick, Firestone and other parts of Weld County. I bring this up b/c there are so many misconceptions about the school districts. Although the school district a house is in is stated on the real estate listing, some people still end up buying and then being surprised that they are in a different district than they thought. This is especially an issue in Broomfield.

[jkcoop]

Originally Posted by DressageRider

What kind of place are you looking for at that price point? I imagine that Lafayette or Broomfield would be good options if you want to be more central to Longmont, Boulder, and Denver. I prefer Lafayette to Broomfield because at least it has its little old downtown. Broomfield, like Westminster, feels a bit soulless to me (but that is just my opinion and plenty of people like it.)

Here's a dumb question from me: What is considered SW Longmont? Airport/Nelson?

Gotta agree with you in regards to Broomfield and Westminster, but as with you, that's just opinion and many like it. I came from Dallas and it felt too much like that to me.

SW Longmont - Airport/Nelson ish. But I would say a bit broader area. Our subdivision is next to an area that is Boulder County, surrounded by City of Longmont. The houses are older but the lots pretty good sized. People there with horses, etc. I guess it's what makes this area feel more in the country for me.

[Katiana]

I really like Broomfield. My kids did gymnastics for Broomfield High School, even though they went to Monarch in Louisville, b/c that is where the BVSD gymnastics team is housed. In seven years of having a kid on the team, I spent a lot of time in Broomfield, especially the years when my kids weren't driving. There is a great sense of community there. Granted, there's no downtown, but there is a great library and civic center (for lack of a better word), a great rec center, and also the Bay, a cool swimming pool/water park. There are several community festivals every year. If I didn't like living in Louisville so much, I'd move to Broomfield.

[mark747]

Lousiville is good, but don't think you'll find housing you want there .There are a lot of family sized homes that are struggling price wise in Broomfield. You might be able to get a bargain there. Broomfield is full of huge subdivisions-miles and miles of them. Since you like north longmont which seems to be newer subdivisions, you might like Broomfield.
Niwot is the best school district in Boulder county. Niwot can be expensive though. I don't know if you'd find 375k there. South Longmont-Prospect, Rainbow Ridge, is two minutes from Niwot down 95th and you can find a home for 350 in Rainbow Ridge. It's on Pike. And you'd be near biking and hiking trails there. Airport/Nelson is south longmont, but wouldn't be quite as easy of a commute as Rainbow Ridge. There are a lot of buses going down 287 into denver from Longmont. Nice commuter buses that everyone takes in the morning, so Pike would be good. Longmont is also easier to get to 25. 36 can be hard in winter. Try to keep in mind that maybe hopefully in your lifetime, a light rail is supposed to come in from Denver up 36 through Boulder, Niwot and South Longmont. It will be a while though. And there are supposed to be 10,000 jobs added with Conoco Phillips campus in Superior which is going to make traffic on 36 pretty hellish for at least five years because those 10,000 jobs will be here before the light rail will. In ten years, Longmont and Lyons are going to seem like paradise compared to traffic centered communities like Louisville and Broomfield.

[Bradburn1]

Man the two commute problem is a thorny one eh? Check out where I live, Bradburn Village in Westminster (it's on the Westminster/Broomfield border off 120th between Federal and Sheridan). A lot of folks live here because of our location--easy commute to Longmont up 287 (about 20-30 minutes but you can also take bus) but also able to get to Boulder/Louisville (20-30 min) but also downtown Denver (30-40 minutes or express bus from park n ride around 30 min).

However, a caveat--the neighborhood has homes in your price range and is SUPER kid friendly but is also super, super social--this is not a place to live if you don't want to know and/or speak to your neighbors. Most kids in here are elementary age or under at the moment (vast numbers of kids under 10 but a few older ones as well just not as many). We have excellent schools (high ratings elementary through high school), fun architecture and are super walkable to parks, the Dry Creek Open Space, restaurants, services, and shops (walkscore in the 70s). I should say the neighborhood is newer, all the homes in here were built after 2000 and there is new construction still going on by New Town Builders.

My husband is a techie and has changed jobs frequently so we wanted to live in an area where we could get to many different employment areas without having to move. Bradburn is perfect in that respect. While we've lived here my husband has had jobs in Lakewood, downtown Denver, Broomfield, and Boulder; we've never had to consider moving which is great because it SUCKS!

[eon-krate32]

The only place in Longmont that is out of your price range in the exact opposite side of the city (NE). Longmont is incredibly cheap in most areas. The housing market seems to be doing relatively good right now and most homes in my area (NE) are going for just under $300k. Plus with a great central location to other metros and the like (with 4 major highways passing through and proximity to I-25) one really can't go wrong here.

BOULDER however would be well out of your price range and for location and traffic it ain't worth it anyways.