Moving to Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder: rent, crime, hotels)

[coloradobound]

Hello All,

I am new to the board and have some questions. My husband and I will be moving to Colorado in about 10 weeks or so. His job is relocating. Interestingly enough we have choices as to where we want to be which is about anywhere in the area. I would like some advice from everyone on their thoughts of the areas. I would like to tell you a little about our situation and likes and dislikes so we can get advice.

We have 2 children 6 and 4.
We will rent about $1500 to $1800 is comfortable
Schools important
We like to live in complexes with pools, workout areas, high rises, need 3 bedrooms
We like to walk to grocery stores and restaurants and parks
We like childrens museums, aquariums, parks, nice areas for walking and people watching, fountains and of course hiking and so forth.
We like new areas

We have looked into all areas surrounding Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder and we are leaving next week to visit all of these areas to choose. My husband is in financial planning and will be obtaining new clients so this is also part of our research criteria.

So, I guess that is a lot. I just need some suggestions of places not to miss while we are visiting that we may have overlooked online. This is a very hard decision to make knowing we will be moving our son right in the middle of school so I want to pick an area we really like and my husband can do his business there as well.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[coloradobound]

One more question. We will be coming next week to Colorado and I was wondering if we stay at one hotel maybe in Denver can we travel to all the other areas in a day or should we just get hotels in the different areas? We will be coming for about a week and need to see Colorado Springs all of Denver, Boulder and maybe Summit County.

[2bindenver]

pick a place in each area to stay and get the full flavor.

[coloradobound]

Thanks for the advice. Do you know the difference between the Cherry Creek area and Cherry Hills I think it is?

[MidniteBreeze]

In Colorado Springs, the north end of town (Academy District 20) has the best reputation for schools (aside from the very pricey Cheyenne Mountain neighborhood--district 12--in the posh SW part of town.)

Lots of newer developments up north...I'm guessing you could rent a nice townhome or something in your price range.

You'll have to look around to find things within walking distance, but you're never far from nice parks and hiking, etc. in Colroado Springs. Definitely check out Garden of the Gods...probably the most spectacular city park in the country!

[coloradobound]

Thank you midnitebreeze this helps with all the info i am collecting on the areas. What is your opinion on Colorado Springs versus Denver and the Denver suburbs?

[2bindenver]

Cherry Creek might be the area around the creek or the mall, or the school district. Cherry Hills Village is a housing development south of Hampden & (generally) east of University...where some of the rich folks live. The development is in the CCSD, but I'd guess that most of the children are in private schools.

[MidniteBreeze]

I can't comment too much about Denver as I've never lived there (I lived in CS for 5 years) but we did go there on occassion.

Denver definitely has much more of a "big city" feel. Bigger buildings downtown, more freeways, more traffic...but also the good things that come with a bigger metro area too (i.e., the natural science museum, pro sports, more nightlife, etc.)

I remember someone describing the Springs as "a big city that still thinks it's a small town." It's growing like crazy but it just doesn't have that big city feel. The air is cleaner. Houses are generally cheaper there than in Denver, but prices are rising due to its popularity.

There are some traffic problems due to the rapid growth, but it's nothing like the gridlocked, standstill traffic you experience in bigger metros. I hear there's a lot of construction on I-25 right now, but generally speaking, going north-south is easier than going east-west as there really isn't much in the way of controlled access roads going in those directions (one exception being the hwy 24 bypass on the south end of town.)

I personally prefer the Springs to Denver, but I'm not a "big city" person. One thing I really liked about living in the Springs was the ease of hopping on Hwy 24 and being in the mountains within a half hour. I would guess getting out of Denver on a Friday evening wouldn't be so easy.

Colorado Springs is a great place to live for entertaining out of town guests...you have Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak (drive your car up or ride the cog railway), seven falls, cave of the winds--these are all either in town or just a little ways out. About an hour SW is Canon city and the Royal Gorge. An hour's drive into the mountains will take you to Cripple Creek where your crazy uncle Joe can get his gambling fix. And Denver is only an hour or so to the north.

Oh, I'm not sure if you're planning to take your kids along or not on your "scouting" trip, but one place you might want to go for some fun family entertainment is the flying W ranch. They do a chuckwagon style supper with a western musical/variety show. It might sound kind of cheesy, but it's really a neat experience...I actually looked forward to hosting the in-laws so we'd have an excuse to go

Enjoy your pre-move visit and best of luck to you!

[coloradobound]

Thank you both for your advice and answers. The kids will not be coming for the scouting trip, but I will keep that in mind for when we get there. It has been hard to see what the areas are like by just looking online, but this board has helped immensley. I would not know of any of these places if it was not for the people posting on here. I think we have narrowed it down to CS or Denver and Suburbs. Which I think does not seem to be much narrower but I can not wait to come and see what each has to offer. They both sound wonderful. Thanks again to the posters for all the info.

[norris08]

I would highly recommend Parker, CO. (a bit S of Denver).

Two main reasons: Best school district in the state and some of the lowest crime stats of any Denver suburb.

Also, you get sort of a small-town feel (we even have a "main street"), but you aren't out in the middle of nowhere.

Out of all of the denver suburbs, I would only consider: Parker, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Centennial (all Southern Suburbs).

The only downfall to the southern suburbs is if you work further north, than your commute can get ugly.