Does Colorado Hate Highlands Ranch?

[dj32]

Please don't disregard all Denver neighborhoods as "needing to send kids to private schools"... as you remember, many of the school shootings and bullying behavior happened in upscale suburban schools.

Slavens, Southmoor, Bromwell, Steck... jsut a few of the "good" public schools in Denver- all with neighborhoods with character.

[jkanderson521]

This is the problem with most places of "character". It isn't good for families. rebagirl, I hear you mention you love your pocket and I think that is great. Unfortunately, the decline around you as you noted eventually overtakes your pocket. I think that is one of the reasons why places like HR, South OC, etc are built and why people move there. There are some that like the so called "stepfordness" of it all because it is one less thing to worry about in this crazy world. Life is full of surprises, no one is faulting people from moving to the so called "hip funk zones" where wacky anarchists and postmodern philosophers talk about the zen of crumbling asphalt. However, those places tend to be inhabited by people of a similar mindset, deconstructionists and anti-conformity types. If that is your beat, awesome, go for it, most of you think the same. Just don't condemn people in HR for being cookie cutter,acting the same, and thinking alike. Boulder, funk zones of LoDo, are mostly inhabited by people who think alike as well.

My wife and I lived in Santa Barbara, we finished our graduate degrees at UCSB and enjoyed living the funk life. Now with kids, we moved to South OC and loved it, found it FAR more family friendly and a better fit for where were were as a family. Now living in Highlands Ranch, we have found another community that welcomes us and our family and we are very comfortable here and quite happy. It works for us, not everyone, just us and those around us. I say go where you will be happy. Funk zone or MasterPlanned.

Let people who want to be together, be happy being together and let's stop being so critical of each other.

[Ludachris]

My wife and I live right next to Highlands Ranch in Lone Tree. It's all pretty much the same thing down here though. It's all residential, it's a sea of houses all built by a handful of developers, most homes were built within the past 10-15 years and many look similar (if not exactly the same), there are a bunch of chain restaurants, etc. There isn't a real sense of culture but it's the suburbs, what do you expect? It's no different than many suburban areas across the country.

I've noticed a lot of animosity towards Highlands Ranch since we've lived here. We went to a comedy show downtown one night and the local comic made his opinion very clear. But I've seen that same sentiment when we lived in the SF bay area. Those who lived in the urban areas looked down on the the bland, culture-less suburbs.

Different families have different needs. Highlands Ranch (or Lone Tree to be exact) isn't my first choice but it serves the needs of my family pretty well. And though natives think the homes are too close together it's a lot better than what we were used to in California. At least out here they've tried to implement some good trail systems and some open space in most developments.

Hey, everyone likes different things. And no matter where you go there will be natives who don't like the areas they used to call home being hyper-developed. Growth is positive for some and negative for others. We didn't like what was happening to the area we lived in back in California and decided to move away. It's a natural cycle. Who knows, we may not like what happens to our area in 10 years. That's just how it goes.

[rebagirl]

Originally Posted by jkanderson521

This is the problem with most places of "character". It isn't good for families. rebagirl, I hear you mention you love your pocket and I think that is great. Unfortunately, the decline around you as you noted eventually overtakes your pocket. I think that is one of the reasons why places like HR, South OC, etc are built and why people move there. There are some that like the so called "stepfordness" of it all because it is one less thing to worry about in this crazy world. Life is full of surprises, no one is faulting people from moving to the so called "hip funk zones" where wacky anarchists and postmodern philosophers talk about the zen of crumbling asphalt. However, those places tend to be inhabited by people of a similar mindset, deconstructionists and anti-conformity types. If that is your beat, awesome, go for it, most of you think the same. Just don't condemn people in HR for being cookie cutter,acting the same, and thinking alike. Boulder, funk zones of LoDo, are mostly inhabited by people who think alike as well.


My wife and I lived in Santa Barbara, we finished our graduate degrees at UCSB and enjoyed living the funk life. Now with kids, we moved to South OC and loved it, found it FAR more family friendly and a better fit for where were were as a family. Now living in Highlands Ranch, we have found another community that welcomes us and our family and we are very comfortable here and quite happy. It works for us, not everyone, just us and those around us. I say go where you will be happy. Funk zone or MasterPlanned.

Let people who want to be together, be happy being together and let's stop being so critical of each other.

I agree with your sentiments. However, just to clarify: I did not mention that I love my pocket. It is going downhill, and I feel the need to get out--which is why I have been a member of this forum for well over a year. There are a few positives of this area, which I mentioned in my previous post. However, I know that it won't be long before my little pocket will be consumed by those who have no regard for others or public property.

[esya]

I moved to littleton in 1971 and it was the same--you could not walk out of town even though you weren't near anything. It just kept growing south and west and north and east, and I HATE suburbs because they chew up all the beautiful countyside everywhere in this country and spit out little plots of nothing.

So do I dislike HR? yes, and everything like it.

[.gif]

Originally Posted by b.adams

They are also very close to converting a huge gravel pit near C470 and Chatfield into South Platte reservior ... and littleton will get a nice new lake view instead of a noisy gravel pit ... and highlands ranch gets more renewable water.

i wondered what all that digging was.

[rkb0305]

All you people who hate the suburbs, especially HR- where do you propose all the people in this country live?

[steveindenver]

All you people who hate the suburbs, especially HR- where do you propose all the people in this country live?

In an area that can easily support public transportation, bike riding or better yet simply walking to the services you require on a frequent basis. Schools, grocery stores, restaurants, bars and hardware stores among these things.

This country continues to develop an unsustainable model of poor planning and land use feeding the retarded notion that we must have open space around us. Until now this ridiculous model has been viable almost entirely because of the United States governments’ subsidization of things like oil and food.

Take away the ability of the government to perform this service and you end up in the same situation as most of the rest of the world with one big difference. You still have to drive your car for every little thing you require.