Job in Golden: options? (Denver, Lakewood: sales, roughest, loan)

[BTNS_TX]

Husband has a possible job in Golden and we are researching the areas around Golden in terms of schools and property prices as well as commute.

Coming from Texas, the housing market is a huge leap for us, when we will sell our 5/2 2300 square foot home for, at best, $140,000.

We are hoping to find a community with good schools (two kids: junior high and high school next year) and reasonable (for the area) home prices.

Do have this list right, in terms of areas close to Golden?

And could you give me a run-down on how they compare?

Golden
Arvada
Littleton
Lakewood
Westminster
Louisville
Superior
Highlands Ranch

These are just the areas I've read about on other threads mentioned as being close to Golden in some way, but I'm sure many will be out of our price range. At best, I'm guessing we will be hoping to buy between $200,000 and $235,000 (gasp, gasp). I know, some places this is a bargain, but not from where we're moving.

Any insight on Golden and surrounding communities would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[2bindenver]

There are 321 available 3+ beds, 2+ baths with garage and a basement in Jefferson County or Broomfield for $200,000 to $240,000.

231 with 2 or more spaces.

97 with Master Suites or Master baths.

[BTNS_TX]

Thanks for the look-up, but what I'm mainly wondering is which of the above communities tends to have the better schools or the worse reputation (becoming run down, for instance)? Did I miss listing some town names I should be searching? Which ones are closest to Golden? Which ones would be through the roughest commute in terms of highways? Which ones are the best for getting into Denver, if I can't find a job in Golden?

Staring at the map and checking drive times, from what I can tell some of my above list is just further out from Golden that we'd like, at least starting out.

I think this is a more workable list:
Lakewood
Wheat Ridge
Edgewater
Sheridan
Arvada
and of course, Golden itself.

So am I missing a community name I should keep in mind? And ranking the above, how would the list fall out for schools, property value, traffic (commuting), etc?

Thanks again!

[2bindenver]

tell me how much of a commute he would be willing to make?

Lakewood, Golden, Arvada, Wheat Ridge are all in the same school disctrict; Jefferson County. Sheridan is a good half hour away and more people leave annually than move in. Edgewater has hit and miss spots... I love the Sloan's Lake area.

[TinajaCo]

Edgewater and Sheridan tend to be a little rougher, although as mentioned before the Sloan's Lake area near Edgewater is nice. Arvada and Wheat Ridge are both overall fairly close to Golden and have some nice neighborhoods. If you're looking in Wheat Ridge or Arvada, I'd keep my searches on the west side of Wadsworth Ave (or Kipling, as you get more south). Lakewood also has nice areas, along with some not-as-well-kept areas, but it is also a fairly big city. I would keep my searches in Lakewood south of Alameda Ave and west of Wadsworth Ave for the most part, there are some nice areas around there. These areas are probably 10-15 minutes from Golden. Golden is also nice, I'm not sure what housing goes for there. If your husband is willing to take on a little bit of a longer commute (25-30 minutes) I would expand my search southwest, in the area southeast of C-470 and Highway 285. It's unincorporated, but mailing addresses will be Lakewood or (more commonly) Littleton. There are a number of neighborhoods that could work for your price range in that area to choose from. All of these would be Jefferson County schools.

[BTNS_TX]

Thank you for the replies 2bindenver & TinajaCO.

The less of a commute the better. I think between researching homes and churches last night, we are leaning toward Arvada, since it is on the way to Denver from Golden and I don't really know where I will land a job, but likely it will be more toward the Denver area.

I'm a full-time English instructor at a community college, and from I can tell it looks like the area is crawling with CCs, so I'm hoping I can cobble together classes to teach from some of those in and around Arvada or find something outside of teaching nearby pretty quickly.

Are there some better sites online that list local professional positions? The web is overflowing with them, but many are clogged by "nationwide" sales junk instead of real possiblities.

I'd love to get some insight on Arvada in terms of high schools, things to do, distances to other areas of interest in CO.

There seems to be two high schools, is that right? Arvada and Arvada West? What's with a few of the home listings that have Pomona as the high school?

Thanks again for your help!

[2bindenver]

copied and pasted from http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us (broken link)
School Name Grades Address City Zip Code

ARVADA HIGH SCHOOL 09-12 7951 WEST 65TH AVENUE ARVADA 80004

ARVADA WEST HIGH SCHOOL 09-12 11325 ALLENDALE DRIVE ARVADA 80004

POMONA HIGH SCHOOL 09-12 8101 WEST POMONA DRIVE ARVADA 80005

RALSTON VALLEY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 09-12 13355 WEST 80TH AVENUE ARVADA 80005

[2bindenver]

According to the state website Arvada West & Pomona are rated High and Ralston is rated Excellent.