Neighborhoods with older homes, all over, all kinds.. zip codes? (Denver: low income, for sale)

[fierce_flawless]

I am hoping for some help on this one... I know if someone asked about my city with the same sort of question I could spout off all the zips real quick, because I've lived in almost all of them and house shopped in all of them, and eventually bought our house in one of them. Old houses are my "thing". It's much easier to look at homes for sale if you have the zips and while our plan to move to Colorado is still a year or more away from coming to fruition, I'd still like to have a look-see online and see what's out there.

So, I'm hoping to get zip codes for neighborhoods in Colorado where we could eventually purchase an OLDER home. I'm not going to put a bunch of limitations on that because there's one major one: it will need to be under 175k, or if over, then not by much.

We're fine with a "fixer" if the "fixing" is not major/structural...

We're willing to research towns and cities all over the state but in our dream plans we're leaning towards something *sorta kinda* close to Boulder or Denver.

So, please share your zip with me if you live in or know of an older neighborhood, relatively safe (we're not afraid of "low income", just don't want drive by shootings to be a normal thing).... and by older I mean preferably built before 1930 with very few exceptions.

TIA!

[yodi]

For areas surrounding Denver check out 80110 and 80113, both Englewood. Also look into 80214, Edgewater. All of the homes in these areas are not older, but a lot will meet your requirements of built before 1930 and fixer uppers in your price range.

[tfox]

Yodi's suggestion of Old Englewood, or Edgewater are good ones. Within Denver, I'd also start looking at places like Whittier, Cole, City Park West, City Park North, etc. zip code: 80205.

I'll be honest: a lot of people will tell you to stay out of this area due to for many years being stuck with the "inner city" label, in the bad sense of the word. But, I think overall it's on the upswing, even though crime is still a bit high and schools are undeniably problematic. There are some gorgeous Victorian and Arts and Crafts homes to be had there, and I think you can find a fixer for your price range, especially now with foreclosures popping up all the time.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by tfox

Yodi's suggestion of Old Englewood, or Edgewater are good ones. Within Denver, I'd also start looking at places like Whittier, Cole, City Park West, City Park North, etc. zip code: 80205.

I'll be honest: a lot of people will tell you to stay out of this area due to for many years being stuck with the "inner city" label, in the bad sense of the word. But, I think overall it's on the upswing, even though crime is still a bit high and schools are undeniably problematic. There are some gorgeous Victorian and Arts and Crafts homes to be had there, and I think you can find a fixer for your price range, especially now with foreclosures popping up all the time.

Thanks...

It will be a while before we get there so that price range will have a different meaning I'm sure. It's based on our projected income (very conservative estimates) by the time we both finish school and move... if we moved now we couldn't afford a cardboard box there. We'd most likely rent my partner's sisters home if we moved before finishing school, then wouldn't be buying until we were out of school.

I know exactly what you're saying about opinions on the "inner city" because we heard the same thing before buying our current home in our current neighborhood (here in Texas). Everyone "warned" us and freaked out with fears for our safety. They were confusing "poor" with "dangerous" though. We've been here 2 years now. Yeah, some of the homes are run down. Yeah, no one here has a lot of money... but overall it's quiet, and safe, and we did get a nice 3 bedroom built in 1915 for under 80k... so we have a mortgage payment a couple hundred bucks less than most people pay for rent on an apartment here that's not even as big. Plus, I've never sent my kids to any school in the neighborhoods I've lived in..... even when I lived in "suburbia", I chose to work at a private school in exchange for a tuition break. Once they no longer went there I've kept them in charter schools.

There are always alternative schooling options if one looks hard enough (and is willing to drive!)..by the time we make our move, my eldest will be in college (hey, maybe we'll need one less bedroom!) and the middle in middle school or early HS and the youngest in upper elementary most likely, but we always manage to solve the school issue and we've lived in areas with really BAD public schools. We just never put our kids in the school corresponding with our 'hood. Not being a big fan of traditional public schools this would be our choice probably even if we could afford a more affluent area.


I'm not scared off by tales of inner city badness... just keep the zips coming!

[yodi]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

Thanks...

I know exactly what you're saying about opinions on the "inner city" because we heard the same thing before buying our current home in our current neighborhood (here in Texas). Everyone "warned" us and freaked out with fears for our safety. They were confusing "poor" with "dangerous" though.

We used to live in inner city San Antonio and we had the same reaction from people. People thought we lived in the ghetto but our neighborhood was pretty quiet and uneventful.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by yodi

We used to live in inner city San Antonio and we had the same reaction from people. People thought we lived in the ghetto but our neighborhood was pretty quiet and uneventful.

West side (Wesside!) by chance? That's where we are. We have one neighbor that fits a lot of stereotypes and has more drama than necessary, but overall it's mostly senior citizens and families who, like everyone else, just want to go to work, come home, and not have any trouble.

[yodi]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

(Wesside!)

We lived on the north side but close to downtown. I spent a lot of time on the west side for work so I'm pretty familiar with the area. I think that you'll find most of Denver's neighborhoods to be pretty tame. San Antonio and Denver are so different in so many different ways. There are some things I like more about Denver but there are some things I like more about San Antonio. I definitely miss the food, homemade tortillas and breakfast tacos, yummy.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by yodi

We lived on the north side but close to downtown. I spent a lot of time on the west side for work so I'm pretty familiar with the area. I think that you'll find most of Denver's neighborhoods to be pretty tame. San Antonio and Denver are so different in so many different ways. There are some things I like more about Denver but there are some things I like more about San Antonio. I definitely miss the food, homemade tortillas and breakfast tacos, yummy.

Yeah, I've been wondering about that. I've read there's a pretty high Hispanic population in Colorado... but I wonder how that translates into the availability of good Mexican food? I know it wouldn't probably be like the Tex Mex I'm used to. Good thing I've learned to cook most of it myself anyway.

I've lived almost all over SA (far NE suburbs, north central, NW, east central, and now west central), and I've never really felt "afraid". Sure, the neighborhoods will look drastically different from one pocket to the next but in reality the living experiences have all been about equal. I have had my car broken into in almost every neighborhood I've lived in here... except, ironically, THIS ONE! Someone did steal out of my backyard shed though... and I have a pretty good idea who it was.

My standards for "safe" are no drive by shootings / heavy gang activity, and being able to allow my kids to ride bikes at least on my street or block or within my eyesight.

If/when we make it to CO, I'll make you some tortillas. I'm a guera but my Dad's girlfriends were all Hispanic and I learned from them.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

Yeah, I've been wondering about that. I've read there's a pretty high Hispanic population in Colorado... but I wonder how that translates into the availability of good Mexican food? I know it wouldn't probably be like the Tex Mex I'm used to. Good thing I've learned to cook most of it myself anyway.

You won't find the Tex-Mex you're used to, but if you can get used to the local styles you'll find some authentic and good places. Most of the more authentic Mexican food (as opposed to New Mexican or Cali-Mex or some other style) you'll get here is derived more from the state of Chihuahua, so it's quite different from the places in Texas -- closer to what you'll find in El Paso, TX (though not as good as what you'll find in El Paso). To get the good stuff you'll have to go to the traditionally Hispanic parts of town, mostly in the city of Denver and Aurora. There's several threads on this board that will point you in the right direction. Even among the "authentic" places there's a wide range of quality.

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

My standards for "safe" are no drive by shootings / heavy gang activity, and being able to allow my kids to ride bikes at least on my street or block or within my eyesight.

Denver is pretty tame when it comes to crime compared to most other cities of comparable size. That said, there are some gang-infested 'hoods that you should avoid. My impression is that recent trends have seen the gang activity disperse more, so many of the formerly "bad" areas (particularly in the city) aren't really all that bad anymore, and the gangbangers themselves are dispersing more into the suburban style areas both within and outside of the city of Denver.

[yodi]

80212, 80221: Berkeley, Regis, Highlands