Highlands Ranch, Parker or Castle Rock??? (Lakewood, Littleton: house, job market, school district)

[cdietrich404]

Hi

My husband and I are late twenties and have 4 kids under 8. I have been doing some research on CO since he really wants to move there. I have never been yet but we plan to come out soon so i can see it.

I am looking for an area that is safe, has great schools (Douglas County is good from what i have read) and in our price range under 325K.

How is the job market?? My hubby does kitchen and bath remodeling and sales, runs his own business but wants out.

Also what are the property taxes like out there? We pay 7500 a year and it makes me sick! We are super house poor right now

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Cheryl

[PatrickHallacy]

Try and get into the Cherry Creek school district if you can. You'll find homes more affordable if you get further east and north from Highlands Ranch, but try to stay as far south as possible for the better schools. I can't speak to Castle Rock.

Taxes on a $325,000 home would be around $2800/year

[2bindenver]

Castle Rock & Parker would be cheaper than HR. Very affluent area. Cheapest housing in Douglas County is in Acres Green or way out in the boonies...

[Rawlings]

Parker, Castle Rock, and Highlands Ranch are all some of the nicer areas in town--though you certainly don't need a six-figure income to live there. It's worth a look, anyway.

Your family sounds a lot like mine--we've got three with one on the way--we're in Lakewood/Littleton area and it's extremely kid-friendly. Some parts of those suburbs are expensive, some not, and some in between.

Property taxes--taxes generally--are some of the lowest in the country. Though our silly governor just hatched an illegal plan to raise property taxes without voter approval, taxes are still low and very family-friendly.

Good luck!

[randalmartin]

You can't go wrong with Castle Rock, Parker or Highlands Ranch. HR is definitely more in town if that's important. We chose Castle Rock over Parker because we liked the proximity to I-25 better. Your choices to get to I-25 from Parker are Lincoln (difficult in the morning) or pay a toll on E470.

We moved from Texas to Castle Rock in August 2006. The property taxes are lower but that is offset by state income tax. Overall it is reasonably taxed place to live. You can definitely find nice (even new) homes in that price range. An internet search will confirm that.

[cdietrich404]

Thank you for the replies!!!!!

Cheryl

[Deltagolf]

Also, looking at Castle Rock (The Meadows) and Parker. I am wondering how is the capacity issues at these two schools generally speaking. We haven't narrowed dow any particular area of Parker so I am just wondering about if the elememntary schools in Parker are overcrowded or do they have a reasonable amount of kids comparied to the schools capacity.

Castle Rock I have head ALOT of discussion about the schools being far over capacity and crowded especially in The Meadows. We would appreciate anyone with first hand info on these areas who have kids in elementary school.

Thanks

[Deltagolf]

Our there any other sites like city data we can ask these kind of questions? I don't seem to have much luck getting people to respond to my questions.

[2bindenver]

It seems that some posters ask too general in nature and get no responses, and others ask too specific a question.

Call the school and ask them about the number of students in your kids grades.

[Katiana]

Frankly, I think 2beindenver's response makes the most sense. On many issues, but especially schools, people have such strong opinions and so much misinformation. As you see, you have *heard* a lot about Castle Rock being over-capacity, but no one stepped up with any evidence, even though a lot of people on this board seem to live in/near there. "Try and get into this district, that district, some other district, etc", is the kind of information you get from here a lot.