Denver neighborhood w/access to kids (Aurora, Highlands Ranch: condo, townhouse, neighborhoods)

[rjulyan]

Hi! My new husband and I are relocating to the Denver area, and have unique needs for a neighborhood. We do not have kids (we got married 3 weeks ago!), but we are private violin teachers, and depend on other people's kids for a living. We are young, fun, and urban-oriented, however, so Highlands Ranch and other suburbs way out there do not appeal at all. As violinist, we also don't have a lot of money. Is there an area of Denver, hopefully even Denver proper that has a lot of kids with parents with the money to pay for premium lessons? Or a place we can live/afford that wealthy familes would have easy access to, but we could access downtown? We've been asked to move to the south Aurora/Centennial are, but it's so far away (and cookie cutter and boring)! Even Hampden and I25 would be closer, but are there families nearby? Does Stapleton/NE Denver have a lot of kids? Light Rail also appeals to us. North, not so much because several other violinists just moved there, so the market could be flooded. Long post, sorry, but thanks for your help!

[2bindenver]

Lowry. Highest housing prices per zip code in Denver. Area surrounding Lowry is much lower in price. You would also attract kids from Park Hill & Stapleton.

[tfox]

There are plenty of places with lots of money in Central Denver: Belcaro, Bonnie Brae, Cherry Creek, Country Club, Country Club North, Hilltop, etc. These are the traditional "old money" Denver neighborhoods with parents who often send their kids to private academies and that sort of thing, though many also go to DPS. However, Central Denver neighborhoods are rarely so exclusive that they don't have pockets of more affordable housing, particularly if you don't mind townhouse or condo living, or can live with a smaller single family home.

Another area of old-money housing is the independent town of Cherry Hills Village, just to the south of Hampden from south Denver. Unlike Central Denver, this area is designed to keep the non-millionaires away and has the grim-looking 8-foot brick walls to reinforce the point. However, you could easily live in south Denver or the town of Englewood just to the north of Hampden and have access to that group of potential clients.

And, as 2bindenver mentioned, Lowry and Stapleton have a large number of higher-income folks who want to live in closer-in city neighborhoods with newer construction.