Commuting on 85 living downtown (Denver, Highlands Ranch: apartments, rentals, neighborhoods)

[bsteers]

Have a couple of questions. I'm moving to Denver in January for a job down near the Southern tip of Chatfield State Park in Waterton. I'd love to live downtown but don't want to get stuck with a miserable commute. A normal commute for me now is 15 minutes with no traffic, but I don't expect the same thing in Denver. So:

1) How is commuting on 85 going South in the mornings and north in the afternoon? I was thinking of living in the cap. hill or washington park areas, but don't want terrible traffic.

2) If traffic is bad, how is the area in downtown Littleton near the light rail stations? That seems like the next logical choice for an educated single, mid-20s male, but would welcome any opinions or ideas on other locations.

Thanks!

[blobbin]

Santa Fe (85) will be 20-30 minutes depending on your time of day. You are going against the stream which helps but be aware that in the winter with adverse weather which is not as often as you may believe but still happens that commute will be longer.

[royhobbstn]

Google says about 35 minutes from the middle of downtown to Waterton Rd. In practice I think it would take even longer than that due to traffic and all the stoplights.

Downtown Littleton is quaint and can be fun, but it wouldn't be anyone's definition of lively. There are maybe 3 or 4 restaurants that fill up every night (if that). I'm not sure it's a particularly young crowd either - though there will still be young people there, it's more of a varied age demographic.
Considering distances involved though, I believe this is probably your best bet. At least you would be able to live in a walkable area and take the light rail downtown on the weekends.

Other than Littleton, if you're absolutely set on a more urban vibe, you might try Baker. It might not be that much shorter of a distance than downtown or Capitol Hill, but at least you would be able to avoid the traffic of the I-25 / Santa Fe Interchange. It's an urban area within itself on Broadway, with all sorts of restaurants and clubs (a bit of a sketchier vibe perhaps at times, but not uncomfortable IMO). The light rail is also there, so you can get to downtown fast without worrying about parking (or without the inconvenience of having to take a taxi after having a few too many downtown).

Some other highly compromised options might include Highlands Ranch Town Center, Streets at Southglenn, oh, almost forgot about downtown Englewood, (which I love - maybe the best of the tier 2 options) though that is an acquired taste.

[2bindenver]

You might try something in highlands ranch - town center - or south Jeffco. It's easier to live near work and go wherever to play; than to live near play and make your existence miserable two times a day, 5 days a week.

[sunsprit]

Santa Fe Drive is simply a miserable commute in the mornings and afternoons ... with way more traffic density than the route was ever anticipated to handle. Even with the improvements of the last few years, it's still a stop-and-go grind in rush hour traffic. The only way you'll get this under 1/2 hour is to do it an off-rush hour traffic time periods ... very early in the AM and later in the evenings.

As it happens, I had business in the downtown Denver area a few weeks ago and went to stay with friends in Waterton Canyon that evening at 10:30 PM. The southbound traffic was still slow, and by the Elitch Gardens area just off Speer Blvd to the canyon was over 45 minutes ... on clear roads. This corridor remains busy for most of the day anymore; I waited until after the rush hour traffic to 10 AM before heading to another downtown Denver appointment the next day, and the traffic was still pretty heavy, although it was moving at close to the posted speeds between the lights. Oh ... do keep an eye on your speed in the area ... Littleton and Denver find e-z-pickens for speeders, and can be very aggressive at times about radar enforcement along this corridor.

I'd strongly advise you to seek housing much closer to your employment. Take a look at the Ken Caryl Ranch, or some of the other developments closer to your work. There's a pretty wide range of housing, rentals, and leases in the area.

While the weather issues may be trivialized by some, I can assure you ... having lived in the area of your work for over 12 years ... that it doesn't take much snowfall to snarl the traffic for this commute. It can and will happen more frequently than you may want to deal with. South Santa Fe has never been a good access area, and down by Chatfield ... it can get pretty slow. A lot of people use this as an alternative access to the I-25 corridor to by-pass the South Denver metro area, and it's a big factor in the traffic density along the route in both directions (AM & PM) every day. Being close to the foothills, the route is especially sensitive to up-slope weather patterns to drop a lot of snow in the area.

[tfox]

You could look at somewhere like Platt Park -- it has a historic commercial district called Old South Pearl and although it wouldn't be as lively as Capitol Hill it would be much better in terms of commute, though still a lengthy one. Given your situation I think I'd try to stay south/southwest of I-25.

As mentioned, the original parts of Englewood are very similar in scale to most of the South Denver neighborhoods, (and less expensive to boot), so I wouldn't hesitate to look there.

[Dorthy]

I would look at the Alexan City Center apartments in Englewood. They're right next to light rail for easy access to downtown and many other Denver neighborhoods such as Baker. They sit right next to Santa Fe (at Hampden) for quick access for commuting to and from work. It also seems to be a complex with a lot of younger people and it's a very walkable area.

In addition I would look into Old Littleton as that will offer you similar amenities without being too far from work.