Yards - The hardest thing to find in Denver (Highlands Ranch: neighborhood, school)

[MaddieClaire]

Originally Posted by roseba

You'd really love NYC.... only the cost would be One Million dollars plus.

Well, I've looked at several properties here that are in the million dollar range, a couple well over a million, and they're basically the same as my original post.
Very small yards and no (none, zero, nada) privacy.

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

And, BTW, my social butterfly children spend most of their free-time riding their bikes up and down the street with their playmates. They avoid the backyard because "it's lonely back there."

I do think large lots are way over rated. If you have really small kids, then a decent sized backyard for them to play in is good to have. Once they get big enough to ride bikes, as formercalifornian noted, they will spend far more time in the front yard and going up and down the street playing with the neighbor kids. Our kids are rarely in the backyard.

That is not to say that I like many of the yard sizes of most of the new construction homes that I have seen. I do want enough space between homes to plant some trees for privacy, but I don't want a huge yard that I have to maintain and water.

Also, shame on builders for not only putting houses so close, but using home designs that put lots of side windows facing other houses. It would also be nice if they offered more than 4 or 5 home plans to choose from.

[.gif]

HR is a very boring, crowded, sterile community. the newest homes are being built even closer together. the community is becoming one big, paved tetris puzzle.

i do like the bike paths though.

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by .gif

HR is a very boring, crowded, sterile community. the newest homes are being built even closer together. the community is becoming one big, paved tetris puzzle.

You are entitled to your opinion. Many people find it a quite nice place to raise a family.

[.gif]

Originally Posted by gpraceman

You are entitled to your opinion. Many people find it a quite nice place to raise a family.

the only opinion was the part where i said it was "boring." i think the rest is factual. i agree that it is a good place for raising small children. and i do like riding my bike through HR, especially along the highline canal where there are actual trees and some water.

[movingtocolorado]

I am just posting this for anyone thinking of moving to Highlands Ranch. We are renting a nice house on the East Side of Highlands Ranch and the lot size is over 8500 sq ft with a 1750 sq ft home (that feels more like 2000 sq ft). The yard feels like a park!

We are moving on 6/27/08 to a house we bought, but after looking at tons of homes in this area, I have a real good feel for lot sizes in this area. There are large lots here, you just have to find them. One way to do that is enter a property address that you may have found from a real estate site into zillow dot com and then you can see the lot size of that house and the neighboring lots. Just keep scrolling around until you find large lots sizes and then revise your search for a house to include that area!

Our house is in a neighborhood that has larger lots. There are several neighborhoods in the 80130 and 80126 zips that have large yards. Some back to open space. The 80129 zip for the most part has tiny yards.

My rental is now up for rent if anyone needs a gigantic Higlands Ranch yard! They take pets too.

[formercalifornian]

It's great to see this thread resurrected. I wonder if rising water rates have caused any to reconsider the wisdom of large yards in the high desert.

[Sockeye]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

It's great to see this thread resurrected. I wonder if rising water rates have caused any to reconsider the wisdom of large yards in the high desert.

Remember that popular bumper sticker in the early 80's during the Two Forks Dam proposal (which was killed)?
DENVER-PI** ON YOUR LAWNS!
Speaks volumes, eh?

[jkcoop]

I don't think it's how big your yard is, it's what you do with it .

Because everyone around us landscaped with privacy in mind, we don't see anyone, and yet we are all fairly close together. I love our smaller backyard. We have it divided into 3 areas - hammock area, deck area and stone patio area. Not a lot of grass. Very private when we are back there. Love it.

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by jkcoop

I don't it's how big your yard is, it's what you do with it .

Because everyone around us landscaped with privacy in mind, we don't see anyone, and yet we are all fairly close together. I love our smaller backyard. We have it divided into 3 areas - hammock area, deck area and stone patio area. Not a lot of grass. Very private when we are back there. Love it.

Our new house has a tiny backyard, but previous owners planted lots of trees back in the 80's that provide shade and visual privacy for all concerned. There is very little sod, so minimal mowing is required. Yes, we overhear conversations, but that's par for the course when houses are closely constructed. We enjoy our neighbors, so it's not bothersome at all. We just invite them over to chat.