Aurora question (Denver, Boulder: house, neighborhood, to buy)

[kwk722]

Originally Posted by strooberri

Spiders were coming through the plumbing which i've heard is a big problem throughout co. so they would drop on your head from the shower or come flying out of the bathtub spout.

This is not a Colorado problem and you must have really small spiders to come out of the shower head.
Coming out of the drains is a possibility but coming out of the water pipes is not unless the crawled up your faucets in the first place. That apartment must be a real disaster.
You are right though, central and northern Aurora up into Montbello are some bad crime areas. Vandalism being the biggest problem. Colfax and 225 being considered central. Areas around Buckingham and Aurora mall are big vandalism areas.
I have friends that live out off of Yale and friends further out east past Buckley that enjoy where they live and dont have crime problems.
Another area to avoid is west off Alameda/Federal area. I stopped at a liquor store and noticed all of the employees had guns on their side.

[OutOfSoCal]

I am looking to move to CO and have yet to visit, coming soon< but have been told by several people to avaoin Aurora, some people who live there adn some realtors. They say its mostly South Aurora but that enough to keep me away. The way I see it they can't all be wrong

[RGG13]

Originally Posted by OutOfSoCal

I am looking to move to CO and have yet to visit, coming soon< but have been told by several people to avaoin Aurora, some people who live there adn some realtors. They say its mostly South Aurora but that enough to keep me away. The way I see it they can't all be wrong

Ya _really_ gotta go and see for yourself. I thought SE Aurora was really nice. South of Stone Valley in particular. North of that and south of Quincy is okay if you are basically east of Buckley. Most everything east of 470 is super new and nice.

Given the patchwork boundaries between SE Aurora, Centennial, and unincorporated areas it is not always easy to tell which area you are actually in!

-RGG13

[Kyusa]

Aurora will be commerce city few years

[planefast]

The original poster asked if Aurora has a bad rap. And aside from those who just want to dodge the question with calls to relativistic reasoning ("compared to what?", "It depends...", "What do you mean by bad?"), the straight answer is simple:

Yes, Aurora has a bad reputation. And it is deserved.

Are there worse places in Denver? Yes. Are there good parts of Aurora? Yes. But in general, Aurora is not the place you want to be. Crime is the overriding concern for prospective residents, and Aurora proper has a bad reputation. Schools there also have a bad reputation, partly because schools are partially funded through property taxes and there just isn't enough wealth to students ratio to have good schools.

The OP isn't asking for a long discussion of the minutiae on what it means to be "bad".

With that said, you can certainly describe where the exceptions are: Aurora is a HUGE city, because it is unbounded to the east. So in the housing boom, nice, large and pricier houses were built in suburban Aurora, way out east and southeast. But they are way out. As one poster said, depending on where you lived and worked in Aurora, your commute could be more than 25 minutes.

As for schools, Cherry Creek school district is the gold standard in Denver. There are no ifs ands or buts about this. In certain parts of Aurora, you are in the CC school district, but generally you'll be served by Aurora Public School system, which, as I said, is underfunded.

Everyone's situation is different and what they value is different (you certainly can get cheap housing in Aurora), so these situations may not be a major negative. But at least answer the guy's question.

PlaneFast.com

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by planefast

But at least answer the guy's question.

Gee. I thought I had.

Originally Posted by gpraceman

Aurora does suffer from a stigma due to the bad areas and the crime associated with it. You see that expressed a lot on this forum. I do believe that stigma does affect property values even in the good parts of the city. That is one of the reasons we did not to buy a house there. Another is that I'd rather be closer to the mountains.

Of course Aurora has other issues, like those you pointed out. Water rights (the lack of them) is also a big problem. Aurora has to implement watering restrictions before any other city does in the dry years and they usually have tighter restrictions. Being further from the mountains and paying the E-470 tolls if you are in SE Aurora are a couple of others. Just having an Aurora address can cause home buyers to overlook your home, regardless of where in Aurora you are. That's just too much negativity for me and I grew up in Aurora!

[kwk722]

Originally Posted by planefast

The original poster asked if Aurora has a bad rap. And aside from those who just want to dodge the question with calls to relativistic reasoning ("compared to what?", "It depends...", "What do you mean by bad?"), the straight answer is simple:

Yes, Aurora has a bad reputation. And it is deserved.

Aurora is not the place you want to be. Crime is the overriding concern for prospective residents, and Aurora proper has a bad reputation.

The OP isn't asking for a long discussion of the minutiae on what it means to be "bad".

Everyone's situation is different and what they value is different (you certainly can get cheap housing in Aurora), so these situations may not be a major negative. But at least answer the guy's question.

PlaneFast.com

2 posts and your a moderator already... even though this thread did get wandering off.

Like you said "everyones situation is different"
Some areas in Aurora arent bad at all. Its a very high populated and growing city. So it cant all be that bad. It may be just right for some people. There are tons of homes all over that are on the market because of the adjustable rate loans that are rising and forcing people to foreclose or sell. Aurora has a lot of lower priced homes and lower income families that shouldnt have got so much home in the first place.

[OL EB]

Well lets keep in mind that alot of Aurora became "Centennial" in recent years; and Centennial is the part I grew up in..which is nice.

To answer your question, NO--Aurora is not bad. Dang...people are retarded. No, I wouldnt live anywhere near Colfax and even on parts of Mississippi, anything around Quincy and Chambers to the South, you are pretty good. I went to a CC school and stayed off Tower and Hampden...so, that is a good area too.

[luckysam]

As everyone has said there are definitely bad parts of Aurora but I have friends who recently moved to Southeast Aurora and it is really nice. My DH grew up there, a little more north, and is fine. I personally don't like it because I'm used to a slower pace and less traffic. The traffic drives me insane. They just built this HUGE outdoor mall with pretty much every store under the sun in Southeast Aurora. You would never need to go anywhere else to shop. It's actually pretty in the Southeast part because there are hills and pine trees and all sorts of beautiful new houses going in. I just went to the Parade of Homes a few weeks ago where they have build two million dollar houses. There are also some amazing neighborhoods around that area which is by the Aurora Reservoir and they're all really nice. I still don't want to live there though. Ha! It's too far from my family.

[san diego mover]

I just got back from visting 2 weeks ago and I would buy in SE Aurora close to the Aurora Reservoir in a heartbeat it is beautiful and the slower pace and the openess is so attractive. Aurora itself may get a bad rap but after seeing it for myself It is a very wrong statement even the so called bad areas around Colfax where nothing compared to LA where I grew up. The Southlands Mall is amazing and they have very upscale stores. The growth in that area will takes years and eventually will become a very desirable area in Denver. I hope it will be what Aurora needs to change the reputation that in Aurora has. The location may seem far to people who live in Denver but for a person from So Cal it is not that far from everything it has the best of both worlds. I look forward to moving there.