Favorite neighborhood to live in Denver!!! (lofts, crime, houses)

[diskonto]

Hey everyone,
My boyfriend and I are moving to Denver from NYC next week and since we've never been there I need a little help.
We are looking for an apt somewhere fun,busy and safe,especially cuz we have to ride our bikes everywhere even at night.
Is Capitol Hill,Cheeseman Park or City park a good choice?

[tfox]

My picks would be Cheesman Park, then Capitol Hill, then City Park. Capitol Hill has great proximity but not a lot of green space. City Park has lots of green space, but is a little far to the east, and near some sketchy areas. Cheesman Park I think provides a happy medium.

[Katiana]

Where will you be working and/or going to school? That will be a deciding factor.

[diskonto]

Im a freelance photographer so I won't be working in one especific area.
As far as comuting I will be riding my bike everywhere just like I do it in NY.
So now I need to find a place that's safe yet fun to live.
thanks a lot

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by diskonto

Im a freelance photographer so I won't be working in one especific area.
As far as comuting I will be riding my bike everywhere just like I do it in NY.
So now I need to find a place that's safe yet fun to live.
thanks a lot

So you essentially work out of the home, I take it. In that case, most of the residential neighborhoods in Denver would work for you. If you're going to be biking, you might want to stay on the east side of I-25, so you don't have to cross the highway over a high traffic bridge. Come out and take a look. See what you like.

[vegaspilgrim]

My favorite neighborhood in the Denver city limits WAS Hilltop and Crestmoor Park. It was for many years a nice quiet neighborhood with humble, well kept 1950s era ranch houses, with some nice city parks, neighborhood grocery stores. I had a lot of friends who lived there growing up, and I went to a synagogue in that neighborhood. Problem is, the place has literally been invaded by the McMansion craze, with practically every home knocked down and rebuilt with a custom-built McMansion crowding the size of the lot. Now it feels more like a new neighborhood than an old, mature one. It's basically a spillover of Cherry Creek North now. It's no longer a middle class neighborhood; nothing is even remotely affordable now. Even homes that are on the market just to be knocked down are going for $600,000 at least. The next best thing, I guess, is the nearby area south of Alameda, by George Washington High School, which still feels like a more humble, middle class area. Although with the rate things are going, that neighborhood could be on the chopping block 5-10 years from now.

[esya]

For a former new yorker (I am married to one), I'd say north of downtown--urban feel, new lofts, all the downtown amenities including Coor field, Pepsi center, arts center, etc, or west in the former railroad yards or even up the hill (lots of new smaller restaurants and rehabbed ethnic--in denver that's native Hispanic--or west wash park, which pulls in the south broadway commercial zone that is a hotbed of music, shops, fun restaurants and a better late nite scene yet still has a neighborhood feel. Where do we live--we spent 9 years in a ranch just off colo and exposition (now too expensive) and now live in a strip zone between leetsdale and Alameda--just south of hilltop, a lot noisier and a lot cheaper.

P.S. He loves to ride recreationally and the Cherry Creek bike trail or any number of connectors will get you to downtown and out and around. Park hill has wonderful old treelined avenues to ride on.

[diskonto]

north of downtown? would that be highlands?

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by diskonto

north of downtown? would that be highlands?

No, Highlands is west of downtown.

[smurf_goddess]

I loved living in Capitol Hill! You can walk everywhere- there are many buses, etc. The same is true of Cheesman, Park Hill, City Park, etc. You are coming from NYC so the crime shouldn't bother you at all. Colfax is notorious, but I walked down there all the time at night and never had problems. Also, City Park has one of the best bike paths in the area- I often used it to bike from Washington St. to Park Hill for my job and was blessed to see beautiful swans floating on the reflected mountain skyline.