Golden Colorado Q&A (Denver, Littleton: amusement park, HOA fees, houses)

[meswank]

My husband and I are relocating to Denver from the Atlanta area...next month. His job is near Cherry Hills; we are very interested in Golden. Could someone let me know if this is a "doable" commute. Coming from Atlanta, where traffic is always a nightmare, we are a bit gun shy. Also, we are tired of city life and Golden seemed to have a great small town atmosphere. Will i be bored to tears...or, will Golden be the perfect place??? Could someone give me any info....thanks!!!

[2bindenver]

Cherry Hills Village? What type of a commute is tolerable?

Is small town atmosphere the main criteria?

What are your interests?

[meswank]

Sorry, should have been more specific. A commute time of 30 mins avg would be great. Coming from Atlanta, a 5 mile commute translates to 25 mins. I am not familiar with the Dever area traffic. I have mapquested homes in golden to and from his office.....I just don't how reliable that will be, as it does not factor in rush hour traffic. We are active and love to be outdoors. We cook, ALOT, so having some (even one) specialty food store near by would be a plus. I've researched both Golden's web page and the yellow pages to see what's available. However, i know how misleading that can sometimes be. We are tired of the city life----again, i don't know how Devner compares to Atlanta. Atlanta is too crowded and traffic is always a nightmare!!! We want to be somewhere less transient...really get to know that town and our neighbors.

[2bindenver]

If your husband is working where I think Hampden & Colorado Blvd., then look into Littleton in Arapahoe County, or Wash Park /U Hills/ Bonnie Brae in Denver, but totally charming neighborhoods. if you like older homes.

Golden to Cherry Hills Village would be 40 minutes on a good day.

[meswank]

thanks for the info.....could you tell me where bonnie brae is located? I see wash park on the map...but couldn't locate BB. I had already researched littleton and did not fall in love. And yes, we do love older neighborhoods with older homes!!!

[2bindenver]

Washington Park is south of Speer and west of University. Bonnie Brae is east of University to Colorado, north of I-25.

Some of those places were built in the early 1900's.

If you e me your price range & wants and needs, I'll email you property matches.

[juliema]

My husband is in the job search mode right now and we have potential offers coming from a few different companies in different states and one offer is in Golden CO. In trying to decide which state would best meet our needs, I'm wondering if you all can help me out and answer a few questions. We're moving from Texas. How are the schools in the Golden area? Are there better areas to be looking at within communting distance to Golden? We have two small children so this is important. Is the area pretty kid friendly? Also, what's the housing market like there. It's pretty low cost of living in Texas so I'm curious what we'll be able to afford in Golden. We prefer to stay in the $350-$450 range. What are some neighborhoods that you would recommend? We are looking for an area with other young families, low to no hoa dues, open and friendly where neighbors know each other and say hi, kids play in the front yard, etc. I'm not even sure if such a neighborhood exists, but we'll take as close to it as we can get. Any other tidbits of knowledge you can offer to help us with the decision of whether to choose CO? TIA!

[2bindenver]

New? Old? How many bedrooms/Bathrooms/Sq Feet? We have a state income tax, but our property taxes are lower than Texas.

There are 23 properties on the market with at least 4 bedrooms, in Golden.

Search Golden for past conversations. If you commuted, how far would be tolerable?

[juliema]

Ok, I should have given a bit more information I suppose. Right now we're in a 4 bedroom 3 bath 2800sq ft. home that is 6 years old. We're looking for something similiar. Age isn't so important but size and bedrooms are. I'm willing to drop down to 2500sq ft. but not much lower than that. We are willing to travel up to 30 minutes commute time but no more than that. Aside from size though, neighborhood and schools really are very important which is why I was hoping for an insider opinion. I am coming from a very kid friendly area which is one of the things I love about where I'm living now. I'd really love to find another area when we move that is similiar. So the quality of the neighborhood almost takes a step over the type of house. Does that help anymore?

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

New? Old? How many bedrooms/Bathrooms/Sq Feet? We have a state income tax, but our property taxes are lower than Texas.

There are 23 properties on the market with at least 4 bedrooms, in Golden.

Search Golden for past conversations. If you commuted, how far would be tolerable?

[BigC]

I live in Golden in a neighborhood such as you are describing. It is sort of tough to find a newer neighborhood without HOA fees, although the ones for the neighborhoods I'll describe do not have high HOA fees. It is also tough to find large lots in Golden because people in Colorado value their open space. However, there are probably about 4 neighborhoods that fit what you are describing. Eagle Ridge at Stonebridge, Canyon Point, Mesa Meadows, and Table Rock are 4 subdivisions you might want to look into. Watch out for the taxes in Table Rock. In Colorado you will pay state income tax but you won't pay very high property taxes. You can go to www.recolorado.com and search properties based on these subdivision names. You can also use zip codes 80401 and 80403. 80401 for the South Part and 80403 for the North Part. You can get info about schools for Golden at http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/re...temName=Cities

My opinions only but...Not real keen on the High School. Couple of the elementary schools are good, the web site I gave you gives all the details. Golden is very family friendly and is a great place to live. The rec center is awesome (pools, slides, climbing wall). Tons of activities to do in and around Golden (trout fishing, mountain biking, hiking, climbing). Places to eat and mall and movies at Denver West. Plenty of grocery stores around including a Wild Oats and Whole Foods is not too far either. Fossil Trace golf course and Splash Water Park right in golden also. There is a fun little amusement park to take tots to called Heritage Square. Also Golden is great because you can take 6th Avenue in to downtown pretty easy and traffic isn't too bad that way either. You can be at the zoo and aquarium and sports stadiums in 20 minutes. You can also be in the mountains in minutes, skiing in about 1 to 1.5 hours. If you want a little more mountain feel but still with a Golden Address check out Genesee area. Type in the subdivision name or look in 80401 area code. Little older houses, little more expensive, but lots of trees, excellent rated elementary school and feel like you are away from it all but still in community with kids. Evergreen (80439 zip code) is about 20 minutes from golden and in the mountains. It has excellent schools at all levels but it is more expensive yet. It is kind of a bedroom community as most people commute to work somewhere outside of Evergreen. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have other questions.